The Making Disciples of All Nations, Part 2

His terms are He is Savior and Lord, and He calls for submission. His word and His commands are absolute. And that's why in verse 19 it says, Therefore. Therefore, what do you mean, therefore? Since I'm in charge, you are to do this, make disciples of all nations. Why?

Because I am in charge and I say to do that. Welcome to Grace to You with John MacArthur. I'm your host, Phil Johnson. Picture this, you give the gospel to three friends and all three reject it. Does that necessarily mean you failed?

Should you have said something differently? What's it take to be an effective witness for Christ? Today on Grace to You, John MacArthur takes you through a boot camp of sorts that will help you become what the great teacher Charles Spurgeon called a more potent soul winner. Stay here as John helps you apply practical biblical principles for becoming a faithful evangelist. The title of John's study is The Great Commission.

If you have a Bible, turn to Matthew 28 and here is John MacArthur. We come again to our text in Matthew chapter 28, verses 16 to 20. I confess to you a certain amount of frustration in my heart because I could spend weeks on this passage and pull all kinds of truth and teaching from other areas of Scripture to embellish it, but I'm going to really keep it very simple and straightforward and not try to cover too much ground so that it has a unique and condensed impact on our hearts. Now let me say initially, it has always been God's desire to reach the whole world. And so when we come to Matthew chapter 28 and we see that great statement in verse 19, make disciples of all nations. We are under no assumption that this is something new. It is not something new.

It is something very old. For God in the very beginning intended to bring mankind into fellowship and relationship with himself. In fact, it wasn't until man in sin went away from God that God even designed separate nations. It wasn't until he needed a witness nation, a missionary nation that he called out Israel to reach the rest of the world. It wasn't until Israel failed to do that that God had to call on a small remnant of people to do what the nation would not do. And it is that that brings us to Matthew 28 and the words of Jesus, make disciples of all nations were given to 500 disciples on a hillside in Galilee who were the believing remnant out of an apostate Israel. It was to them and all those who would be of like precious faith with them, including ourselves, that this command comes.

But this is only an echo. This is only an echo of God's original intention to reach the world. Even in calling Abraham, he said, out of thee will come a seed and through that seed will all the families of the earth be blessed. And it was to the nation Israel that God said, declare his glory among the nations.

1 Chronicles 16 and Psalm 96, his wonders among all people. And in Isaiah 42 and Isaiah 43 and then in Isaiah 52 and in Isaiah 66, we hear the prophet who speaks as it were the heart of God telling the people to spread the message to the world. It has always been God's desire to reach the world of lost people and bring them to fellowship with himself. In 1 Timothy 2, 3 and 4 it says, God our savior who will have all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. So the heart of God has always been a heart to reach the world. In that verse which is more familiar than any other verse, it is simply stated God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. So we're not surprised then to hear a command like this, make disciples of all nations, for this is what God has intended from the very start. And now God has a remnant of people gathered on that hillside in Galilee and all those who will come from their ministry including us to whom this command is given to reach the world. We're reminded that the statement make disciples is the heart of our calling. That we're in the world to do that. That teaching and preaching and praise, fellowship, all of those things which we cherish and hold dear to us are only means to an end.

They are only elements of preparation for the real task which is evangelizing the world, which is reaching the lost for Christ. And so we are to be about making disciples of all nations, all peoples, all ethnic groups, all tribes, all races. The idea of making a disciple is a beautiful, beautiful term. The word mathetuo, the verb that is used here, carries the idea of a believer and a learner. I suppose we could say it is a believing learner or a learning believer. Make believing learners of all nations. Make learning believers. It is not simply one who believes or you would have had another word. It is not simply one who learns or you would have had another word. It is a believing learner. One who places faith in Christ and who follows in a life of learning.

As Jesus put it in John 8 31, the one who continues in my word is the mathetes aleithos, the real disciple, the genuine disciple as opposed to the false one. So the mission of the church in the world can singly be defined as making believing learners or learning believers out of all nations. We are here to seek those that are lost. The Father first sought true worshipers. He sent the Son then to seek and save that which was lost. And then the Spirit to empower us to witness, as it says in Acts 1 8 to accomplish the same goal. Jesus in John 17 18 said, Father, as you sent me into the world, so send I my disciples.

For the same reason, that is to seek and to save those who are lost. And Jesus said, After the Spirit has come, you will receive power, and then you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the uttermost part of the earth. So we're in line with that calling and commission that has always been on the heart of God. Even when Jesus initially called the disciples, He said, Follow me in Matthew 4 18 to 20, and I will make you fishers of men.

