All right, let's stand and open our hymn books to hymn number 336. Hymn number 336, My Hope is in the Lord. We'll sing all four verses. My hope is in the Lord, who gave himself for me, and paid the price of all my sins, that I will be forgiven. No merit of my own is equal to some place. I only hope and trust in Jesus Christ, yes. For every time, for every moment, The world always stands before the Godhead's throne. He shows His truth in every day and in each moment for many a time. ♪ His righteousness proclaim ♪ ♪ His righteousness proclaim ♪ Great singing. Back to hymn number 296. 296, Be Still My Soul. We'll sing all three verses. There they shall be, the ghosts of evil dead. They take our love, turn our hearts to blood. There they shall be. ♪ And open arms where death and love may shake ♪ ♪ All our strife shall be put to rest ♪ ♪ Peace to our soul, the late and best of all ♪ ♪ Where we shall be ♪ Great singing. Please be seated as we turn over to him 550 channels only. 550, we'll sing all three verses. ♪ O come all ye faithful joyful and triumphant ♪ skiing this evening. you you so you you you Thank you, I've really enjoyed the music and the ministry of the church here today. I was happy this morning that I wasn't scheduled to preach. It was good to hear the word myself and I needed that too. Before we begin this evening, let's look to the Lord. Once more in prayer. Lord, I thank you that you are God overall and that you speak to us through your word. Help us, Lord, as we look at familiar things in your word, that we wouldn't ignore things that we already think we know and that we would check our hearts to be sure that we're following your word, following you, in your footsteps and accomplishing the work that you've given us to do. Thank you for all that you've done in our hearts, in our lives today. I pray that you'd continue your work and be glorified in us as we listen to your word and respond to it. In Christ's name, amen. I'd like you to turn in your Bibles to Acts chapter one. And I will give a somewhat lengthy introduction before I get to what I'd like to say this evening. And my lengthy introduction and my complete sermon has about 20 minutes to complete. So we'll work on that. And I'd like to just look at briefly the five times in the New Testament. that we have the Great Commission mentioned. And then I'd like to highlight Matthew chapter 28 verses 18 through 20, and we'll work backwards from Acts back to the Great Commission as we find it in Matthew chapter 28. Before Christ went into heaven, He gave his disciples a task to perform. We know that as the Great Commission. And he repeated that to us at least five different times. Each time the Great Commission is mentioned in the New Testament, it's mentioned with a different emphasis. That doesn't mean that the Gospels have different ideas of what the Great Commission is. It means that the Great Commission has different aspects that we need to be carrying out. And I'd like to look at that a little bit this evening. He gave this commission in clear, understandable words, and we find the instructions written down in the four Gospels as well as in the Book of Acts. Luke wrote two different aspects of the Great Commission in the Gospel of Luke as well as in the Acts of the Apostles. Christ has said something five times to us. It's pretty plain that we should not miss what he's trying to say to us. Let's start in the book of Acts. Acts chapter 1 verse 8, but ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost parts of the earth. I'd just like to lift up two parts of this verse as we look at it this evening. In the first phrase, ye shall receive power. The word there is the word for power that In Greek is dunamis. It doesn't mean dynamite. Dynamite is destructive. The word means the capability, the practical ability to perform a work, including the power or might or strength to perform it. When Jesus spoke to his disciples, he said, I am giving you the ability, the power, the strength to fulfill this command. If I can put it in personal terms, you, as a believer, have from Jesus Christ everything you need to be a witness for Jesus Christ. We'll look at that a little more closely as we look into the other passages. But just to underline that, the second aspect here, ye shall be witnesses unto me. The Great Commission is the job of every believer in Jesus Christ to tell others what Christ has done for them. A witness is somebody who gives testimony to that which they have seen or have heard or know to be true. And it's often used in a technical forensic sense. That means, you so help me God, so to speak, tell the truth to people who may or may not be sympathetic to the truth that they need to hear. A witness only tells what they know. Let me just say at the onset, at a minimum, every person who has come to know Jesus Christ as their Savior is able, has the strength and ability to witness with that that God has already done in their life. You can tell someone else what Jesus has done for you. That's a very personal testimony. When I meet up with other believers, I just really enjoy asking the question, how did you come to know the Lord as your savior? It's important because it provides a bond of fellowship, but it's also important because it's an opportunity for them to review what Christ has done for them. And it strengthens