Matthew 28:16-20
16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. (Matthew 28:16-17)
Is this not exactly the situation in the church today? When we gather to meet with the Lord, some worship him, and some doubt him. Yet the Lord Jesus wants us to have confidence in him and in the hope of the full establishing of the Kingdom — the Kingdom he inaugurated at his first coming.
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.” (Matthew 28:18-20)
These last words of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew are known as the Great Commission — the Lord’s parting charge. In fact, the Great Commission is found not only in Matthew’s Gospel, but also in the other Gospels and in the Acts of the Apostles.
| Matthew 28:18-20 | Mark 16:15-18 | Luke 24:46-49 | John 20:21-23 | Acts 1:6-8 |
| 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.” | 15 He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.” | 46 He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” | 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. 21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” | 6 Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” |
If we look carefully into these verses, we will see that they contain Christ’s strategy for the growth of God’s Kingdom.
Strategy is the science of planning and directing large-scale military operations — the skill of carrying out such maneuvers that the most favorable position of one’s forces is secured before the clash with the enemy itself. Strategy is always tied to reaching the ultimate goal: winning the battle. That ultimate goal and the present situation together determine what the concrete strategy for a given battle will be. One of the games that develops strategic skill is chess. In it a person must anticipate what the opponent’s next moves will be and, in his mind, chart out his own strategy so as to bring the game to checkmate.
If we look at the Great Commission through the lens of strategy, what is the ultimate goal in this spiritual battle? The spread of God’s Kingdom among all nations. If you think about it for a moment, you will see that this goal is utterly universal and all-encompassing. It includes “all nations” — the whole of humanity, every person on planet earth (Matthew 28:19; Luke 24:47; Mark 16:15; Acts 1:8). The Great Commission is not only all-encompassing; it is also deeply penetrating. Evangelism, baptism, and teaching lead to a fundamental and radical change in a person. To be a disciple means to be a follower of Christ, and that means a change of character and of our whole system of values (Luke 6:40; 2 Timothy 3:10). The Great Commission is all-encompassing not only in scope but also in time — it remains valid for all of Christ’s followers until the Second Coming, or “to the very end of the age” (v. 20).
How does Christ plan to accomplish this purpose of God to spread the Kingdom among all nations? Through the making of disciples — his devoted followers who keep his teaching and apply it in their lives. It is precisely the making of disciples that is the key component in Christ’s strategy for the expansion of the Kingdom. The words “make disciples” and “teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” are the very heart of the Great Commission. Going, evangelizing, witnessing, baptizing, and teaching are the means for reaching this highest purpose of God — the making of followers of Christ. Of course, this is not an end in itself. It is all for the glory of God (Ephesians 1:12,14).
Within the Great Commission we can distinguish three phases in the process of making disciples — evangelism (pre-discipleship), baptism (establishing in the faith), and training (equipping, preparation for ministry). These are the phases through which every disciple of Christ passes — the cycle of making disciples.
EVANGELISM
Going to the unbeliever, who is a potential disciple, preaching the gospel, witnessing about Christ — this is the first phase in the cycle of making disciples. In it the person not yet reached with the gospel, the one “uninstructed” in the Kingdom, meets for the first time with already-trained disciples and hears the good news of God’s plan of salvation (2 Corinthians 5:18–6:2). The goal of this phase is repentance and receiving Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior (Romans 1:16).
Notice that evangelism is not something separate from discipleship. Nor is repentance the end of salvation. Evangelism is only the first phase of the process of discipleship. This is why it would help us greatly to look through the lens of discipleship even at the very earliest stages of the birth of faith in Christ in the person to whom we are witnessing. Often, when we speak of evangelism, we think that once we have brought someone to church or to an evangelistic meeting, we have already fulfilled our responsibility toward him, and we abandon him at the very beginning of his path as a disciple of Christ. And then we wonder why the church is not growing and we have no fruit… Instead, from the moment we begin to speak to someone, we should already begin to think and plan not only how we will bring him to repentance and to confession of the risen Lord and Savior, but also how we will provide the necessary follow-up care — how we will help him to be established in his new faith and to come to the decision to be baptized in water.
