The Great Commission

And read verse 11 with me. The Lord will give strength to his people. The Lord will bless his people with peace. And follow me. Father, we do praise you for your name. Lord, that it is mighty and powerful. And Lord, that your voice strikes fear in the heart of your enemies, Lord, but strikes peace in the heart of your people. And so, Lord, we need to hear your voice this morning.

So I ask that you would speak to us by the power of your Holy Spirit through your word, in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. And if you would open up in your Bibles to the gospel of Matthew, chapter 28. Matthew, chapter 28.

This morning will be our last study in the book of Matthew. It's been a great trip so far, hasn't it? I've really enjoyed our time in the gospel of Matthew. I feel like we've learned a lot about Jesus. We've learned a lot about what he's done for us and what he desires of us. And so today, what we come to is the Great Commission. Jesus has spent time with his disciples.

He has poured into them. He has made the sacrifice for sin, proven that that sacrifice was accepted by being raised from the dead. He has made the sacrifice for sin, and now it's time for him to sit at the right hand of the Father and give the job of the work of the gospel, the work of the ministry to these disciples, to those who are his followers. And so as we look at this Great Commission this morning, there's three things that we're going to do.

We're going to look at the need, we're going to look at the commission, and then we're going to look at the application. First thing I want to talk about is the need. So I've been thinking about this a lot, really for a while now, but especially this past week as I've been looking at the Great Commission. Because as I look at our world, I see that the need is great.

And I thought about it in three different ways. First of all, I was thinking about the need that we have globally. The things that are going on in the world right now, and I see so much turmoil happening in the world. It just seems like everywhere that you look, there's conflict. Everywhere you look, there is war. And everywhere you look, there's this power vacuum

of somebody trying to be in control. And there's just such a great need in the world globally right now for there to be peace. The peace that can only come through the gospel of Jesus Christ. We see more illnesses popping up throughout the world. We see places like Europe who have found that they have shut themselves completely off from any kind of truth and have banned any sort of truth in those areas

and they've become dead. We see places like Asia where so many believers are persecuted in such deep ways. And the need globally is great. But then I look at our nation and I look at what's going on nationally throughout the United States. And I look at what's going on in the United States. And I look at what's going on in the United States. And I look at what's going on in the United States.

And I look at what's going on in the United States. And I look at what's going on in the United States of America today. And once again, I see that power vacuum. I see a lot of people that want control, but I don't see a lot of people that want to lead. And as we see that, we see that that affects us as people because what we see is that lack of leadership among the people.

And it feels a lot like we're living in the times of the judges when everyone did that which was right in their own eyes. We see that violence seems to be on the rise throughout our nation, both violence that happens through things like mass shootings, violence that happens through a place like workplace violence, violence that happens within families. And we see a generation of kids that are turning to drugs. And as they're turning to drugs, they find that oftentimes they're laced with this thing called fentanyl.

And they find that what was supposed to be a really good high lands them either in the ER or in the morgue. And it feels hopeless in our nation right now. But then I think about small town Ark City, right? We live in small town USA where it seems like everything should be good. I hear people say it all the time. Ark City is a great place to raise a family. And I don't disagree with that.

But we have issues within our own culture, within our own city, right? Within our own community. I've seen things take place with teachers at the high school that are now causing issues that have a ripple effect throughout our community. I see issues that are happening with kids in the middle school where they've made some very deadly decisions and it has a ripple effect throughout the community.

I even see a leadership vacuum within our own local leadership where there is great turmoil amongst the leadership. Even the local college that we have, there's great turmoil. And the local college that we have, there's a lot of leadership there and it's causing issues. And right now our youth are feeling hopeless and adults, quite frankly, feel helpless. The need is great.

And everybody's looking for a solution. Everybody's looking for one thing that's going to bring an answer to all of the issues that we have. I met with a group of high school kids Friday morning and I said, okay, I want you to answer a question for me. What do you think is the biggest problem that faces our world right now? And they gave me a handful of answers

and I agreed with the handful of answers that they gave me. Those are really big issues. I said, but you know, what lies at the heart of all of those issues? What lies at the heart of all of those issues is one singular issue. And that singular issue is sin. Because at the heart of every major issue that faces us globally, nationally, or locally, there's always one thing

at the root of it. And the one thing that is at the root of all of those issues is sin. And there's only one solution for sin. And it's not by passing another law. It's not by creating a new committee. It's not by, it's not by raising taxes or lowering taxes. It's not by beefing up our military or backing off on our military. It's not by going green or not going green.

