Hi. Here we are back again to study what Jesus wants us most to do. I'm going to pray now, and my prayer is that this will be taking shape in our hearts, that you'll be taking the action steps of getting someone to walk with you in this, someone to hold you accountable, that you'll be memorizing that dear word that brought life to the people in Thessalonica, and that we'll be ready to do it. Let's pray together. 

Dear God, right from the beginning when we turned our backs on you, you never quit on us. You came toward us, called us back to yourself. And when Jesus came, we could understand what you meant. Thank you for giving your dear Son so that we could become children through him. We love you. Amen.

We started out by talking the last time about the necessity and about how it's possible for us to be vocal witnesses for Jesus Christ. But think about this. It's a matter of obedience. Jesus has commanded us. He's commissioned us and said, "You'll be my witnesses." There's no other answer for that. Are we going to obey him or not?

Unfortunately, I know someone now who is committing adultery with a person she's not married to. And she tells me that she's so lonely, she's so needy, her life is so empty. And that excuse is breaking that command. 

I know another man who's stealing at work. He said he wouldn't do it if he weren't so short on money. And besides, the boss has quite a bit himself. And that's his excuse for breaking that commandment.  

I have another friend who uses God's name in vain, in terrible ways, when he gets upset or when something goes wrong. And his excuse is, "Well, I just get so upset." And that's why he breaks God's command. 

Jesus calls us to obey him. And when we don't speak his name vocally, we are disobeying his command. Those are hard words, but we want to love him and we want to be the way he wants us to be. So, let's look at a verse here. Two thousand years ago, Jesus chose 12 men, and he talked to them one day after they had been with him a while, and not too long before he was going to leave this earth, he looked at them (the men he had chosen, the men we have looked at in our studies who are every day, ordinary people just like you and me), and he said to them once in John 15:27, "And you must also testify, for you have been with me from the beginning." Isn't that something? Why did Jesus choose his followers? So he could teach them? Yes. So they could be with him? Yes. So they could support him? Yes. But why did he choose 12 followers? Because as he goes on in his life now, he knows that his ministry here on earth is limited. 

Right from the beginning, he told them that one day, he would have to go to Jerusalem, and there, he would be unjustly tried. He would be beaten, and he would die on the cross. Jesus knew right from the beginning that his ministry on this earth was limited. So, he chose them. And as he gets to the end of that ministry, he says to them, "Don't forget. I chose you to testify about me. You've been with me from the beginning." 

Are you with Jesus? We saw in our last session that it's not enough to be in the church. It's not enough to be a teacher or a preacher. It's not enough to teach Sunday school. It's not enough to live a good life. None of those are bad. But Jesus said, "Just like you are born one time from the action of your father and your mother, you have to be born from above. You have to be born by the power of the Holy Spirit in you. Are you with Jesus?

And why did he choose them? Because when they caught him, when they understood him, when they said, "Yeah. This is what Jesus is all about," he could send them out. 

Why are you a church member? Here's an interesting thought. Imagine a medical school, and they graduate 200 doctors a year. But do you know what those doctors do? They go back into the medical school, and they start teaching more people to be doctors. But they don't get to take care of the sick. And when those students graduate, the medical school gets even bigger, and they have more professors teaching more students to be doctors. And meanwhile, people all over town, all over the world are dying because they have no doctors. That's a picture of the church. 

Jesus chose the 12. Once, they had a wonderful experience. Jesus took three of them, and they went up on a mountain. And there, the Heavens opened, and they saw some people from the Old Testament come and talk with Jesus about how he was going to have to suffer. What a time that must have been. I wish I could have been there to see Jesus with his face shining like the sun and talking with those people about what was going to happen. And when it was all over, his followers said to him, "Let's just stay up here on the mountain. Let's go on and enjoy this some more. We'll even build a place where we can stay." 

Jesus said, "No. That's not what I came for." And right from the beginning, he chose his followers so that they could testify for him. And why does a person go to med school? So he can go out with those who are ill.

Some become teachers. In the church, some go to seminary. But if we think the world is going to be won by one person standing up in front of a group, it's not going to happen. It has to be every single believer getting out there and sharing the name of Jesus.

Do you know what? All the statistics I have read in the past 30 years about the way churches grow is that somewhere between 80% and 90% of people who come to church and are saved and become members have been brought there by a friend. Someone has testified to them. Their mother, their sister, their girlfriend, a teacher, somebody at work. We ss examples of that all the time. That's the way the church grows - one believer talking to others, spreading it out. 

I saw an ad for a clothing store here for men. And the little thing on the bottom said, "One man tells another." And that's the way they built their business up. It's the same with the Church of Jesus Christ. Why did he choose you? Why are you a member of the church? To learn more hymns? To study the Bible more in groups? To worship him on Sunday? Those are all good things. Just like those 12 who were with him to learn all of that. But from there, he said, "The reason you are with me is so that I can send you out." Does that speak to you today?

