Our king is still on the throne. Okay, so the Great Commission, you know, it's kind of like the mission of the church is... co-mission because we're not alone. Jesus said he didn't leave us alone, he's with us. He won't leave us nor forsake us, he's working through us. So now we talked about Jesus dying on the cross for our sins, we talked about him rising from the dead and appearing to his disciples, and now we're gonna see kind of his last messages. to the apostles. This is getting closer to his ascension probably and he gives the Great Commission but here he gives it in Galilee. So this is not the ascension here in Matthew 28, 16 to 20. We'll take a look at what Jesus does say when he's on the Mount of Olives and he does ascend into heaven in Acts chapter 1, verses 6 to 8. So we'll see that what Jesus says here. So look at Matthew 28, starting at verse 16. Then the eleven disciples, that's because Judas had betrayed him, and the eleven disciples went away to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. When they saw him, they worshipped him, but some doubted. Okay, so now he's going to give them, you know, an encouraging message here because some were doubting. But you notice again, it is said over and over again, they worshipped him. These were monotheistic Jews. They believed in the existence of only one God. They worshipped only one God, yet these monotheistic Jews were now worshipping Jesus alongside God the Father. Okay, probably not all of them had the understanding that Paul had, probably not all of them totally figured out the status of the person of the Holy Spirit and that's why a New Testament scholar out of Edinburgh, University of Edinburgh, Larry Hurtado stated that basically Christianity got its start when these monotheistic Jews embarked or engaged themselves in Benetarian worship. they said we believe in only one God but we will worship and pray to the Father as God and we will worship and pray to Jesus as God. So they didn't quite have the Holy Spirit figured out yet. But whatever the case and then eventually that that became Trinitarian worship when we didn't really understand what Jesus and Paul were saying about the Holy Spirit and what the scriptures throughout teach about the Holy Spirit. But Jesus was worshipped from the start. Now, here's what Jesus says. Look at verse 18. And Jesus came and spoke to them saying, All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Okay? And we often think of heaven and earth as the earth, the created realm, and heaven, the uncreated realm. you know, what you're doing there is if you understand it that way you kind of get mixed up in your interpretation of the scriptures in the very first verse of the Bible. The Bible says in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And there's three heavens. The first is the earth's atmosphere where the birds are and the clouds. The second is the rest of the physical universe and the third heaven is the throne room of God. Well the fact of the matter is God created all three heavens. So throughout all eternity only the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the triune God existed. And when God created the earth he also created the heavens. And so Jesus is basically saying all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. He's basically saying that he has the authority over all creation. has been given to him. Okay? Now, this is why in Colossians 1.15 Paul says of Jesus that He is the firstborn of or over all creation. Okay? He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. Now, Jehovah's Witnesses will take that word firstborn and they'll try to twist it so that it means the first one born, meaning that Jesus was created. No, it doesn't have to mean that. The firstborn, what that was, the firstborn son gets a double inheritance and he gets the right to rule over his brethren. So when God the Son became a man, and voluntarily chose to lay aside his divine privileges and chose to voluntarily not tap into his divine powers while on earth, but just rely upon the Father and the Holy Spirit to lead him and to guide him. But when Jesus became a man and he submitted himself to the Father's will to provide salvation for us, you have the Creator becoming part of his creation. And he submitted himself to the Father and humbled himself by becoming a man and dying for us. This is when Philippians 2, verses 5 to 11, where even though Jesus, I'm going to paraphrase here, even though Jesus continues to exist in nature as God, he didn't cease to be God by becoming a man, but he humbled himself, emptied himself of his reputation, and humbled himself by becoming a man, and then he even humbled himself to the point of death, even death on a cross, the most shameful way to die, to provide salvation for us. So because he made himself low, because he humbled himself, then God the Father exalted him. raised Him up and gave Him the name above every other name, meaning Jesus is the highest name in all the universe. Jesus is the highest name, the name above all names. That the day will come when every knee will bow to Jesus and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, that Jesus Christ is Yahweh, yet this is to the glory of God the Father. They're not on separate teams. They don't compete against each other. And so he humbled himself by becoming a man and dying for us and so he has earned the authority to rule. He has earned the right of the firstborn to rule over all creation and he's earned that right through his death and resurrection. And so the very first