The one solution is found in Jesus Christ and the gospel that flows from his death and resurrection for us. You see, the issues that we face now are not that much different than what they were facing in 33 AD when Jesus was sending out his disciples because they all came down to one singular issue and that was sin. And Jesus knew that the one answer for sin is the gospel of Jesus Christ, is the gospel that he had preached, the gospel that he had declared for us, the gospel that he lived out for us, the gospel that he guaranteed for us with his death and resurrection. And so as he looked at his disciples, he said, now take the message that I've given to you and take it to everyone in the world.

And that commission that he's going to give to them is for you and me as well. So we pick up in verse 16 of chapter 28 and this is what it says. But the 11 disciples proceeded to Galilee to the mountain which Jesus had designated. When they saw him, they worshiped him, but some were doubtful. And Jesus came up and spoke to them saying, all authority has been given to me

in heaven and on earth. 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 commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. The commission. It all started on a mountaintop. Doesn't it seem like everything that Jesus has done

with his disciples in the book of Matthew has taken place on a mountaintop, right? The sermon on the mount, the transfiguration that took place on top of the mountain, the Olivet Discourse that took place on top of a mountain, the Mount of Olives, and now this. Well, so Jesus gathers his disciples to a mountain. Now, one of the things that Matthew leaves out is that Jesus did appear to his disciples in Jerusalem.

I don't know how many of you kept the assignment that I gave you last week to go and read the resurrection account in all of the gospels, but you'll find that if you look at the gospel of John, Jesus did meet with his disciples in Jerusalem, but ultimately he wanted to meet with them in Galilee because that's where he would instruct them on what they were to do after he was gone. And so they go to Galilee and they meet him on a mountain, an unnamed mountain, probably a place that was somewhat familiar to them. And as they gathered on top of this mountain, Jesus comes to them. And I want you to take notice of what they do when Jesus shows up.

It says that they worshiped him. Isn't that what we have found people doing ever since Jesus was raised from the dead? Is that every time people saw him, they worshiped him. You see, and this is a sidebar that I didn't intend to share, but one that I feel like the Lord just led me to share. You see, one of the issues that we have is that sometimes we lack that vision of Jesus.

No, I'm not saying you need to have that revelation or Ezekiel vision of Jesus where you actually see him. But sometimes we need to be able to see Jesus, to see him through his word, to see him through his creation, to see him in the way that he works through the lives of people. Because sometimes the reason why we don't worship is because we don't see Jesus. And maybe God is calling you to take time to focus, focus on seeing Jesus.

It says they saw him and they worshiped him. But notice that it says some of them doubted. Now that word doubt is interesting because that word doubt doesn't mean that they didn't believe. That word doubt actually means uncertainty or hesitation. In other words, it almost seemed too good to be true. As Jesus stood there on the mountain, some of them, all of them worshiped,

but some of them were hesitant because it just seemed too good to be true. Has God ever done anything like that in your life where you see it and you're like, oh man, is this really true? Can this really be happening? I can't believe how amazing this is for this to actually be taking place. That's kind of how some of them were when they saw Jesus. And as they saw him

filled with both joy and doubt, a little bit of hesitation, Jesus began to speak. And as he began to speak, he started off with a command. He actually, he started off by identifying his authority. Notice what it says in verse 18. And Jesus came up and he spoke to them saying, all authority has been given to me and have faith in me. In heaven and on earth. That phrase, all authority,

speaks of the authority that Jesus has. Picture, if you will, a police officer that comes to you and says, I'm an officer of the police. You're under arrest. Maybe it's the wrong week to talk about police. I don't know. But that's the authority that they carry with them, right? And that's the idea of what Jesus does when he says, all authority has been given to me.

That gives us an understanding of something that what Jesus is about to tell these disciples is not just a suggestion. It's not just an option that they have for life. It's not just a way to live a better life. It's actually an authoritative command. What he's about to say has nothing to do with, gosh, if you have time, you might want to do these things. But what he's about to tell them

is that this should be the thing that encapsulates every aspect of your life from this point on. This should be your mission. This should be your goal. Paul, in writing to the Romans, said, Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, set apart to the gospel. That idea is that his life is now guided by his desire to share the gospel. And so when Jesus tells them, all authority is given to me,

he's telling them, I have the authority to give you this command. Well, who gave him that authority? Well, God did. Remember? Because he was, as we talked about last week, declared to be the son of God with power. We can substitute that word power with authority. He was declared to be the son of God with authority when? When God raised him. When God raised him from the dead.

His resurrection gave him all of the authority that he needed to command his disciples. And so what he's about to do is about to lay out this command to the disciples. Now, I failed to mention one thing, and that's that when Jesus is on this mountain, it's not just the 11 that are there. Oh, Matthew's specific to point out that the 11 are there, but most scholars believe that there were many more than just the 11 that were there.

