20/20 Vision for 2024 Our Mission and Baptism (Matthew 28:18-20)

Review: What is our mission for 2024 and beyond? The mission is still the mission. How we go about it will change, but the mission does not change. If everything goes well in 2024, we follow Jesus’ Great Commission. If everything is an uphill battle, we follow Jesus’ Great Commission.

The Structure of Matthew 28:18-20

(18) All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.

(19) Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations,

–baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,

–teaching them to observe all things I have commanded you;

(20) And behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

• Three main sentences
• The first and last bookend the central one, which has one command and three participles. Structurally:
  • going
• make disciples
  • baptizing
  • teaching

1. The why of our mission: the authority of Jesus

• All authority as God the Son; all authority here as resurrected Lord
• There is not a culture or an ethnic group or a society or a religion or a language where Jesus does not have the right to be worshiped as Lord.
• Missions exists where the worship of Jesus doesn’t. John Piper
• We do not spread our faith by war or violence, but by the proclamation of great news and persuasion and by the demonstration of love.

2. The what of our mission: make disciples

• “Make disciples”: disciples listen to and practice Jesus’ teaching
• Disciples are followers: we know Jesus as Savior.
• Disciples are students: we follow Jesus and his teachings.
• Disciples are practitioners: we follow Jesus as Lord.
• Disciples know Jesus, love Jesus/others, follow Jesus’ teachings/ways.

3. The who of our mission: all nations

• There is only one Lord to worship: Jesus.
• There is only one gospel: the good news of Jesus.
• There is one pattern for our lives: we are disciples of Jesus.
• All of us, no matter our culture, are to be like Jesus.
• But we will be like Jesus in ways that reflect our culture.
• Why? Because we reach out to and make disciples of all nations.
• So, Jesus is the mold, but there are endless cultural applications.
• One Lord, all nations.
• One gospel, into all cultures.

4. The how of our mission: going, baptizing, teaching

5. The when of our mission: from now until to the end of the age

• From Jesus’ resurrection until Jesus’ return!
• In 24:14, Jesus, “this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed through the whole world as a testimony to all nations, then the end will come.”
• We make disciples to the ends of the earth, until the end of the age!

6. The hope of our mission: the Lord Jesus

• I am with you always.
• I am with you always until the end of the age.
  • Not just in the good times, not just when you feel it, but from now until Jesus returns in victory and judgment.

The how of our mission: going, baptizing, teaching

• Going

Go to make disciples.

Go as a witness.

• Acts 1:8
• Share your testimony: before, during, after meeting Christ

Go with the gospel.

• Forgiveness is needed: sin (Rom 3:23).
• Forgiveness has been provided: Christ (Rom 5:8).
• Forgiveness must be accepted: faith (Rom 10:13).
  • Forgiveness is available to all, but it is not automatic.

Go to all nations.

• If we are to make disciples of all nations, then crossing cultural boundaries is an integral part of the commission. Craig Keener
• Reaching out to people of all cultures.
• Taking the time to learn about people and their cultures.

Go in love.

• God loves them, and so do we!
• Go as a friend, not a salesman.
• Value you them as a friend, not a target.
• Build relationships with them. It takes time.

Go and invite.

• Let’s team up to reach your friends for Christ.
• Go to who?
• Family
• Friends
• Co-workers
• Fellow students
• Sports and hobbies
• Neighbors
• People you bump into
• And people you don’t know yet: all nations.

• Baptizing

Baptism was intended to unite us as Christians. Ephesians 4 teaches that we are one in Christ, and that we must work hard to live out this unity. We are one, but we also strive to be eager to maintain this unity. We do so through humility, love, patience, and more. With every other Christian, we share one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all, who is over all and through all and in all.

One baptism. Baptism unites us to each other. Yet in church history, there have arisen many views of the church and of baptism. We are one in Christ with every Christian who has ever lived, now, in the past, in the future; here and of every other culture. We are even one with those we disagree with on issues like baptism. Some who love Jesus as much as we do have a different view on this doctrine. We respect them and even treasure them as brothers and sisters in Christ.