thing we've got to learn about the Great Commission Okay? And then this is the Great Commission, this is our mission. It's a co-mission, so we're not alone, but this is, this is, you might say, well, this is great, this is Pastor Phil, Pastor John, Pastor Pat, this is their, Mitch and Chris, and Kim and Kathy, this is their mission. Hey, look, this is your mission, too. Francie Schaefer wrote a work entitled, No Little People. In God's kingdom there are no little insignificant people. Okay? Psychologists will tell you if you think you're on a mission from God, you're a Christian and you think you're on a mission from God, you're insane. You're neurotic, psychotic, whatever it is. I don't know what word they use. But if I understand the Bible correctly, God is saying if you're a Christian, and you think you're on a mission from God, you're right. Now you gotta find that mission and you gotta start doing it. Okay? You gotta be all that God called you to be. If I got behind his pulpit and I said, you know, you got to give God at least 50%, man. You know, that's like the people that talk about whether we should tithe or not or this or that. I think it's actually Old Testament. However, I think under grace, according to the Sermon on the Mount, we're able to do more than what the Old Testament is saying. So for me, the tithe is a good place to start. And as I grow in the Lord and mature, I expect my giving to increase percentage wise. And so a lot of people, because of tithing, they say, well yeah, that's okay, I'll give God 10% of my treasure, 10% of my time or whatever. And it's like, you don't even get it. When you give 10%, you're telling God that he owns all of you. Okay? So, you know, I'm telling you, there are Christians that are financial messes that give God 10%. And their financial message, you know why? It's because of what they do with the other 90%. When you give God 10% of anything, whether it's your treasure or your talent or your time, you're saying all of me belongs to you and I'm going to establish that by giving this. Now I'm going to devote the rest of what I have and that's going to mean if you're the head of a household, you're taking care of your family. You're doing those things with your funds. You're helping people in need. And so, you know, but if I was up here and I told you, hey, you know, give God 10%. I'm lying to you. If I get up here and say, give God 50%, I'm lying to you. God wants 100%. It's like Don Davidson, he was at the conference yesterday, but he said it, I don't think, he probably didn't make it, I don't think he made it, maybe he did, who knows. But I'm just gonna pass it on to him, because I don't want to steal another guy's thunder. But he said that Jesus does not want to be a part of your life. When I heard it, I thought it was heresy. But the fact of the matter is Jesus does not want to be a part of your life. The Seahawks can be part of your life. Okay? For Angel that would be the Chargers, for me that would be the Raiders, but for all the normal people here, the Seahawks can be a part of your life. Okay? The Mariners can be a part of your life. Golfing can be a part of your life. Weightlifting can be a part of your life. But not Jesus. Jesus wants to be your life. So Jesus is not like a backpack that you put on when it's convenient and then you take it off when it's convenient. When the guys on the job site are telling dirty jokes, just take off the Jesus backpack, throw it in the corner and laugh at their dirty jokes and tell a few of your jokes. No. Jesus wants to be your life. And that's one of the things why so many kids in the evangelical church walk away from the Lord when they go to college. Because Jesus isn't their life. It's just one of the options that they have. And Jesus has to saturate our being. But the fact of the matter is when I look at you, if I tell you anything other than you are on a mission from God, I'm lying to you. If I tell you anything other than God wants a hundred percent of you, He wants a hundred percent commitment, I'm lying to you. Now do we all, am I a hundred percent committed to the service that God, the mission that God's called me to? No. And that's why we await our resurrection when Jesus returns. But it's not our job to lower the bar. If God, if our God is a holy God and He demands perfection, and he empowers us by his spirit. It's like what does he tell husbands? Husbands, love your wives as Christ loves the church. Now I want all the guys in the church to stand up who can actually say I 100% love my wife as Christ loves the church. Pat sit down, I'll sit down too because the fact of the matter is There is no such thing as a man who loves his wife as Christ loved the church. But that's what God calls us to. And so we gotta strive. And so we gotta strive for 100% to be all that God called us to be. And you're sitting there thinking, but Pastor Phil, I'm just a regular guy. Who do you think's behind the pulpit? I'm just a regular guy too. Who do you think the apostles were? They were just regular guys. Last I heard, those are the only kind of people that are out there are regular guys and gals. If you are still thinking as a Christian, if you are still thinking that God, and this is rampant in the church, God needs celebrities. Let me tell you something, God doesn't need anything because he's God. He doesn't need you, he doesn't need me, but he chooses to use us. And you say, well he can't use me because I'm not a celebrity. And let me tell you, you got to understand, even the apostles were regular people. Okay? It's