them to be able to give that testimony again and again and again. We'll move on. In John 20, verses 20 and 21, some people have said, well, this isn't actually the Great Commission. Well, I understand it's not an imperative per se, but I think you'll understand what I'm trying to say. In John 20, verse 21, I wish I could give the background, but there won't be time. Then said Jesus unto them, to them again, peace be unto you. As my father hath sent me, even so send I you. I'd like to emphasize, first of all, the connectors in this verse. As, even so. If you read this verse, what Christ is trying to get across is, my father sent me to this earth with a job to do that I must perform. And now I am sending you, just as my father has sent me, I am sending you. You and I have a job to do from Jesus Christ. And at least in this sense, it is equally important that Jesus Christ fulfilled his commission from his father and that we fulfill our commission from our Lord. "'Just as my father hath sent me, even so send I you.'" Is a very legitimate translation of this verse. Do you understand that Jesus Christ expects you just like the father expected him that we fulfill his will. I'll press on. In Luke chapter 24, If you read through Luke chapter 24, you'll realize that this whole chapter occurs directly after the resurrection of Jesus Christ. I don't have the time to establish the context, but I hope you understand on the day that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead, As he met with his disciples, these are the words that he said. I'll begin reading in Luke chapter 24, verse 44. And he said unto them, these are the words which I speak unto you while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses and in the prophets and in the Psalms concerning me. Then he opened their understanding that they might understand the scriptures. I would love to have been there when Christ did that. The things written of Jesus Christ must be fulfilled, he said. But what we often overlook is that the next passage is in direct connection to what Jesus has just said. I'll read verse 45 again and then continue. Then he opened their understanding that they might understand the scriptures and said unto them, thus it is written and thus it behooved Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day and that repentance and remission of sin should be preached in his name among all nations beginning at Jerusalem and ye are witnesses of these things. In this verse, I'd like to emphasize what Jesus had already emphasized to his disciples. The things that are written must be fulfilled. This word is used at least three times in this chapter. The word, it's a three-letter word in Greek, and it means it's an absolute necessity. It has to be. In fact, it can be looked at as a moral necessity, an absolute necessity. That's the word behind in verse 46, thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer. If you hear the word behooved, you probably won't come up with, oh, that's an absolute necessity. But that's what it means. It was an absolute necessity that Jesus Christ suffer. And note how Luke wrote this. And thus it was, it behooved Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day. The death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ were absolute necessities, but Luke isn't done yet. He continues binding these words together with the word and, very important that we see that in the context. And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. Look, what Luke is saying in this passage is, Jesus Christ had to suffer. Absolutely necessary. Jesus Christ had to be raised from the dead. Absolute necessity. And repentance and remission of sins must be preached in his name among all nations. It's an absolute necessity. Luke bound all of these phrases together. The Great Commission. is an absolute necessity. And ye are witnesses of these things. Did you know that the great commission for you is a moral ought? This is something that we ought to be doing, just being a witness for Christ. We went with Linda a few days back and visited an Amish village in Pennsylvania and bought something from a hardware store. The man behind the desk was apparently in his 70s, and he spoke about his wife dying within the last year. He had already lost his youngest and his oldest son. His name is Ben. And in the course of the conversation, it came up that we were in Germany, and he wondered if he could understand anything that we said. I can't re-give the whole conversation, but I thought how appropriate that he asks if I, as a German missionary, know some German that he could understand. I opened up John chapter 20. Well, I didn't open it up. I quoted it. said, but these things are written that ye might believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that believing you might have life in his name. I said it in high German as they would call it. He understood it in Pennsylvania Dutch. And then I clarified it again in English and gave him the bridge tract. And up to that point, Ben had said, I hope that I'll get to heaven. I left him with the thought, you can know that you have eternal life. See, witnessing should be just a normal part of our life. God brings us opportunities. That's what pastor was saying this morning. These are regular opportunities in life. We need to be looking for