 All right, let's talk about the mission of the church. Mission of the church, you know, we've been, we've started a brief study on ecclesiology during groups now and using Jeffrey Johnson's book, The Church Why Bother is a Launch and Ground for that. This morning in the Sunday School Hour, we were discussing what has happened, in essence, to the modern professing church and how an unbiblical false understanding of regeneration or a lack of understanding about regeneration, a lack of understanding and a failure to practice church discipline and how that has led the church to essentially lose its identity as the church. Even within evangelical circles, most professing churches today are not churches and they have forsaken those foundational doctrines and as such, the world has just swarmed into the church. Churches are now full of lost people who, because there is no power in the gospel for them, no power in their Christian, their quote unquote Christian lives, they can't live for Christ. And as a result, the impact of the church and the world is largely lacking. And we've seen this morning, took a look at those statistics at the direction that all that is heading. And as we mentioned this morning in Sunday School Hour, one third of our country professes to be born again. If there were one third of our country that was actually born again, you would see massive impact for the gospel. I've thought about how this little church and how much impact we've had in our area over the years with respect to the gospel, both in bringing persecution upon ourselves, but also folks that have been genuinely converted and we saved as a result of the preaching of God's word. If one third of our country were actually born again, there'd be a tremendous upheaval in our country and turning things around for Christ, but such is not the case. In large part, because church has lost sense of its mission, even churches that have doctrinally sound statements of faith, we've lost sight of what the mission of the church is. What is the mission of the church? What's the mission of the church? The modern church confuses mission and now everything is mission, right? Everything is the mission of the church, glorifying God and enjoying him forever. That's the chief end of man. And so many would say that that's the mission of the church is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. Now, is that a good thing to do? Praise the Lord, yes. Yes, that's our chief purpose for us, is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever, the chief end of man. But it's not the mission of the church and we wanna distinguish between those things that are good and all those things that are valuable and right that we can affirm and what is the mission of the church and not to be confused about those things. Some would say that the greatest commandments are the mission of the church, to love God and love your neighbor. I would say that that's the mission of the church, the mission of the church is to love God, love your neighbor. There are some that taking the example of the Good Samaritan would say that good deeds done in Jesus's name are, is the mission of the church. There is a movement for the social gospel and you see that played out in mission organizations, mission programs around the world, go out and do good works, good deeds in Jesus's name and doing those good works in his name are a witness for the goodness of Christ and so that's the mission of the church to go out and do good works in Jesus's name. And there's, these aren't without biblical warrant, there are those that will justify these missions of the church from scripture. Others that would say that taking over the government is the mission of the church, that we're going to take over human government such that at some point, things are going to get so good around here that Jesus is going to come back. Yes, it's Ben's, his plan, back there, yes. Power to the people, brother. But that's not the mission of the church. Is it a good thing to do? If a Christian feels compelled to be elected to public office and serve in public office, is that a good thing for a Christian to do? Well, yeah, it's a good, and a Christian can have an impact but is that the mission of the church? Some people say that working in the community, mercy ministries, the abortion ministry, is the abortion ministry laboring to end that wickedness in our country? Is that the mission of the church? Some people would say that liberation theology. Lord Jesus Christ in Luke two, preach that he came to set at liberty the captives or to rescue the oppressed. Is that the mission of the church? Some would say that the mission of the church is individual holiness. That what we need to do is each individual Christian, each individual Christian that makes up a church has a responsibility to lead a holy life and thereby leading a holy life. They become witnesses for Christ in the world. So our mission, the mission of the church is individual holiness. There was a time period a while back where in our discussions about evangelism and the emphasis that this church places on the importance of making disciples, we heard this frequently that the means of grace, church, reading your Bible, prayer, all equally important to evangelism. So why would we emphasize evangelism