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[0:00] We're going to be in Matthew chapter 28 today.

[0:17] It's already been such a joy to get to know your pastor and to meet Danny. We're very grateful and to get to sit right behind their kids. So that's pretty cool. And I'm also really glad that all of the K through third graders are going to be here.

[0:32] So I think you're going to be able to track with what we're saying today. All right. I think it's going to work well for you. I don't know if you noticed, but some of the laughter was coming from Jennifer.

[0:44] And so it was good to spend time with Jared and Jennifer on their way. And then Nick and Katie on their way to the field. I'm not sure who else in your congregation we would know, but it's a joy to be here this morning.

[0:57] Now, as we start this week, I noticed in the lobby, as you come in, you're regularly reminded of these words. And so I'm trusting that this will be exactly what the Holy Spirit meant for you to have to start your time of missions emphasis.

[1:15] I found that as a young pastor, I sometimes avoided these just amazing, famous passages because you just think, how can I do?

[1:27] Well, they're amazing and famous for a reason. And that's because they have so much clear teaching in them. So I trust that for every one of you this morning, Matthew chapter 28, some very familiar words will be a great reminder of the Father's plan for the extension of his kingdom.

[1:48] So we're going to be looking in Matthew chapter 28. One of the more important things that I see in Matthew chapter 28 is make disciples that make disciples.

[1:59] And so we're going to be looking at that. But I'm convinced that all of God's word is just a perfect treasure, of course. But Jesus' logic in this passage is just mind-boggling to me.

[2:14] And so you'll see why I chose that topic, but I believe it applies to every single follower of Jesus in the room. And that is that we make disciples that make disciples.

[2:27] Would you stand with me as we read? They started doing this back in Nehemiah's day. But let's stand for the reading of God's word beginning in verse 16. But the 11 disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated.

[2:42] When they saw him, they worshipped him, but some were doubtful. Jesus came up and spoke to them saying, All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.

[2:54] Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.

[3:06] And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Let's bow together for prayer. Fathers, we come before you this morning.

[3:19] We're aware of the beautiful part of Scripture we're in. These closing words of Matthew's Gospel. Fathers, we look at these words.

[3:30] I'm asking that they would be life today. I ask that everyone in this room who wants to hear from God would. Would you give us ears to hear and then let us hear.

[3:46] We pray in Christ's name. Amen. You may be seated. All right. We're going to walk through this real simply. And we're just going to ask some questions of the text.

[3:58] And just let it answer our questions. So we're going to ask the question, Who are these words for? Who is this commission for? They're known as the Great Commission. So who is the Great Commission for?

[4:12] And then we're going to ask, Why should the Great Commission matter to you? So we're going to ask who. And then we're going to ask why. And then we're going to ask, What does the Great Commission say we're supposed to do?

[4:26] And then we're going to ask how. Okay. So we're going to ask four questions. All right. If you're under 10, you can answer the question. What was the first question? We're going to ask, Who?

[4:39] Okay. Under 10. Under 10. Okay. You got some help there. You got some help there, guys. Okay. So now, if you're under 10, Okay.

[4:49] Your friend helped you out. All right. But not anymore. Now it's all up to you. Okay. I'm seeing a few. You know what? I'm going to say 12 because I don't know how old you are.

[5:00] So if you're under 12, You get to answer my questions. The first question is, Who is the Great Commission for? But the second question was what? Do you remember?

[5:16] Okay. That's good. That'll work. Okay. The second question was why? Why should this matter? Okay. Now let's see if someone under 12 can get the third question.

[5:30] You might want to get out your paper to take notes. Okay. Here we go. So the third question is, What does this tell us to do? Who? And then the fourth question was, How can we possibly do this?

[5:44] So it's how? All right. So let's start off with the who. Now, as we look at this passage, Verse 16, It says, The eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee. Now, remember we want to always train ourselves to read the Bible really carefully and to make sure we're reading just what's there.

[6:02] So did this verse say only the eleven disciples went there? No. No. It says that the eleven disciples went to Galilee.