just we serve an irregular God. We're finite, we're limited. God is all powerful. So the issue in this and having God's mission is not how big are you, it's how big is your God. And are you going to submit to Him and allow Him to empower you to be all that He called you to be. Let me tell you something, our boss not only commands us, our boss empowers us. And our boss, you know, makes President Obama look like a wimp. Our boss makes Bill Gates look like a wimp. Okay? Our boss makes that Bishop of Rome, that so-called infallible Pope in the Vatican, look like a wimp. Okay? But he's not only the one who calls us He's also the one who empowers us. So next time you feel like throwing in a towel and giving up on what God has called you to do, okay, remember the one who has empowered you for that work. You're not doing it in your own strength. But the one who calls us says all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to him. Okay? You know, when Paul went, when he was Saul and he went to persecute Christians in Damascus, he couldn't go in his own authority. A Jewish guy kidnapping other Jewish guys? You think Rome's gonna stand for that? So he had to have papers from the high priest. And the authority that Rome allowed them to have. He went in the authority of the high priest. Now the ultimate high priest met him on the rode to Damascus, shook up his world and yeah he did go to Damascus but he went there to get baptized not to persecute and so there was a tremendous change of plan without that change of plan most of us would probably not even be here today but there's a principle of authority okay when the centurion had a servant who was dying and he sent out another one of his servants to ask Jesus to heal him Or even that the centurion that went to Jesus and then Jesus said that was gonna go to his house and said no you're I'm not worthy enough for you to come to my house. Just say the word and he shall be healed. Why? Because the centurion understood authority. He understood authority. I don't think we understand authority anymore. Okay? We've got to understand, you know, and it's You know, I lift weights, but even when I was in my prime and lifting weights, I can't stop a moving vehicle that's traveling 60 miles an hour. But when I worked in law enforcement, just a little badge and a uniform and a gun on my side, I could just hold out my hand. and at 2,000 pounds of machinery traveling 60 miles an hour comes to a screeching halt. There were people, I would tell them what to do and they would listen, not because I was bigger than them, many of them were bigger than me, but it was the authority of the law. But authority, so Jesus says all authority has been given to him and so when he utters the Great Commission Keep in mind who it is that's uttering this. This is the one with all the authority in heaven and on earth. The one who has the right to rule over all creation in all his authority and what does he tell us? It says in verse 19, Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen. And four key things here for us to look at. Because Jesus has been given all authority, he commands us, and so we are to go, we are to make disciples, not just in America, but of all nations. We're to go, make disciples, baptize, in the name of the triune God, and then teach. Okay? And... And so we are to go, make disciples, baptize, and teach. So let's take a look at this. This is our mission, okay? You know, a lot of businesses and stuff, they always go back to what is their mission statement? What is their mission statement? This is our mission statement. Again, you might be saying, Pastor Phil, I can't be on a mission from God, I'm just a regular person. No, don't. If God has called you, he will equip you. You just gotta be willing. Okay? So the issue is not, oh, I'm so powerful, or oh, I'm so spiritual, or oh, I'm a celebrity. Listen, next to God you're nothing, so all that he wants is for you to be willing. Okay? I'll be honest with you. You can show me a guy with a doctorate degree in philosophy, a doctorate degree in theology, who's been in the church for 40, 50, 60 years. If the guy is just not willing to serve God, I'd rather take a heroin addict who just accepted Jesus yesterday who is willing to change and is willing to serve the Lord. Jesus looked at the seminaries of his day, the Pharisees, the school of Hillel, the school of Shammai, and he said, no, I'm not going to pick my leaders from there. Just give me 12 willing men, actually 11 willing men and one trader, and I'll turn the world upside down. It's amazing, it's amazing what we can do in our community. Just as a small church, you just give me a couple dozen Men and women who love the Lord and are willing to do what God's called them to do, if we put our heads together, we could turn this community upside down. And, um... But Jesus told us, go, make disciples, baptize, and teach. So first he said, go. Um, how many people in here have their driver's license? Raise your hand if you have your driver's license. Okay, good. You can put them down there. Uh, this means Jesus has given us a green light. There's been times when I've been tired coming home from a talk. I'd say, what did I do on Kitsap Way? where it comes to 11th I stopped at the red light and in the middle of the night I looked both ways and then I took a left turn and all of a sudden it dawned on me you're not supposed to take a left on red you know and it just so every once in a while we get confused okay but don't be confused Jesus has given you a green light Okay, now