over any other means of grace or any other spiritual discipline? And some would say, would follow that up by saying that those means of grace are the mission of the church. That when a person is saved, their mission is to avail themselves of the means of grace and grow in the knowledge of Christ. James chapter one, verse 27, James says, pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this. To visit orphans and widows in their trouble and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. So is that the mission of the church? Are we to visit orphans and widows in their trouble and to keep oneself unspotted from the world? Matthew chapter 25, verse 34, in an account Lord Jesus Christ is giving us, the King will say to those on his right hand, come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For verse 35, I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty, you gave me drink. I was a stranger, you took me in. I was naked, you clothed me. I was sick, you visited me. I was in prison, you came to me. So is that the mission of the church? Or do we go out or to go out and to feed the hungry, take in the strangers, clothe the naked, visit the sick, have a prison ministry? There are those that would say, and many leading theologians, I mentioned their name, you'd recognize their name, would say that Jesus Christ came into the world healing the sick, you know, curing diseases, and so they would say that the mission of the church in being sent by God as God the Father sent God the Son, that we're to go into the world with that social intent of healing sicknesses, feeding the poor or feeding the hungry, taking care of the poor, is that the mission of the church? Some may even argue with the concept that the church has a mission at all. We're just to live out the commands of Christ. It's interesting that they would say that we're to live out the commands of Christ, and yet the church doesn't have a mission. Everything is mission, in other words, but we as the church are to be clear about what we're to do. We've been given a mission. We've been given a task, and we have a responsibility to pursue that mission. We have a mission as a church. And all those other things are good things to do. They're all good things to do. If you wanna read your Bible, that's a great thing to do. God commands that you do that. We're to delight in His word. If you're to pray, that's a good thing to do. We're supposed to pray. We read this morning in John 15, commanding us to pray, whatever we ask in His name, a promise from God we'll receive from Him. We're to pray. We're to go to church. We're to love one another. We're to love our neighbor. We're to love our enemies. We're to, when we see a need, in Christ's name, take care of that. In Christ's name, take care of that need. Meet that need if we can. We are to have things like a presence at murder mills, preaching the gospel and praying that God would convert sinners and save the baby. We are to have mercy ministries in our churches. Those are good things to do. We're to do good deeds in Jesus' name. We're to be good Samaritans. We're to love our neighbors. But is that the mission of the church? All of those things are good. All of those things are good, but I would submit to you that they're not the mission of the church. Now we talk about that here and we know what we're referring to. But even these things among our folks here in our church, these things can be confusing and doubt can seep in. The way that we communicate about them can be difficult sometimes. So it helps us to remind ourselves about this and what we don't wanna do is we don't wanna lose sight of our mission. We don't wanna lose sight of what we're here to do. And we wanna be able to speak boldly and intentionally about it. Clearly in our minds process, what is the mission of the church? What as a church member am I here to do? What's my purpose, so to speak? What's the work that I should be about? What's the priority in my thinking, in my heart and my mind as I consider the mission of the church? We can't lose sight of that mission. Now if you consider the word by itself, the word mission. The word mission comes from a Latin word that's related to apostellos in scripture, apostello, meaning sent one, someone who's sent, someone who's sent. You think about even what's involved with the term, we have several components of the word mission or several components of a biblical mission that we wanna consider this evening, right? If you think about four primary components, four primary components that we think about and we think about biblical principles that apply to that concept of mission. First, there's one sending. There's one who is sending. Secondly, there's one who is sent. You think about mission, there's one who's sending and there's one who's sent. Thirdly, there are those to whom the sent one is sent. Right, there are those that we're sent to. And then fourth, there's the task. There's the purpose, all right? There's one sending and there's a sent one. There are those to whom that person is sent and there's the task to be performed. Mission then, if you think of those four areas, mission is the task that a person or a group is sent to accomplish. Mission is the task that a person or a group is sent to accomplish. If you think about