[6:12] Verse 16. So look back up at verse 10, And you can see why the eleven disciples would have gone to Galilee. Because Jesus had said to them, to the women, Do not be afraid.

[6:25] Go and take my word to my brethren to leave for Galilee. So earlier on Resurrection Day, Jesus had reminded them about going to Galilee.

[6:39] Now the reason I say reminded them is go back two or three pages to the left to chapter 26, verse 32. Chapter 26, verse 32. Jesus had said, But after I have been raised, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.

[6:55] All right. So, we find at the beginning of our verses, it tells us who is there. But let me tell you, I think it's not just because it tells us the eleven, but it's the Galilee that's going to give us the clue.

[7:13] Because if you remember, Jesus rose from the dead, and he met with the disciples that first day in Jerusalem in the upper room. Remember, it wasn't all the disciples.

[7:24] Thomas was missing. And so, remember that seven days later, we're told that they met in the same upper room again, only this time Thomas is there.

[7:36] Oh, remember what Thomas's nickname is? Anyone can answer this. Oh, yeah, it's doubting Thomas. And he was called doubting Thomas because all the disciples said, We saw Jesus.

[7:48] And Thomas said, I didn't see him. If I don't see him, I'm not going to believe. If I don't get to touch his hands, I'm not going to believe. Now, please notice how awesome it is for us that Thomas was such a skeptic.

[8:06] Because what that shows us was the disciples were not just believing that Jesus was going to rise, so they made it up. No. No, they were so normal thinkers that they said, Someone rose from the dead?

[8:20] No, we don't believe that. If we don't have proof, we're not going to believe it. So notice what an incredible blessing to us Thomas is because he got the kind of proof he was looking for.

[8:33] John was there and he wrote it down. So we have eyewitness testimony that doubting Thomas became, well, actually, remember he ended up saying that same time he said, My Lord and my God.

[8:50] The strongest declaration in all the New Testament comes when doubting Thomas got the proof he was looking for. I believe it was in October.

[9:01] A friend and I were on the streets in London. He had spent 20 years in Bangladesh. And so we were looking to try to start a Bengali Muslim background church in London.

[9:12] And I remember we went up to one Muslim man, a business owner, and we were talking to him about the gospel. And so he said, Well, if you can show me where the Bible says that Jesus is God, I'll become a Christian.

[9:27] I said, Oh, wow, let's go. So we went to about 10 places in the Bible and he all of a sudden backed down from his words. He was not interested at all.

[9:38] But the point is, is Thomas says, My Lord and my God. So right there, we have a declaration.

[9:49] But that's from doubting Thomas. Now, I took all that time because I really think that's the needed way to understand the Great Commission.

[10:01] Because it says, Some of them doubted. Okay, so we have two clues about what's going on here. The first clue is, It's not in Jerusalem.

[10:14] Okay, so it's not the first two weeks. And then it says, That some of them doubted. So let's get out of Jerusalem. What are our options? Well, remember John chapter 21 is they went fishing by the Sea of Tiberias, the Sea of Galilee.

[10:29] Well, that doesn't match this because this is a mountain. All right? So it's not that one. I wonder if we have no other insight into this passage.

[10:43] Well, actually, remember in 1 Corinthians 15, Paul gives a list of the appearances of Jesus. And Paul mentions a time when Jesus appeared to more than 500 disciples at once.

[10:58] And he said, Many of them are still alive. If you don't believe it, go ask them. Again, notice all the eyewitnesses. We have such a firm foundation for our faith. But notice that there were 500 that met at one time.

[11:11] Now, it's possible that we have absolutely nothing in the Bible about the biggest gathering of Christians. But hundreds of years ago, people started saying, Looks like these two match.

[11:26] By no means all agree with this, but many, many commentaries would agree that these two seem to match. I think it's really, really clear because some of that 500 were still doubting.

[11:41] And after my Lord and my God, I don't think the 11 are doubting. I think they are so solid on the resurrection. So I think this is the 500.