If you were to look, and you don't have to right now, but if you were to look in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, when the apostle Paul is defending the resurrection, when the apostle Paul is defending the resurrection, when the apostle Paul is defending the resurrection, he will say that Jesus appeared to more than 500 brethren at one time. Many scholars believe that that's what this instance is, that Jesus appearing to his disciples, including the 11, to give them this great commission is actually when Jesus appeared to over 500 brethren at one time. So when you think about this, don't just think about the 11 being there. Think about a good multitude of disciples, followers of Jesus Christ, who are gathered there.

Because you see, it would be easy for us to say, well, that's just the 11. That was their job, but it's for disciples in general. He says, all authority has been given to me. David Guzik in his commentary put it like this. He said, his authority sends us, his authority guides us, and his authority empowers us. And as he says so, he's going to give, them four commands, four commands that will make up this great commission. The first command is

this, go, go therefore, in light of the fact that I have authority, I want you to go. Now, often this is used for people to say, therefore you should go and be a missionary. You should go pack up your bags and live somewhere else. Just completely move away from home because God has a calling on your life and no one's meant to stay. Everyone's meant to go. And while I do think that there's many

people who end up getting called into the mission field, and that's an absolutely beautiful thing. When God is calling you to uproot your life and go somewhere completely different to do the work of the gospel, it's a beautiful thing and he'll confirm it lots of different ways. But you see, that's not what he means when he says go. That word go actually translated literally means this, as you go or wherever you go.

You see, it's less the idea that I have to pack up my bags and move to the other side of the world. And it's more the idea that this is something that should encapsulate my daily life. Everywhere that I go, the next three things that he's going to tell me to do should be a part of my life. That this great commission is for wherever I go. You see, that strips away all of our excuses, doesn't it? Well, God never called me to the mission field.

Therefore, this commission is not for me. Nope. It's for anybody that goes anywhere. And barring those, those few months when we didn't get to leave the house because of COVID, everybody goes somewhere, right? We're all getting out and going places. He says, go therefore. What are they to do when they go? Go therefore and number two, make disciples. Make disciples. That word disciple

means a learner or a pupil. I want you to notice what it doesn't say. It doesn't say go therefore and number two, make disciples. That word disciple means a learner or a pupil. I want you to notice what it doesn't say. It doesn't say go therefore and number two, make disciples. That word disciple means a learner or a pupil. Because if I convert you, I've changed your mind. But if I make a disciple, I've changed your life.

You see, a convert is somebody who changes their mind about something. A disciple is someone who alters their life based on something. Because now I've just entered a lifelong process of learning. Jesus defined a disciple like this. If anyone would follow me, he must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me or literally take the same path that I take. Our role now as believers in Jesus Christ is to make these disciples, to make learners

or pupils. Now we must understand something. I am not to make a learner or a disciple of myself. That's not my job. I don't want you to start to look like me, although many of you would look really good with no hair. I'm not, my job is not to make you look like me. My job is to make you look like Jesus because I'm not supposed to make disciples of Ryan Nichols. I'm not even supposed

to make disciples of Calvary Chapel. I'm not supposed to make disciples of Calvary Chapel. I'm supposed to make disciples of Jesus Christ. And the same is true for you. We're to make disciples of Jesus Christ. Now, this idea of making a disciple is not something that you do just one time. This is a lifetime investment in the lives of people. A continual investment in the lives of others.

Too many of us want to see somebody come to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior, and then we just let them flounder. We think that that's somebody else's job to disciple them. Isn't that the pastor's job? Isn't that the youth pastor's job? Isn't that the elder's job? No, it's your job. You see, when Jesus said this, he didn't just say this to a bunch of pastors.

He said this to a bunch of disciples. Christianity is not a spectator sport. Everybody needs to get involved. You all have a role to play in the discipleship of people. And it's a daily activity. It's a daily investment in the lives of others. He says, go, and as you go, make disciples. Number three, he says you are to baptize them. And the way that they baptize them was very specific.

It was supposed to be baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. I love that last song that we sang. Nope, second to last song that we sang. I love the last one too. But the second to last song that we sang where it said, praise the Father, praise the Son. Praise the Spirit, three in one, because we are to baptize them into the understanding of that triune Godhead.

Because they all make up God. Three distinct individuals, one God. He says we're to baptize them into the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Why? It's for two reasons. Number one is for identification. See, when I am baptized, by the way, this is for those who understand what they're doing. He's speaking to adults right now. When I am baptized, I am being identified with Jesus in his death.

And I'm being identified with Jesus in his resurrection. It is a baptism of identification. Identification with the life and death of Jesus Christ and the brand new life that I have in him. But it's also a baptism of proclamation. Because as I come out of the water, which by the way, this is why I love baptism so much. Because there is just nothing like watching somebody come out of the water.

