Fulfilling the Great Commission in Matthew 28 involves every believer doing three things, H.B. Charles recently told an evening session at the REACH Evangelism and Missions Conference in Elizabethtown, Kentucky.
Charles, pastor and teacher at Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church of Jacksonville and Orange Park, Florida, said verse 16 reveals two responses to the resurrection.
The unbeliever’s response is a stubborn rejection of the truth of the resurrection — “or you can boldly proclaim his resurrection to a lost and dying world.”
Charles noted the Great Commission does not mean it is the last command of Jesus or that it is more important than others. “It is the proper response to the resurrection of Jesus,” Charles said during the Kentucky Baptist Convention REACH Conference, held March 13–14 at Severns Valley Baptist Church. “The risen Savior commands his disciples to make disciples.”
Charles discussed three ways to fulfill the Great Commission:
1. Submit to the authority of Jesus.
“Jesus says all authority in heaven and earth is given to Him. He doesn’t just claim power, but authority — absolute power, freedom of action, the legal right to use power,” Charles said.
“If Jesus has all authority, no one else has any. The proof is He lives to make this claim.
“This claim of all authority is one of the most critical Christological statements in the New Testament. It leaves no middle ground. He is either a liar or lunatic or Lord of all.”
Charles said the text “shows us the scope and sphere and source of His authority.”
2. Obey the command of Jesus.
“The authority of Jesus is the fuel, focus and foundation of the Great Commission,” Charles said.
He pointed out that the disciples were not to make disciples for themselves, but for Jesus.
“This is a reminder our work in evangelism and missions is not about us. This is the biblical method of church growth and the only way to reach the next generation — we are to make disciples of Jesus Christ.
“This means make disciples of all nations — that means all ethnicities. A commitment to the gospel must condemn white supremacy, Black Lives Matter, or any other race-based agenda. Jesus is an equal-opportunity Savior.
“A disciple-making church must unapologetically be a teaching church. We are to be teaching them. Teach them all that I have commanded. Teach them to observe all I have commanded you — the Word of God is not a cafeteria where you take a tray and get what you like and leave the rest behind.”
That teaching is to be two-fold — biblical and practical. “Doctrine and duty go together. The Bible is not given for our information but for our transformation.”
3. Believe the assurance of Jesus.
Verse 20 ends, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
“That is the third claim of Jesus’ deity in this text,” Charles said. “Now He declares His divine omnipresence. He is with us when we go.
“This is not a promise that I will be with you, but I am with you. It is Old Testament language which describes when God is on someone’s side.”
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Chip Hutcheson and originally published by Kentucky Today.