that from a biblical perspective, do we have a mission in the church? Do we have a mission, a singular mission? We have many good things to do, but what's our mission? Now from a biblical perspective, we can answer each of those questions and specifically the fourth one we'll save to the end. But if we think about who is the one who sends in the Bible, we consider the New Testament, we consider us as the church, the one who sends is the Lord Jesus Christ, right? The Lord Jesus Christ is the one who sends. Who are the sent ones? It's us, it's his church, his people, right? The bride, he sends us and then to whom are they sent? They're sent to the world, into the world. And then fourth, what is the specific purpose? What is the task for which they are sent into the world? And that's what we'll discuss this evening. Now you think about it, just take that concept of mission, right? If you're gonna define mission, mission means that there's a sent one, mission means there's one sending, mission means there's a people they're sent to and then they're sent with a task. We fill out that definition from scripture, we have the mission of the church, okay? There's one sending that's Lord Jesus Christ. The sent ones are his bride, his people, the church. They're sent into the world and they're sent into the world with a task. Now let's look at some texts and we wanna answer these four questions, all right? And then we want to affirm our answer to the original question, what is the mission of the church? And we wanna do that from the text. So turn with me first to Matthew chapter 28, Matthew chapter 28. And again, I wanna think clearly about these things. I wanna be able to communicate clearly about these things. When we think about and talk about mission in our church, we wanna be very clear about what we're doing and why we're doing it, okay? And there's no confusion here. We have an abortion ministry and that's good. That's not the mission of the church. We have a mercy ministry. That's great, but it's not the mission of the church. There are things that we can do, right? Things that we can do that are good, that are not the mission of the church. There is one thing, one mission given to us that we must do because it's the mission of the church and we wanna be able to communicate clearly about that. Matthew chapter 28, look at verse 16 with me, all right? Verse 16, then the 11 disciples went away into Galilee to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. When they saw him, they worshiped him, but some doubted. 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. Now, Jesus came and spoke to them. This is at the end of the Lord's earthly ministry. This is after his crucifixion, after his resurrection and the Lord is about to ascend into heaven and these are his parting words, his parting instruction, right? In verse 19, there is one primary or main verb and then there are three supporting verbs or participles that support the main command, okay? The main verb in verse 19 is make disciples. Okay, now notice that with me, make disciples. The three supporting participles or verb forms that support the main verb are these, go at the beginning of verse 19, baptizing the middle of verse 19 there and teaching at the beginning of verse 20. We have one main verb, one command, make disciples. Those three supporting verbs, if you will, all support the command to go and make disciples and so if you think about it, those three are the means by which we make disciples, all of them come with command force. There's a Greek construction that supports that. So we are commanded to make disciples. How do we do that? We go, we baptize and we teach. What is the go referring to? Referring to evangelism. You're to go into the world, we'll see that in a moment, you're to go and preach the gospel. Now this is the Lord Jesus Christ. If I go through those four questions with you with relation to Matthew 28, verses 16 to 20, who's the one sending? Lord Jesus Christ, right? Who are the sent ones? All of his disciples. Now there'd be some in Matthew 28 that would say, this is just for his 11, just for the 11 but it doesn't apply to all of us. Well listen, if you look at the very end, lo I am with you always, even to the end of the age, well if his promise to empower us and to be with us in the work, last to the end of the age, how long does the work last to the end of the age? The work lasts to the end of the age, right? This is for all of us, it's for all of his disciples. If you're a Christian, then Matthew 28, verses 16 to 20 apply to you. You are commanded by the Lord who's been given all authority, you're commanded to go. You're commanded to go, you're commanded, we're commanded to baptize. And what does baptism specifically refer to here with respect to the church? Or respect to bringing those disciples, those new converts, those sinners who have been saved at the preaching of the gospel, bringing them into the church. Baptism is the entrance point into the Lord's church. You affirm their profession of faith, you baptize them in the name of the father, son of the Holy Spirit and now they're in the church in order to be discipled and the last supporting part of simple there is that you teach them. We teach them to observe all things that I've commanded you and lo, he's