And we also feel the need to study the Bible carefully and see what we think it teaches on all subjects, including baptism. The Great Commission is one of many key passages in the Bible that teaches on baptism. What does it teach?

1. Baptism of disciples

• Baptizing them == disciples
• Eckhard Schnabel: “it is significant that baptism is mentioned after the winning of disciples: it is people who have been converted to faith in Jesus Christ who are baptized” (1:357).
• The order of going, baptizing, teaching underlines how that baptism follows faith and precedes the reception of teaching.
• “baptizing” new believers, a once-for-all, decisive initiation into Christian community; “teaching” is a life-long task (Blomberg).
• Believer’s baptism best fits the pattern of the book of Acts.
• Acts presents repentance/faith/confession as a prerequisite for baptism and consistently records the baptism of believers.
• Acts 2:41: Those who accepted his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand people were added to them.
• Acts 8:12: When they believed Philip, as he proclaimed the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptize
• Acts 16:14-15: A God-fearing woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, was listening. The Lord opened her heart to respond to what Paul was saying. After she and her household were baptized, she urged us, “If you consider me a believer in the Lord, come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.
• Acts 18:8: Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, along with his whole household. Many of the Corinthians, when they heard, believed, and were baptize
• Note the order:
  • The persons hear the gospel.
  • The persons believe in Jesus.
  • Then they are baptized.
• Acts 2:47: gospel shared; gospel accepted; people baptized.
• Acts 8:12: gospel shared; men and women believe; they are baptized.
• Acts 16:14–15: Lydia hears the gospel, she believes, and she is baptized.
• There is no clear example of infant baptism in Acts.
• Acts 16:31-34: Consider the Philippian jailer and his family: They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” And they spoke the word of the Lord to him along with everyone in his house. He took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds. Right away he and all his family were baptized. He brought them into his house, set a meal before them, and rejoiced because he had come to believe in God with his entire household.
• The gospel first comes to the jailer and his household, then the jailer and his entire household believe, and then they are baptized. he story of Crispus in Acts 18:8 keeps the same pattern.
• 18:8: Crispus, his household, many Corinthians believe and are baptized.

2. Baptism as a public testimony of faith

• Going, baptizing, and teaching are participles dependent on the main verb “make disciples” and specify what is involved in discipleship.
• Being baptized is a part of being Jesus’ disciples.
• It testifies to our allegiance to him.
• Baptism is a once for all commitment to Christ, a symbol of repentance and identification with Jesus—Matthew 3:6-13
• Baptism occurs after we go and is the initial commitment of becoming a disciple. It follows Jesus’ example, confesses our faith in Christ, and identifies us with Christ.
• In nations where Christians are persecuted, the persecution does not begin until the new believer is baptized. That symbolizes the irreversible and public line being drawn in the sand.
• In some places, Christians are being persecuted for their baptism.
• Here, let’s stand and cheer in celebration of their commitment to Christ.
• Luke 15: God and all of heaven rejoices when the lost are found.

3. Baptism in the name of the Triune God

• Baptism is allegiance to Christ and the Trinity (“into the name of”).
• Jesus is the object of the disciples’ faith and worship, including himself in the baptismal Trinitarian formula.
• Recall the Trinity in Jesus’ own baptism: The Father speaks, the Spirit descends, and the Son is baptized.
• “In the name of” is not a formula.
• In the name of == by the authority of, for the glory of, for reputation of

4. Baptism as entrance into the community of disciples
   • “baptizing” for new believers, a once-for-all, decisive initiation into Christian community; “teaching” is a life-long task (Blomberg).
   • Making disciples is linked to the church. The disciple’s baptism is also entrance into the community, and the growth occurs in the context of the church (Schnabel, 1:356).
   • In Acts 2, 16, and 18, the new believers are baptized and become a part of the local church.

