Go Therefore and Make Disciples of All Nations: The Great Commission with Burk Parsons

in this session we come to the great commandment of the great commission of jesus christ that part where we hear christ's very clear directive to go now with the great commission we see that this is in fact a commission it's a command christ is telling us to do something it's not the great suggestion or the great option it's not something that christ puts to us that we can either decide to do or not do another one of the significant motivations for missions and evangelism and fulfilling the great commission is simply put that christ has commanded us to do it and that alone is sufficient as a motivation for us to go and to be faithful and fulfilling the fullness of the great commission as we come to verse 19 we see how jesus says go therefore that therefore is connected to what he has just said in verse 18 that all authority has been given to him in heaven and on earth that is again jesus's motivation and foundation for why we go jesus is connecting this command to go with the fact that he has authority because he has authority go because he has dominion and sovereignty over everything go and we go with that authority we go not with our own authority we don't have any authority in and of ourselves as a pastor of a local church and most of you are a part of the congregation at saint andrews chapel you know because we often say it how we as pastors don't have any inherent or innate authority our authority is ministerial authority it's declarative authority our authority is not rooted in us our authority is rooted in the word of god our authority is in god himself so our job is to give people the word of god to teach people the word of god to proclaim the word of god because ultimately ultimately we are accountable to god as under shepherds of christ the chief shepherd and you're accountable to god that we would be faithful stewards giving people his word and that was the authority with which the disciples were called to go not with their own authority not with some sort of pompous arrogance but to go as humble servants and stewards of the lord and that's how we're to go we're to go notice how peter says when people ask us about the hope that is within us we are to give them an answer for that hope right and how are we to do it with meekness and gentleness we're to go forth as humble servants of the lord jesus christ proclaiming and teaching and sharing the gospel of god and the whole council of god and we're to go pointing people to christ and not ourselves evangelism and missions and fulfilling the great commission is not about us getting applause and accolades and people thinking highly of us and wow what an amazing evangelist he is or what an amazing missionary he or she is but rather that they would see shining through us the glory of god the authority of god and the beauty of his word that we would be people constantly pointing to him and not to ourselves we don't evangelize we don't do missions and we don't fulfill the great commission in order to get notches on our belt or so that we can constantly brag and boast about those whom we've saved no the lord is the one who saves the lord is the one who regenerates and we are called to be his faithful servants in proclaiming his truth his gospel his word may he get the glory from our evangelism from our missions from all our support from all our sending from all our mobilizing for all from all our training may he get the glory now many people in coming to the great commission and coming to this great command of the great commission where jesus says to go and most of your translations rightly translate this go now many who are studied students of scripture they know that this word especially those of you who are here in seminary who've studied the greek language you know that this word is a participle that go is actually a participle and so sometimes people say well this should be translated as you are going or simply going but that isn't quite right this is translated properly as an imperative because the this participle in the way it is constructed in this sentence and in this phrase really takes the place of a command itself and so it is rightly translated in the form of an imperative in the form of a command as go and that means that we are called to go and where are we called to go well jesus says go therefore verse 19 and make disciples of all nations we are to go to all nations we are to go to all peoples we are to go to all people groups we are to go to all languages we are to go to unreached peoples and we are to go to reached peoples we are to go to the reached peoples and continue training continue discipling continue helping to mature and grow them in the word of god and the example of christ and we're to go to the unreached peoples and the unreached nations that they might hear that they might know that they might believe that they might worship and how will they hear unless missionaries are sent how will the nations hear unless we go unless we support unless we give sacrificially unless we mobilize unless we produce resources that can help people go and can give people tools in their hands so that when they go they have things to give and to teach and to train that's one of the reasons we're here isn't it it's one of the reasons ligonier ministries exists it's one of the reasons most para church ministries exist to come under the church and serve the church to provide the church with good resources so that the church around the world might know that they might grow that they might worship as faithful followers of jesus christ that's why we're doing this series isn't it that the church might be impassioned and inflamed and have a desire for fulfilling the great commission because of the love of god and the command of god because we know god and we want to make his name known to the ends of the earth but notice that jesus doesn't just say go to the nations he says very precisely go and make disciples of all nations notice what jesus doesn't say he doesn't say go and evangelize he doesn't say go and make converts he doesn't say go in blow and blow up and blow out with some big crusade and go back and report how many people heard and responded to the gospel he doesn't say go and simply leave a gospel tract he doesn't even say go and translate a bible in the tongue or the language of that people no he says go and make disciples now let's be careful here because evangelism and making converts and