you might fall into sin where whatever type of ministry you're in you might need to go back to square one and repent and be restored. But the general rule here is you got a green light. Well, why is the American church is so prosperous? How come we're doing such a lousy job right now? You know why? We're just like a bunch of cars that are content to be stopped. A bunch of drivers in their cars then were stopped at a green light. The king of kings and the lord of lords who has all authority in heaven and on earth, authority over all creation has given you a green light to serve him. Yeah, but I have to do this. I'm too busy with that. I'm too busy with this. And by the way, I am not saying that green light means you do everything that people ask you to do. Okay? You gotta understand that God's green light is often very different from Joe Schmoe's green light. So you know I probably err on the side of I do everything I think God's called me to do and then when I get to heaven I'll find out what percentage was dead work and what percentage was actually what he wanted me to do. Because I got a fear if I try to pick between the two I might accidentally not do some of the things he's called me to do. But when everything's said and done Jesus has given us a green light. Jesus told us to go. And by the way, I'm not opposed to the prayer. Lord Jesus, send somebody to me today. Okay? I mean, if you're going about your business and you say, Lord Jesus, send me somebody who's open to the Lord and so I can just plant a little seed. That's okay, but in general, you gotta go. You gotta take the initiative. Now, if you're somebody who says, Lord Jesus, send somebody to me today so I can minister to. And then you say, thank you, Jesus, and then you put your head in the pillow and you go right back to sleep and you never leave your bedroom. You know, I don't think God's gonna send anybody to you. But you gotta make yourself available. You gotta wake up in the morning and say, thank you, Lord, you're giving me another day. And if you call me to do your mission, you call me to do your work, make every appointment a divine appointment. Help it to become natural for me to walk in the supernatural. Help me to be led by your spirit, empowered by your spirit. Okay? I don't know any way to do that, by the way, without prayer and devotional reading of God's Word. There's some people in this church that are prayer warriors that put me to shame and there's no such thing as, well that guy prays too much so he doesn't get much done for God's kingdom. There's a lot of people who work too much and don't pray enough and they accomplish little to nothing for God. Anything you do that is not initiated in prayer and you do it while praying and then you pray after it's done, it's not a work fully of God. You gotta have total dependence on God and that's what prayer is. But Jesus gave us the green light, Jesus told us to go. Now, he's saying make disciples of all nations, so this is talking about reaching the world with the gospel. Okay? The church of Antioch-Assyria, they wanted to reach the world with the gospel. So did they say, did their bishop get up behind, did their pastor get up behind the pulpit and say, we want to preach the world to all nations, so as soon as the service is over, everybody go to a different country and start, no. They wanted to preach the world to all nations, so you know what they did? They picked two guys and they commissioned them. And they prayed over them. They knew there were guys that were filled with the spirit and they said, we'll try to support you and help you in what you're doing, but you need to start going throughout the world and preaching. Now, they kind of lucked out. Well, actually, there's no luck in God's kingdom, but by divine providence, you're doing pretty good when the guys' names are Paul and Barnabas. Okay? Maybe we got a Paul and Barnabas here. I don't know. But if we don't have a Paul and Barnabas here, we gotta support a Paul and Barnabas somewhere. You know, a Bangas U in the Cameroon. He's one of our Pauls and Barnabas. And we'll probably build a church for him before we build a church for us. Because it costs a lot less money to do it, believe me. But whatever the case, we've got to support foreign missions. Compassion International supports children, but we've got to do the things to get the gospel message out. Through our television, radio, and internet ministry, we've been able to reach millions. With a very small budget, we've been able to reach millions. It's not enough though, we gotta keep doing more by the grace of God as God opens up doors. So we've got to go. So those foreign missions, we might, you know, you might decide, you know what, God's calling me to be a missionary. You go to missionary school and you're gone on a mission field for decades. Then again, you might say, well maybe God's called me to short-term missions. I think short-term missions are a great thing because it makes us aware of what's out there and all, but if we're going to have lasting impact... It's going to take the long-term missions or supporting or discipling the locals, the people who live there and helping them plant churches. By the way, with foreign missions, we've had missionaries generations ago who have preached the gospel message in an area, led a few thousand people to Christ over a 10 year period, then they go away for 10 or 20 years, they come back and there's absolutely no evidence the gospel was ever preached there. Then we've had, and so what happened was missionaries