5. Baptism of believers of all peoples into a church of all peoples

• We go with the gospel to all peoples.
• Some from every tribe, language and nation will trust Jesus.
• We baptize all that trust Jesus.
• They enter the community of disciples.
• That means that the church is made up of people of all ethnicities.

Why is baptism important? 

• The Bible commands it. (Acts 2)
• Jesus stresses it as a part of following him. (Matt 28:18-20)
  • Go and make disciples
  • Baptizing them
  • Teaching them
• Baptism is listed among key unifying truths for Christians. (Eph 4).
• Baptism is listed as a central teaching of Christianity. (Heb 6: “elementary truth”)

Why should I be baptized?

• Jesus was baptized. (Matt 3:13-17)
• Jesus commanded every Christian to be baptized. (Matt 28:19)
• NT Christians were baptized. (Acts)
• Baptism pictures the Gospel of Jesus Christ. (Rom 6:3-4)
• Baptism is a witness to others. (Acts 2)

If you do not know the Lord yet:

• Forgiveness is needed: sin (Rom 3:23).
• Forgiveness has been provided: Christ (Rom 5:8).
• Forgiveness must be accepted: faith (Rom 10:13).
  • Forgiveness is available to all, but it is not automatic.
  • Trust Christ today.

God loves you, and so do we.

Have you been baptized to publicly profess your faith in Christ?

Come at invitation.

Come talk to prayer partners.

• Teaching
  • They are thus told to do what Jesus himself did (Jesus is referred to as teaching in 4:23; 5:2; 7:29; 9:35; 11:1; 13:34; 21:23; 26:55; see also 5:19 (Hagner).
  • Like baptizing, teaching is a participle dependent on the main verb “make disciples”, shows what is involved in Christian discipleship.
  • Until now in Matthew, Jesus alone is the teacher. Now Jesus gives his disciples authority to teach others what He taught them.
  • “teaching them to obey” reveals that discipleship is more than the dispensing of knowledge. It includes the teaching of truth and behavior, content and practice.
  • “teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you” shows us that we are to teach what Jesus taught.
  • So, they are to teach not their own ideas, but what Jesus has “commanded,” entellomai, a term which hitherto has been especially associated with the “commandments” (the cognate noun entolē, cf. 5:19; 15:3; 19:17; 22:36–40) given by God through Moses. The basis of living as the people of God will henceforth be the new “commandments” given by Jesus (France).
  • The focus is on Jesus’ commands, not OT law. Jesus’ words, like the words of Scripture, are more enduring than heaven and earth (24:35); the expression “everything I have commanded you” is as the authority of Yahweh (Exod 29:35; Deut 1:3, 41; 7:11; 12:11, 14; Carson).
  • Deut 7:11: You shall therefore be careful to do the commandment and the statutes and the rules that I command you today.
  • Remarkably, Jesus does not foresee a time when any part of his teaching will be rightly judged needless, outmoded, superseded, or untrue: everything he has commanded must be passed on “to the very end of the age” (Carson).
  • What the disciples teach is not mere dogma steeped in abstract theorizing but content to be obeyed (Carson).
  • What does that mean? Matthew shows us and includes five teaching sections in his gospel: 5-7, 10, 13, 18; 23-25. We hand down the teachings of Jesus, which are focused on the kingdom. The focus is on Jesus’ teachings, not the law (Schnabel, 1:360; Carson, 596).
  • Sermons
  • Bible study groups
  • 1 on 1 discipleship
  • Personal reading of scripture
  • Serving, putting it into practice

• Multiplying/Reproducing
  • Teaching them to obey all things includes the Great Commission!
  • Disciples are to make disciples.
  • One of Jesus’ commands is to teach all he commands. Failure to disciple, baptize and teach the peoples of the world is already itself one of the failures of our own discipleship (Carson).
  • Reproduction!
  • Multiplication!
  • To/through

Come

Belong

Grow

Multiply

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