giving gospel tracts and translating bibles into the native tongues of a particular unreached people even holding crusades even doing evangelism from a soapbox or from the pulpit in a church all these things are part and parcel of making disciples but the mistake that many people make the mistake that many christians and many churches and even many missions organizations have made over the past and throughout history is that they have come to the conclusion not looking carefully what the great commission actually entails that fulfilling the great commission is only about evangelism or that it's only about making converts you see here's the hard reality if you've gone and evangelized or if a missionary or a missions agency has just gone and evangelized or just gone and made converts they have not fulfilled the great commission if we have gone and held evangelistic crusades or services or revivals as some people want to call them and they see people come to christ they have not fulfilled the great commission the great commission is fulfilled only when we are making disciples as the new testament defines what a disciple is discipleship is hard and it takes time it's not easy it means face-to-face one-on-one training as we'll see a little later on in this passage it's not just teaching people things it's not just telling people things it's not just going proclaiming things it is actually proclaiming and teaching and doing the hard work of training it's one-on-one face-to-face discipleship see it's not just a bible study it's actually walking with people coming alongside people arm in arm and hand in hand walking with them pointing them to christ exemplifying the life of christ even in our own lives as paul said follow me as i follow christ and so even as calvin says that we would follow others only insofar as they follow christ but that we would live among them we would show them what it means to love the lord and follow the lord what it is to bear fruit in the lord what it is to walk worthy of the gospel what it is to forgive what it is not to grow better and not have vengeance against another christian what it is is the disciples of jesus christ to show and demonstrate love among us to the watching world as the church's greatest apologetic is our love for one another jesus said that's how they'll know that you're my disciples and so as we do this as we do it here as we do it there as we go and do it wherever we're called to go and do we fulfill the great commission by making disciples through proclaiming through teaching through training through discipleship through mentoring through older men coming alongside younger men and teaching them through older women coming alongside younger women and teaching them and training them and showing them the old paths of what it means to know god to love god and to follow his ways and this is what jesus did didn't he he made disciples you know a lot of people say well jesus was born to die well that's true but jesus wasn't only born to die jesus was born to live and in his life he not only fulfilled all the righteous demands of god's law he not only lived the perfect sinless life according to the standard of righteousness that the lord has set forth but jesus also made disciples again common ordinary people he took them and he trained them a disciple is what a disciple is a learner literally a follower and in jesus ministry a peripatetic ministry like the ancients as he walked as he taught as he lived his life in front of them so his disciples came in behind him they followed him they walked with him they learned from his ways they listened to his commands they saw how he interacted with people and so this is to be the work of the great commission making disciples this is the prominent verb that controls the entirety of the great commission make disciples and i have to say though it's sad to say that in the world today in the church today we have done a very poor job at making disciples we've done a very poor job at discipleship people think that if they just if they can just get certain doctrines right in their heads if they can just affirm certain doctrines then that's sufficient or if we can just get people coming to church just get people coming to corporate worship well then we've made disciples well it's important to point out that coming to church going to corporate worship learning right doctrine is in fact part and parcel of how each and every one of us and every faithful church member and attender is actually in part as a fulfillment of the great commission and having been reached with the gospel are actually weak in and week out in part fulfilling the great commission because when we go to worship when we study the word of god when we get on our knees and pray when we work with our children and teach them the things of god and pray with them in the things of god then what are we doing we're fulfilling the great commission you see for those christians who don't go to worship who don't belong to a local church for those people who claim to know the lord but avoid going to corporate worship avoid being in the word of god well the reality of it is is that they're being disobedient to the great commission not to mention the fact that they may not actually be reached with the gospel to begin with they may not actually know the lord because someone who knows the lord wants to worship someone who knows the gospel and loves the gospel of jesus christ and loves jesus christ wants to worship we want to be in the scriptures we want to pray we're motivated to do it why do we do these things why do we come to worship why do we give sacrificially of our time and our money and all our resources why do we do it because god has put a motivation and a desire within us to do it he's given us the drive to do it that's why you're here today you're here because you care about these things and you want to learn these things and grow in these things we're studying these matters because god has put a desire in our hearts he's given us a passion to learn he has given us the desire to be disciples and to grow as disciples and not merely remain babes in the faith but to grow up into full maturity we want the meat of the faith but not only the meat in our heads not only the doctrines of our heads but that that doctrine in our heads would flow out into all of life as we absorb it in our hearts and as it exudes from our hands and our feet and all that we do in life that learning and studying and following the lord jesus christ would be in all our lives every day as we live and as we breathe as we worship as we praise not just on the lord's day but each and every day in each and every hour of our lives that we as disciples of jesus christ would see the great delight the great privilege that we have of being followers of jesus that it would shape everything we think do and say so jesus calls us to go and to make disciples to make learners to make followers not just converts not just people who understand doctrine but people who live out their doctrine you know jesus in much of his ministry was not only giving assurance to those who lacked assurance granting faith to those who humbly came to him and wanted faith those who came to him and wanted healing jesus also gave forgiveness and throughout his ministry what do we see jesus doing we see jesus also challenging people who had a presumptuous faith that is to say they didn't rest in the lord they didn't rely on the lord they weren't trusting in god they were presuming upon god they weren't resting in grace they were presuming upon grace and what did he say to them he said if you love me if you say you love me then what will you do you'll follow me if you if you say you believe in me then you'll keep my commandments if we really believe the lord jesus christ if we really know him then we are going to want to follow him we are going to bear fruit naturally because we are united to jesus christ if we know the gospel we'll walk worthy of the gospel if we know the spirit we'll walk in the spirit this is the natural organic way in which true disciples bear fruit in life if we don't have any fruit if we don't have obedience what does that mean as james tells us we don't even have real faith so as we make disciples and as we make disciples here in our homes and our churches as we ourselves are striving to be more faithful disciples to learn the word of god and things of god in the example of christ and as we go to the nations and make disciples we are called to go and help to serve to come alongside and that means we're not just sort of blowing in blowing up and blowing out and think we've done our job we are called to take our lives take our money take our time our energies and give ourselves to this most important command that christ has given to make disciples and learners now this central verb to make disciples has two subordinating clauses part and parcel of what it means to be a disciple for a disciple to be made jesus first says is baptism look there what he says in verse 19 baptizing them in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit now this is significant because if what matthew is he records what jesus has said if it's important the word order here and the placement of baptism well then what we see here is that baptism is not a graduating right it's an initiating right the baptism is not something that comes when someone has arrived but it's rather something that is given something that is administered when someone comes in when someone comes into the family of god into the covenant community of god's people the baptism is something that is given to all those who believe and as we believe to their children as we see even demonstrated in the acts of the apostles the living out and the fulfillment in part of the great commission in the acts of the apostles we see these household baptisms where those who believe are baptized and then all those in their household are baptized along with them because there's a special familial solidarity a special connection that those children have to their believing mother or father that special connection brings them into the covenant community because children children of christians and children in the family of god and children who are part of the covenant community we don't treat them as outsiders do we we treat them as part of the family of god and in doing so what do we teach them to do we teach them to grow as disciples we teach them the things of god we teach them how to read the bible and how to pray and how to sing we teach them what it is to know the lord knowing all the while that it's not their baptism that saves them it's the grace of god by faith alone in christ alone that saves them hoping and praying each and every day that the lord will save them that they will know him that they will trust the lord jesus christ but we treat them as disciples don't we we treat our children as disciples hoping that they will indeed know the lord that they will indeed trust the lord jesus christ for salvation and they're not saved because they're in our household they're not saved because they're baptized they're saved because of the grace of god in their lives by faith and that's what we pray for that's what we hope for it's significant that jesus says let the little children come unto me and not only does he rebuke the disciples when they try to prevent them jesus jesus is is angry with the disciples he says let them come unto me do not hinder them but notice what else jesus says he gives a warning and a woe to any who would lead one of these little ones astray jesus says it would be better if a millstone were hung around his neck than that he should lead a little one astray what does that imply it implies that we are discipling and teaching our children fathers are called to train up their children in the nurturing admonition of the lord children are not outside of this great commission they are part and parcel of whom we are called to go and to serve as we serve families as we serve men and women and children teaching them so that they might be disciples of jesus christ baptizing them into the name of the father the son and the holy spirit and notice it's not three names it's one name because our god is one and jesus says that this is the first aspect or the first way in which we make disciples and baptizing them

Channel: Ligonier Ministries

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Keywords: therefore go and make disciples, go therefore, make disciples, disciples, go therefore and make disciples of all nations, the great commission, great, commission, burk parsons, ligonier ministries, reformed, reformed theology, theology, bible study, the great commandment, jesus christ, god, fulfilling the great commission, fulfilling the great commission sermon, disciples of jesus christ, christian, christianity, educational, christian doctrine, christian education

Id: aPbO8GnPGaU

Length: 23min 35sec (1415 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 03 2021