Discipleship happens on the basis of personal relationships. And these personal relationships, which deepen in the following phases of the process, must be established and strengthened already in the phase of evangelism.
BAPTISM
Baptism is the second phase in the process of discipleship. It is a symbolic act that displays the new believer’s devotion to Christ and his union with the crucified and risen Lord (Romans 6:3-4).
In order to come to the decision to be baptized, the new believer must begin to grow spiritually and to be settled and established in his new faith. This involves several things.
First, the new believer must be grounded in the basic truths about Christ and the Christian faith (1 Corinthians 11:2; 15:3-5). This would help him to orient himself spiritually and to begin to distinguish between truth and falsehood, between what agrees with the Bible and what does not.
Second, the new believer must be established in his personal relationship with God. This means helping him to acquire the most basic disciplines of a disciple, which sustain and foster his spiritual growth (1 Peter 2:1-3). What are they? Reading and personally studying the Bible, prayer, fasting, time alone with God, and so on.
Third, we must give time and help the new believer to realize how the fact that he has become a follower of Christ will affect his personal and family life, and the various roles and positions he holds in life.
Besides marking the beginning of spiritual growth, baptism also marks a new relationship of the believer to God’s Church. During this important phase he becomes a member of the local church, of the local body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:13).
Baptism and joining the local church are exceedingly important, because disciples are made in the context of the church, within a Christian community. It is precisely in the church setting that the following phases in the process of making disciples take place. Of course, this does not mean that the new believer must completely break off his relationships with the unbelievers in his surroundings — family, circle of friends, or colleagues at work.
Jesus’ disciples were sometimes set apart from others, alone with him, but the greater part of their training took place while they were in contact with their “secular environment.” We must understand that the Christian community is to be spiritually distinct, but not socially separated from the non-Christian community. On the contrary, we must maintain our connection with everyone, because it is precisely the contacts between Christians and non-Christians that are the bridges by which unbelievers can come to Christ. How else would we have any opportunity for witness and ministry if we cut off the ties between us?
TRAINING
Evangelism — “therefore go and make disciples of all nations”; baptism — “baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”; and finally, training — “teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” The third phase in the process of making disciples is preparation for ministry. During this phase, through the various ministries in the church, the new believer discovers his own gifts and ministries and is trained and equipped to develop and carry them out, both in the church and in the world (Ephesians 4:11-12; 2 Timothy 3:16-17).
AN UNBROKEN PROCESS
The making of disciples is a ceaseless cycle. A given person receives Christ as his Lord (phase 1) because someone else, who has already received Christ, has shared the gospel with him. Then he joins a church, is established in his faith, and is baptized (phase 2). And finally, he is trained for ministry (phase 3) and sent back to phase 1, but now from the other side of the line — as a servant, as someone who proclaims the gospel of Christ. Thus the teaching of Christ is passed on from person to person, and God’s Kingdom grows. In 2 Timothy 2:1-2 the apostle Paul says to Timothy:
1 You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others. (2 Timothy 2:1-2)
Here we have the chain: Christ, Paul, Timothy, reliable and qualified people, and other disciples of Christ.
TRANSFORMATION INTO CHRISTLIKENESS
The goal of discipleship is to reach Christlikeness. Christianity is about having a relationship with Christ. Christ is at the center of the process of discipleship. The goal of this whole process is to follow Christ, to submit to Christ, to work for Christ, to witness for Christ, to teach the doctrine of Christ, to become like Christ. In Ephesians 4:13 it says:
11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. (Ephesians 4:11-13)
And in Luke 6:40 the Lord Jesus said:
40 The student is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher. (Luke 6:40)
Can we reach “the whole measure of the fullness of Christ”? Can we be perfected to the point of being completely like our Teacher? If anyone thinks he has reached that height, he does not yet know as he ought to know. He has become proud and is deceiving himself. Yes, in a certain sense, when the new believer is established in his faith and prepared to serve God in the church and in society, the process of making a disciple is complete. But in a deeper sense, the process of learning, following, and being transformed continues throughout the Christian’s entire earthly life. It is precisely this ceaseless transformation into Christlikeness through the Holy Spirit that is the change taking place in us through our following in Christ’s school.