[11:53] Now, whether it's the 500 or not, it doesn't matter about what I'm about to say. But if it is the 500, then it becomes even more clear. Why do I think this is important? Because I think the Great Commission was given to the largest group of Christians that gathered to see the risen Lord.

[12:14] I think, well, if you'll let me be real technical, if you mean local church means a group of baptized believers in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and dwelt by the Holy Spirit, then local churches didn't exist yet.

[12:29] They started on the day of Pentecost. Now, if you mean the church as the body of all the redeemed, then of course that includes the people of God of the Old Testament. So, so, so, so. But there are no local churches yet.

[12:43] Some people say the Great Commission was given to my church. Hmm. Actually, I think that's not being, it's okay. It certainly is true.

[12:53] But, but I don't think that's the most precise way to read this. I think this is before local churches started. And so, what is, what's the takeaway from this?

[13:04] I think we're supposed to read this and say, these are my marching orders. I think the fact that it was given to 500 is to try to show us in as clear a way as the Bible possibly could have, Jesus meant for these words to apply to every Christian.

[13:25] So, the who of the Great Commission is every Christian. The Great Commission is for every single Christian. You see, I think the Great Commission is personal.

[13:40] That's beautiful to me because I think, oh, about 10,000 years from now when we've been in heaven for a good while, the most exciting thing that's ever going to happen is that the gospel got to the ends of the earth.

[13:53] And you know what the Great Commission means? It means you got to get in on it. Have you ever been on a, I'm sorry, I'm not real tall and I'm not real muscular.

[14:04] And so, whenever we had choose the teams when I was a kid, eh, I was seldom the first one chosen, okay? Not always the last.

[14:14] Not always. But anyway, anyway, anyway, anyway. So, so, here, I know what it's like to get left out. Does anybody in the room ever been left?

[14:26] No, don't, don't raise your hand. Okay, okay. Can I tell you God did not leave you out of the Great Commission? I, I, we're going to see in a minute. I don't think that, actually, I don't even think the Great Commission is all that missionary.

[14:40] I think it's just ordinary Christianity. We're going to see that in a minute, okay? So, so actually, I think the Great Commission is for every one of us. That's awesome. So, I would like you, if you're a Christ follower, would you please repeat the phrase?

[14:55] Listen to this. Think about it. And then I'm going to ask you to say it out loud. And here's the phrase I want you to think about saying. The Great Commission was given to me.

[15:06] Okay, think about it. I've given you reasons to believe that. Looking at your Bible, I'm pretty sure it's real clear. This is the whole focal point of Matthew's Gospel.

[15:18] So, I think that we're supposed to be reminded this morning, many of you knew this, but I think we're all supposed to walk away from here this morning remembering the Great Commission was given to me.

[15:32] So, I'm going to ask if you'd repeat that with me right now if you're a Christ follower. The Great Commission was given to me. So, that's the who of the Great Commission.

[15:43] Now, let's look at the why of the Great Commission in the next phrase, verse 17. When they saw him, they worshipped, but some were doubtful. And again, notice in the Bible, when people try to worship Paul, he doesn't let them.

[16:02] When people try to worship Peter, he doesn't let them. When people try to worship the angels, they don't let them. But when people try to worship Jesus, it's all good.

[16:13] Why? Because he's God. Okay, so catch how all of this makes sense if he's God, and it makes no sense if he's not God. So, you just have such a tremendous foundation for your faith in biblical Christianity.

[16:28] Now, let's go to 18. Jesus came up and spoke to them saying, all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.

[16:43] So, here's the why of the Great Commission. First question was who, and the answer is, it's me. Okay, the second question of the Great Commission is why should this matter?

[16:54] And it's because the one that I said I would follow told me so. Now, please remember that it's Matthew's Gospel that does this beautiful emphasis on follow Jesus.

[17:08] Remember in Matthew chapter 4, the fishermen were by the sea, and they were taking care of their nets, and he said to them, follow me. And then a few verses later, there were two other brothers, and it was, they followed him.

