Getting the Message Out – Matthew 28:18-20 – Pastor Philip Ryken

Michael A

2 months ago

From the YouTube site: Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals

Getting the Message Out

Narrative from the video at YouTube:

“Matthew 28:18-20. While many millions have been saved already, millions more are still waiting to hear the message of salvation. God has not finished gathering that great multitude that will one day worship at His throne.

If they are to hear the message of salvation, it is up to us to proclaim it.

Listen as Dr. Philip Ryken shares about the Great Commission on Every Last Word.”

For the past several years, it has seemed that this world is progressively unraveling. That observation has caused me much distress. During the past year or so, I have come to see that I have been wrongly focused. That is, I have been trying to fix what I could and / or vote for someone who might fix it….

It has become fairly clear to me that only Christ can fix the problems of this world. He does that an individual at a time via his glorious gospel, bringing peace between each person and God.

Pastor Ryken clarifies your role in that process.

God has worked in my heart to prepare me to hear the message that is in this post. I am certain that my main focus needs to be on the topic that Pastor Ryken unfolds in his message.

I pray that you are ready to hear it also.

Sermon HIGHLIGHTS [bracketed statements, emboldening and underscoring are mine; major points are emboldened for hurried readers]:

The calling of every Christian is to proclaim the message of salvation
[This is the final message of a series by Pastor Ryken, linked below]
Christians are to proclaim the authority of Jesus Christ in all the world and to make disciples
The beginning for each Christian is to be a good disciple oneself; following Jesus [specifics below]
Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age”
It is a commission to make disciples, to make followers of the Lord Jesus Christ (TLJC)
Although millions have been saved; millions still need to be saved
Our commission, the CO – Mission we share with God Himself
Four-fold repetition of ‘ALL’
Jesus claims to have ALL authority; His disciples will come from ALL nations; they will be taught ALL things; Jesus promises to be with us ALL the days, ALways
In other words, the salvation message is sent by a universal authority; intended for a universal audience; demanding universal obedience; and coming with Christ’s universal presence [he gives some details about each point]
Jesus claims to have divine authority over all the angels and saints in heaven; and over the earth, pole to pole; ocean to ocean
His universal authority gives us a global mission
[Our global mission is to spread God’s gospel truth over the globe; we are opposed by global elites who are presently working to spread their lying narrative and oppression over the globe, that they might exercise totalitarian control.]
Hence, Christianity is a world religion; Jesus has the right to command all people everywhere to follow Him: the foundation for all Christian missions [numerous clarifying statements made by pastor Ryken]
It is possible for us to go to all nations because He has all authority
Beginning with Abraham, God made the first family in His kingdom; from the family, He made a nation and delivered them, saved them from slavery [and led them to the promised land]
God has always intended to bring salvation to the world, to the ends of the earth as in the prophet Isaiah
God promised Abraham, at the beginning:
Genesis 12:2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed”
[The apostle Paul ties the Abrahamic covenant together with the new covenant via the blood of Christ in Romans and Galatians; he also explains the purpose of adding the Law, via a covenant with Moses. These covenants intimately connect the Old Testament with the New Testament; and the nation of Israel with the church. These facts provide the basis for Covenant Theology, a thoroughly biblical theology]
[There are posts in the CATEGORY of Covenant Theology that provide more information]
By His death and resurrection, Jesus did everything necessary to save the nations by GRACE
All that remains is for those people to receive that salvation by FAITH
God intends to complete His global mission via His church
What are we to do to bring His message to the nations?
Proclaim His message and disciple them [a summary statement of points between 7-10 minute marks]
Since He has all authority in earth, we are AUTHORIZED by Him to take His message into all the world
[This point makes me think of the apostle Paul’s conversion in Acts 9]
[Act 9:4 And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” 5 And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting]
In Matthew 28: 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit
A disciple is more than a convert
A disciple’s life is to be lived in obedience to Jesus
Synonyms for disciple are pupil, follower
Jesus disciples became that by living with Him via traveling, eating, praying, spending time…
He emphasized to His disciples that following Him would cost them everything; it still means that
[Abiding in His word and depending on Him in prayer are certainly part of being a disciple today]
If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself, pick up his cross daily and follow Me
When Jesus said the above, many turned from Him and quit following; He did not go after them to meet them half way
Salvation is free, by grace; but it is not cheap
It demands the high price of discipleship, living for God [instead of self]
As His disciples learned to follow Him, they learned how to disciple others [just as they were disciple by Him]
They learned to invest their lives, via close relationships, just as He had done with them
Jesus has called us to be disciple-making disciples
He wants us to reach the world, via making one disciple at a time
How: via prayer; Bible study; answering practical questions about the Christian life…
That is, investing time, talent, treasures into pupils
That new Christian, in turn, is to help another as he / she was helped
This type of personal discipleship takes time; that is likely why the church is failing miserably at it
One must sacrifice personal indulgence [I think he means that one must give up self-indulgence, which follows with Jesus’ command to deny self]
In the church today, new Christians are left entirely on their own to find the solutions to the innumerable practical problems confronting their lives, any one of which could shipwreck their spiritual lives
It follows that half of those who join the church fall away
He quoted from a book by Robert Coleman, [paraphrase] if Jesus, the Son of God, found it necessary to stay with His disciples constantly for almost 3 years, how can the church expect to do this like an assembly line a few days a year
In some circles, discipleship means and older Christian serving as a mentor for a recent convert
Yet none can do it like Jesus did
We must learn how to follow Christ in many ways, from many people, in many contexts:
Pastors disciple when they teach and preach; friends disciple friends when they meet for Bible study and prayer; husbands and wives disciple one another via prayer; parents disciple children as they train them in righteousness
Therefore, discipleship should be part of every true Christian relationship
Jesus added three other words in the Matthew 28 passage above: ‘going,’ ‘baptizing,’ and ‘teaching;’ these are explained in the last 14 minutes of the sermon not highlighted