MATTHEW’S TABLE OF CONTENTS
Text: Matthew 28:18-20 I.
WHY DID JESUS DIE AND RISE AGAIN FROM THE DEAD?
One of the challenges facing Christian missions in India is the caste
system. Legally, the caste system was
abolished in 1949, but it is still the custom and prohibits people of
different groups from interacting and working together. The lowest caste in India
(Dalits/Untouchables) is treated as the scum of the earth. Christianity preaches a radical equality of
all individuals and is challenging the institutionalized oppression of
Hinduism. Conversion opens the door
for Dalits to better standards of living because converts no longer see
themselves as inferior to others. In
other words there are economic and social benefits to the kind of equality
that the Gospel offers. The Indian
government is beginning to call these benefits “allurement,” the granting of
material benefits for converting from Hinduism to Christianity. “That means Christian missionaries can
readily be accused of coercing “conversion” by offering opportunity…If a
Dalit previously restricted to dirty work gets a better job with an improved
income, government officials can cry allurement” (Marvin Olasky, The Religions Next Door pp.88f.). C. The Great Commission and the Old Testament: 1. What Adam and Eve lost because of sin, Jesus has and His bride the church is regaining (Genesis 1:28; cf. Psalm 8). 2. The Commission of Jesus is similar to the commission Moses gave to Joshua (Deuteronomy 31:23; Joshua 1:6-7). 3. “And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations and men of every language Might serve Him” (Daniel 7:13-14). 4. Satan tempted Jesus with all the kingdoms of the world. Jesus came to earth to be crowned King over all creation but through obedience and the cross (Matthew 4:8-10). 5. “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth” (Matthew 28:18). D. The Great Commission and Apostolic preaching: 1. Paul preached, disciples were made, baptized instructed, churches were organized and Paul would go on to the next city (Acts 14:21-23). 2. Paul not only had his mind set on church planting, but preaching to governors, kings and to Caesar (Acts 9:15; 25:11; 27:21). II. DEATH CANNOT STOP THE PROGRESS OF THE
GOSPEL AND OUR INHERITANCE OF THE EARTH
“The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. We are of yesterday, but where you kill one there are soon ten, where you kill ten there are soon a hundred, and where you kill a hundred there are soon a thousand; and there is no city or town of any size in the Roman Empire that does not have the graves of the honored martyred dead” (Tertullian [d.230]). III. MATTHEW’S GOSPEL, THE GREAT COMMISSION AND
CHRIST CHURCH
A. Where do we want Christ Church to be in five years? (Matthew 28:18-20) 1. I pray that the young people of the church make public professions of faith and come to the Lord’s Table. 2. I pray that those who are in their teens won’t be ensnared 5 years from now by sexual immorality. 3. I pray that those who are young adults: 17-22 will marry in the Lord. 4. My prayer is that our children would inherit the earth and that the world would not inherit our children.
2. I pray that many of our children stay in the community and through their various callings apply their Christian faith to their callings. C. What we want for the church in five or fifteen years begins right now with your calling as a parent. 1. It’s the tedious and often frustrating day to day teaching of our children. 2. It’s the daily praying with them, reading the Scriptures to them, catechizing them, training them up, etc. 3. Our children are one of the greatest resources our church has for fulfilling the Great Commission and inheriting the earth. “Conversion to Christ does not isolate the convert from his or her community. It begins the conversion of that community. … [D]iscipling is a long process—it takes generations. Christian proclamation is for the children and grandchildren of the people who hear it” (Andrew F. Walls). D. My prayer for adults in the next five years is not that we have a Christian program to keep them busy in the church seven days a week. Become all things to all men (1 Corinthians 8-10). Keep earnestly seeking the means of grace (Word of God, prayer, sacraments, Christian fellowship). When Harvey Cox wrote The Secular City, it was clear that one of his grand passions was that the church be “where the action is.” On this point he was echoing the plea of Martin Luther that the church be “profane.” What Luther meant by a profane church was not that the church should indulge in uttering obscenities or use gutter language. Rather, Luther was playing with the Latin roots for the word profane. Profane originally meant simply “outside of the temple.” In Luther’s terms a profane church is one that moves out of the temple and into the world” (R.C. Sproul, Lifeviews: Understanding the ideas that shape society today). QUESTIONS FOR
SABBATH DISCUSSION & MEDITATION Pray that God would enable you and give you the desire to be
conformed to His Word as read and preached today. Pray that God would enable you to be
steadfast, immovable and always abounding in the work of the Lord. What is the
ultimate goal of your life? What is
your attitude toward the earth? When a person gets saved, why doesn’t God take them immediately to
heaven? Why does God make most of us
go through the hassles of life? Why
not evacuate us right away? What are the parallels between the Great Commission and the mandate
God gave in Genesis 1 to “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and
subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky
and over every living thing that moves on the earth”? Where do you want your family to be in five years? How about in 15 years? What are you doing
to reach this goal? What more can you
be doing? |