[17:23] Remember in Matthew chapter 9 that we were told when Matthew was beside his tax-collecting booth, Jesus walked past and told him to do what? Follow me.

[17:33] Now, we're not told about the wording of the invitation for all 12 to become disciples of Jesus, but of the times we are told the invitation, it's exactly the same.

[17:46] There's no other invitation given to the 12 apostles of how to become a follower of Jesus. It was, follow me. And actually, I think that that's what you meant when you prayed a sinner's prayer, and when you said, Lord, I receive you as Lord of my life.

[18:04] I give you control of my life. I'm not sure how you said it. Actually, I think it was built into the words of repentance. It meant repentance, meaning you were turning from your way, and you were turning to him.

[18:18] So, can I remind you this morning that this is not for some strange special group. This is every single Christian. If you have come to regenerate, if you have come to a place where God, the Holy Spirit, came to live inside of you, the way that you got there was by your surrendering to his Lordship, by your affirming that you would follow him.

[18:41] So, if that was the commitment to become a Christian, then knowing what he says is really important. And I think what he says to you is the Great Commission.

[18:57] So, why should it matter? Now, this is fun to me, but if you'll go back to Matthew 1-1, I want you to see how I see the structure of Matthew's Gospel is just beautifully tied together.

[19:10] when I read these things in the Bible, I think probably the human authors knew what they were writing and they were making these things consciously.

[19:20] Sometimes, I think it was just God, the Holy Spirit, guiding them to things that they would even have been surprised. Particularly, think of Isaiah. When he's thinking, he's making prophecies for his own day, but the New Testament tells us that they were the suffering servant things that applied to Jesus.

[19:39] Wow! What a perfect treasure Scripture is. Okay? So, catch here. Matthew, but I think Matthew saw this one. I think he did this one intentionally. I can't say for sure. The record of the genealogy of Jesus, the Messiah, the son of David and Abraham.

[20:01] Abraham. And I think he's weaving David and Abraham into the Great Commission. Because remember what was said about David is that there was going to be the one who came after him who was going to rule.

[20:16] Remember the angel Gabriel told Mary that he will be the descendant of David who's coming. But remember in Isaiah chapter 9 what it told us about the one, behold unto you a child is born, a son is given, on his shoulders will be all government.

[20:35] Oh, go two chapters over in Isaiah into chapter 11 and he rules firmly shall we say.

[20:46] Go back to Psalm chapter 2 where, where, ooh, big bad king in Psalm chapter 2. A whole bunch of big bad kings and they're all talking about opposing God.

[20:59] and his Messiah play the scary music. Duh, duh, duh, duh. Okay, so, so, so, so, so, big bad kings are revolting against God in Psalm chapter 2.

[21:12] And then what does it say in verse 4? The one who's on the throne laughs at them. He mocks them. Don't worry when you see wars on your television news at night.

[21:27] don't worry about, about Putin or any other person that you think might be a bad king. Don't worry about viruses. Don't worry about anything.

[21:39] You're God's bigger. You don't need to worry about that. You need to remember who the king is over all of the kings.

[21:51] I know it's a really simple kid song when it says, so who's the king of the jungle? Okay, guess what? He's king.

[22:03] He's king. And he, the king, gave you the great commission.

[22:15] man. So if this hasn't been on your radar, if you as a Christ follower have never made disciples, can I encourage you?

[22:33] You're not going to be standing in front of your grandma on judgment day. You're not going to be standing in front of the guys you hung out with.

[22:47] Remember who we're going to give an account to. It's the one with the nail scars in his hands. But he's not just savior. He's Lord.

[23:01] He's the king. And we can make fun of him and rebel against him and ignore him. Oh, it doesn't bother him. He laughs in heaven.

[23:13] But it's not going to be good for us the day we stand in front of him. Can I just encourage you the why of the great commission is because he said it.

[23:25] And he's your savior. And the agreement you had with him is that you would follow him. And so this commission is for every single Christian.