them and take them as God presents them to us. And all you have to do is witness. You hear a key word out of the Bible, hope. I hope that I'll get to heaven. Well, Jesus has the clear answer to that. These are written that you might know that you have eternal life. The Bible is full of simple answers, even for people who are deep in suffering. If you think of it, pray for Ben, that he would accept Christ as his savior. We'll continue with Mark chapter 16, verses 15 and 16. Mark 16, 15 and 16. Time is ticking away. And he said unto them, go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned. The Requirement of every witness for Jesus Christ is to preach the gospel. Not everybody can go into all the world. The Lord has sent me. He opened and closed the doors in my life. I wish I could report about that at the right time and brought people across my path. Amazing how God arranged everything for us to get to Dresden, Germany. But where I am is not the most important thing. It's what I'm doing. And Mark said, go ye and preach the gospel. You need to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. Preaching can be in a technical sense like I am doing tonight, But it can be in the informal sense, just going through life and proclaiming the truth about Jesus Christ. That's something every believer, man, woman, or child can do. And sometimes children have an art of proclaiming truth. Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings. It's amazing to see what God can do even with a child who has accepted Christ as their savior. Time is almost done, and now we'll get to the text for this evening. We're already through the introduction. In Matthew chapter 28, verses 16 through 20. I'll read the passage, then make a few remarks, and we'll close for this evening. Then the 11 disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. And when they saw him, they worshiped him. but some doubted. And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore and teach, better, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen. I'd like you to notice in verses 16 and 17, first of all, that the disciples were obeying Christ's words already. They went to Galilee to a place where Jesus had appointed them. Disciples are followers. Christ is the master. Master, not in the sense of a slave driver, master in the sense of somebody who knows, in Christ's case, everything. Christ knows everything. There is nothing he does not know. And he wants us to be his learners, disciples, followers. Do you do? That's what Christ says. Secondly, in verse 17, and when they saw him, they worshiped him. It's appropriate to worship Jesus Christ. The word means to bow the knee. To bow to the ground. Pastor mentioned this morning, Revelation chapter five. Take some time to read it. Someday, all of us will join in a chorus, worshiping Jesus Christ. But some doubted. It's important to know that the truth about disciples is told in God's word. And it's important in this sense. Matthew wrote down the facts of the matter. The disciples met together with Christ. Christ was about to descend into heaven. And while he met with them, some doubted. That's why I'd like to emphasize how the Great Commission is given in Matthew chapter 28. And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, there are different words for speaking and saying. These are soft words. Do you ever doubt your ability to do what Jesus wants you to do? Do you ever think, witness to people? Me? We doubt, don't we? Jesus didn't rebuke the disciples for their doubt. He spake to them. He didn't yell at them what they need to do. As a master speaking to followers, he said, Go ye, therefore, all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. My time is up. I'll just mention the Main points here this evening, the authority behind this mandate is Christ has all authority. The word for authority there is not ability to do a job, but the power of the authority to rule. Christ has rule in heaven and in earth, that means everything. is under his command. That includes us. And under his power, his omnipotence is not only the ability to do everything, he has the authority to do everything, and he is telling us to go. The scope of the mandate is found in verses 19 and 20. Go is not the main verb of the passage. Neither is baptize nor teach. The verb in this passage, the command is make disciples. Can we make disciples? Yes and no. We present the gospel as witnesses in a compelling way, telling people the truth about Jesus Christ, the truth about us as human beings. And either they accept or they reject the truth that God says about them. It's a personal message, it's an authorized message, And the scope is to make disciples everywhere, to every ethnic group. And Christ isn't looking for volunteers. It's a command. While you are going, make disciples. It's an everyday thing. Tonight, there might be opportunity to make disciples. Tomorrow, at your work, in your home, where you go along the way, opportunities to serve him. The goal of the Great Commission is not evangelism. Evangelism is the means to get to the goal. The goal is making disciples. My time has already passed up, So I'll close this evening. I wish we could share more or I could have shared it more quickly. The Lord wants you and I to be in a continual program of learning more about him and