with us always, even to the end of the age. So the one who is sending is the Lord Jesus Christ. The sent ones, obviously his people, the church, they're sent and they're told to go, right? They're told to go. To whom are they sent? Says here that they are sent to all the nations, right? Verse 19, go therefore, make disciples of all the nations. They're sent to the world, with the gospel. And what then, fourth question, what then is the specific purpose for which they are sent into the world? They're sent for the purpose of making disciples, okay? So again, we take the word mission, divide up what mission would mean into those four parameters and we look at answers to each one, one sending the Lord Jesus Christ, the sent ones, his people, the church, to whom they are sent, the world for the purpose of, answering the fourth question of preaching the gospel, making disciples. Now, let's take a look at Luke chapter 24, another example of what's referred to as Great Commission. Luke chapter 24, incidentally as you consider Matthew chapter 28 and you consider texts like this in Luke 24, these are parting words of the Lord Jesus Christ before he ascends into heaven, right? These are parting words. And the Lord Jesus Christ is instructing his church what to do in his absence, right? In essence, I'm going away and what is the church? What is my bride, my people? What are they to do in my absence? They're to go and make disciples, okay? Look at Luke chapter 24 and then drop down to verse 44. Then he said to them, verse 44, these are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms concerning me. And he opened their understanding that they might comprehend the scriptures. And then he said to them in verse 46, thus it is written, thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day. And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name to all nations beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things. Behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high. So we take a look at our questions. Who's the one sending? It's the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord Jesus Christ is sending. Who are the sent ones? His people. To whom are they sent? All nations, verse 47, beginning at Jerusalem. And what's the specific purpose for which they are sent? What's the task? Verse 47, that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name to all nations beginning at Jerusalem. See, he says you, you are witnesses of these things. Look at Acts chapter one, Acts chapter one. It's interesting that in the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John and there are elements of the great commission in all four Gospels and they represent usually parting words of the Lord Jesus Christ. Each Gospel concludes with parting instruction from the Lord. In Acts, Acts being an account of the beginnings of the church, it's interesting that Acts begins with an account of the great commission, begins with this instruction. Look at Acts chapter one and look down at verse four. I'm sorry, look at verse seven. He said to them, it's not for you to know the times or season which the Father has put in his own authority. Verse eight, but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth. I think about our same question here. The Lord is about to ascend into heaven. He gives instruction here to the church. What is the church to be doing? They are to be preaching the Gospel. Who's the one sending here? It's the Lord Jesus Christ. You shall be witnesses to me. In the words, you will witness of me in the world. You're gonna be my witnesses, all right? Who are the sent ones? It's not just his disciples here. They're gonna be preaching the Gospel in Jerusalem, Judea, in Samaria and to the end of the earth. They're not gonna accomplish that in their lifetime. And it's not going to be only the disciples, the 11 left, now soon to be one more. Not gonna be only those disciples in all the earth. It's gonna be his people, those that would come after them preaching to the ends of the earth. But they're going to begin. They're gonna begin in Jerusalem. They're gonna begin in Judea and Samaria. And the Gospel's gonna spread to the end of the earth. And then to whom are they sent? They're sent into the world. First in Jerusalem, then in Judea, then in Samaria, then to the ends of the earth. And what is the specific purpose for which they are sent? You shall be witnesses to me. You see? You shall be witnesses to me. We get the same questions. We have the same answers. Becomes very clear with the mission, the mission of the churches. That's interesting that from beginning to end in the book of Acts, if you consider Acts, it's about the church carrying out what Christ has called them to do. The book of Acts is the church going into the world to carry out what Christ has called them to do. It's the beginning of the church. Now, if you wanna look through the book of Acts to find justification for a social Gospel, you're gonna find disciples doing good things, doing good works, but that's not the mission that's given to us in the book of Acts. If you wanna go through the book of Acts and try to find them taking over the government in Jerusalem, you're not gonna find it in the book of Acts, right? Those are good things. They're not necessarily bad