Date: 10*7-1995

Taught at GKII – Medan, Indonesia

INTRODUCTION:

1 After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. 2 There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4 The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

5 The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”

8 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

11 While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. 12 When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, 13 telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ 14 If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” 15 So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day.

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. 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.”

The resurrection and the Great Commission are linked.

Paul said that if Christ was not raised from dead our faith is in vain, and we are still dead in our sins.

If Christ is not alive – He is not King!

He has no authority!

Here in this chapter, we see four types of people:

1.   Those who are seeking Him. (v.5).

2.   Those who knew him but deny to believe Him.  Even though he demonstrated that he was alive, many believed him to be dead (v.11-15)

3.   Those who are his brothers (v. 10) who obey Him.  From this group there are two types:

1)   Those when they realize He is alive worship Him. (v.17)

2)   Those who doubt (v.17).

It was to this group of brothers he spoke these famous words to. (v.18-20)

LET’S TAKE A CLEAR LOOK AT MATTHEW 28:18-19

I.   JESUS’ AUTHORITY

Matthew 28:18 lays the basis of authority for the mandate upon Christ’s enthronement. Missions does not enthrone Christ as King, rather, because he is indeed already King of all, his Lordship is to be proclaimed everywhere.

HE HAS ALL AUTHORITY! JESUS IS KING AND CONQUEROR!

We need to allow the victory of Jesus to rule in you!

 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, (Luke 4:18 NIV)

JESUS CAME TO WIN !!! HE HAS ALREADY WON THE VICTORY

• HE HAS VICTORY OVER DEMONS

MARK 1:15, 21-26 …

15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!” ….

21  They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach.

22  The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law.

23  Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit cried out,

24  “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are–the Holy One of God!”

25  “Be quiet!” said Jesus sternly. “Come out of him!”

26  The evil spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek. (Mark 1 NIV)

Here is the Kingdom of God!  Demonstration of our victory.

• JESUS HAS VICTORY OVER DISEASE

Healing is the Father’s heart.

Sickness & Disease is a work of Satan’s kingdom and domain.

Jesus desires to drive out Satan and his works!

LUKE 13:10-17 …

10  On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues,

11  and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all.

12  When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.”

13  Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.

14  Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue ruler said to the people, “There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.”

15  The Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water?

16  Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?”

17  When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.

SET FREE !!!

Did Jesus mean what He said? or was it just an example?

Jesus came to stop the Devil’s work!

• JESUS HAS VICTORY OVER NATURE

MARK 4:35-41 …

35  That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.”

36  Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him.

37  A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped.

38  Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”

39  He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

40  He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

41  They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

What does this teach us?

How to handle the storms of life – maybe?

But I know it teaches that Jesus has authority over nature!

• JESUS HAS VICTORY OVER DEATH!

LUKE 7:11-17 …

11  Soon afterwards, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him.

12  As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out–the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her.

13  When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.”

14  Then he went up and touched the coffin, and those carrying it stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!”

15  The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.

16  They were all filled with awe and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said. “God has come to help his people.“

17  This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country. (Luke 7 NIV)

God comes to help us!!!

• JESUS HAS VICTORY OVER SIN!

He came to save the Whole Man!

Salvation is for the whole man!

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45 NIV)

Jesus gained that authority by living without sin and then dyeing for our sin and being raised from the dead!

Jesus gets rid of the enemy and brings into the earth His Kingdom Domain  … that is the Gospel!!

When we consider His commission to us, He backs it up with who HE IS!

The Commission Jesus gives us is very clear: (v.19-20)

1.   THERE IS A DEFINITE TASK

•     In a general sense, Jesus’ followers were to continue his work:

Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” (John 20:21 NIV)

•     Specifically they were to be international witnesses:

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.” (Acts 1:8 NIV)

to proclaim the Gospel and make disciples.

and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. (Luke 24:47 NIV)

He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. (Mark 16:15 NIV)

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, (Matthew 28:19 NIV)

2.   THERE IS A CLEAR OBJECTIVE

•     They were to proclaim the gospel to “all creation”, not “every creature” (Mark 16:15), working until somehow the whole of humankind is affected.

•     Still more specifically, they were to make disciples from every people (Matthew 28:19), working until a cluster of followers from every people group believe and obey, that is, until there is an intelligible internal witness within every network of communication.

3.   THERE IS A BASIS FOR OUR MOTIVATION

•     The mission is actually the mission of the father.

Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” (John 20:21 NIV)

•     The mission is founded on the OT scriptures.

44  He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.” 45  Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46  He told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47  and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48  You are witnesses of these things. (Luke 24:44-48 NIV)

•     Jesus’ resurrection Lordship establishes both the authority of the message and the disciples authority to proclaim it.

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. (Matthew 28:18 NIV)

II. JESUS’ CONTINUING MANDATE TO GO

A.  “Go” means to cross boundaries, whether sociological, racial, cultural or geographical.

B.  Grammatically, the main verb of the sentence is “make disciples”  All three verbs in the sentence: “going”, “baptizing”, “teaching” describe how to make disciples.

C.  Three options are possible in understanding “baptizing” and “teaching”

•     “Baptizing” and “teaching” are subsequent “follow up” activities to making a disciple.

•     “Baptizing” summarizes how one makes a disciple but “teaching” is education after someone is saved.

