HOW TO BE A DISCIPLE-MAKING CHURCH / MATTHEW

HOW TO BE A DISCIPLE-MAKING CHURCH / MATTHEW 28:16-20
1) A Church that worships Christ and follows Christ is a growing church (vs 16-17)
16 But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated.
17 And when they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted.
2) The church who obeys Christ as Lord and Saviour will make disciples (vs 18-20)
18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
20 teaching them to keep all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
How does a church make disciples?
a) The Church follows the authority of Christ (vs 18)
b) The Church obeys the commands of Christ to make disciples (vs 19-20a)
c) The Church trusts the words of Christ never to leave His church (vs 20b)
a) The Church follows the authority of Christ (vs 18)
‌18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
b) The Church obeys the commands of Christ to make disciples (vs 19-20a)
19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
2 Corinthians 13:14
14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.
1 Peter 1:2
2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure.
“Contributing evidence makes it difficult to deny the presence of Trinitarian thought in the NT documents: (1) the frequency of the God-Christ-Spirit formulas; (2) their context and use: it is impossible, for instance, to imagine baptism into the name of God, Christ, and the elect angels; (3) the recognition by NT writers that the attributes of Yahweh may be comprehensively applied to Jesus and, so far as we have evidence, to the Spirit.” (cf. C.F.D. Moule, The Holy Spirit [London: Mowbrays, 1978], pp. 24-26; Carson, Farewell Discourse, esp. pp. 65-66). Carson, D. A. (1984). Matthew. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.),
The reasons why we need to trust Christ’s commission by D.A. Carson:
First, our disciple-making church should focus on Christ’s commands
Second, His commands are eternal, never outdated or dated, always relevant, transforming and refreshing.
Third, His commands are designed to be obeyed and followed
Fourth, His commands imply a passing on the baton of disciple-making. The Gospel must spread to all the nations.
“Failure to disciple, baptize and teach the peoples of the world is already itself one of the failures of our own discipleship.” Carson, D. A.
How does a church be a disciple-making church?
First, the church follows the authority of Christ because He is Lord and He is the Saviour of our souls.
Second, the Church obeys the commands of Christ to make disciples (vs 19-20a).
Third, the church trusts in the words of Christ never to leave His church.
c) The Church trusts the words of Christ never to leave His church (vs 20b)
and behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
We can see some interesting promises of Christ to His faithful disciple-making churches:
The first promise Jesus said, “I am.” He is the great I am. He is God all-knowing, all-present, the sovereign God, the God who perfectly orchestrates all things in your life and my life. The all-powerful and almighty God. I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Second promise, this great I am is with the disciples “with you.” The implication is Christ abides in us. Christ is in their hearts. He is the Immanuel. God is with us.
Third promise, Christ abides in us “always” He will abide or stick with us like glue. Any time of the day. 24 hours in 7 days this is always. He will show Himself faithful and true. This is a total commitment. A covenant promise of Christ.
Fourth promise, His promise is for eternity. This is until the end of the age (end of the world system). This is from the day of His creation He called you. When you accepted Christ He saved you and will continue to save for holiness. And until the destruction of the earth and the world system, He is always with you and with us.
Isaiah 41:10
10 ‘Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’