And I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to do that. But it's also a baptism of understanding the spiritual truth of the fact that that person has brand new life coursing through their veins. When you see somebody coming out of the water, you realize that they come out a brand new creature. It's a picture of what already took place.

But you realize that brand new creature is there before you. And it's a proclamation. I have been made alive in Christ. Why do we do it? Because it's of utmost importance. Because it identifies us with Christ. And it proclaims the new life that we have in him. He says, go. and make disciples and baptize them into the name of the father and the son and the holy spirit

but then he gives them a fourth thing to do he says teaching them to observe all that i command you teaching them we're to now be in the process of teaching others everything that god's word has to say as i think about this i think about my own kids and i think about the things that i've taught them over the years man two little tiny babies coming out and i i started doing the best that i can to teach them i started reading the bible to them at a really early age a couple of them testify i'm just kidding no one testified anything so i read the bible to them at a really early age and i start teaching them things taught them how to walk taught them how to talk taught them how to eat with a fork one of them still hasn't figured it out yet i taught

them how to do all these different kinds of things right right now i'm in the process of teaching my oldest daughter how to do it how to drive right then and so yesterday don't look at violet just look at me yesterday um we left the the funeral and we're going to the graveside my wife had to go pick up my youngest daughter from a birthday party and so of course my oldest daughter wanted to drive back and so i'm riding with the funeral home director in the hearse and we're driving around the roundabout and there was violet and aaron uh sitting there i'm like oh there's my daughter she's driving teaching my daughter how to drive right now and the funeral home director goes

if i didn't know how to drive i would have to drive right now and so i'm in the process of teaching my daughter how to drive right now and so i'm in the process of teaching my daughter how to drive right now had any idea i'd have called one of the cops and told him to pull her over like oh that would be hilarious i told my wife that later and she goes that wouldn't be funny at all i'm like it would be hilarious i just know i wouldn't sleep at home for the rest of the week but anyway i'm teaching my daughter things right i'm teaching her all the rules of the road why so that she can learn to obey all of the laws and it's the same thing that we do as believers in jesus christ with the word

of god and i'm teaching my daughter how to drive right now and so i'm in the process of teaching my daughter how to drive right now and so i'm teaching her all the rules of the road why so that she can learn to obey the rules of god a lot of people want to think obedience is a very old testament thing and not a very new ryan obedience is old covenant no obedience is as new covenant as it gets the grace of god is there to teach me that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts i can live soberly and righteously and godly in this present age you see the grace of god is not just there to forgive me the grace of god is there to teach me the grace of god is there to teach me the grace of

the grace of god is there to empower me to live an obedient life and my job your job is to teach disciples to obey to teach disciples this is what god's word says and this is what obedience looks like because jesus goes on to say teach them to observe we could substitute the word obey to obey all that i have commanded you you see jesus tells them go make disciples baptize them and then teach them teach them everything that they need to know paul as he addressed the ephesian elders there in the book of acts as he gave that valedictory speech right before he went to jerusalem to be arrested stood before the ephesian elders and said my conscience is clean because i have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of god and that's

what jesus says to them and that's what i'm going to give you right now that's what jesus said and that's what i'm going to give you right now tells us that we need to teach people is the whole counsel of God. Brothers and sisters, there's a whole lot of things in the Bible that I would really prefer not to bring up. There's a whole lot of things in here that I would really prefer not to address because sometimes it steps on your toes. Sometimes it steps on my toes. Sometimes it's not very socially acceptable. Sometimes it's

just awkward to talk about, but I have to bring it all up because I was not sent to only teach you the popular parts of scripture. I was not commissioned to only tell you the things that I like to tell you. I was commissioned to give out the whole counsel of God. And brothers and sisters, you're a disciple maker and you need to do the same thing. You need to be willing to

tell everybody the whole counsel of God. Listen, even if it's not very socially acceptable because it's not, but he says you need to go. You need to make disciples, baptize them, and then teach them. Don't leave them floundering. Teach them everything that my word has to say. And after he gives them the commission, those four commands, he makes them a promise. He says, and lo, I'm with you always, even to the end of the age. And isn't that great?

I'm with you always. That word literally means I'm with you the whole of every day. In other words, he's with me all day long. I love the way that the Weiss translation translates this. Let me read it to you. It says, remaining with you perpetually, regardless of circumstance and on every occasion. You know what I appreciate so much about that is that it is regardless of circumstance and it's on every single occasion. Everything that I go

through in the aspect of trying to be a disciple maker, he's right there with me. That promised presence of God is the only thing that gives me comfort sometimes in knowing what I have to do as a disciple. And that's the way it should be for you too. You know, what's interesting is that promised presence of God is given to everybody throughout scripture that was sent to serve God in whatever way. Abraham was told to leave his homeland and to go wherever God told him to go to a promised land.