Nothing has changed. From the call of Matthew 4 to the commission of Matthew 28, there has been a training process so that those who were called to be fishers of men, when they are commissioned to be fishers of men, will know what that involves and will be faithful to fulfill it. The tragedy of the church of Jesus Christ is that so many people have lost sight of that commission and they have settled for a comfortable self-indulgent kind of Christianity that is little more than an inexpensive social club membership. That is not God's intention. We need to get out of that comfortable mold.

We need to get away from that self-indulgent kind of Christian perspective and take on and own and possess and make ours this calling of God we have in this passage. And how do we do it? How do we make disciples of all nations?

How? First of all, we have to be available. Availability is the first thing. In verse 16, we read that the 11 disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them, and that is to say they were available.

They were where they were supposed to be when they were supposed to be there. And that's where it starts. It starts with being available. It doesn't start with knowing where you're going. It doesn't start with having a clear calling to a certain country.

It doesn't start with all of the of the fine print finished and edited and complete. It starts with just being there saying, God, I don't know what it is or where it is, but I'm available. I'm here. You said to be here. Here I am. I'm listening to your voice. I'm reading your word. I'm gathering with your people. Speak to me, Lord.

I'm available. The second thing we saw was worship. In verse 17, when they did see Him and He finally appeared there, at first at a distance and then drawing near, they worshiped Him. They fell on their face prostrate, as it were, before Him, some of them doubting until He came near because they had not yet seen Him after His resurrection. But when He came near, surely their doubt was erased. And they too worshiped.

And we suggested last time that it is necessary for one who would fulfill the great commission to have a worshiping heart. That is to say, his heart or her heart is wholly set on Jesus Christ. All else is lost. All else fades away. When they on that hillside saw the risen Jesus Christ, all their shattered dreams were regathered. All their disappointment was instantly ended. Their sorrow was turned into unbelievable joy.

It was a reversal of every emotion they were feeling. And perhaps there was worship that occurred on that day that is equaled by few other worshiping occasions in all of human history. They saw the risen Christ and everything in them was born anew. They had a focus that was singly on Christ. Like Paul who said, I am determined to know nothing among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Who said for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. Their focus was so clear. Who said that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings being made conformable unto His death. It was that single mindedness that made the difference.

They like David had set the Lord before them and all else disappeared. That's what it takes. It is not only an available heart, it is a worshiping heart. And then thirdly, and this is where we come to our lesson today, the third element of fulfilling the great commission we see in the passage is submission.

Submission. In verse 18, our Lord when He does come near speaks and says, All authority is given unto me in heaven and in earth. And He makes a statement, frankly, that staggers my thoughts and it reaches far beyond my ability to conceive or articulate. He is making a claim to consummate sovereign authority. He has all authority. Now the word authority is the word exousia. It basically is a word that means privilege or right or power or authority. Essentially, you could define it as the freedom to do whatever you wish. It is freedom without limitation. Jesus Christ with all authority is free to do what He wants, what He wants, when He wants, where He wants, with what He wants to whomever He wants. It is absolute freedom of choice and action.

That's the essence of sovereign authority. Now we know something of that authority and its range by studying the gospels. We know, for example, in Matthew 4 verse 23 and in other places, He displayed authority over disease and authority over sickness. We know also in Matthew 4, 24, Matthew 8, 32, Matthew 12, 22, Matthew 17, I think around verse 18, He displayed authority over demons.

We see Him on several occasions displaying authority over death, most particularly in John 11 when He raised Lazarus from the dead. In Matthew 7, 29, at the close of the Sermon on the Mount, they said He spoke as one having authority, which meant He demonstrated an authority that superseded all other religious teachers and leaders in Israel. He had authority to commission and delegate the power over disease and demons to His apostles, which He did in chapter 10 verse 1.

And in Luke chapter 10 also gave that same authority to the 70 when He sent them out. He had authority, according to Matthew 9, 6, to forgive sin. In John 5, it says He had authority to judge. He had authority to raise the dead. He had authority to bring all men before the tribunal of God for their eternal judgment.

In John 10, 18, He says, I have authority to lay down my life and take it up again. These are all indications of what is encompassed within the range of His authority. He has authority that someday shall allow Him to take the title deed to the earth and take possession of the world and the universe and all men. He has authority over Satan. He has all authority in the universe and He is free to exercise that authority any way He chooses. All that authority is His.