•     “Baptizing” and “Teaching” together are the process of making disciples.  Both are focused on persuading people to live under Christ’s Lordship. “Teaching” does not focus on knowing everything that Christ has said, but rather on willingness to obey everything that Christ has commanded.  This is in fact the obedience of faith.

Paul speaks of this crucial phrase as his aim for all nations in Romans:

Through him and for his name’s sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith. (Romans 1:5 NIV)

but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might believe and obey him– (Romans 16:26 NIV)

Seen in the context of the Kingdom of God, this teaching is indeed the gospel of Grace from Genesis to Revelation.

D.  The object of the main verb “make disciples of” is “the nations”.  This is the gathering of disciples in every nation – planting of churches within the remaining nations of the world.

We cannot talk about the unreached people of the world without discussing what is known as the 10/40 window.

The core of the unreached people of our world live in a rectangular shaped window.

(SHOW MAP  OF 10/40 WINDOW ON OVERHEAD)

It has been referred to as resistant belt (it would also include Indonesia).  Within this bloc are the Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists.  It lies between ten degrees north to forty degrees north of the equator (thus the name 10/40 window).  It extends from West Africa and across Asia.

If we are serious about providing a valid opportunity for every people and city to experience the love, truth and saving power of Jesus Christ, we cannot ignore the reality that we must concentrate in this region of the world.

1.   Seven realities

The 10/40 window is reveals seven important realities that we cannot ignore:

1) The historical and Biblical reality that this area must be reached!

2) The unevangelized people and countries. 

3) Islam. 

4) The three main religious blocks. 

5) The poor. 

6) The quality of life. 

7) The stronghold of Satan.

2.   Unevangelized and the Unreached – What is the difference?

      As we look at this window let us consider two terms; the unevangelized and the unreached.  These two terms do not have the same meaning.

a.   The Unevangelized are people who have a little knowledge of the Gospel, and they have not had the opportunity to respond to it.

b.   The Unreached are the two billion people who have never heard of Jesus as their Savior, and are not within reach of Christians of their own people.  there are in fact some 2,000 peoples or nationalities in which there is not yet a vital indigenous church movement.

3.   Why do we need to focus on the 10/40 window? Consider those 7 realities I just mentioned:

a.   Because of its historical and Biblical significance of this part of the world.

This area includes the area where Adam and Eve were created.  Abraham received his promise of Gen 12.  It is considered the cradle of civilization.  It is where Christ was born and preached the Gospel.

b.   Because it contains most the least Evangelized countries in the world.

55 of the least evangelized Countries are in this area.  97% of the people in the least evangelized nations are located in this window.

c.   Because here is the heart of Islam.

We see that North Africa and the Middle East are the core areas of Islam.  They must know Jesus!

d.   Because here is where the three main religious blocks are located.

We see the Muslim block with 706 million people or 22% of the people.

We see the Hindu block with 717 million people or 23% of the people.

We see the Buddhist block with 153 million people or 5% of the people.

e.   Because here is where the poorest people in the world live.

Over 2.4 Billion people live in poverty in this area.  It is interesting that the poorest nations of the world are also the countries that are unevangelized.

Could their be a relationship between these two facts?

Of course!

f.    Because the quality of life is so bad in this area.

When you measure quality of life you basically take three variables: life expectancy, infant mortality and literacy.

More than 8 out of 10 of the people living in the 50 countries of the world with the lowest quality of life also live in the 10/40 window.

g.   Because it is a stronghold of Satan.

Satan has established territorial strongholds with his forces of evil.  Spiritual battle is needed.  The greatest persecution of the church has been in this area.

When we look at this area, we must also see that only 8% of all missionaries work within this window.  Our priorities need to be changed!

Let me share with you some recent testimonies from what God is doing in the area of the world

III.     JESUS’ PROMISE

Jesus’ promise to be with his disciples in this task “all the days” until the end means that the commission not only has abiding force of Jesus, but that those engaged in the mission can expect abiding power of Jesus. 

A fascinating possibility is that Jesus may have been consciously quoting the first part of Genesis 28:15!

I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” (Genesis 28:15 NIV)

•     Missions is connected to the end of the age.  Missions continues to be the business of the people of God (even Gentile nations who have received the Gospel) until Jesus comes!!

•     Jesus is not offering an unrelated lesson on God’s omnipresence, or offering comfort for general loneliness.  He assures the church of his abiding leadership and empowering as the disciples obey by participating with in the mission.

CONCLUSION:

You are called to reach these people – (10/40 window). What greater opportunity than a people who know their God, who are filled with His spirit and are not bound by the things and systems of this world.

A empowered to be used by the holy Spirit.

A people willing to follow the New testament pattern and establish churches through the ministry of Apostle and Prophets, not shying away from the five fold ministry!

observation from this past week:

The people on the 10/40 window are relational people,

they are a people who understand covenant,

they are a people who expect God to do the miraculous,

they are a people who’s religious systems (specifically Muslim) that function through the works of Apostle like men, prophets, teachers and evangelists.

Who better to reach these nations than the portion of the Body of Christ that strives to be on the cutting edge of New Testament Christianity?

That’s you – and he is preparing many of you to go!

Certainly all of you to send!

Are you willing?

Amen!