Commissioned to Plant Churches - Matthew 28:16-20

Without a doubt, it’s admirable to keep working to pursue some goal and to never give up. But are there times when it is good to give up? Are there times when the discouragement is too severe and something just won’t be successful?

I enjoy the TV show “Shark Tank.” You’ve probably seen it. Entrepreneurs come before these successful and wealthy venture capitalists (known as the sharks) who were once unknown entrepreneurs themselves. People pitch their business ideas to the “sharks” in hopes of securing a financial investment and the mentorship of the sharks. Sometimes, they strike a deal; sometimes they don’t. Sometimes, the sharks will tell the entrepreneurs that their business is going so well that they shouldn’t seek outside investors. But other times, one or more of the sharks will give the most brutal advice. They will tell someone to just give up on the business. 

The product is trash; the idea is lame and useless. It will never succeed. Throw in the towel. Perhaps in some cases that is good advice. Not every idea works; not every business takes off. Especially if you’ve endured great pain and frustration. 

You know, often folks take this attitude toward commitment to the local church. If the church has caused them hurt or let them down in some way, a common response is to give up on the church, to lose faith in it.

But Jesus believes in the church. Though it has in some circles developed a bad name, he has not given up on His church. Jesus established the church for a certain purpose, to go forward in a certain way for God’s glory and for the salvation of His people. Ephesians 5 in the NT says that Jesus loved the church and gave Himself up for her.

And because He did this, every Christian should be part of the local church and believe in it and be passionate about the kind of churches that fulfill God’s purpose. But how do you identify those churches? What do they look like? What are the marks of the kind of churches Jesus commissioned his disciples to start or plant?

The answer to that question is the central feature here at the conclusion of Matthew’s gospel, and the answer is threefold. You can see these marks on page 3 of the WG. True churches proclaim the whole Word of Christ faithfully, administer the established sacraments of Christ properly, and shepherd the dear people of Christ righteously.

There are many people who look for a church but don’t necessarily know what to look for. It is possible to make a bad choice - to make the wrong choice. When you scan this list, these things seem very clear to understand and obey, yet many so-called churches do not comply with these commands of Jesus, which is harmful. But while some people have given up, true churches can still be found. So let’s look together at each of these.

The eleven apostles of Jesus who remained - eleven because of what happened with Judas - went to Galilee as Jesus instructed them to via the women who visited his tomb. These women saw and spoke with the resurrected Jesus. He said to them, “go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.” This is that meeting. 

It takes place on a mountainside, which is reminiscent of Moses. This is a fitting detail pointed out by Matthew. See, throughout his gospel, Matthew alludes to the OT and how Moses prefigured Jesus as the mediator between God and man. Just as Jesus is the new and better David who reigns over God’s people as their eternal king, he is the new and better Moses who delivers God’s message to his people from the mountain. 

Not everyone believes at first, but Matthew isn’t concerned with many details here like John or Luke, but mentioning the doubters reinforces this truth: they saw Jesus die. He was dead. Eventually, all of the eleven, and many others, believed. There are many more details that the other gospel writers fill in for us. But Matthew gets right to his point, which is the directive given to the apostles by Jesus. 

Now notice verse [18] And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. This is an official authorization from Jesus to continue the mission that Jesus began and to expand upon it. We see the continuity from Jesus to the apostles. Back in chapter 1, Matthew began with the assertion that Jesus was God come to earth.

Jesus is the one described by the OT prophet Daniel as the “Ancient of Days;” in other words, the ancient One who has always been and will always be. No beginning or end to his days. Daniel had a vision of the Ancient of Days coming to earth to reign, and he says that in his vision, this eternal king “was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.” His kingdom must grow and expand. 

It must fill the earth. The resurrection of Jesus was essentially a coronation. The resurrection confirmed the authority that Jesus already had displayed during his ministry. At that time, he was enthroned as ruler of the world. He has “all authority,” or universal authority. There is no boundary to his authority, and so can be no boundaries to his kingdom. 

Look at verse 19, he sends his disciples  to “all nations.” God gave Daniel a vision of a king with authority over “all peoples, nations, and languages,” that they should worship him. What we see here in Matthew 28 is that the vehicle through which the Lord Jesus expands his kingdom is the church. The church was established by the Ancient of Days. 

