“As You Go” – Matthew 28:18-20

There are so many books out today, each one telling us the secret to success. If we read the books, we can successfully save for the future, become the greatest in our chosen career, raise the perfect family and so many other things you and I can do if we’ll just follow the advice of all these brilliant people.

The reason so many books on the subject of success are written is because we all want to be successful. No one wants to grow up to be the failure, the example of what not to do or how to be. We want to be admired and an example to others.

What so many fail to understand is that the secret to success begins with one thing. It begins with a right relationship with God through Jesus His Son and by the indwelling Holy Spirit. When that relationship is established, and we embrace all that the relationship entails, then we can always know success. Maybe not success as the world defines it, but success as God defines it. And, ultimately, it is God’s approval we really need.

We have been looking at various statements from Jesus following His resurrection. Jesus knew the time for Him to remain on earth was coming rapidly to a close, and there was still a lot He wanted to tell the disciples. Yes, He knew the Spirit would come and continue His ministry, but while Jesus was still with them, He wanted to impart some last words of advice. With the passage we look at today, the Great Commission, we find that our relationship with Jesus boils down to three verses.

Central Truth: Jesus gives us everything we need to succeed in life.

Jesus gives us:

His authority (18)

When I first came here, Roger put the bulletins together. Every weekend, I’d give him a list of the hymns I wanted to sing for the next Sunday. Generally, there was no problem. One week, though, Roger called me. He had a problem with one of the hymns I had chosen—“This Is My Father’s World.” Roger’s objection was that the hymn suggests God is in control of our world, but Roger said the Bible teaches that Satan is the ruler of the world until Christ returns. I had no problem with Roger’s objection, and we found another hymn.

I began to think about it, though, and, not surprising, I found myself disagreeing with Roger’s assessment of the hymn. A few weeks later, I put it in the order of worship again, and this time, we sang it.

I tell you this because I don’t disagree with Roger’s understanding of the Bible. It’s just that I believe Jesus gives us a trump card over Satan with what Jesus says in v. 18: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.” The significance of this statement cannot be stressed enough.

Remember how the book of Job starts? God is in His council in heaven when Satan wanders in. God points out Job and his righteousness, and Satan responds that Job is only righteous because God doesn’t let anything bad happen to him. God gives Satan permission to test Job, but Satan is not allowed to touch Job himself.

Shortly afterwards, Job’s wealth is stolen and his children are killed in a tornado. Job stays true to God. When God points that out to Satan, Satan responds with Job won’t renounce God as long as Job has his health. So God gives Satan permission to further test Job with illness.

The point of the introduction to Job is to let us know that Satan does have a lot of sway in our world. Jesus refers to Satan as “the prince of this world” (cf. John 12:31) and Paul refers to him as “ruler of the kingdom of the air” (cf. Ephesians 2:2). John writes, in 1 John 5:19, that “the whole world is under the control of the evil one.” That’s why it’s so important for us to hear what Jesus says in v. 18.

The resurrected Christ is now the final authority on matters relating to heaven and to earth. Just as God set limits on Satan in the testing of Job, so Jesus has the final say in what Satan can and can’t do here on earth. Certainly, Satan is a formidable foe, one that we should never take for granted. He knows what makes us tick and he isn’t afraid to push the buttons that will get us to listen to him and follow his lies.

But Jesus is greater, Jesus is more powerful. With this proclamation, Jesus is telling the disciples and us that He is in control and that Satan has to answer to Him. If Satan is a prince in our world, or a ruler of the air, he his one without a throne or without a place to rule.

Jesus’ authority gives us the ability to stand up to Satan and to resist the ways of this world. Jesus’ promise that whatever we bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever we loose on earth will be loosed in heaven (cf. Matthew 16:19) is fulfilled in the affirmation of His authority over all things.

Jesus knows this. That’s why it was the first thing He said to the disciples gathered at Galilee. Jesus wanted them to know that it was no longer time to hide in fear behind locked doors in back rooms. Now was the time for the Church to spring forth and make itself known. Now was the time to tell the Good News. That’s why Jesus’ next word is, “Therefore.”

His command (19-20a)

Jesus gave us a few commands. We are to love God completely, and we are to love our neighbors as ourselves. We are to live the Golden Rule and we are to love one another as Christ loved us. There are others, but these are the root of the Gospel. And this command that comes to us in vs. 19-20a is just as important for us.

There is a lot to be found in these one and a half verses. The “therefore” is to say, “In light of what I just told you, here’s what it means for you. Because I have all authority, I want you to expand what you do in your day-to-day living. I want you to add a new element.” He wants us to make disciples.

Just as the “therefore” ties the command with the authority, the “go” is not a call to set out, but a call to live our lives as we normally do, but now do it with the goal of making disciples. The original language that we interpret as “go” means “as you are going.” In other words, the “go” is not so much a command to set out on a new path, but to expand the path to include disciple-making.

When Jesus Christ saves a person, He calls that person to ministry. Not everyone is called to a professional or church ministry, but everyone is called to a ministry. The person saved may work each day as a salesperson or a clerk or in management. Regardless of what that person does for a wage, though, each person is called to share the good news of Jesus Christ with those around us. And, because of v. 18, we have the authority to do with boldness. Paul, writing to Timothy, said, “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline” (2 Timothy 1:6).

