So it's a joy to be back. And Pastor Schlutz just reminded us this morning that Thompson Road Baptist has supported us since 1997. We were here for the missions conference then. And we're thankful for your years of faithful support for us. But that's not what I'm here to talk about this morning. I'd like you to turn your Bibles to Acts chapter one. I'll be there in just a minute. And this is a missions conference, I won't tell you anything new, but I hope that I can at least give you one perspective that each one of us can take home with us this morning. I think it'd be very important to get the conference started on that note. As you all know, before Jesus Christ ascended into heaven, he gave his disciples a task to perform. This command is given for every generation and won't be completed until Christ returns. He gave this commission in clear and understandable words, and we find these words written down in the four Gospels, as well as in the book of Acts. Anything that the Lord takes the time to explain to us in different terms, multiple times, is something that we need to note, to understand, and to implement into our lives. Let's start in the book of Acts, Acts chapter 1. You know the context and the verse quite well, I'm sure. Acts 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 part of the earth. We'll go backwards through the Gospels now and then land in Matthew chapter 28. You can turn back a few pages to John chapter 20 verse 21. John 20 verse 21, Jesus said to his disciples, Peace be unto you, as my Father has sent me, even so send I you. I think the point becomes more clear the further we read in these gospel accounts of the Great Commission. In Luke chapter 24, verses 46 through 49, we read, you can turn there, Luke 24, 46 through 49, And Christ 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. And behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you, but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem until ye be endued with power. from on high. Then in Mark chapter 16, verses 15 and 16. This is all review for us all. Mark 16, verses 15 and 16. 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. And then we'll park this morning on Matthew chapter 28, verses 18 through 20. Matthew 28, verses 18 through 20. And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power, authority. I think it's clear when we take each of these texts separately, as well as when we look at them together, that the Lord has given us a mandate. Mandates are popular now. But this is a mandate from the Lord himself. We call it the Great Commission. We're in a missions conference, I remember from my childhood on, hearing and participating in a volunteer for Jesus. I understand the spirit of the song and I hope that each of us have that spirit of being willing to volunteer. But what I'd like to propose to you this morning and what I'd like you to take home with you today is Christ is not looking for volunteers. He's looking for obedience from everyone who calls on His name. I am a, quote, professional, end quote, missionary. I'm fulfilling a duty representing you on a foreign field. But my job is the same as your job before Christ. We are to be His witnesses. to the world. I'd like you to note this morning the authority behind this mandate in verse 18, then the scope of this mandate in verse 19 and the first part of the 20th verse, and then the companion accompanying this mandate in verse 20. Please, note with me first the authority behind this mandate. This is a personal message. Sometimes we skip right to the point. But I'd like you to notice the first part of verse 18. And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying... This is a personal message. Jesus Christ is speaking with us. That means he has a message for us. The message has meaning for us. And in particular, this message requires a response from us. Jesus came up to them. He talked to them, and the words that He said are right in front of us. Please understand the sense that I say it. This is an authorized message. That is, He says it in and with His authority. The word power connotes something else than what Jesus was actually trying to say here. Jesus Christ has all authority in heaven and on earth. If I can put a comma here, there have been competing authorities in the last two years attempting to say what the body of Christ should, can, and is allowed to do I'd like to remind you this morning, we are here on the authority of Jesus Christ, and there is no competition. This is His church, we're here on His authority, under His mandate, fulfilling His purposes, and nothing should come between us and the fulfillment of this mandate that He's given us. That's aside. There's no limit on this authority. All authority has been given to Jesus Christ. The Greek word exousia means ruling authority or ruling power. Christ has been given the keys of death and hell. He is the one who holds the authority to either grant eternal life to those who call on His name, or condemn those who refuse and reject Him. This is a different word than is used in Acts 1, verse 8. Power is given unto me in heaven and on earth. Go ye therefore, the word power there is dunamis. That means operational power. Christ has given us the operational power, the ability to perform in His name because He has all authority. And notice as well, He came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. I think that implies there's no limit on the place. Wherever we are, we are under the authority of Jesus Christ, and we are to be acting in His name. Some of you have a job. Some of you are retired. But each of us has a different... Sorry, German just came to my mind. We have a different area of operation. And in the place where Jesus Christ has planted us, whether it's retired, whether it's on the job, on the road, we are to be representing Him. One of the assistant pastors in Dresden is a watchmaker. He says, that's my job. But my calling is to preach the gospel. You understand the difference? He is a class A watchmaker. He makes some of the top watches in one of the top firms of German watchmaking, Glashütte watches. They sell for as much as a small house on the outskirts of Indianapolis. It's just a job. His calling is to make disciples for Jesus Christ. Please note with me in verses 19 and 20, the scope of this mandate. Go ye therefore and teach 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. The scope of this command is something that we're, first of all, supposed to