This is historically called “the Great Commission.” A commission means that authority has been given to act on behalf of another. The NT book of Acts describes the actions of the apostles after they receive this directive. What we see them doing is planting the kind of churches Jesus desires. To be more specific, this is the Great church-planting Commission. 

The apostles began planting churches under the authority of the king. Their efforts to plant true churches in the book of Acts, and the mantle passed down from generation to generation even to us today, is authorized here. Not just a command to evangelize and disciple people generally, but to start churches that display certain marks, the first being the faithful proclamation of the whole Word of God.

This principle underlies verse 19 and is stated clearly in verse 20. This is at the heart of making “disciples” or “learners” of Jesus. Verse [20], Jesus says “teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” In a kingdom, the King issues an edict and His people comply. The edict of King Jesus is a command to obey the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. They are the only rule to direct us in how to know, glorify, and enjoy a relationship with God.

True churches proclaim all of it and leave nothing out. In the NT book of Titus, a letter written by the apostle Paul to his pastoral protege Titus, Paul tells Titus, “Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. “These things” are the truths of God. Speak them boldly, urge folks to obey and correct sin. These are the things preachers must do when we preach. Toes should be stepped on. Sin should be exposed. But also, encouragement should be delivered. Hope in the love and grace of God should be clear. The whole Word contains all of these things. And when we preach in line with the King’s edict, we preach with the authority of Jesus himself. Christ himself speaks when we speak His word faithfully.

Preachers can sometimes be afraid to preach clearly what the Scriptures state plainly. But they do it to their own detriment, and to the detriment of the people who listen. Augustine of Hippo, Christian theologian in the late 4th and early 5th century, wrote, “He who for fear of any power hides the truth, provokes the wrath of God to come upon him, for he fears men more than God.” 

This is the first problem of many preachers and churches: they are more concerned with what the world would have them say than with what the living God has commanded them to say. This is why we labor to preach through whole books of Scripture. 

Historically, it is the best and perhaps only way to present the whole Bible to the people. In Acts 20, Paul tells the church in Ephesus, “I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.” Why do preachers pick and choose from the Scriptures? 2 Timothy 3 says, “All Scripture is breathed out by God.” Why start preaching through a book and not finish? Why skip around to make points? Doesn’t the living God have points to make, that he has already made if we would look and listen? This is imperative for a true church according to Jesus. The preaching and teaching of the Word guides the ship, sets the tone, and creates the culture.

Do you recognize your need to have the whole Word of God proclaimed to you? Not just the parts you want to hear, but all of it. You need to hear the hard truths. You need to sit and be confronted and contemplate. You need to be encouraged in your despair and spurred on to love and good works. Jesus ordained the church for this. True churches do this faithfully.

Also, true churches administer the established sacraments of God properly. The sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, these rituals initiated by Jesus for his people to observe and experience together in community. There is a right way and a wrong way to practice them.

Now, it makes sense that here Jesus mentions only baptism because he already instituted the Lord’s Supper on the night before his death (back in chapter 26). It was included in the things he taught them to observe and teach others to obey. We call them “sacraments” because they strengthen us in a mysterious way. They are means by which God’s grace comes to us, signifying what Jesus has done for us serving as a seal or mark on the people of God. You’ve seen the wax seal that a king would use when sealing an envelope. It was his stamp. With the sacraments, King Jesus visibly places his stamp on us.

Baptism is the sign of inclusion in the NT covenant community, as we saw earlier today. It corresponds with the OT sign of circumcision. It is the sign of membership in the new covenant community. Of course, baptism is better, because both men and women receive it. Better covenant, better sign. Not just anyone should receive it. 

Professing believers, who can give testimony that they are born again, receive it, but also, by right of their parents, the children of believers receive it. It was the same in the OC. The children are members of the community by way of their parents. That does not make them believers. They must be born again and receive Christ. They must show that they understand the basics of the Christian faith and trust in Jesus.