changed their strategy and lo and behold made it a lot more like Paul's strategy. And instead of leading thousands to Christ, they led a few to Christ. But they trained them and discipled them. And then those few discipled others. And then they planted a few churches. And then they went away for 10 or 20 years. After there's maybe 200 or 300 people and a couple churches, 10 or 20 years later they come back and there's like 500 churches. and thousands of people proclaiming Jesus' name. And so we're gonna see in here, Jesus is in. Did you realize the Great Commission is not evangelized? That's a tiny slice of it, but it is not evangelizing the world, it is discipling the world. Now you wanna see the difference between the two. What would you say about a guy who has sexual relations with a lady has a little boy or a little girl and then just splits. Yeah, Willis is giving the thumbs down to the guy. That's a no-brainer for us. That guy's a deadbeat dad. That guy is a loser. You're not supposed to make babies and then just leave them alone. Why do we have that attitude in the church? Let's go make spiritual babies, lead people to Jesus and then just leave them on their own. So we actually encourage deadbeat dad evangelism because we're not concerned enough about discipling these new converts. Jesus doesn't want us to lead people to Christ and leave them alone. Jesus wants us to lead people to Christ and then disciple them so that they grow to maturity. Okay? And so we'll see that, but this is where he's talking about making disciples of all nations. But we need short-term foreign missions, long-term foreign missions, churches need to support foreign missions with their funds. And by the way, you don't just do this just quickly, there's a lot of charlatans out there. You've got to really look into pastors in foreign countries to try to help them. But that does not exclude... Go does not exclude ministering to your community. Ministering to your family and to your relatives. Okay, you might come up to me at the church and say, Pastor, I was moved by what you said. I was convicted. I want to start a ministry. When people...when Christians tell me that, that terrifies me. Okay? Because the fact of the matter is, if you think that you want God to give you a ministry because you don't have one, that doesn't mean you don't have a ministry. That means you're not faithful to the ministry God has already given you. Don't get me wrong, God might change your ministry and change your location and the organization you work with or whatever, but the fact of the matter is each and every one of us has friends, relatives, co-workers, neighbors that God sends to us in our life, has placed in our life, and they look to us for spiritual advice. That's your mission field. And by the way, if you're trying to effectively disciple more than 12 people, you're trying to outdo Jesus. I mean, his mega-discipleship was the 12 apostles, and then he also discipled, to a lesser degree, 70 others. But I would look for those, who are those 3 to 12 people that God has placed in your life? I'd write their names down. and put it on your refrigerator door. If you visit your refrigerator door as much as I do, then I'd start praying for your mission field. and they're praying that God blesses you with the honor and the opportunity to minister to those people. Okay? But God has given each and every one. You already have a ministry. And by the way, if you're faithful in the little things, God will multiply it. There's so many young guys that want God to enlarge their ministries, but if they're not faithful in the little things, what makes them think God is going to give them something bigger? I don't know a lot. You know, obviously we're not a quote-unquote mega church. We're not a very large church in the eyes of the world. Although I think some of the most powerful churches are about our size in the country. I'm not saying we're one of them. I don't know where God places us. We need to, you know, work harder and love the Lord more. But if I know anything, all I know about ministry is doing what God calls you to do and being faithful and persevere and God will bless it. most of us our ministry doesn't get larger, our impact on others with God's love and the gospel doesn't get bigger because we're not faithful, we don't persevere and then we try to move on to something else. Okay? It's like We Christians and ministry are kind of like the guy who wants to have a strong marriage. And after a couple years he realizes, well I still don't have that strong marriage. Let me divorce this lady and marry somebody else. And then he'll try to build a strong marriage there and after three or four years that doesn't work out, so he'll get divorced and work some, you know, and it's like, no, you got to be like Norman Geisler who spoke at the conference. The guy's one of the most brilliant Christian defenders of the faith alive, yet the thing he's been bragging about for the last two weeks is that he just had his 60-year anniversary. You want to build a strong marriage? You stick with that woman that God provided for you. And you know, is it for better or for worse, Klaus? And I'm telling you, you might think, boy, I didn't get what I bargained for. You think she got what she bargained for? You think you really showed her who you were when you took her out on dates? You know, but building a strong ministry is a lot like building a strong marriage. It takes faithfulness and perseverance and humility and turning the other cheek. But, you know, we need to