things in and of themselves, but they're not the mission of the church. What does Acts communicate beginning to end? It communicates what the church is doing after Christ ascends into heaven and what he's called them to do. It's interesting that if you look in chapter one, Christ is departing and he gives the church now their marching orders. And the rest of Acts gives the church, the account of the church as they carry out the Lord's marching orders. In chapter two through seven, you have the Gospel preached in Jerusalem. All right, think about it, you've got a Pentecost, you've got Stephen preaching the Gospel, right? That preaching taking place in Jerusalem. It's got an account of the early church in Jerusalem, Acts two through seven. In Acts chapter eight, the preaching goes out into Judea and into Samaria. You have in Acts chapter eight, Samaritans being saved at the preaching of Philip. The Gospel being preached in Samaria. Where is Paul at the end of the book of Acts? You know, he's in Rome. It's the uttermost ends of the earth. So what is the book of Acts a record of? The book of Acts is a record of the church, the early church doing exactly what the Lord Jesus Christ called them to do. Which is to go into the world, make disciples, preach the Gospel, right? Bringing disciples into the church where we can baptize them and teach them to observe all things that he's commanded us. Acts is a picture of the church doing what the Lord has commanded. If you think about it, let me give you some principles to consider. We just looked at three texts, there are others, but as we consider those texts, let me give you some principles to consider. First, in the Great Commission texts, those texts give us commands. They're commands of the Lord Jesus Christ. So if we're gonna prioritize what we're gonna focus on as a church, we'd be better to prioritize those things which the Lord has commanded. Not that, again, please don't hear me wrong, not that other things aren't good to do. It's good to have a mercy ministry, right? Good to go out to the abortion mill. It's good to avail yourself of the means of grace in church, to be personally devoted to holiness and holy living. Those things are all good, but they're not the mission of the church. We're gonna determine what the mission of the church is. It's best we focus on the commands. We begin by grounding our priorities in the commands of the Lord, especially that command that he gives us prior to his ascension. Secondly, the mission of the Bible is the Father sending the Son. Think about God's mission in redemptive history. God sends Jesus Christ into the world to save sinners, right? John chapter 20, verse 21. Jesus said to them again, peace to you. As the Father has sent me, I also send you. In other words, the Lord's mission, having been sent by the Father, the Lord's mission becomes a model for our mission. As the Father sent him, the Lord then turns and sends us. His mission then carried out through his followers. Look quickly, if you still have your finger there in Acts chapter one, look at Acts chapter one. You know, just considering what the book of Acts is describing about the church. Luke says here at the beginning of chapter one, verse one, the former account I made, Otheophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and to teach. In other words, the Lord's earthly ministry was the beginning of all that the Lord came to do and to teach, and now that ministry continues through his people, the church. And the book of Acts then describes that work being done. His mission now carried out through his followers. Third principle to consider. These are the Lord's final instructions prior to his ascension. We would all find that normal, right? If you had parting words for a son, right? You're gonna leave and you're leaving your son, you're gonna give him last words, so to speak. Those words are gonna have significant weight, amen? We all know those parting words, that parting instruction, critical instruction, priority instruction, very important, and here they communicate the mission of the church. So all that being considered now, and let's think clearly about these things, communicate clearly about these things. We conclude, right, from these texts, with conviction, with conviction, that the mission, the mission of the church is to go into the world as witnesses for Christ and preach the gospel making disciples of all nations. Pretty good indication in scripture of what the mission of the church is. Mission of the church is to go into the world as witnesses for Christ and preach the gospel making disciples of all nations. That's our task, right? We take those four questions, defining mission. Who's the one sending? With all authority, it's the Lord Jesus Christ, right? With all authority, it's the Lord Jesus Christ. Who are the sent ones? His people, his bride, the church. We, you and I, are sent. Our mission, we're sent, okay? To whom are we sent? We're sent into the world. We've been given an area. We've been given a sphere of influence. So we're commanded by the Lord with all authority to go and we're to go into the world, to the world, to what's our task? What's our purpose? To preach the gospel. Witnesses for Christ to preach the gospel and make disciples of all the nations. Now, why do we