[23:37] And it's the highest priority because of who made it up. who spoke these words. So now let's get to our third question. We said we were going to answer who of the great commission.

[23:51] By the way, now, who is the great commission given to? It's given to me. Okay, let's not even say everybody. The great commission is given to me.

[24:03] Now it's true, it's given to all Christians. That's true. So normally, the right answer will be all Christians. But this morning, our answer is, let's narrow it in. Let's get more personal.

[24:15] The great commission is given to me. And why should it be? I mean, I get all kinds of commissions. I get all kinds of things. Why should this one go to the top of the list?

[24:28] Because of who gave it. All right? So the first two questions. The third question of the great commission is the what? It says, then let's go to verse 19.

[24:40] Go. Now, I like my New American Standard that I was reading from because it tends to be, tries to be as accurate as it possibly can.

[24:51] So I have a number one beside go. And then over here in the margin for number one, it says, having gone.

[25:03] It says, or having gone. So in other words, it's trying to tell me that this, this is an ing word in the Greek.

[25:14] If you, if you don't have some Bible program that you like to use, my wife introduced me to Bible Hub and it's the best of the free ones that I know. But, but all I want to say is all you need to know that this is an ing word is to be able to move your mouse around.

[25:30] Okay. And then when your mouse gets over the word, it tells you what it is. Okay. So, so, so, so, so, so this is not rocket science. Okay. Uh, back in the day, we had to work hard to get Greek.

[25:41] Not anymore. Okay. You can do a lot of Greek stuff with just a, any simple, uh, smartphone. So anyway, anyway, this is an ing participle word.

[25:51] Now, when this word is followed by a command, nine out of nine times in Matthew, uh, it, it, it's translated as a command.

[26:03] So I'm not saying it's wrong to translate it. Go. I'm not, I'm not meaning to speak against your Bible. I'm just saying God's word is a perfect treasure. And if it were better to call go an imperative, a command, then actually that I'm trying to say, actually the way Jesus said it wasn't quite as good.

[26:23] If I say, no, actually it should be a command, hmm, but it's not. It's an ing word that is normally translated as a command, but it's an ing word.

[26:36] Now, why, why does, why do these things matter? Because I just think God's word just gets it right. You know what? If this is a go, then my mom and dad who grew over, who lived over in Rogers County, when, when they moved outside of Tulsa, uh, my dad was a commercial carpenter.

[26:54] When they moved out outside of Tulsa, there wasn't a Baptist church where they, where they moved to Vertigris, they just helped start it. And so I just grew up with people who, with, with deacons in the church who knew their Bibles and, and, uh, lived out the New Testament.

[27:09] So, so, so, were my mom and dad in sin because they didn't move overseas for five or ten years? Okay, wrestle with it.

[27:21] If this is a command to go, then maybe everybody who doesn't go be a missionary is in sin. And I'm telling you, I don't believe that. I don't believe it from my parents, but I don't believe it from this text.

[27:35] I think if God meant for it to be an imperative, a command, he would have written it that way. And I don't think anyone's speculation on it is better than God's word. So, so, go, I think this can be one of two ways.

[27:52] As you're going, make disciples. Or else, go, make disciples. Now, somebody's pointed out that, that actually, as you're going, you still have to get out of your chair and go, if you're going to make a disciple.

[28:08] So, if you mean go can mean across the street, then yes, okay, I'm good with that. Okay, everyone's supposed to go. If you mean across the street or, you know, open your mouth kind of thing. Okay, but I don't think that's the way go meant to, in Genesis 12 to Abraham.

[28:24] I don't think that's what it meant to Paul. I think normally when God says go, it's significant going. So, anyway, anyway, anyway, I like, as you're going, you know what?

[28:36] Some of my under 12 year old friends are already Christ followers. And you're surrounded by other friends who don't know him yet. this means you can get in on it.

[28:52] This means you can share about how you came to know Jesus with your friends. This means if you're in high school that you might actually be fishing in the stocked pond.