And God made him a promise. He says, and when you go, I will be with you. Jacob was told that he had to leave because he'd kind of made some mistakes in his life. But God showed up and said, Jacob, I am your God. I will be with you. When Joseph went to Egypt because his brother sold him into slavery. You know what? One phrase always went with everything that Joseph had to go through in his life, but God was with

him. When David was fighting against Goliath, God was with him, with everybody, the men and women throughout scripture that were sent to do the difficult things of God. God always made a promise. He said, I will be with you. And that presence of God, brothers and sisters, is with us always on every occasion, regardless of the circumstance. I don't know about you, but every now and then, do you ever feel like you don't feel that presence

of God? Is that just me? Sometimes I'm like, Lord, I know your word says that you're with me, but I don't really feel that you're with me right now. It doesn't mean he's not. It's sort of like this morning, right? Like, you know, the sun's out this morning. It's just that we don't see it. You know why we don't see it? Because there's, there's a cloud cover there. It doesn't change his presence. It just changes our view.

And that's the way God is with us. His presence is always there. It's just sometimes the clouds keep us from seeing the fullness of the view of him being with us, even though we know he's still there. I always tell people the best thing that you can do is pray, Lord, will you show me your presence? Will you reveal your presence to me? I've always found him to be faithful to do so.

I've shared this story probably many times before, but I'm going to share it with you again. It's the first time I ever got up in front of people to give a Sunday morning message. I've always found and I was a heap of drama. I was a heap of mess at that point in time. And, and I just didn't feel very good about me. I was battling a lot of depression at the time. And, and my uncle Joe

calls me up. He says, Hey, I want you to come fill in for me on a Sunday morning. And I said, no. He said, well, the Lord really laid you on my heart. I want you to pray about it. So I prayed about it. God said, do it. So I was like, fine. And I said, Lord, the only way this can happen is with you. I need your presence here this morning. It's the most, maybe the most I've ever prayed for any sermon I've ever given,

because at that point in time, because of the things going on in my head, I could hardly complete a sentence, let alone give a 45 minute study. And I remember standing up in front of everybody and opened my mouth and started talking about the things that God had laid on my heart and it all came together and nobody left. And at that point in time, it's like, I could feel God's presence. I could feel God's presence. I could feel God's

saying, I'm with you. I'm here. And I just sensed that presence of the Lord because he made the promise. I'm with you always perpetually in every circumstance and on every occasion. And how long is he with us? Until the end of the age. And that ends the book of Matthew. Isn't it kind of fascinating? Remember how the book of Matthew began? It began with the announcement

of Emmanuel, God with us. And it ends with the promise of Jesus. I will be with you. It's almost like in the book of Matthew, he wants us to know that he is the ever-present God who's always with us.

Well, as we look at this great commission that Jesus gave to the disciples, I, of course, always ask myself the question, and you should too. You should ask yourself the question, whenever you read scripture, what does this mean for me? How am I supposed to live this out in my life? And so now I want to bring us to the application portion. In the last 15 or 20 minutes, this is what we're going to go over. And so as I was thinking

through, Lord, what does this look like? How do we apply this to our lives? I sort of simplified it to two questions. I feel like, okay, there's two questions I need to answer. Where do I fulfill this great commission? How do I fulfill this great commission? So let's answer the question where. Number one, we fulfill the great commission, first of all, in your own home. Do you know that?

Do you know that the first mission field that you have, the first base of missions that you have, the first base to fulfill the great commission that you have is in your own home? God has blessed some of you with one, two, three, five. I think there's one with nine in here somewhere. Nine little people that you're supposed to disciple in your lives. And that's your first mission. That is your first ministry is to your family.

And you need to fulfill the great commission by making disciples, of your kids, by teaching them what it means to walk with Jesus, by introducing them to the fact that they are sinners that are in need of a savior. Listen, that was never very hard, right? Like, look, you woke up this morning. You're a sinner, okay? We just introduced them to the fact they're

little sinners that are in need of a savior. And as they understand that, we lead them into the truth of the gospel. And as we lead them into the truth of the gospel, we lead them into a place of understanding what it means to walk with Jesus every day. Do you know that the greatest, the greatest joy of my life has been baptizing both of my daughters? I won't look at her right

now because I'll cry, but that's been the greatest joy of my life. I got to lead Violet to the Lord. Aaron got to lead Nora to the Lord. And to baptize the two of them is the greatest joy I've ever had because I know that that's my first ministry. But you know what? It's not just to my kids. You know, it's also my ministry to disciple my wife. Wives, do you know what's your ministry to disciple your

husband? Wait, he's discipling my wife. Do you know what's your ministry to disciple your husband? He is, but he still needs somebody to pour into him. Listen, ladies, I don't think I can overstate the need for men to have their wives pour into them. The pressures that men face in the world right now, and I'm just going to be honest, everyone is against a man who is going to make a stand for the things of God.