spend time reminding ourselves of these things? Anyway, why do we spend time reminding ourselves of these things? One, it's to constantly battle confusion. You know, in our own heart and mind, it is so easy to be swamped with other priorities. It's so easy for me to begin to think, well, these other things are important too. This over here is pretty important to me, right? We remind ourselves of these things to constantly battle confusion. Secondly, we wanna make sure that the gospel is of primary importance in our church. That the gospel is of first importance in our church. Jesus Christ came to save sinners. We need to preach that good news. Thirdly, we wanna make sure that our mission, the mission that the Lord Jesus Christ gave us as a church, as a people, of making disciples for the glory of God is central in what we do, is central in what we're about. It must be, it's the mission of the church that the Lord Jesus Christ has given us. In other words, we don't want the great commission, right? Our mission, we don't want that to be lost in a flurry of other activity. All activities that may be good and may be right and good to do, but they don't represent the mission of the church. Those things are important, but they're not our mission. We wanna make sure that our mission of making disciples for the glory of God is central, not lost in that flurry of activity. And fourthly, to exhort God's people here to commit themselves to this work. This is a mission that the Lord has given us. We need to exhort one another. I want to exhort you. I want you to exhort me. We need to exhort our brothers and sisters that aren't here. This is the work that the Lord has given us to do. This is the mission that we've been given and we're responsible before God. We'll be held accountable before God to see to it that we labor in that mission. And I've thought about it with membership coming up. It's some new folks here, some folks that may be considering membership in our church. I've thought about it with respect to some of us who've been members for a long time and reminding ourselves of these things. By joining this church or by being a part of this church, by being a part of this church, you become responsible for whether or not this church continues to faithfully preach the gospel. You have responsibility in that. I have responsibility in that. This is the mission of the church. It's the mission that we've been given. By joining this church, by becoming a part of this church, you and I take responsibility to make sure that this church continues to faithfully preach the gospel. And one day, one day, you and I are gonna stand before God and give an account for what we did with the responsibility that we've been given. Will you be passive in that or will you be active? Will you be passive in that work? Or will you be active in that work? We're calling you, calling myself, we're calling you to be active in that work. This is a glorious commission, a glorious work. We have the abiding presence of the Lord Jesus Christ with us as we go. We have, by faith in him, we have the promise that when we pray in his name, we'll be fruitful in that work and we see visible fruit in our church as a result of that work, amen. So we've been given a glorious commission, glorious command. Let's be faithful to the Lord, right? Laser focused on the mission that the Lord has given us. The mission is to go and preach the gospel, make disciples. Let's pray. Father in heaven, we thank you that in your word, you're very clear. Your word is very clear with the mission of the churches, the mission of the churches to go and make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that you've commanded us. Lo, we praise you and we worship you. We thank you that we have your abiding presence with us as we go into the world to do that work. Thank you, Lord, for the clarity your word speaks of these things. Help us, Lord, not to be swamped with other activities that would preclude us from being faithful to the mission that you've given us. Although they be good things, Lord, and we wanna be faithful to you and all those good things, Lord, we wanna be faithful to you in that primary mission that you've given to the church, that you've given your people. We wanna see sinners saved. We wanna see Christ exalted and honored. Help us, Lord, to be faithful to preach the gospel. And Lord, maybe you be honored and pleased to give us fruit for that labor, that you would convert sinners, that you would bring them into this church, converted sinners brought here that we would disciple them and teach them to observe all things, Lord, that you would allow us to minister to them and, Lord, to set them out into the harvest field as laborers in your mission for your glory. When we pray for these things, we wanna see Christ receive the full reward of his sufferings. We wanna see your people single-minded in their efforts and their labor to preach the gospel, knowing that our preaching of the gospel is never in vain, and knowing, Lord, that you're behind that work, supplying the power, Lord, that you're behind that work, doing the work of salvation, we can trust in you, Lord, to give the increase when we plant in water. We love you, we thank you for your word, thank you for this time together. In Jesus' name, amen.