[29:07] Because that's one of the most open times that people are to the gospel is from 12 to 20. And so, and so, actually, whatever age you are, if you happen to be over 60 or 70, then maybe you're around some folks who have been hard for decades, but now they're starting to see their own immortality.

[29:30] And now maybe you've got a chance to reach some folks that were closed for years. All I'm saying to you is I think this doesn't just mean missionaries who go.

[29:42] Kay and I, this sweet lady has gone with me. We moved to Mexico. We moved to Guatemala. We moved to Thailand. We moved to the United Kingdom. When God told us to go, we went.

[29:56] And so, I think sometimes what God says to you is Romans 15 and it says where Paul says I have to be the one who tells the one who haven't heard. Most Christians can just pray and give.

[30:08] God tells some people if you stay home and pray and give you're in sin. And some of the rest of you can't understand why Kay and Elbert kept running all over the globe.

[30:19] I promise you it wasn't because we didn't like Oklahoma. We're loving being back here. Okay? We really like it. No? No, why did we go? Because to not go would have been sin.

[30:31] All right? Just like in Genesis chapter 12 God told Abraham leave your family, leave your land and go to the place I'm going to show you. Well, that's what missionaries hear.

[30:43] And God tells them clearly and for them to stay at home is sin. All right? Now, but, but, to every single Christian as you're going through life you can obey the Great Commission.

[30:59] I think go can be go or as you're going. Now let's keep walking through. We're looking at what? What does the Great Commission tell us to do? I think it says as you're going through life or else go to another place where I'm going to send you as you're going make disciples.

[31:20] That's the imperative is make disciples. Now, please catch it's not getting people to pray a prayer or come to a church or anything like that it's signing.

[31:31] It's making disciples. Now again, I'm going to go back to my mom and to my daddy because he he modeled this really well commercial carpenter living over in Rogers County and about every three or four years we'd have to buy my daddy a new leather Bible because he wore out the last one and so I just grew up with with ordinary Christians just read their Bible and know it but as a matter of fact, I saw some research online from last year 19 from 2021 some research online by Lifeway Research and it said nine tangible benefits of Bible reading.

[32:10] Now what they found was is they interviewed people at the church they questioned them and then compared what they did to people outside of the church and what they found is Christians who read their Bible one day a week look just like people outside of the church people who read their Bible two days a week look just like people outside of the church people who read their Bible three days a week was a tiny bit different the people who regularly said I read my Bible four days a week or more listen to the differences and this is based on their research but they said 30% have a feeling lonely drops by 30% if you read your Bible four days a week feeling lonely drops by 30% anger issues drop by 32% bitterness in relationships drops by 40% if you read your Bible over a period of months and years four times a week bitterness in relationships drops 40% alcoholism drops 57% for those who are in the word sex outside of marriage drops 68% for those who read their Bible four times a week feeling spiritually stagnant drops 60% viewing pornography drops 61% for those who read their Bibles regularly sharing your faith jumps 200% for those who read their Bibles regularly and discipling others oh yeah that's our topic discipling others jumps 230% you see in John chapter 8 verse 31

[34:07] Jesus said you are truly my disciples if you continue if you abide if you stay in my word so we could spend months going over how to make disciples but let me just give you one thing and that is get people to repent and believe in other words get them really saved and then get them in God's word where they're self-feeding four days a week or more I like five as a minimum and by the way I like to have people do that starting the week they're saved all over the world whenever I come up to a new Christian then I like them to start reading John because that's the one that talks about faith and then I have them start with the New Testament and then as soon as they finish the New Testament normally just in a couple of months then we have them start the Old Testament and then I mean I started as an OBU student reading the New Testament twice a year and Old Testament once a year and look at the color of this hair

[35:09] I've been doing that a while okay so basic Christianity is being in this book devouring it treating it like it's your life now so making disciples by the way let me point out making disciples looks like Jennifer I don't know if I started this by the time you guys got there or not but I started doing a session on leadership development with the new missionaries and so what I was afraid of is that people are going to think we need a seminary or we need something complicated so I would always use the example of my leadership development to become a pastor and missionary started at age six when my mother was my vacation Bible school teacher and she had us memorize Psalm 100 you know what she was doing she instilled what is to this day

