How Jesus Made Disciples series: Click | View Series

Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."(Matt. 28:18-20)

How did Jesus equip his disciples for disciple-making?

In Matthew 28, Jesus told the disciples to make disciples of all nations. This is one of the largest tasks ever attempted--seemingly impossibly large, but he also gave them unimaginably powerful tools to execute the vision. How do 11 guys make several billion disciples? We will answer this question in several parts.

Jesus rose from the dead and gave them a mission.

This could be an easy point to miss, but they had the motivation of seeing a dead man rise to spur them on to the mission to which Jesus called them. They saw the gospel in action. This isn't some philosophical or religious superstition--when dead men rise, the power of God is present.

Eleven ordinary guys need to somehow make billions of disciples. Logic would dictate that many photocopies of an already less-than-perfect set of men will lead to a real jacked-up church in the future. But God has given his disciples a set of tools.

Jesus gives the power to baptize.

Anyone can dunk another person in water. It can be done at a carnival with a softball, or in a toilet by a bully at school, but it takes the authority and work of God to put someone underwater as a symbol of their being crucified with Christ and raised again to live in the power of Christ for the work of the Gospel. The disciples have been given the gift of baptism, meaning that they have been given the power that was once reserved for only the most holy of priests and prophets. Now these fishermen who spent about enough time to get a community college degree from Jesus are able to carry that kind of authority--and they'll need it to work towards the immense task they've been given.

Jesus gives them the directive to teach.

Jesus taught the disciples all they would need to know for the mission he's given them. They have the Old Testament, they have the teaching of Jesus, and they have the Holy Spirit--this is sufficient, and now they must teach others. They must preach, they must be ready to give an answer for the hope within them, they must model Christ-like living, they must raise children who honor God, model families that honor the Lord, and build communities that bow down before the throne.

Jesus will remain with them.

Jesus promises that they are never alone in their mission. The Father is always watching from his throne--holding the earth and everything that's on it in place. Jesus is beside him, fully sovereign over everything on earth, and the Spirit is actively moving among the hearts and minds of the disciples. Jesus is with them--to the very end.

Conclusion

These things that God gave may not seem like enough--we want a staff like Moses that does magical things, or the ability to walk on water, or something that shows that we have power. But what we have is more--it's the authority of the King.

Resurgence Literature

Re:Lit is a ministry of Resurgence. There you will find a growing line of books to help guide the resurgence of the new reformed. Find out more.

Vintage Church Series: click here

In chapter five of Vintage Church we answer the question, "What Are Baptism and Communion?" Part of that answer can be found in these excerpts from pages 114 and 130:

By virtue of reminding us of our connection to Jesus and his people, baptism and Communion are supposed to be incredibly meaningful. In Christianity, baptism and Communion have been sacred rituals practiced for thousands of years in every culture by people who, by faith, trust in Jesus alone for their salvation. Different words are used to describe these sacred rituals. The most common term is sacrament, which refers to an outward, visible sign of an inward, invisible spiritual reality. In this sense, there are many sacraments. But most often the term is applied specifically to rites instituted by Christ for his church....

The church will stay on mission as it reflects deeply on the sacraments as gospel dramas where the Word is spoken and made visible, and where the blessings of life with the triune God brought to us through the Word made flesh, who died for our sin and rose for our new life, are lived out faithfully in the sacramental community of the Spirit to the glory of God the Father.

Vintage Church:

In this book, Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears discuss the essentials of what it means to be a biblical church. Find out more.

Among the differences which divide Christians baptism looms very large. Unlike other doctrines and practices of the church our differences on baptism fall along a number of lines at once. We seem unable to agree on any of the following: (1) Mode of baptism. (2) Proper candidates for baptism. (3) Proper administrators for baptism. (4) Effects of baptism.

Most agree on only two things: baptism requires water, and baptism is appropriate at the outset (in some sense) of the Christian life. Apart from these marginal agreements the word "baptism" is a symbol without meaning—and this after 2000 years of use! Looked at in this way, "baptism" bears all the earmarks of a grand tragedy. No wonder a few groups have ignored it altogether.

Provocateur Extraordinaire
Jonathan Edwards (1703-58) has always provoked extreme reactions. People have found it impossible to be neutral or indifferent toward him.

Many have been provoked by his most famous sermon--arguably the most famous sermon in American history--"Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God." Lyman Beecher's wife, for example, upon hearing the sermon read to her, exclaimed, "Dr Beecher, I shall not listen to another word of that slander on my Heavenly Father," and stormed out of the room.

In point of fact, hellfire and damnation were not Edwards' specialty. Of 1,300 extant sermons, 655 are related to eschatology or the Kingdom of God. Only 155 of those even mention damnation and hell, and most not centrally. Edwards was obsessed by God's beauty not wrath.

Oliver Wendell Holmes was another modern reader revolted by the "Sinners" sermon. "Is it possible," he wrote, "that Edwards read the text mothers love so well, `Suffer little vipers to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the Kingdom of God'?"