Articles

Matthew 28:18-20

“And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 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.”

Over the past decade or so, maybe a bit longer, there has been a rise in the ‘multi’ campus churches. These so-called churches have campuses all over the world sometimes. Here in Ontario, for instance, we have a division of the Elevation church; they have campuses in New York and other regions. Sadly, one of the breakdowns in modern Christianity has been the importance and scriptural position of the local church. Most people do not have a Biblical understanding of what a local church is, and I deliberately use the term ‘a local church.’ There is no such thing as ‘the local church.’ For sure, there is no scriptural support for the Universal church.

Of course, many Protestant ‘church’ groups came out of the Reformation and, as such, took on the Catholic view of church and churches. True ana-Baptists have never identified with Rome and, as such, are not Protestant; we already observed the doctrines that Luther espoused. The very word Catholic means Universal; thus, the view is that of the universal church that is subject to the head, the Pope. Many people do not know that, for the most part, you can attend a Catholic ‘church’ assembly anywhere in the world, and the lesson for that day, that time period, will be the same no matter what country or language you are in. Each individual congregation does not teach a lesson as the Lord leads for the benefit of the local group.

Sadly, many people do not understand the idea or the doctrine of the local church. Jesus established a local church; He called out a group of men (there were also ladies; read Luke 8) who funded a lot of His ministry, and He taught them the doctrines of the Old Testament. He empowered them to go out on short-term missions two by two. He had them come back and report their endeavors. He continued to fine-tune them, and then as He was leaving, He left them with what we call The Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20.

As we venture into the New Testament, we will find churches at locations such as Ephesus, Philippi, Corinth, Rome, and the like. These all looked like the church in Jerusalem as far as doctrine was concerned, but they all had their own pastors and elders, sent out missionaries, and conducted business.

The word that we get church from is ‘Ekklesia’; this is a called-out (out from within the city) assembly with a purpose. Ironically, one of the best examples of this is in the book of Ruth. In Ruth 4: 1-4,

“Now Boaz went up to the gate and sat down there; and behold, the close relative of whom Boaz had spoken came by. So, Boaz said, ‘Come aside, friend, sit down here.’ So, he came aside and sat down. And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, ‘Sit down here.’ So, they sat down. Then he said to the close relative, ‘Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, sold the piece of land which belonged to our brother Elimelech. And I thought to inform you, saying, ‘Buy it back in the presence of the inhabitants and the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, redeem it; but if you will not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know; for there is no one but you to redeem it, and I am next after you.’ And he said, “I will redeem it.”

Here, Boaz is about to perform the duty of the Kinsman Redeemer; as such, he called together a city council of ten men. These men had the purpose of witnessing the redemption of Ruth and Naomi’s property and Boaz taking Ruth as his wife. These men are assembled, they have a purpose, and they conduct the business of the city. A local church is exactly the same; we assemble from within the city, and we conduct the business of the Kingdom of God on behalf of that city. Our purpose is Matthew 28:18-20, and this is the business that we do. In the same way, we are overseeing the work of Kinsman Redeemer, Jesus, who came to buy back and redeem us from Satan.

This may seem like a trivial thing, but consider that one of the issues that plagued the first church in Jerusalem was that of people not spreading out. God allowed persecution to come under the supervision of the Pharisees headed by Saul of Tarsus, and the Christians scattered and carried the Gospel to other cities. Thus, we have churches established throughout Asia Minor, Northern Africa, and into Europe. The Jerusalem church did have some initial ‘control’ over these other churches, but that was more oversight than anything else.

Eventually these churches had to live and breathe on their own, so to speak, and learn to obey the Lord and His leadership. A close look at the seven churches of Revelation will show us Jesus directly communicating with the ‘angels’ of these churches; we come to learn that the angels are the elders or, in our modern term, the pastors. Jesus led each individual church and either upbraided or commended them based on their obedience to Him. Jesus then established Himself as the Head of each local body. The pastor is never the head of a local church; he is an ‘under-shepherd’ and serves under Jesus who is the Head; see 1 Peter 5: 2-4:

“Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.”

Imagine if these ‘super’ churches, instead of bleeding thousands out of communities, established local assemblies that conducted the Lord’s business, and instead of one super church, we had a congregation of 10,000 now split into 20 churches of 500 serving a local community with the authority of the sending church to do church in-service to their community. What if they had 30 churches of 300 in 30 communities serving those communities? And on we could go.

A local church, in many cases in North America, is between 75-100 and can be financially self-supporting and also support missionaries. But then pastors of 100 or so are not celebrity pastors, and no one offers them book contracts. When we get this way, church becomes a job and not a calling. Jesus called the apostles to be ‘fishers of men.’ He trained them and empowered them to do the work, and it was a lifetime calling (see John 21 and Jesus calling Peter back to the work of the Kingdom).

Pastor friend, if you are in obedience to the call of God — if you are leading the church you serve to obey Jesus, live like Jesus, follow Jesus, and obey the Great Commission, and you protect and preserve the simplicity of the Gospel — you are already famous with Jesus, the Chief Shepherd, and that should be enough. Lord, help it to be enough for me.

God bless you,

Dr. Sean Gooding
Pastor of Bethany Baptist Church
70 Victoria Street, Elora, Ontario

Matthew 10:5-15; Mark 6:7-13,13:9-13; Luke 9:1-6, 21:12-17

Summary: In these verses, Matthew describes the responsibilities given to the apostles by the Lord Jesus. He anointed them with special powers and abilities to show people the power of God but also warned (Mark 13:9-13) of coming persecution for the cause of the Gospel.