The pressure that we as men are facing right now is great. And we need wives who are willing to hold our feet to the fire, who are willing to challenge us, and who are willing to pour into our lives in a loving sort of way. Men, your wife needs you. She needs you to pray for her. She needs you to ask her the hard questions. She needs you to tell her what you're reading

in scripture that's sticking out to you because that's part of discipleship. We must first disciple in our homes, create disciples in our homes, otherwise there's really no point in going into the world to make disciples. Now, I want to speak to two different groups of parents here this morning. Some of you parents here this morning have kids that are not walking with Jesus right now.

You poured into their lives, you told them the truth, you tried to make them a disciple, and they've gone and they've done their own thing. Listen, all you can do is give them the truth. They're going to make their own decision with it. Dear God, if there's anything I learned as a youth pastor is that I can talk till I'm blue in the face to a bunch of kids, they're all going to make their own decisions. Just keep loving them and just keep giving them

the truth. And God is always faithful to his word and his word will not return void. Keep doing what you've been doing. Sometimes it's probably going to look a little different, but don't give up on your kids. Second group of parents I want to talk to here this morning are the ones who are sitting back and going, you know what? I got grown kids and I failed.

I didn't disciple them. I was too focused on me. Maybe I wasn't walking with the Lord. and I didn't disciple my grown kids and now I've failed. I did not start in my home. Start today. We can't do anything about yesterday. I think if I could get any of us as believers in Jesus Christ who really want to walk with Jesus to understand something, it's that I can't do anything about yesterday

other than repent, other than confess that yesterday was wrong. Let's move on to today. Start discipling them now. They're grown kids. I promise you can still disciple them. You can still pour into their lives. You can still pour the truth of God into their lives. Don't live with the guilt of regret. As Paul said, this one thing I do, forgetting what's behind,

I do what? I press on. And that's what we need to do as we disciple in our own homes. Number two, I got to hurry up. I'm running out of time. Number two, in your church. Ryan, you're the one that's supposed to disciple the church. No, I'm not. You are. My job is to teach you how to do it. My job is to give you the truth of what this says. Then you take it, devour it yourself.

Don't be content, as we talked about last week with a Sunday morning hand-me-down. You get into it for yourself. See what it has to say. And then you start discipling the people that are around you. Because when you showed up here this morning, you didn't know this, but you showed up to a family meeting. This is not just an individual that showed up to hear a guy on stage talk.

You showed up to have a family meeting. And now all of the family that's around you need you. They need you to ask them hard questions. That's why we have to come to church together, right? Because there's nothing like sitting next to somebody in church that you know when the pastor says something that you know is for you and going, because your neighbor knows it's for you too, right?

Because your neighbor's going, weren't we just talking about this last week? And he sort of gives you the, did you write that down? Right, gives you the side eye. I see it happening here every now and then. I love it when that happens. I love the little nudge from somebody next to you. Yeah, that's right, because we need each other. That's making decisions.

Disciples. We're making disciples of each other. We're pouring into each other's lives. What is our goal here at Calvary Chapel of Arc City? Our goal is to, first of all, reach in. That's by making disciples where we are right now and then to reach out and make disciples of the world that's around us. Because it's not just in your home. It's also in your church.

I've shared this before, but I have two very wonderful parents. They're sitting right here on the front row. And so I don't want to embarrass them too much. I have two very wonderful parents who I love and who poured into my life and have taught me so many things about God and have taught me so much about life. But you know what? There's a good number of men in here

who have been like fathers to me and you have poured into my life. And there are a good number of ladies in here that have been like moms to me and you have poured into my life. And so we need the church to make disciples within the church. Number three, you make disciples in your workplace. But Ryan, the law says don't talk about politics, don't talk about sex, and don't talk about religion.

Well, I don't know about your workplace, but in my old workplaces, politics and sex were all anybody talked about. You may as well talk about religion too, right? Everybody's talking about the first two. You may as well throw the third one in there. Listen, you work with unbelievers every day. You have the greatest mission field that you could possibly have

because people come in to your workspace every day and they don't know Jesus. And as they come in, you can just start asking the questions. You know what I found? If I start asking somebody questions about themselves, and I've learned this in ministry too, if I start asking somebody questions about themselves, you know what they won't stop talking about? Themselves, because that's our favorite thing to talk about.

