What a teachable moment we lose when we give into the very fears Christ has come to deliver us from! We have to learn to cast our fears and anxieties upon the Lord. It is a process that can begin with a joyous victory over the devil upon a public declaration at baptism!
The final portion of the Great Commission is perhaps the most important. Teach the new disciples to obey all the commands I have taught you. There has been a new movement of false grace running through Christianity. A cheap grace that seeks to make the law anathema. That ignores the fact that Christ came not to abolish the law but to fulfill it. Here within the Great Commission itself we see the importance of obedience. It is the thread running through the entire Bible. God does not want sheep with a purpose. He wants sheep driven by obedience. A disciple is not a disciple that fails to obey all that Christ has commanded. Love thy neighbor. Pick up your cross daily. Repent for the kingdom is at hand. Wait a minute! You're preaching law and condemnation! If I am then so did Jesus. Once agin we should be haunted by His question - why do you bother calling me Lord if you refuse to do as I say? The Gospel is not about church growth and leadership. It is about souls and discipleship. It is about genuine converts burying their old life in baptism to raise a new obedient creature. Perfect? Never. But striving? Always.
So as we begin our series on the most searched verses I find it odd from a human perspective that Matthew 28:19 made the cut. From an eternal perspective though I understand why God made sure that it did! The Great Commission is our mandated responsibility to the Gospel of Jesus Christ given to us under all of the authority in heaven and on earth. It is not to be left for those pioneering spirits that leave the comforts of home for foreign lands but for everyone who calls themselves a Christian. We must realize that our salvation requires action on our part and we must go. We must strive to make disciples, not merely count statistics at altar calls. We are called to realize that His glorious bride the church stretches far beyond the shores of the United States and that sometimes the very people we hold in such contempt are the very people we are supposed to bring the Gospel to. We are to baptize them and teach them everything that Jesus Christ commanded. This may sound like a lot to undertake beloved; I get that. I really do. Under our own power it is simply impossible but the key verses conclude with the reason why it can be accomplished. Not only the reason but one we can be sure about as Jesus puts it. You see, we do not go alone. Jesus Christ has promised to be with us, even until the end of the age...
Reverend Anthony Wade - November 15, 2013