The Lord Jesus gave the apostles specific responsibilities and gifts to minister to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. His role as the Promised Messiah would be to not deliver the nation from the bondage of Rome but to free them and all people from a far worse bondage, that of sin and its deadly, eternal consequences (John 14:6; Romans 3:23, 5:6-11; 6:23).

In both Matthew’s and Luke’s accounts, we are given the means by which He would use His apostles to carry out what would be a “practice run” for the Great Commission. They were to first minister to the people of Israel who were spiritually thirsty and hungry for a touch from God after four hundred years of both silence and the rule of world powers, starting with the Babylonians, then the Persians, followed by the Greeks, and now the “iron heel” of the Roman Empire (10:5-6).

Most of Israel cried out to be free from all foreign powers and be restored to the glory that had been theirs under great kings such as the beloved David. They were not aware that the Promised Seed of the line of David was in their midst, the rightful heir of the crown. His time would come, but for now, much more important work needed to be accomplished.

The apostles were given the commission to preach the message about the coming kingdom of heaven. This would be fulfilled when Jesus died upon the cross as the final sacrifice and atonement for our sins (John 3:16) and rose from the dead three days later, as prophesied (Isaiah 53:1-12).

James Boice, in his commentary on Matthew, wrote that “the kingdom of heaven is the proclamation of a crucified, risen, and returning Christ, both Lord and Savior.” The Gospel is the kingly rule of the Lord Jesus Christ. To inherit a share in the kingdom, we are to repent of our sins and believe in Him (10:7; Romans 10:9-10, 13).

The apostles were also given the freedom to perform the same signs and wonders as the Lord (v.8). They were to heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, and cast out demons. All of this was a public demonstration of the power and presence of God among the people. This commission was also an exercise in faith and dependence upon the LORD for their needs (vv.9-10). They were instructed not to carry currency or anything else that one might pack for a journey. They were to trust in the LORD as a lesson in faith and trust, something we would do well to imitate.

Jesus gave them a code of conduct when coming into a village or household (vv. 11-15). They were to stay with someone of like mind and spirit and to stay with the person or family until they got ready to leave. They were to grant peace to every household they entered and keep their peace when encountering people or homes that were opposed to the Gospel. If the town or house would not receive the good news, they shook the dust of that place off of their feet. The LORD would handle the problem. Unbelief or hostility toward the Gospel was a worse sin that destroyed both Sodom and Gomorrah. The unbelieving cities would face a harsher punishment from God on the day of judgment.

Opposition to the Gospel was going to be part of the persecution (vv.16) they would face. Jesus was sending them out like sheep among the wolves of the world who were determined to tear them apart. Those of us who are Christ’s sheep must remain obedient and dependent upon Him and trust Him to care for us. We are not to retaliate but use our common sense and reasoning to assess any situation. They were to stay alert (v.17) and be observant of people and their intentions. There were those who would claim to be friendly toward God and His messengers, yet they would later hand them over to the religious officials who would punish them in the house of God Himself.

In verses 18-20, Jesus told the apostles to expect to be brought before governors (Roman officials) and kings (Herod). This would be an opportunity for them to share the Gospel before not only their countrymen but later to the Gentile world (Acts 10). Where these situations occur, Jesus told them not to worry about what they should say. The Holy Spirit would give them the words to say in order to present the Word before their captors.

The Lord would expound on the work and role of the Holy Spirit in John 16:5-15 on the night of His arrest and crucifixion. Persecution would become so severe that families would end up being divided (vv.21-23). Parents would turn their children over to the authorities and vice versa, even being put to death for the sake of the Lord Jesus. Hatred for the apostles and followers of Jesus overall is really hatred for Him.

It would be a difficult time to go through, but Jesus encouraged them to instead persevere. There will be false believers who will turn away from Jesus and back to the world (2 Timothy 4:9-10; 1 John 2:19). These people are ‘false converts.” Jesus is speaking to those who have truly forsaken everything to follow Him. We are to “examine” ourselves as to whether or not we are truly in the faith (2 Peter 1:10). We do not want to hear Jesus tell us on the day of judgment that He never knew us (Matthew 7:21-23). We cannot be content with “lip service” salvation and live like the world at the same time. He also told the apostles not to stay where they were not wanted but to go to another city and proclaim the Gospel there.

We are to work until Jesus comes back (Luke 19:13, 21:28; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).

Anyone who is serious about following Jesus should expect persecution. No one is exempt from the hatred from the world as well as from the devil and his demons (vv.24-26). We are commanded not to let fear overrule our commission and responsibility to tell as many people as we can about the life-changing message of forgiveness of sin and the saving grace of the Lord Jesus (Isaiah 53:1-12, 64:6; Matthew 10:27-42; 11:28-30; John 10:28-30, 14:6; Romans 3:23, 5:6-11, 6:23, 10:9-10).

We serve a living Savior who provides eternal life and a place in heaven for anyone who calls upon Him for mercy and grace. He calls to you today, reading this message, to know that this world system cannot provide true peace or happiness.

If you were to die today and God asked you why you (or any of us) have the right to enter His heaven, what would you tell Him? If you are trusting in your works to get into heaven, you are making a terrible mistake (Ephesians 2:8-9). We are to call on HIs name alone for any chance to have real life and an eternity free of the strife and troubles of this present world. Do not put this off (2 Corinthians 6:2). He awaits you with open arms and a purpose for your life.

donaldwhitchard@outlook.com

https://ocosbe.org/donald-whitchard

The Local Church :: By Sean Gooding

Instructions for Ministry (Matthew 10:5-42) :: By Donald Whitchard