THE POWER TO CARRY OUT THE COMMAND
The Lord knew that carrying out such a vast command as the Great Commission could not be accomplished by human strength. That is why he commanded the disciples not to begin the work until they had been “clothed” with the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit. In Luke 24:49 he tells them:
49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high. (Luke 24:49)
The power to carry out the process of discipleship does not come from man. It comes from the Holy Spirit. This is why we must learn how to be filled with the Holy Spirit, how to yield to his control, and how to follow his promptings.
Before sending his disciples out to the mission field, the Lord Jesus emphasized that his Father had given him all authority in heaven and on earth. One of the brief definitions of authority is that it is the right to exercise power in the name of the one who granted it. By emphasizing his authority, Jesus implied that it would work effectively in the ministry of his disciples. What is more, Jesus said that he would always be with his disciples, and from what he taught everywhere in the New Testament we understand that this presence of his would be realized through the Holy Spirit. So while in Luke, John, and Acts Jesus speaks directly of the power by which his disciples would carry out his commission, in Matthew and Mark the power of the Holy Spirit is described in terms that speak of the presence of Jesus with the apostles and of the manifestation of signs and wonders that accompany the preaching of the gospel.
THE COMPONENTS OF THE GREAT COMMISSION
In conclusion, I would like us once more to look closely at the Great Commission and to examine the elements of Christ’s strategy for the growth of his Kingdom.
| COMPONENTS (THE CONSTITUENT PARTS OF THE GREAT COMMISSION) | WORDS AND PHRASES (Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15-18; Luke 24:46-49; John 20:21-23; Acts 1:8) |
| GOAL (STRATEGY): MAKING DISCIPLES | “make disciples”; “teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” |
| MEANS OF REACHING THE GOAL (TACTICS): EVANGELISM, PREACHING, WITNESSING, BAPTISM, PREPARATION FOR MINISTRY | “go”, “make disciples”, “preach the gospel”, “you will be my witnesses”, “baptizing”, “teaching them” |
| SETTING (ENVIRONMENT): IN EVERY CULTURE | “Jerusalem”, “Judea”, “Samaria”, “to the ends of the earth”, “all nations”, “all creation”, “all the world” |
| DURATION: THE WHOLE TIME BETWEEN THE FIRST AND SECOND COMING | “always, to the very end of the age” |
| AUTHORIZATION (AUTHORITY): COMMISSIONED BY THE ALMIGHTY RISEN CHRIST | “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me”, “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you”, “I am with you” |
| POWER TO CARRY OUT THE COMMAND (RESOURCES): THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT | “but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you”, “power from on high”, “they will drive out demons, they will speak in new tongues…they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well” |
Is this strategy successful? And how far do we apply it in our church? If we are disciples of Christ, how far do we apply it in our own ministry and in our personal following of God? However perfect a strategy may be, it will never be successful if it stays only in the drawer or in the archive.
Can just one person, or a few people, do all this work? Does the Great Commission concern only the pastors? No, it is for all Christians. Even for those who doubt!
God has revealed his plan to us. He has commanded us his will. From here on it depends only on us how far we will obey him and how far we will bring our priorities into line with his. And they are clear:
- Be filled with the Holy Spirit and make disciples!
- Preach the gospel to people, and lead them to repentance!
- But do not leave them only there. Help them to be established in the faith and equipped for ministry!
- Work with them until they themselves begin to make their own disciples. Watch over them until the cycle is closed!
Only in this way will God’s Kingdom grow in Bulgaria, souls will be saved, and God will receive the glory he deserves! Let us taste and see that “the Lord is good”!