Also, the Lord’s Supper must be administered properly also. Here at GS, we do what has historically been known as “fencing the table.” Not just anyone should participate in. It’s not a free-for-all. We see clear guidance with this in 1 Corinthians 11. The apostle Paul states, “Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. Anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.” In other words, a person should not partake unless they are truly born again.

This is why although we baptize the children of believers, those children do not partake in the Lord’s Supper until they have professed saving faith in Jesus and can give testimony. Notice also that both sacraments are not administered by believers in general. The responsibility lies with the leaders of the church. They are to guard it and carry it out wisely.

In the OT, under the OC, God ruled over his people as their king. And he established two things associated with the covenant: a sign for membership and a meal for remembrance. The sign of circumcision and the meal of the Passover. It’s the same in the NT, in the NC. God rules over his people as king, and he has established a sign and a meal. The sign of baptism and the meal of the Lord’s Supper. These things must be handled how the king intended.  They are, in reality, an extension of his rule over us. No one can change the decrees of the king.

And so true churches will administer his sacraments properly.

And finally, true churches shepherd the dear people of Christ righteously. Jesus says they should make disciples. To make disciples you need discipline. To follow requires discipline. Making disciples involves having the authority to say, “Do this” and “don’t do that.” You can’t make disciples - you can’t shepherd and care for people - without some authority. 

In Matthew 16, Jesus described the authority given to the apostles. He says, [19] I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” In addition to the preaching and teaching of the Word, the shepherds of the church have the keys to accept people into the covenant community or to put someone out if necessary. 

In the NT, we see examples of believers received into the church and also of people being expelled from the church if they are caught in grievous sin and are unrepentant. The goal there is not to punish but to lead the person to repentance and restoration. The shepherds have the keys to give the LS and to baptize. They can deny these things to a person if need be. 

Also, in the concept of “making disciples,” the disciples were to care for the people. In 1 Peter 5, the apostle Peter gives this direction to the next generation of church elders: So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: [2] shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; [3] not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. [4] And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.

Jesus established the church to do more than count your Sunday attendance and receive your money. He established the church to care for you. Not that you aren’t strong or competent to care for yourself in a variety of ways.

But there are ways that only Jesus can care for you, like a shepherd cares for his sheep. And he does this, largely, through his church. Notice the end of verse 20, Jesus says, “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Jesus has promised to be with his church. This brings back what Matthew said in chapter 1: “they shall call his name Immanuel”(which means, God with us). This is why any true believer should not give up on Jesus’ church.

You may have been mistreated somewhere and you don’t have to return there, if there was true injustice done to you. But that doesn’t mean you should give up on the church altogether. 

The shepherds or elders of the church must follow the Chief Shepherd, Jesus, just like everyone else. And along those lines, I want to share with you how Jesus has been shepherding me recently. I have been reading, with my family, through the OT book of Exodus, and many weeks ago we came to chapter 15. This is just after God delivered the Israelites by parting the waters of the Red Sea. So these people had just seen a tremendous work of God. Can you imagine? 

But let me read you what comes next: [22] Then Moses made Israel set out from the Red Sea, and they went into the wilderness of Shur. They went three days in the wilderness and found no water. [23] When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter; therefore it was named Marah. [24] And the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” [25] And he cried to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a log, and he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. There the LORD made for them a statute and a rule, and there he tested them, [26] saying, “If you will diligently listen to the voice of the LORD your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, your healer.” [27] Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they encamped there by the water. (Exodus 15)

God tests his people and teaches us contentment. But this resonates with me in particular because of this search our church is on for a new location. I began to think that the Lord might take us to a place that, at first, seems bitter, but which he makes sweet for us. And then he takes us on something better. 

It may be that the Lord takes us to Marah before he takes us to Elim, you see. But we can trust him. He is our king. He leads his church by his Word and his Spirit. And he will never leave us.

You should consider joining us on our journey. Our greatest desires are to bear the marks of Jesus’ true church and for you to know and trust in Him, the Ancient of Days. Turn from your sin and call out to the One of whom we are about to sing these words:

None above Him, none before Him

All of time in His hands

For His throne it shall remain and ever stand

All the power, all the glory

I will trust in His name

For my God is the Ancient of Days.

Let’s pray together.