[36:17] I think one of the most important things of Christianity and that is loving and living in scripture so please hear making disciples certainly includes your children making disciples certainly includes your grandchildren it includes neighbors it includes teaching at whenever the pastor says oh we have a need for some more children's workers someone here this morning needs to say oh if the great commission applies to me oh that looks like a pretty easy way to get started so I trust that pastor Mike's going to have more volunteers after this morning if you take seriously if you take seriously I'm supposed to be doing this and he told me one of the simplest ways was to come help at church where someone's getting discipled are we listening do you want to apply

[37:20] Jesus words to you then make disciples but catch he stretches us because he says of all ethnicities of all the nations the word is ethne so it's just eth so it's ethnicity all right and so we're supposed to make disciples of all ethnicities oh my goodness isn't it sad that if you live in Bartlesville there are no ethnicities around you that was a joke okay okay I mean Pastor Mike how many languages would you guess might be spoken in this area just okay so there's four or five chances so that here's what I want you to do after this morning I'm supposed to be making disciples but but I'm supposed to be looking for chances to get with other ethnicities well let's see maybe that's

[38:26] Walmart and all all of a sudden when you when you come across someone who either by language or dress or whatever else you know they're not from around here then you say ding ding ding ding ding here's my chance to obey the great commission this is a stocked pond for sure God brought them to me okay God brought the ethnicities to Bartlesville so you're looking for a chance for the gospel to get into other circles and then if you teach them all that he commanded remember there are two requirements baptizing which always follows faith and repentance in the New Testament so that you get them the genuine faith and you get them into a church that's what water baptism gets you into a local church spirit baptism puts you in the body of Christ the day you were saved and so baptizing means you don't want just people who've prayed to receive

[39:27] Christ but you want them in a local church but then it says teaching them to obey all that he commanded Oh let's see let's think of what might be included in all that he commanded oh yeah the great commission so if I make a disciple but don't teach them about the great commission that I obey the great commission no here's where I'm talking about this crazy logic of this passage so if pastor Mike leads me to Christ if he doesn't teach me to make disciples he didn't obey the great commission right and it said teach them to observe to do it so if he doesn't stay with me enough to see that I'm actually making disciples then he didn't finish his job but if pastor Mike brought me to Christ and then I'm taking time to make sure that I have a disciple that's making disciples then I have to watch and make sure that he follows the great commission but if he's following the great commission what does he have to do he has to make a disciple that will make disciples and then what does the fifth generation actually let me let me just say it like this you show me a place where the gospel stops spreading and let me back up one generation and

[40:46] I'll show you where the Christians stopped obeying the great commission because you can't obey the great commission in the gospel not spread it's not possible the logic of these words don't allow it either we make disciples that make disciples and make disciples and make disciples or else we didn't obey the great commission now now please hear I've had Jennifer this might have been back when y'all came through the second time actually I made this statement in front of a group of missionaries and some 25 to 35 year old women started crying and these were new missionaries they said well I've never done that but I but and they wanted to say that because they tithed they had that I shouldn't I shouldn't say they didn't obey the great commission or because they because they sang hymns of worship or please hear you can obey lots of commands without obeying the great commission sure you can I'm not saying you're a bad Christian I'm just saying you didn't obey the great commission if you haven't made a disciple and notice he didn't say think about making disciples

[41:48] Mike who did the prayer at the end where are you Mike I like your prayer brother because you think about making a disciple what do you have to do to obey a command to make a disciple you have to make a disciple there's no other way to do this so can I encourage you not only not only does it apply to you and it's the top of your to do list because of who said it it's not he didn't make it where you have to travel around the world it's as you're going through life now look for chances to get it out of but you can make disciples that make disciples even if they're in the same ethnicity so please hear I think that would obey this command but you're looking particularly for chances for to get to other ethnicities to other groups by the way that's how the gospel keeps spreading and spreading and spreading because disciple of them and teach them to make disciples guess where probably you have spiritual grandchildren well they're not spiritual grandchildren but your impact probably just got to