following him. That's what disciples do. And evangelism might bring people to Christ. Disciple making brings believers together in a church setting where they can learn the gospel, learn God's word, learn to follow, and each person within the body can take part in making disciples. You need to make disciples. The no one should be excluded and the companion to this whole process is Jesus said, and lo, I am with you always. We're never alone when we go about making disciples. goes before us, his spirit lives in us, we have his word, and he is with us as we try to fulfill his commission to teach others to follow him. The best teachers are the best followers. Are you following Christ? Are you obeying him? Then go, make disciples, teach others what Christ has taught you. Let's look to him in prayer. Thank you, Lord, for this day and our time together. Thank you for what you've done here in this body of believers. Thank you for what you've done in Dresden, what you will do in Geising. Thank you, Lord, for the missionaries represented in this church and for the great work that you are doing that will be completed when you gather us all together and we join in that chorus of worship and praise before you at your throne. We look forward to it and pray that there'd be a great train even following us as we faithfully do what you've told us to do, make disciples of all nations. We'll thank you in Jesus' name, amen. Thank you for that reminder, looking at each of those passages that emphasizes that God's plan, His program, is that the nations will all be reached with the gospel and the making of disciples. It's not just about telling people how to get saved. Obviously, you don't have a disciple unless they get saved. But it's about those people growing in a knowledge of the Lord once they are saved. And that multiplication is going to take place when we reach people with the gospel, and then we teach them the word of God. So that they will take that, and then they'll be able to teach others also. And just to give you a little bit of a sermon teaser, we are gonna deal with 2 Timothy chapter 2 this month. And that passage of scripture is really going to just be an unfolding of that concept. So let's really ask the Lord to help us to have a deeper burden. Thankful for the opportunity we have to partner with missionaries who are doing this all over the world. And let's be faithful here. The song we're going to close with is hymn 435, I Need Thee Every Hour. And if we really take to heart our responsibility as Christians in this area, this is what we need to ask the Lord to help us to do it. We need Him every hour. So let's stand together, please. We'll sing 435, and we'll sing both first and the last verses. I need thee every hour, most gracious Lord. No tender voice like thine can peace afford. I need thee, oh, I need thee, every hour I need thee. I need thee every hour, the only one. How blessed is God! I need Thee, O I need Thee, every hour I need Thee. O blessed be our Savior, our God, all to Thee. Well, my prayer is that as we go from this place, that we would go with a heart that is ready whenever God gives us opportunity to give the gospel. And as we've been challenged this morning and this evening, it's the little situations that we often don't, we don't see them, but they're right there in front of us. Sometimes God has to kind of like press us and bring it to a head and force us to engage in those conversations. And it's amazing. There are people in this room right now that the reason that you are a Christian is ultimately because God, through very normal circumstances, did extraordinary things and gave the gospel to you. and convicted your heart, and you turned to Christ, and you placed your faith in His finished work. And we can be a part of God reaching into people's lives, and we've got to have the eyes to see it. So ask the Lord to help you to have the eyes to see it. And if you need to get some tracks and just have them in your pocket, Be ready whenever God gives you the opportunity. I'd like to ask if Brother Doug can close us in prayer tonight and I'd like to ask if the Sandals can go to the back and they'll be at their board and stop by, greet them, ask them questions, sign up for their updates if you don't already receive those and just be an encouragement to them. Brother Doug. Gracious and Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for the message this evening. We thank you for a graciously good Lord's Day. But we thank you so much for the message that Brother Sandahl had for us this evening, reminding us through each book of the Gospel and the Book of Acts about the Great Commission, about the commandment, about the urgency that's required, Lord, we just thank you for this month where we can focus on missions and help us, Lord, to do our part, be it just to speak to a neighbor, to a co-worker, to a family friend. We pray that we would share the gospel. And as Brother Sandahl showed tonight, some planted the seeds, some gave the water, and he just happened to be around when God gave the increase. So thank you for his efforts out on the missions field. We pray that you'll continue to bless him as he's on his furlough here. Bless him with safe travels, and we will thank you for it. Now dismiss us with your blessings. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.