I want to look at another verse about our commissioning. By the way, I should add this. I know a man in town here who works in a factory, and it's his job to close up at night. He's got a huge ring of keys. They're on his belt. And wherever he goes - in the store, even to church - he wears that big ring of keys. Do you know why? Because he's important. He can open and close all of those doors. He's been commissioned to do that. 

Or another thing I think about is when the president of our country goes about, there are men who have been commissioned to protect him. And they always wear those dark suits and the dark ties. They never smile. They all have close-cut haircuts, because they're important. And they know it. And they stand there, and they take that commission seriously. Jesus commissioned you. "You shall be my witness. I chose you to be with me from the beginning so that you will testify for me." 

And then, that other verse that I wanted to look at with you is the marching orders of the church in Matthew 28:19 and 20. Jesus said, "Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you."

Now, I'm sorry, but here, we're going to have to study some grammar. That's always the tough part of language. Languages are set up in such a way that they make sense. And in language, the action word is a verb. It does something - hit, run, sleep, whatever it might be. 

In this verse, there is one action word, one verb. And if I ask you which one it is, I dare say that most people will say, "It's right there in front. Go." 

Sorry. It's not that. I'll explain that in a minute. The action word is, "Make disciples." There's only one action word in that verse (one verb). And that verb is, "Make disciples." What is our commission? Our commission is to make disciples. It's to sing in church, it's to have Bible study, it's to be kind to each other, it's to live a good life. That's all important. We have one action word, one verb. This is called the Great Commission. "Make disciples." Do you hear that?

Now, you say, "What about that word "go"? We've got to look at that, because it's important. I'll explain it in a minute, but listen to this. We look at that. We say, "Here's the Great Commission." Jesus said, "Therefore, go." But do you know what? I'm a plumber. I'm a teacher. I'm a house painter. I'm a mechanic. I work in a grocery store. I'm a nurse. So, that doesn't apply to me. I can't go to another country. If I'm in America, I can't go to Africa. If I'm in Africa, I can't go to Asia. Because I've got these other things to do. I'm working in a daily job. 

God bless them. There are those who go to different places in the world and they make disciples. Isn't that the way we think a lot? That the main word in this verse is "go"? That that's the verb? 

Now, let me explain. Here's the action word, a verb. And then, there are words that take part in the action. We call them participles. They take part in the action word. There are three participles in this verse in the way that Jesus spoke it.

One, baptizing. Two, teaching. And one more. And what do you think that one is? It's that first one, going. Jesus really says there, "As you go," or going. And that means it's not a special activity. As you go to the store, as you go to work, as you go home, as you go anywhere, make disciples. We have to understand that. 

One of the ways that I do that is that if I'm going to play golf, I'm going to play golf anyway. So, why not take along someone who isn't a Christian? As I go to play golf, I take along someone who isn't a Christian. Or when I go to a store, I have to go to the store anyway, so as I go, I always go to the same clerk. And I slowly build up a relationship. Or as I go about the neighborhood, I'm going to take a walk anyway with the dog, I talk to neighbors and build those bridges. That's what Jesus meant.

He wasn't saying here, "Some of you are going to be so dedicated that you're going to go to foreign countries, and you're going to do without things, and you're going to be persecuted, but you're going to make disciples." Some do that. But here, it really means, "as you go"-- as you go home from your office today, as you leave your house tomorrow morning, as you go to school, as you go into the operating room, wherever it might be. As you go, make disciples. 

And we get back to that thought then. One command, "Make disciples." Are you going to obey him? There are other-- we saw it before-- other commands that Jesus gives us. Be kind. Don't steal. Don't covet. Those are all commands. We say, "I'm going to obey him." 

In this verse, there is a command. "Make disciples." Now, we can use excuses like those friends of mine, or we can say, "No more excuses."

In the first session, we saw ordinary, everyday people made disciples - people just like you and me.  And we're right back to talking about it now. As we go, we make disciples. But do you know what? You can't share what you don't have. And we have to get back to that again. Jesus is talking to those whom he chose. He was living in their hearts, and he says to them, "You've been with me from the beginning. Now, go out and testify as you go." Yes, some of you will go, maybe some of you are, in far off places. God bless you for that. But the majority, just like those people in Acts 4 where we saw they were persecuted. It didn't matter. They were in another place. They still spoke the word of God.

Jesus calls you and he calls me, and he commissions us. What an honor that is to bear the name of Jesus and to make disciples. He's with you.



Last modified: Monday, May 9, 2022, 10:00 AM