He affirms that here. You remember when Satan came to tempt Him, Satan said, I'll give you this and I'll give you that and I'll give you the other thing. I'll give you all the kingdoms of the world. He had no need to receive those from Satan. He would receive them from the Father and possess authority over all of them. He possessed authority in heaven and authority in earth to do with them whatever He wished. That authority becomes consummate in His kingdom when all the kingdoms of this world, according to Revelation 11, 15, are subject unto Him and the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His grace. That authority which is spoken of in Psalm 2 where He will crush all other powers and receive to Himself the authority of the universe which He alone will possess. And so the Lord Jesus Christ has complete sovereign freedom of action. There is no one who can withstand His authority. There is no one who can question what He does.

There is no one from whom He seeks counsel as to what is right. Total complete sovereign authority. All authority, now notice this phrase, is given unto me.

Where did He get it? The first glimpse of that comes in the Old Testament in Daniel's prophecy in chapter 7 in verse 13. And in the vision Daniel says, I saw in the night visions and behold one like the Son of Man, that of course being Christ, came with the clouds of heaven. He sees Christ in His second coming. Almost a description exactly parallel to Matthew 24 30 where Christ describes His second coming as the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven. And the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven and He came first to the ancient of days. That is an Old Testament title for God the Father. So the Son comes to God the Father and is brought near before Him. And there He is given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all people, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. There is the scene of the glorious Son in His second coming glory going before God the Father who gives Him all dominion and all authority and all power and all privilege and all kingdoms.

All authority has been given unto me. We ask the question, where did He get it? It came to Him from whom?

From the Father. The Father has committed all judgment unto the Son, says John 5. The Father has given all authority unto the Son, says Daniel chapter 7.

That is repeated in many different places. In Isaiah 9 it says the government is upon His shoulders. God has committed all judgment to Him, all power. God it says in Acts 2 36 has made Him to be Lord and Christ, Messiah King. God it says in Philippians 2 has highly exalted Him and given Him a name which is above every name that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in earth and under the earth and every tongue should confess Jesus as Lord to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2 says that in verses 9 to 11.

Christ is made Lord and there's coming a day when He comes with the fullness of that authority and He collects the kingdoms of the world and gathers them to Himself, purges out all that is evil and vile and godless and Christ rejecting and sends all those to hell who are going to hell all those into glorious eternal heaven who belong there and the kingdoms of the world come to an end as all is resolved in Christ and in that day when He has collected the whole kingdom of the world and universe to Himself, purged out all that is impure and redeemed all that are to be redeemed it says in 1 Corinthians 15 27 that He having done all of that will take that and give it back to the Father in an act of adoring worship. So He is given all authority to take back the world and the universe from the usurping enemy Satan and give it back to the Father. He then has all authority.

What that says is this. He is in charge. He is sovereign and to Him we must submit.

Now why does He say this? Because it is on the basis of our submission to His authority that we put ourselves in the place of obedience, isn't it? We have to understand that His command is binding before we are going to undertake to obey it because the command itself is staggering. It is far-reaching.

It is almost paralyzing. Make disciples of all nations and if it seems difficult to us imagine what it seemed like to them. 500 rather impotent nondescript disciples on a hillside in Galilee given an almost inconceivable command which they would tend to disobey out of the sheer ridiculous nature of it were it not for the fact that Jesus established that He had such authority that they had no choice but to obey. And so it is then that we come to fulfill the Great Commission first of all with an attitude of availability, secondly with an attitude of worship, and thirdly with an attitude of submission.

It is only people who submit. Now let me say it another way. If you're waiting for some kind of spiritual goosebump before you feel you're responsible to reach the world, you've got it wrong. It isn't a question of emotion. It is a question of submission. It isn't a question of waiting until you get zapped out of heaven.

It isn't a question of waiting until you fall on the middle of the street and your nose lands on a map of South America and you say, oh I see. It isn't until you get a voice from God. It is a question of submission to an already articulated command. All authority is given to Him and many would love to come to Christ as their advocate to plead for them on behalf of their sins but they reject Him as the sovereign to rule over them.

But that's who He is. His terms are He is Savior and Lord and He calls for submission. His word and His commands are absolute.

And that's why in verse 19 it says, therefore, therefore, what do you mean therefore? Since I'm in charge, you are to do this. Make disciples of all nations.

Why? Because I am in charge and I say to do that. There's got to be a submissive spirit. When you look for someone that you want to invest your life into, when I look for someone that I want to invest my life in that I feel has spiritual potential, I look for someone with a submissive spirit, someone who is, to put it in another term, teachable. He is the sovereign Lord.

This isn't negotiable. The Great Commission, the mission of the church then is predicated on three attitudes. The attitude of availability, the attitude of worship, and the attitude of submission.

Now listen to me. Those three attitudes indicate a God-centered preoccupation of the heart. They indicate a God-ward focus. That my heart is set toward God. That there is a willing, devoted heart. I love the Old Testament when it talks about a willing heart.