Jesus wants us to share His good news as we go about our daily lives.

And we are called to “make disciples.” There’s a difference between a disciple and a convert. Someone can be converted to a cause, but they aren’t truly committed to furthering the cause. We’re observing Memorial Day tomorrow. The men and women whom we honor were people who were so committed to a cause that they gave their lives for it. That’s discipline. The convert may believe in freedom and what we stand for, but they’re not willing to lay their lives on the line for it. They may argue for freedom, may post inspirational statements about freedom on the internet and on social media, but join the military and actually serve? Not for them.

We are called to make disciples, and the making of a disciple is to make a person who is so committed to Christ that they give themselves completely to Him. They embrace the lessons, follow the commands and do what God calls them to do. They do this not to earn God’s praise, but because they love Christ and want to do what pleases Him. The disciple is one who knows what he or she is getting into and is glad to do so.

One of the first acts of a disciple is to be baptized in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. An interesting thing about baptism. Baptisms were not uncommon in Jesus’ world. John the Baptist did baptisms. Other did, too. When a person was baptized, that person was making a statement. There were a lot of philosophies and religions in those days. Baptism was the way to let the world know that a person was following a specific philosopher or teacher, and the way they would identify is to be baptized in the name of their teacher. That’s why Jesus tells us to make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. In this way, Jesus is reaffirming the Trinity of the Godhead, and He is also letting us know that becoming a disciple was a commitment to live life according to God’s will.

One of the key ways we make disciples is to teach them to obey everything Jesus has commanded. Too often, we are quick to baptize, but we fail to really follow up on this part of the Great Commission. We win people to Christ, we baptize them and then we encourage them to become involved in our church. To be sure, to become involved in Sunday School and other teaching ministries of the church will give insight. But we neglect to teach the finer points of the Christian walk. We tell them to pray, but we don’t show them how. We tell them to worship, but we don’t teach them the ways to worship. We do a disservice to too many of our converts because we fail to follow through in the command to teach them to obey everything Jesus has commanded.

And, implied in that last part of the command, is the expectation that we will also be obedient to Christ’s commands. We cannot be a part of the “do as I say, not as I do” school of Christianity. If we want new converts to become obedient disciples, then we have to model it for them.

Jesus gives us this command, but remember, He has the authority to make it work. There’s one more thing He brings to us to let us know we can be successful in fulfilling the Great Commission.

His assurance (20b)

I’ve had jobs where training consists of maybe 15-20 minutes of instruction, followed by a “get out there and get it done” pat on the back. Those jobs are very discouraging. I’m new at this. I don’t know what I’m doing. I really need someone to work with me, teach me the ropes, show me the little things that will make me more effective in the job.

Jesus understands that. That’s why He gives us the promise at the end of v. 20—“And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

When we are going about our daily lives and the opportunity arises to share the Gospel with someone, Jesus wants us to know we are not alone. He is with us. Always. In Matthew 10, Jesus sends the disciples out to share with others about Him. In His instructions to them, He says something that reminds us of His presence: “Do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of the Father speaking through you” (Matthew 10:19b-20).

You see? How many times have we opted not to say something because we didn’t think we knew what to say? How many times have we told ourselves that we aren’t trained in the Bible sufficiently to argue with people about it?

A couple of things. First, we never argue the Bible with people who need to hear the Gospel. No one has ever been argued into a right relationship with Christ. Second, our job is not to know everything the Bible says. It is our job to share what Jesus is doing in our lives. In order to know how Jesus is working in our lives, we have to be aware that He is working in our lives. And we can know that He’s doing so because He just said, In Matthew 28:20, that He is always with us.

So, when we are out in our daily lives and the opportunity comes up to share something about Jesus, all we have to do is trust Him to speak through us, sharing what we know and what we have experienced ourselves. It’s not our job to save people—that’s the Holy Spirit’s job. It’s not our job to convict people of their sins—again, that’s the role of the Holy Spirit. All we have to do is bear witness—tell what we know, what we have seen and what we have experienced in Jesus.

Satan will tell you not to. He’ll tell you you can’t, that you’re inadequate in sharing. But remember, who has final authority? And Who is with us always? Do we want to go with the feelings Satan gives us, or walk in the faith that Jesus’ words are true? We live by faith, not feelings.

Conclusion

In my senior year, the girl I was dating and I were voted “most likely to succeed.” Jan’s career has been a stellar one. She has been successful in every way I can imagine. I’m very proud of her and genuinely happy for her. One time, she had done something, so I sent her a brief message, and I ended it with, “I’m glad at least one of us is living up to the “most likely to succeed.”

She wrote back with words to the effect of, “Glynn, living a life committed to Christ is very successful.”

With Jesus’ last words in Matthew, He tells us the key to success. Accept His lordship, His authority over all things. That means He has the power to get things done, but it also means that He is to be Lord of our lives. And, because He is Lord of our lives, then we must obey Him. One of His commands is that we are to make disciples. We do it by sharing our experiences with others and training new converts about our Lord. And finally, if we want to be successful, we need to call on Him daily. He is right here with us, and He will not let us fail if we will only trust Him.

How about it? Are you ready to succeed?