fulfill on the way. Go is not the main command in this mandate that Christ has given us. It could be better translated, as you are going or while you are going. In other words, we're to fulfill this on the way. Every day the Lord has new appointments for you. might be with family, might be with neighbors, might be with friends, acquaintances, co-workers, people you meet along the way. But as you go, Christ has a mandate for you to fulfill. The words go ye, as well as baptize, And teaching are all participles. That means they're working nouns. While you're going, be baptizing, be teaching. Those are things that we're supposed to do along the way. And here I'd like to say again, Jesus Christ is not looking for volunteers. Because a participle, used as it is here, has the force of an imperative. That means it's a command. Go ye. It's a good translation. Go now. It could be translated. And the importance of this can't be overlooked. The whole group of disciples at that time, met with Christ, Christ spoke to them as a group and gave a command. A command to a group is most likely, in most situations, to be understood as an individual command for each person in the group. So, when Christ says in a missions conference, go ye, He's not saying, become a missionary. He's saying, you, go. This is a message for you. These participles, going and baptizing and teaching, are commands. But there's something that can be done together, there's something that can be done by believers in any place at any time. I'm not saying that everybody needs to go baptizing. That's a church ordinance, it's clarified later. But the going and the teaching is something that each one of us are appointed to do. And the mandate is actually one goal. We often use the word evangelization. It's a good term, but it's not what this verse is talking about. Evangelization is just a means to an end. What Christ commanded here is make disciples. Getting someone converted to Jesus Christ, as we say, is a wonderful thing, but it's never an end. That's not the whole point. That is just the beginning. The point is to make a disciple. A disciple is a follower of Jesus Christ. A follower is someone who not only walks in the footsteps, but also one who learns along the way and who obeys what is learned. That makes me take a pause. There's so much that I've learned. And I can't say that as a disciple, I'm obeying everything that I've learned. A disciple mimics his master, his teacher. Our goal is, and the goal of this mandate is, that we Bring people to Christ, teach them to follow Christ, so that Christ can be developed in them. That was Paul's prayer for the church in Galatia, the churches in Galatia. That Christ might be formed in you, is what he said. Please, practice evangelization. Let people hear the gospel. But please, never be satisfied as though we've shared the gospel. What more is there that we can do? Sharing the gospel is just one step in this path. Making disciples is what it's all about. And this church should be filled with followers of Jesus Christ, who are reaching people to make them followers of Jesus Christ. This word, to make disciples, occurs only four times in the New Testament. Unfortunately, in the King James Bible, it's not developed in its translation in order to show what it actually means. It's translated instructed, or disciple, or teach, or taught. But this word, to make a disciple, If it has an object, as here in this text, it means to make a follower, to bring someone to be a follower, to win someone over for a teaching. Eastern Germany is not the Indianapolis area. This is a gospel-saturated area in some ways, There's a Baptist church on so many different corners, and many other churches that are also preaching the gospel, whether we would walk with them or not. In Eastern Germany, we're more likely to meet atheists than somebody who knows about Jesus Christ. Talk more about that later, in another context. It wouldn't be enough. to go into Eastern Germany handing out gospel tracts and think, 550,000 people in Dresden, Germany, and we gave out 550,000 tracts. We've reached our goal. No. We haven't even come close to passing out that many tracts. But our goal like it or not, is not to pass out 550,000 tracts. Our goal is to make disciples for Jesus Christ, followers of him. Our main mission is not evangelism, rather to teach people the gospel until they understand what it's about, where they're going without Jesus Christ. why they urgently need Jesus Christ, as well as when they should give their lives to Jesus Christ. Now is the day of salvation. But salvation is only a part of the story. At salvation, the following begins, the discipleship begins. Conversion Giving your life over to Jesus Christ is a change of occupation. That's what I'd like you to realize this morning. In April of 1978, at Pillsbury Baptist Bible College, I accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior. I'm ashamed it took so long. I realized The Lord can make a mechanic out of anyone, but there have to be people who professionally proclaim the gospel. The Lord called me into his service. But the moment that you accepted Jesus Christ, assuming you've already done that, you accepted a new occupation. a mandate. You can do it along with any job. You can do it in any place in the world. It's not even legal in some places in the world to share the name of Jesus Christ. And people do it and make disciples even where it's not legal to name His name. Whoever gives his life over to Jesus Christ belongs to him, obeys him, follows him, and also makes other disciples, followers of Jesus Christ in his discipleship. We learn from him as we go and teach what we learn from him to others as we go. You already know this, but there's no example of forced discipleship in the Bible. The world went through experiences that are still convulsing throughout, especially Europe at this point. The Crusades still leave a bitter taste in all of Europe. And in all of the Middle East, they've never forgotten that people were forced at the point of a sword to convert to Christianity. So they converted to Christianity and became inoculated with a false gospel, thinking that because they now became a Christian without accepting the salvation of Jesus Christ, that now they have a home in heaven. And everything's okay here on earth. And they missed the whole point. And Europe has become, once again, a dark continent. In part, because they are reacting to the false gospel of forced conversion to