have that global mindset about reaching the world with the gospel. What role do we play as individuals in that? What role do we play as a church in that? But we also need to think about who in this mission field real close. What's going on? Where do I fit there? But Jesus told you to go. Are you going? Okay? Then he told us, make disciples of all nations. So, Jesus said the goal is not to lead people to Christ. That's the start. That's not the finish. Okay? So, it's not evangelism. The goal is to lead people to maturity in Christ, discipleship. Now, if you want to lead people to maturity in Christ, they first have to get saved. Okay? If they want to grow in the kingdom, they have to come into the kingdom first. So it includes evangelism. Okay? One of the big problems with a lot of American mega-churches, everybody wants, oh, they're into the numbers. They just want to evangelize. Sometimes they don't even do that. Sometimes they don't even share the gospel message. As long as the people come in, that's all they care about. And it's all about the numbers. And we have seeker-sensitive services where nobody's getting discipled. There's an awful lot of pastors that are great at leading people to Christ, evangelizing, but the discipleship is so superficial, I really think after they lead people to Christ, they ought to then get them plugged into churches, smaller churches that actually do disciple them. Okay? Now, by the way, I think there's some really godly churches that have 5,000 members. but they break things down to where they can really disciple them so a really effective church that's pleasing to the Lord with five thousand members is probably uh... you know fifty churches in disguise who pull together their resources so they can have a great impact on their culture and all uh... but the fact of the matter is uh... the evangelical church our problem is not that we don't think big enough. The problem with the Evangelical Church is we don't think small enough. Okay? When I speak at conferences if I just speak and say okay well we got 250 people here so I'm just gonna give it a hundred percent and then when it's done if I just leave right away despite the fact that I've got 15 people who want to talk to me And then when I go to my table it's like well I'm tired I just want to sit down and stare at the wall. But there's two or three people who show up at my table and want to talk to me. We've got to think smaller, we've got to think about discipling people, getting to know people. So the goal isn't, it's not quantity evangelism, it's quality discipleship. That's what Jesus' message, method was. That's what our method should be as well. And so it's basically planning churches after the evangelism. If you lead somebody to Christ, by the way, I am more willing to, I will actually start discipling people even if they're not saved. A lot of people will think, no, you're crazy, Fernandez. I don't really care what you say, but if I got four unsaved guys who are open to me teaching them spiritual truth, I would rather disciple them than ten guys who are saved and are not open to being discipled by me. And you might think, well where's the scriptural support for that? Will somebody tell me when Peter got saved? When did Thomas get saved? I mean it's possible Thomas might not have been saved until he saw the risen Christ. So it's possible that guy might have went a whole, the whole ministry, Jesus' whole ministry is still unsaved. And so I'm not sure when the apostles got saved, but if somebody is open to spiritual truth, You can bring them to the point where they decide to trust in Jesus for salvation and then help them to grow. But you just can't just lead people to Christ and then just leave them there. We're called to make disciples of all nations. God wants us to go, are we going? And he wants us to make disciples of all nations. Then he tells us to baptize them in the name of the triune God. Now baptism is not essential to salvation. You don't have to be baptized to be saved. Okay? Yet, baptism is essential to obeying Jesus. Water baptism is not an option. It's a command from Jesus. So, you know, and the other thing too is sometimes, sometimes we try to be too spiritual. And we are. You go to some churches and you become a Christian and they put you in a one-year training course before they feel comfortable discipling you. And that sounds really good. I like the emphasis on teaching but it's not biblical. In the book of Acts when you lead somebody to Christ if water's available you baptize them right then and there. And so what we try to do is when somebody accepts Jesus as their savior we try to find when is the first opportunity where you're free, I'm free and a baptismal of a church like Paul's Little Community Church is free. And then we'll put it together and get it done. The early church, the day you got saved, they baptized you. Now when I tell that to pastors, they say, well, you're probably going to end up baptizing people who aren't really saved. And I say, fine, I'm in good company. The apostles baptized Simon the sorcerer and then found out he wasn't saved. That just goes with the turf. Not everybody who claims to be a Christian is. I like the Baptists on this. The Baptists will scream louder than anybody that you don't have to be baptized to be saved. Yet, they also recognize because Jesus commanded us to get baptized, they thought what an honor, we'll call ourselves the Baptists. So they know it's important enough for them to wear the title, but that doesn't mean that it saves. Let me