Ask me more about me, right? So if you start by asking them about themselves and then ask them, well, what do you believe about God? Nine times out of 10, they're gonna volunteer what they think about God. Eight times out of 10, it's gonna be wrong. And then you can say, can I tell you what I believe about Jesus based on what the Bible says? Sometimes they'll say no,

give you a few explicitives and move on. But a lot of times they'll say yes because they're kind of curious. What does he have to say about Jesus? Pretty soon you screw around and they start getting saved. I've told you about the guys I used to work construction with. Two or three of them, at least as far as I know, came into a walk with the Lord. And it's not because

I'm very good at it. It's because I ask questions. And then eventually told them what I thought and just hope they didn't get mad. We make disciples in our workplaces. And then number four, we make disciples as you go. In other words, everywhere you end up, right? Y'all go to the McDonald's, although not right now because it's under construction. Y'all go to places to eat.

Y'all go to, uh, uh, coffee shops. Y'all go to Walmart. Y'all know my feeling about Walmart. Like that's the best mission field in the world, right? You go there after nine o'clock. Everybody needs hope and pants, right? And so you got all these mission fields everywhere. So as you go, make disciples, be the light of Jesus Christ to the world that's around you.

Where do you make disciples? In your home, in your church, in your workplace, and every other place you go to. Because the world is full of people. People in need. But that leads us to the second question. How? How do we make disciples? Well, again, I think there's five things. Number one, you have to know the message. You have to know the message. Remember last week,

we talked about the fact that the ladies came to the tomb. And when the ladies came to the tomb, the angel said, hey, you're here looking for Jesus who's been crucified. He's not here because he's risen. But then do you remember the next thing that the angel said? Come and see, right? You see, she was going to send them out to give the message to other people,

but they had to know the message themselves first. They had to be convinced themselves of the message first. And so if we're going to make disciples, we first of all need to know the message. And that brings me to a very interesting point. I get about guarantee, somebody in here doesn't know Jesus. Because even of a group of people that have showed up to church every Sunday

for however long, the potential is there that somebody doesn't know Jesus. I think I've shared with you before that I used to have a teacher in Bible college. His name was Mike Madigan. Mike Madigan always taught our Matthew class. And every semester during the time when he taught Matthew, he would offer a salvation message. And every semester, at least a handful of kids

would come forward and get saved. Because attending a church or attending a Bible college is not a guarantee of salvation. So if you're here this morning and you don't know Jesus, today's your day of salvation. You're a sinner who is under the judgment of God and you will stand before God for your sins someday. But the good news is Jesus loves you so much that he came down

and he took the penalty that rightly belongs to you on the cross. Because he took that penalty that rightly belongs to you on the cross. If you will come to him and confess your sin and accept him as your savior, then you can be saved today. Born again. And then you too will know the message. But for those of us that are born again believers here, you need to know the message.

You need to seek it out for yourself and make sure that you know why you believe what you believe. Jude tells us that we should be ready to give. A reason for the hope that we have. And you should be able to know the message to give a reason for the hope. Dig into God's word. Rely on that power of the Holy Spirit and know the message. Number two, you need to live the message.

Uh-oh, that's where things get hard. You need to live out the message. Listen, if you're claiming that Jesus Christ has changed your life, then he better have changed your life. The world is tired of seeing Christians who claim to be Christians who claim it with their mouth and then go home drunk. The world is tired of Christians who claim it with their mouth

and are stoned. The world is tired of Christians who claim it with their mouth and are jerks. The world is tired of Christians who claim it with their mouth and are the most judgmental people they've ever met. The world is tired of Christians who claim it with their mouth and then end up on the news because of what they've done immorally. Do you guys see that a teacher

and a youth pastor got caught in a sexting down in Georgia? No, excuse me, it was in Texas. prostitution ring. The world's tired of that. And quite frankly, I am too. I'm here to tell you, it's for me too. I need to pay attention to my own life because I got to live out the message. Brothers and sisters, let Jesus change your life. If that's what you're going to claim,

then you better make sure he's really changed it. If he hasn't really changed it, wait till he has, because he's in that process in your life. We have to live out the message. Number three, you need to actually speak the message. One of the quotes everybody likes to use is, preach the gospel and if necessary, use words. It's necessary, okay? You have to use the words, right? You have to use your words. That's all

there is to it. Listen, you can try to have the most peaceful look possible on your face,

and people still won't go, look at the peaceful look on his face. I need Jesus, right? They won't do that. They need to hear from you that, you know, you're not going to be able to do that. Sin is a problem. Jesus is a solution. It needs to be backed up by the way that you live, but eventually you're going to have to speak the message. But Ryan, it's incredibly unpopular.