Exodus 25, Exodus 35, Judges 5, Judges 8, Nehemiah 11, Ezra 1, Ezra 3, verse 5, other places. It talks about the people had a willing heart. The people had a willing heart. That's the kind of heart you see here. A willing heart.

Available. A worshiping heart. Submissive heart. To do what he says.

And that's the antithesis of being caught up in the inane trivia of our modern world. Of spending our lives and our time and our talent and our energy and our money and our resources on ourselves. So you look at your own life and if you're not desirous of fulfilling the Great Commission it isn't that you need a zap from God and it isn't that you need some direct place to go. It is that you need to look to the attitude of your heart and ask are you available? Am I really available? Am I really worshiping? Do I have a single focus in my life?

Am I submissive? So that when I find a command of God I eagerly obey it. Those are three foundational attitudes. He has all authority and if He has all authority that means He has authority that extends to everything. He rules over earth and heaven. He rules over the physical and the spiritual. He rules over men and angels. He rules over holy angels and fallen demons. He rules over Satan himself. He controls disease. He controls circumstances. He controls the wind and the waves. He forgives sin.

It's all under His control and when He says we are to do this then we are to do it. That's John MacArthur, Chancellor of the Masters University and Seminary with the third principle for effective evangelism, submitting to the sovereignty of God. The title of John's study here on Grace to You is The Great Commission. John, thank you for so much encouragement to follow the Great Commission and to be faithful witnesses for Christ. Let me ask, what do you think is the biggest hurdle that people have to overcome in this area?

Is it a lack of skill, a lack of interest, a lack of information, or maybe fear or all of the above? I think fear is the thing that most restrains people from communicating the gospel. But fear is also the thing that causes people to eliminate the offensive part of the gospel. So when you think about how the gospel is usually presented by people, you know, God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life approach, it's all very positive, upbeat, Jesus wants you happy, fulfilled, successful, with a good marriage, moving forward in your business, having your desires fulfilled, and all of that. That's the typical contemporary approach to, quote unquote, the gospel.

That is far from the gospel. Why do people leave out sin and righteousness and judgment? Why do they leave that out?

Because that's the offensive part. So I think that testifies to the fact that fear causes us to avoid the thing that is the offense. And this is what I was preaching on just a few weeks ago when I said, look, we have to tell sinners that they are sinners, that they have fallen short of the glory of God, that they're under condemnation and headed for eternal hell. And that's what caused them to crucify Jesus. He says in John 7, they hated me because I told them their deeds were evil. When you indict someone, and particularly someone you don't even know, I mean, it's not as if you're able to identify all their sins on a list, just to confront somebody and tell them they're a wretched sinner headed for eternal hell and judgment is a very offensive message.

So the very fact that people avoid that out of fear of hostility and rejection tells me that it is fear that stands in the way. But that is what must be said. We can't alter the gospel. We can't leave the message of sin, righteousness and judgment out and fabricate something foolish and superficial like Jesus wants you to be happy and healthy and all of that. That's not the gospel. The gospel is God will rescue you from hell if you put your faith in Christ.

So we've got to get over that. I want to mention a book that will help you with this. Its title is Good News. Good News, excellent for your own study and devotional reading. It'll equip you to give the gospel faithfully, showing you who the Messiah, our Lord Jesus is, the only way to heaven, and much more. No need to be at a loss when it comes to telling someone about Jesus Christ. This book, Good News, will be a big help, hard back, 150 pages, quick but profound reading, affordably priced.

That's right, friend. This book looks at the central truths in Scripture, who Jesus is, what he came to earth to accomplish, and why his death and resurrection 2,000 years ago means everything for your life today. Again, to order John's book titled Good News, contact us today. Call toll-free, 800-55-GRACE or order online at gty.org. Good News, the gospel of Jesus Christ costs $10 and shipping is free. To make sure you know who Jesus is and what he accomplished for sinners, ask for John's book titled Good News. Just call us at 800-55-GRACE or go to the website gty.org.

And if you have already benefited from one of John's books, or if his recent series, Getting in Step with a Christian Walk, showed you how to live more boldly for Christ, or if someone you know has come to faith after hearing John's teaching, we would love to hear your story. Send your email to letters at gty.org. Once more, that's letters at gty.org. Or you can write us at Grace to You, Box 4000, Panorama City, California, 91412. Now for John MacArthur, I'm Phil Johnson, reminding you to enjoy Grace to You television this Sunday on DirecTV Channel 378, or check our website to see when and where it airs in your area, and then be here tomorrow as John continues his in-depth look at the Great Commission, with another half-hour of unleashing God's truth one verse at a time, on Grace to You.