tell you something about Christians. We are so spoiled, American Christians are so spoiled, we want everything our way. Okay? So we think if something's not essential to salvation, I don't have to believe it or do it. If I don't have to be baptized to be saved, I'm just not going to get baptized. Look, Jesus commanded you to be baptized. So don't, if your walk with the Lord is where you say, well, what's the least I have to do or believe to be saved? If that's what your walk is about, you're going to have one lousy walk with the Lord. It's not how little can I do to serve my king. It's how much can I do by the grace of God to serve my king. You know, we're running a little late on time so I think I'm going to be breaking it off there. Well, we'll finish the teaching part but take a look at Matthew 10. Just a few more minutes. So let's just try to get through the first page. But Matthew 10, verses 32 to 33, here's something where Jesus characterizes for us, shows us the characteristics, one of the main characteristics of a believer versus one of the main characteristics of a non-believer. Jesus said in Matthew 10, 32 and 33, Therefore whoever confesses me before men, whoever acknowledges me before men, him I will also confess or acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies me before men, him I will also deny before my Father who is in heaven. Now Jesus is not saying if you want to get saved, you have to share your faith with others. Okay? What he is saying is if you are saved, your life will be characterized by sharing Jesus with others. If you're not saved, your life will be characterized by denying Jesus before others. So if we are truly saved, our lives ought to be characterized by preaching Jesus, sharing Jesus with others, and what better way what better way to get out of our natural shyness than by as soon as somebody accepts Christ as soon as it's available baptize them and have them give their first public confession that Jesus is their Savior okay and so water baptism is identifying with Jesus and his death, burial and resurrection, and often it's supposed to be our first public confession of Jesus. You know, one of my students, she's a 12th grader now, Meg Sweeney, she's visited this church, she's the daughter of the principal. But I remember when she was a little gal years ago, when Mr. Sweeney was also our principal, he said at a chapel, that his little daughter asked him. She said she really loved Barney, you know, the purple dinosaur. And she said, Dad, is Barney a Christian? And he thought, oh man, I can't answer that because, you know, I don't want to crush her. I don't want to build a wall between me and my daughter. I don't want to lie to her and say, oh yeah, he's a Christian. There's no way I can win on this. So he figured like a good dad, I'll just throw it back on her. So she asked, Dad, is Barney a Christian? He said, well, what do you think? And he thought she was going to say, yeah, I think he is, because he does lots of good things. And he loves everybody. He's got that I love you, you love me, whatever. And so he asked her, he said, well, what do you think? And she said, as a little girl, she said, no, I don't think so, because he never talks about Jesus. That's a pretty smart girl. Okay? She's not looking just at the works. Oh, this guy says he loves everybody, gives everybody warm fuzzies, makes them feel good about themselves. He's not doing it in the name of Jesus. He's probably not one of us. Satan is a great counterfeiter. He doesn't proclaim the name of Jesus. And so we need to publicly acknowledge Jesus as Lord, and baptizing converts in the name of the triune God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, is a really good place to start, and is done in obedience to the Lord. And then we're to teach our disciples all that Jesus commanded. You know, where there is no teaching, there is no discipleship, and where there is no discipleship, to be totally honest with you, there is no church. So if you've got an evangelism outfit call yourself an evangelistic ministry but don't call yourself a church. Billy Graham never called his crusade a church and Billy Graham also put tremendous emphasis on if somebody comes forward and accepts Jesus try to get them plugged into a church. Now granted I think he should have been pickier about the churches that he got them into to be discipled but at least he understood that very little gets accomplished with people coming forward. Jesus would speak to the multitudes but that just kind of makes the soil. Somebody's got to go in there and farm and harvest. Jesus spoke to the multitudes and he even did one-on-one evangelism like with the Samaritan woman but he spent the bulk of his time with twelve guys and one of them was a traitor. But we need to teach our disciples all that Jesus commanded. The primary place where this teaching occurs is the church. The church is essential to the Great Commission. You know, parachurch ministries, a lot of people start parachurch ministries, but they're only pleasing to God if they aid the churches in the Great Commission. somebody like James Dobson he starts focus on the family he'd be the first to admit this by the way James Dobson starts focus on the family focus on the family stands and he's not with them anymore but as he founded it but focus on the family either stands or falls based upon how well it helps the church because focus on the family was James Dobson's idea the church was the idea of the carpenter from Nazareth The church was Jesus' idea. So when I get