I might get canceled. You will. Don't worry about it. Just do it anyway. Right? You know what I have found with people that end up getting canceled because of the things that they say, people try to block them out. They become the most popular person in the world. Right? Their message all of a sudden goes out on every news agency possible. So-and-so got in trouble because of the message of hate that they had

about Jesus Christ and homosexuality. Right? You guys heard about Tony Dungy. Right? You guys hear about him? He went to a right to life march and some guy from some stupid news organization was like, I'm so tired of Tony Dungy trying to say that homosexuality is wrong and abortion is wrong. I'm tired of his bigotry. So it gave Tony Dungy the opportunity to talk about it on NBC.

Morons. Right? This is what happens. When you stand for the truth, God is always there. He's always there bearing witness to the truth. Eventually you have to speak the message. Number four, we do so in the power of the spirit. We do so in the power of the spirit. This, this is so key guys. I can't overemphasize this enough. Right before Jesus ascended, the disciples were gathered.

He said, here's what I want you to do. I want you to go on. I want you to tarry in Jerusalem, hang out in Jerusalem for a little while. And as you hang out in Jerusalem, wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit because he will come upon you. And he will empower you to be witnesses for me in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and in the uttermost parts of the earth, brothers and sisters, you, you can try to work up as

much strength as you want to. You can try to work on your message as much as you want to. You can try as hard as you want to, to do all of the things to make disciples. But if you don't do it in the power of the Holy spirit, it won't do you any good. You need the power of the Holy spirit ministering through you without the power of the Holy spirit. You could put together what you consider to be the power of the Holy spirit.

You could put together what you consider to be the greatest message about the gospel ever that includes a tearful moment of your own testimony, but without the power of the Holy spirit, people will go, okay, and walk away. But with the power of the Holy spirit, you can give the most simple sentence. Jesus loves you and you need him as a savior. And man, if that power of the Holy spirit's working through you right there in front of you and you're going, what did I even say?

It doesn't matter because the Holy spirit was at work. We need that power in our lives. You must continually be being filled with that power of the Holy spirit. If you want to be that witness for Jesus in the world around us. And then number five, with the presence of Christ, with the presence of Christ, we do this because he is with us. How is he with us all the time?

He's with us through that person of the Holy spirit. Remember what he told the disciples in John? He said, Hey, listen, I'm taking off for a little while, but I'm not going to leave you guys as orphans. I'm going to send to you the Holy spirit. The Holy spirit, when the Holy spirit comes, he will bear witness of these things. The idea of bearing witness is to come alongside and give a testimony picture.

If you will, you're in a court of law and you're declaring your story and you're like, wait, he can verify my story. He was there. That's the idea of what the Holy spirit does. And so Jesus is with us all the time to that presence of the Holy spirit. We do so with the presence of God friends. The need is great. The needs all around us. Right now. And you and I have been given a commission by Jesus.

Go out and make disciples. And we do so everywhere we go with the power of the Holy spirit. Amen. Let's all stand.

If you'd bow your heads with me, father, we come to you now and we praise you for who you are. Lord, I praise you for the great salvation that you have given to us. Lord, the hope that we have in you. The peace that we have in you. The grace that we can have through you and the rest that we have in you. And father, I want to pray that you would be with each of these people that are here

this morning. Each of these believers that you would give them the grace that they need to fulfill this great commission. Lord, may it start in a small ways and carry out however you see fit. And father, I lift up anyone here that doesn't know you this morning. Lord, that that message would begin to sink deep into their hearts so that they can't get away from it.

So that they too will become that disciple of Jesus Christ that you've called for them to be. Lord, also, I don't know why it's just on my heart. I just want to pray for the prodigals right now. Lord, I know that there's, that there's many, many families here that represent prodigals that have been told the truth and Lord, they've run from you. Some in big ways, some in small ways, Lord, but it is still rebellion.

And so Lord, I want to lift them up to you and just ask that your Holy spirit would grip their hearts. And Lord, that you would move through them. Father, give these moms and dads, grandmas and grandpas, the grace that they need to continue to love, to give out the truth, even when it's really hard. And father, we just thank you for who you are in Jesus name.

Amen. Be blessed. Excuse me. I'm sorry. Praise the Lord. Hosanna. Save now. Yes. So father, we do ask, heal our hearts, make it clean to the things unseen. Show us how to love. Like you have loved us and Oh, do the Lord break our hearts for what breaks yours. Everything I am for your kingdom's cause. As I walk from earth into eternity. Amen.

So Lord, I ask now is the folks go out as we all move out now, Lord, in our daily lives, we've had this time together. Give us the grace, the strength and the boldness Lord, which really is referring to having the faith. The freedom to, to make disciples in Jesus name. Amen. God bless y'all.