Christianity. I'd like to give one verse, two verses, an example. From Moses' time in Deuteronomy chapter 30, verses 19 and 20, you can turn there in your Bibles. Deuteronomy 30, verses 19 and 20. I'd like to underscore this point. The Lord never intended forced conversions. Moses said to the people, Deuteronomy 20, verse 19, I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore, choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live, that thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him. For he is thy life, and length of days, that thou mayest dwell in the land which the Lord swear unto thy fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them." Compulsory baptism, compulsory conversion, and the Crusades are strictly rejected by every biblical The missionary command is not a command to Christianize the world. It's not even a command to evangelize the world, as good as that would be. It's a command to make disciples, followers of Jesus Christ. To win the individual person of the world as a follower of Jesus Christ. The words, the nations, in our text in Matthew 28, is the Greek word ethne. And it means, it's the word from which we derive the word ethnic. The most general word that stands for different groups of people biblically, the nations, was anybody that wasn't included as a Jew. in the Old Testament as well as early in the New Testament. And all of the nations, including the Jews, according to our gospel mandate, need to hear the gospel, become believers. Non-Jews were the nations, whether they were of different skin color, language, nationality, ancestry, or anything else. All groups of people must receive this good news. We believe that, I think. At least here. Believing it here is something entirely different. And believing it with hands and feet, as well as with our mouth, is another different thing. America is being inundated with people from different nations. However you think about that politically, God is bringing the mission field to America. And all of these nations, all of these people, whoever they are, wherever they come from, have the same need as you did on the day before you accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior. And somebody's got to reach them, not just to evangelize them. They ought to be followers of Jesus Christ. All groups of people must receive this good news. And we as believers are responsible for this because Christ gave us this responsibility. And nobody should be excluded from it. Do you like your neighbors? Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. But whether you like them or not, That is the first, well, maybe the second most natural place to begin sharing the gospel. And if it's neighbors with whom you don't get along, all the more reason. With Christ in their heart, they'd have a different starting point. Naturally, family is the first place to start. Children, unsaved relatives. God has put them in your life and you can reach them with the same gospel message that reached you. Those who have been made disciples are to be baptized. We're living in a place, Eastern Germany, if people are... How shall I say this? If people mean they're Christians, most of them come out of a Lutheran background. They were baptized as babies and from their Lutheran church they were taught, believe in your baptism. Is that a false gospel? Please, if you have Lutheran friends or family, they need to understand. They were taught a false gospel. And if they believe the gospel that they were taught, they are on the fast road to hell. No one can ever get to heaven by believing in baptism. It's a false gospel. And we should unashamedly expose such false things. Those who have been made disciples are to be baptized, baptizing in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Some people think a valid baptism has to be in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Some people extend that to the point where they baptize once in the name of the Father, once in the name of the Son, once in the name of the Holy Spirit, The whole thing is blown out of the water in Acts 2.38, where people were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. There's no formula that makes a baptism valid. What makes a baptism valid is placing your faith in Jesus Christ and obeying him, being biblically baptized. Everyone who follows Christ should identify with Christ through baptism, after being saved. And if you haven't done that, it would be a good point to start in this missions conference to declare, I am following Jesus Christ, who made a definite decision, although He didn't need it, in order to fulfill all righteousness, he was baptized. And if you're not baptized yet, you need to do that at the earliest convenience or inconvenience. Become a disciple first, then baptize, then teach to keep all that Christ commanded us to do. That's what I'd like to emphasize at the end here. And teach them to keep everything I have commanded you." There's no end to making disciples. It starts at the Christian cradle. When people are born again, discipleship has already begun, and it ends just before the burial ceremony, when people are promoted to glory. And there's no course options, if you understand what I mean. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. I've been in circles where they said, we'll avoid things that divide. That's another way of saying, I am going to be directly disobedient to God who has commanded me to teach all things whatsoever I've commanded you. Teach them. So, the question is, who do you take under your arms? to help them to better understand the things of Christ, to follow Him, to obey Him. Teach them to keep everything that makes it necessary that we're an example, not just a voice. There are no second or third tier teachings. When your Lord has said it, He wants you to do it without ifs, ands, or buts. What I ordered you to do, it could also be translated. Christ began the conversation with his disciples in verse 18. All power in heaven and earth has been given to me. Whoever has the power is in charge. And these statements also come from the Lord as an order given to us. Every Christian is a missionary, you are called into his service and you have nothing to fear because of the companion of this command. And lo and behold, I am with you every day until the end of the world. Amen. Christ is with his own at every step, every day, until the time of this world is accomplished. And we should be following our companion, making disciples for him.