problems with the American church, it's because what the American church is twisting Jesus' idea into. I want good churches. I don't want the churches removed. And so the local church was Jesus' idea. Now, Jesus told us that he's with us to the end of the age. So we are not alone. You know, you feel like, wow, I can't do this. Well, yeah, you're right, you can't do it. But Jesus can do it through you. We're not alone, we're not unequipped, and we're not orphans. Because of God's presence and power, we can accomplish what God has called us to do. This week, we're going to just pick it up there and then we'll go to Acts chapter 1, verses 6 to 8. But this week I'm going to give you a little bit of homework. Jesus said, go, make disciples, baptize and teach. Where do you fit? Now you might say, you know, you might say, well, Pastor Phil, I never baptized anybody. You don't have to baptize somebody, but if you lead them to Christ and invite them to church and introduce them to me and John and Pat, and then we get them baptized, you played a role in that. Okay? By the way, if you bring a guy that you led to Christ and you're discipling the guy and the guy's open to your discipleship, you bring him to me, I'm going to ask you if you want to baptize him. I'll be there. I'm not just trying to clear a little bit of free time. I'll be there if I can make it. But if you want to baptize him, you're the one who's discipling him. See, it's the pastor's job to equip the saints for service, not to do the service for them. But where do you fit? Go, make disciples, baptize and teach. What are you doing to further the Great Commission? I just want you to think about that. Think about your own personal mission field. Who are those people that God sends into your life that come to you for spiritual advice? Have you been faithful? Have you prayed about that ministry? But we need to disciple people. You know, I'm going to close with one more passage. We're running a little late, but 2 Timothy 2, verse 2. 2 Timothy 2, verse 2. you know all these you got all these gurus out there in the church coming up with some new plan as if the church has been stifled until Joe Schmo came on the scene with his purpose-driven whatever and now this guy's gonna this guy's gonna you know the Christian church has been in a mess for 2,000 years and now Joe Schmo's gonna show up and just straighten everything out okay let me tell you that was Joseph Smith's idea And he started Mormonism. That was Muhammad's idea and he started Islam. God's got the plan. He gives us the mission, he tells us how to accomplish it. Look what Paul tells Timothy. And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. Now you just read that and you just slime through it and then you just move on. That doesn't sound like a real powerful verse. You know what this is? This is the Great Commission here. This is one of the most powerful verses in the Bible. As if there's any verse in the Bible that's not powerful. If God said it, it's powerful. Let me read it again. I want it to sink in. And the things that you have heard from me, who's me? That's Paul, among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. You starting to see what's going on here? And the things that you, that's Timothy, and the things that Timothy has heard from Paul, who taught Paul? Jesus. Jesus appeared to him numerous times. Jesus taught Paul. Paul taught Timothy. Now he tells Timothy, and by the way, he didn't just teach Timothy alone. The things you have heard from me among many witnesses, other people were being taught by Paul. But we're just looking at this one chain. Jesus taught Paul, who taught Timothy and then Paul tells Timothy to commit these teachings to faithful men. So Timothy's going to teach faithful men who are going to be able to teach others also. I mean we're going through the early stages of church history here. We've got five links in the chain there from Jesus. Jesus taught Paul. Paul taught Timothy. Timothy taught faithful men. Faithful men taught others. Those others taught others. Those others taught others. Those others taught others. On and on for 2,000 years, and that's why we're here today. because somebody taught us. And this wasn't the only chain that was going, because there were other guys that were active too. Besides the Paul and Timothy chain. There was Peter, there was James, there was John. Let me tell you, I would not be surprised if when you get to heaven, and I'm a loud guy, a loud obnoxious guy. But let's say you're a quiet person, you just did a lot of prayer and you just gently discipled a few people here and there. You might get to heaven someday and you might see Jesus and you might see a crowd of several hundred people, maybe even several thousand people. And you might ask Jesus, who are these people? And he might say, that's the fruit of your ministry. And you might say, well you don't understand Jesus, I was a quiet guy, I never even talked to that many people. And he said, no, but you led those two guys to Christ and you discipled them. And they led those seven or eight guys to Christ and discipled them. And they led those 20 people to Christ and discipled them. And they led those 200 people to Christ and discipled them. And they led those... Let me tell you, my ministry will not be, and your ministry, will not be judged. by what you accomplished while you were alive. You wanna see if my ministry was effective for God's kingdom? You judge my ministry 50 years after I'm dead. But let's be part of this chain. Our king is still on the throne.