[43:09] Afghanistan oh that's pretty cool to do right from Bartlesville what's not to like okay so so please catch please catch he commanded you not to try not to think about he commanded you to make disciples the only way you can do that is to make disciples and you're supposed to teach them to obey which will make disciples so I love the logic of this verse I think God had a plan where every generation could have reached their generation I think that's what his words these words you show me a generation that follows this the gospel gets to the ends of the earth because he has a whole plan and his plan is good now let's come to the last thing because I have to be honest this really sounds kind of impossible for every single person in this group who's a

[44:09] Christ follower over the next few months to make a disciple I'm sorry you look real sharp but I still think this is too hard for you which is we get to the how and that is he said I'm with you dear child of God can I remind you the day that you were saved God the Holy Spirit came to live inside of you remember Romans chapter 8 verse 9 says if any man have not the spirit of Christ he's none!

[44:42] of his and so if you don't have the spirit Jesus but once you have Jesus living inside of you what's too hard for him nothing can I promise you God inside of you is strong enough to do all that God asks you to do remember Galatians chapter 2 we're crucified with Christ it's not us living it's Christ in us and he's big enough so how could you go about starting to make disciples that make disciples first of all I would say make sure that you're in the word because actually I would suggest you're not really a disciple according to John 8 31 you're not you're not Jesus kind of disciple unless you're in the word every day I would recommend the New Testament one chapter a day I'll let you finish the New Testament once a year read scripture if it's hard at first listen to it while you're looking at the words but be in the word but secondly if you think

[46:00] God meant for you to be here today and God meant for you to say with your own lips the great commission applies to me how could you possibly start obeying the great commission would you pray that God would give you people to invest in would you put it on your list that at least five days a week until I have a disciple I'm going to pray for it would you start praying regularly God I would really like to obey you I'm going to need your help I can't do this this is too hard for me can't do it but God would you please would you please let me make a disciple and then would you make a list of five people that you know that are lost and then would you pray for them to be saved just pray for the lost and then would you just obediently follow up with the ones God gives you as you're living in the word you're walking filled with the spirit and you're praying for people to share with and you're praying for a chance to make a disciple

[47:11] I'm nearly positive you won't do that for a year be in the word five days a week pray every day pray five days a week for God to let you make a disciple be praying for five specific lost people and I'm pretty sure this time next year at the beginning of next year's missions Pastor Mike is going to have you say can I give a word of testimony this great commission thing it worked when I made it clear it was my job to make disciples that make disciples we're going to bow and pray Pastor Mike's going to be right here most of you I'm picturing what you need to do is just between you and the Lord say Lord you gave me the great commission Lord help me to do it but I'm going to ask for every one of you would you pray and it might be that you need to make some commitment to

[48:14] Pastor Mike missions week is where all over the world missions emphasis is where all over the world people end up saying well you know what he said about those who can stay home in my spirit I know he's been telling me because you've heard all of these things before it's 2000 years old right so it might be that you need to come and tell Pastor Mike would you pray with me because I really do want to make a disciple I want to obey the great commission or else you might need to but some of you might need to come and talk to Pastor Mike about responding to the great commission that Jesus gave to you let's pray father we want to be obedient children the one with the nail scars in his hand is the one we follow and we want to obey his word we remember that we're going to give an account to him so would you help every

[49:27]  Christ follower in this room would you just really let these words from Matthew just be personal and then Lord if somebody in the room is recognized by my words Christ follower Christ follower Christ follower and they say all I am is a church goer would you help them to come today and start the life of a disciple who follows you and then Lord there are some here today perhaps that you're telling staying at home is not an option as I go is not an option he's telling me to go would would you help them to be obedient and make that public as you guide them Lord right now we think you've spoken through your word now would you let us respond to you and the word you gave we pray in Christ's name Amen Amen