THE GREAT COMMISSION: DOES IT STILL MATTER?

The story is told in Matthew 28:18-20. This is the story of the

famous last words of Jesus Christ. If you're familiar with your Bible
you know that the words are called the Great Commission. And
justly so. Because the words that Jesus spoke that day were a
charter and a foundation and a blueprint for the movement that his
followers were going to establish after he was gone. These words are
important to us for three reasons.
First, these words are important because, at least in Matthew's
gospel, they are the last words of Jesus. Last words are always
important. When a loved one dies, one of our questions is, Did he or
she have any last words? We all realize that the last words that
people say represent that which is closest to their heart. So these
words are important because they are the last words of Jesus
Christ recorded in Matthew's gospel.
Second, these words are important because they explain what the
followers of Jesus Christ are to do in the long period between his
first coming and his second coming. Jesus knew it would be a long
time before he would come back. Just before he departed for
heaven, he gave them these last words which are the marching
orders of the Christian church. These verses describe what you and
I are to be doing during that long period of waiting between the first
coming and second coming.
Third, these words are important because they apply without
exception to all Christians at all times, in all places, in every
possible situation. Four times he uses "all" or some form of the
word "all." Notice verse 18, "All authority has been given to me."
Verse 19, "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations." Verse 20,
"Teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you and
surely I will be with you always." That's very clear, isn't it? All
authority, all nations, everything, always. The words of Jesus Christ
have a permanent and enduring and universal validity for you and
for me. That's why they were given and that's why they were
recorded. We ought to pay special attention to what Jesus is saying
here.

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Now in these three verses I find three great things. First, I find a
great claim. Second I find a great commission. Third, I find a great
promise.
Verses 19-20a say, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have
commanded you.” This is the Great Commission of our Lord Jesus
Christ. I confess to you that as I ponder this, because these verses
are so familiar to us, I am perplexed to know exactly what to say to
you about these words that you have heard so many times before.
But let me tell you what I see as I read these words of our Lord
Jesus Christ. I see first of all what we are to do. Second, I see where
we are to do it. Third, I see how we are to do it. Fourth, I see what
result we are to expect when we do it.
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations.” Now, I am going to
tell you something in the Greek. You’ve got to trust me about what I
am going to say. This is an important point. In the original Greek,
there is only one verb. That’s important because you could read this
and it might seem as if there are two or three or maybe four verbs
depending on what translation you use. You might read this and
say, Well, “go” looks like a verb; “make disciples” looks like a verb;
“baptizing” might be translated as a verb; and some people might
even translate “teach” as a verb. It might look as if he’s telling you
to do four things—go, make disciples, baptize, and teach.
His Last Words: Our First Command
I make my conclusion and I am finished. If this is the Great
Commission of Jesus Christ, then this ought to be our great
commission as well. If this is what was uppermost on Jesus’ mind,
then this is what ought to be uppermost on our minds. If this is
what Jesus’ heart was beating for at the end of his ministry, then
this is what our heart ought to be beating for. Here is the bottom
line: We are called to be Great Commission Chris-tians and to build
a Great Commission church. Disciples who make disciples. To be
people in the parade who are bringing others to join the parade,
who will bring others who will bring others.
 We find out the result is supposed to be a spiritual multiplication.
The result is to be a church full of spiritual multipliers. A church
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full of people who can reproduce themselves. As the great parade of
God’s purpose moves down through history, and as we join in the
march with Jesus Christ, we’re going up into the stands and we’re
saying, Hey, brother, come on down and join us in the parade.
When we get our friends with us in the parade, we’re to teach them
and then we’re to send them back into the stands and we’re to say,
Go get somebody else. They’re to bring them down and they’re to
teach them and they’re to send their friends back up into the
stands. And so it is that we win one and we teach one and baptize
one and we bring them into the church and we equip them and
send them back out. And he brings his friends in and he wins them
and he teaches them and he sends them out and they win their
friends and they come in and he teaches them and we send them
out. So it’s an unending cycle of spiritual reproduction.
The real mark of the health of the church is not the size of the
budget, the size of the staff, the beauty of the choir, the glory of the
music, the wonder of the architecture, or any of the worldly
measures we like to use. The real mark of the church in Jesus’ eyes
is a church that is 100 percent dedicated to fulfilling the Great
Commission. Getting in the parade and bringing others into the
parade and sending them back up into the stands to get some other
people and bring them back down and send some others back into
the stands who will bring some others back down. That’s a good
standard for evaluating all our ministries. Are they equipping people
to do this? Are they somehow involved in the disciple-making
process. If our ministries are not doing that, we ought to change
them or adjust them to bring them back into line with what Jesus
was talking about two thousand years ago.
If this is the Great Commission, then this ought to be our great
commission. Everything else is of lesser importance compared to
these ultimate words of Jesus Christ. Nothing is as important than
that we become this kind of people and this kind of church.