Power
Receiving Power
The Great Commission
is so familiar
we can miss its
importance in our lives
So maybe it is a good idea to ask ourselves
How well do we follow
instructions?
Receiving Power
How well do you follow instructions?
The first question you might ask is…
What instructions?
Every believer is, or should be, very
acquainted with the Great Commission.
The account of this command
from Christ in Matthew tells us…
"All authority in
heaven and
on earth has been
given to me.”
Our instructions come from the One
who has “All Authority”.
Have you allowed yourself to
feel the weight of that authority?
All of us have been in a place where we have
felt the weight of those with “some authority”.
Maybe it was a young kid at an amusement
park who instructed you where you
should go to get in line for the ride.
Maybe you had the opportunity
to meet a dignitary or a judge.
The weight of authority
increases with the authority.
Jesus has been given “All Authority”.
That is a lot of weight.
The authority was not just put in His lap.
Jesus was equipped to handle All Authority.
We have all seen people with authority or
have taken authority that should not have it.
So these words of Christ carry weight.
They are not a suggestion, but a command.
So it becomes important that we take a
look at how we respond to His Authority.
It is important that we realize the Great
Commission is an impartation of authority.
The first question you have to ask yourself is…
How do I feel about
being in authority?
This basic question is foundational to your
effectiveness in handling what God wants you to do.
The next question is…
What is God wanting
you to do?
What does “Go” mean to you?
We are told to go to “All Nations”.
When something is too
big for us
to handle we generally do nothing.
Unless you hear God directing you to travel,
you and I need to realize we are already in a nation.
The people of that nation are all around us.
The people in every nation
do many of the same things.
They work, shop, raise families, it is these similarities
that open doors for us to fulfill the Great Commission.
The next question we have to ask ourselves is…
What is it God wants
us to do?
How do you understand “make disciples”?
This is more than making converts.
Making disciples is helping people see their
need to follow Jesus and how to follow Him.
When people came to Jesus we see Jesus
did not tell them to say the sinner’s prayer
even though repentance is very important.
Jesus gave people who came to Him two words…
“Follow Me”
Our job is to lead people on the Follow Me Path.
Following Jesus is not to a
destination like His throne.
Following Jesus is a journey that never stops.
This why Paul says…
Not that I have
already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to
take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not
consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting
what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal
to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Philippians
3:12-14
If we handle the authority
Jesus gives us, we will…
Lead people to be baptized.
To publicly declare their identity with the
death, burial and resurrection of Christ.
A statement that in Jesus, the Father is
revealed and the Holy Spirit is poured out.
Jesus called this experience a new birth.
Born into a new family.
That family is the church, the Children of God.
We together are responsible for…
“teaching them to obey
everything I have
commanded you”
The first command is to love God
and the second is love one another.
That is the sum of all God’s commands.
Becoming people of love because God is love.
Sadly, the world has a warped understanding of love.
What is so important for us to see about the authority
Jesus has and the authority He places on us is?
“I am
with you always, to the very end of the age."
Never are you alone in
fulfilling the Great Commission.
Yes, people treated Jesus badly so
that will also happen to you but know
He has shown He will not bail out.
He endured the cross and whatever
suffering you face He will be there, too.
The Great Commission is so familiar
we can miss its importance in our lives.
So maybe it is a good
idea to ask ourselves…
How well do we follow instructions?
Scripture Reading
Matthew 28:17 - 20 NIV
18 Then Jesus came to
them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name
of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to
obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the
very end of the age."
