Let us read Matthew 28:18-20 and ask the Holy Spirit to give us fresh insights into this familiar but vital passage of Scripture.

“Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 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)

Now let’s take a good look at what it says to all of us.

1. The main Players of the Great Commission

“Then Jesus came to them …”

To whom was this Great Commission given? The disciples of Christ. We are the main players in this vital game of world missions!

The whole Church must be mobilised to be a part of God’s redemptive plan. 

It takes the whole Church to bring the whole Gospel to the whole world. 

2. The main Power Base of the Great Commission

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me …”

Where is the power base for the Great Commission?

We often begin with the question: “How can the Church finish this task?”  

By so doing, we have made the Church the main power base for missions, but the power source is really found in the fact that: “All authority in heaven and on earth is given to Me.  Therefore go …”

The main power base of the Great Commission is not the Church or the mission agency but Christ Himself!

And He promised us: “And surely I will be with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Why this promise of God’s presence? Because the task is not easy. The disciples will face intense spiritual warfare in wanting to wrestle souls from the powers of darkness.  

But by the power of God, this task of world missions will be finished!

3. The main Purpose of the Great Commission

There are four action verbs in the Great Commission: “Go”, “baptise”, “make” and “teach”.  

Of these four, three are what we call “helping verbs” and only one is an “imperative verb”.

This is the one that all the rest are helping to fulfil. The imperative verb is not “go”, “baptise” or “teach”, but it is “make”.

This means that we “go”, we “teach”, we “baptise” only to fulfil the ultimate purpose which is to “make disciples”.

The final measurement of the Great Commission is not: “How many went on the mission trip?” Or “How many responded to the altar call?” Or “How many were baptised?” Or “How many came to our teaching conference?”

But: How many became true disciples of Jesus Christ?

Until we have made disciples, we have not fulfilled the Great Commission.

4. The main Pursuit of the Great Commission

“… make disciples of all nations …”

The word “nation” is the Greek word “ta ethne” from the root word “ethnos” which literally means “people groups”.

So, this word is really referring to ethnic groups and not geographical nations like Singapore or Malaysia or Australia.

This is a critical missiological truth because Jesus told us in Matthew 24:14: “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations (ethnic groups), and then the end will come.”

This is the clearest sign in the Bible to signal the Second Coming of Christ.  

When this Gospel of the Kingdom reaches all the ethnic groups of the world, “then the end will come”!

5. The main Passion of the Great Commission

What is at the heart of the Great Commission?

I think it is the Father-Heart of God for the lost and our desire to bring glory to His Name.

God’s desire is to gather unto Himself a Body that is made up of every tongue, tribe, nation and peoples to worship the King of Kings.

I like what John Piper said: “Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exist because worship doesn’t. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man. When this age is over, and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more. It is a temporary necessity. But worship abides forever. Worship therefore is the fuel and goal of missions.”

The goal is not only for people to be saved, but that they will become worshippers.

“Missions exist only because worship doesn’t.”

Revelations 5:9 paints us the vision of the finished task: “And they sang a new song: ‘You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.’”

May the Lord give the Church in Singapore new eyes to see God’s heart for this lost world and an Antioch passion to go and bless the nations. And The Time Is Now!

Let us pray:

Father, I pray in Jesus’ name that through this short time we have together, open our eyes to see Your heart for the lost world. We pray that You will make the Singapore Church a Church that carries an Antioch passion to want to take Your Gospel to the ends of the earth until every people, every tongue, every tribe, every nation is represented before Your throne of grace, worshipping our King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

Reflect

1. How has your view of missions shifted, knowing that the “nations” in Matthew 28:18 refers to ethnic groups rather than geographical locations?

2. “The goal is not only for people to be saved but that they will become worshippers.” How will your Gospel message change if you aim to transform non-believers into – not just saved individuals – but lifelong worshippers?

3. How will you pray over missionaries and mission agencies, remembering that “the main power base of the Great Commission is not the Church or the mission agency but Christ Himself”?

Pray

1. Pray for our worship to be so authentic, so transformative, so joyful, that we long to share the Lord whom we worship with those who lack it. “We must never rest until everything inside us worships God.” (AW Tozer)

2. Pray for obedience and courage to heed God’s call to leave our comfort zones to seek and save the lost. Ask for Christ’s love for the lost to fill us and overflow into an urgency and compulsion to share the Gospel with those who don’t know it.

3. Pray that God will so enlarge the vision of the Singapore Church beyond our immediate circumstances that we eagerly respond to, and rejoice in, God’s work everywhere, within our nation and beyond.

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