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1:19Look at these words, because we're going to walk through this text, and we'll get kind of detailed at some points. And it's important that you are looking at the word here, because I think we've this is a very familiar passage, but there are some nuances in it that we often miss. Matthew 28, verses 18 through 20. And Jesus came up 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 the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. You know, we do our vacation Bible school really in a series of three years.

2:22Three really values of the church here. Can you say them? Truth, community, and mission. Truth, community, and mission. Biblical truth, biblical community, biblical mission. Everything that we do needs to be able to fit under one of those categories. We are to be people who are about the truth, biblical truth, declaring that truth, proclaiming that truth. We're also to be a people who are living in a biblical community, to love one another as Christ loved us. That's where that takes place to grow in community and exercising our gifts. And we're also to be on mission, mission. And so, what we do is a few years ago, we did truth. We looked at the doctrine of salvation as we were going through Pilgrim's Progress. By now, most of you know what that book is about, the second most published book in the history of humanity other than the Bible.

3:33We looked at the truth that story contained, and we do so in a very fun environment. If you haven't been here, it's a great time. Then, after that, last year, we did community. The whole theme was side by side, living together in community, encouraging one another, being very careful about what kind of community that you are going to join your heart with. And so, we focused on a lot of the characters and a lot of the aspects of the Pilgrim's Progress that dealt with community and choosing wisely and serving one another wisely, side by side. This time around, we're looking at being on mission, being on mission. So, we're going to accent those areas of the story. We're going to go through the whole story. Like we normally do, but we'll be focusing on some of those characters. We'll be looking at the mission of Christ and the mission of the church, and looking at those characters, we call them the agents of grace and the agents of disgrace. There are those who are going to encourage, be part of God's mission of grace to the worlds. There's going to be those who will oppose it. And so we want to anyone who grows up here in this church to understand the gospel. And so there's a we don't want anybody living here and not understanding the gospel, not understanding what the church is, and not understanding what mission is. And so we devote ourselves to our young people and to bring these and to impress these upon minds and hearts. And to do so at a young age. And I think some of the ministry is even more sometimes to those who are putting it on. Because I think those who have put it on have come to really know the richness and the biblical truth that John Bunyan put together. And while in jail, it was quite a, quite a quite a work. It's very thoughtful, very thought-through. So, I want to take us to Matthew 28. And I want to just walk through this. I have my translation in front of me, and I want to, I've got the Greek, and I just want to walk through it carefully and look at what's being said. And I'll honor the word order of the Greek, so it may sound a little different from your version, but it will, you'll be able to follow along, but perhaps pick up on some of the nuances. Look at Matthew 28:18. And having come up to them, Jesus spoke to them. So he comes up to them and he says to them, Now listen to this, verse 18: It has been given to me. It has been given to me. Passive. It has been given to me. What has? All authority. All authority.

7:07And the word for all there is very specific. All, but it's like each and every ounce of authority has been given to me. Each and every piece, ounce of authority. In heaven and on earth, it has been given to me all authority on heaven and on earth. That's how he starts his statement to his disciples that had gathered there. Then in verse 19, look at what he says: be on your way. Go, that's how it's translated.

8:00Go. But it's a passive verb. Like we might think, go, like, okay, then I'm going to go. Active, go. It's more like be on your way. And it's a tense of a verb, or it's a verb that call it an aorist, and it means be in a state of something. Sometimes we translate it as the past tense, like, okay, go, or he went. But it's really talking about a state of being. And what is he saying here? Putting it in the you be on your way. Be in a state of mission. Be in a state of having been sent. It's complicated. We just put it go, but sometimes we miss this nuance.

8:54Be in a state of being on mission. You're sent. It's not, okay, now you have an idea. It's no longer this idea of, okay, well, I think I'll be going now. No, it's you are sent. You are on mission. And the question isn't whether you should go or not. It's what are you doing now that you have been sent? If you are in Christ, you are already in a state. You have been put in a state by your Lord and Master to be on mission. How are you doing with that? That is the thrust here. All authority, each and every ounce of authority in heaven and on earth, has been given to me. Now be on your way.

9:53Therefore. Be on your way, therefore. In light of all authority, begin given to him. Now he's got a mission in mind, and we are part of it. And he says, be on your way. Go. Go. Go, therefore. Notice the next, and here's the command of the main, the main thrust. Here's the command: make disciples. Now, this is how I'd translate it. Y'all. Make disciples. So he's got his whole group there. Y'all go and make disciples. It is a corporate enterprise.

10:45Beyond your way. Y'all make disciples. It's not a present verb like, y'all go and be making disciples. It's this. Y'all make disciples. You, plural, make pupils. You make students. But again, it's this Aorist verb. And I would translate it more like, y'all put them into a state of learning and following Christ. You. This is what making disciples is. Take somebody and put them into a state of following Jesus Christ. That's the command. You, and it's active. You put them into a state of following Jesus Christ. Put them into a state of being a pupil, a student, learning from Christ. That's the command. Put them into a state of learning. That's how. How God wants them to be. Put them in a state of learning. And look at, make disciples of all the nations. Make disciples of all, of every kind, out of every kind of nation, out of every nation. This isn't the command, like, okay, go take a sword and force conversion. It's not that. Make disciples. It's make from all the nations learners and followers of me.

12:31Put them into a state of followship. That's the commission. And it's to all of us. It's to the disciples. Put them into a state of following. We collectively all play a role in this enterprise of putting people into a state of following Christ. It is a new disposition, a new way of life, where once they were not following Him, now they are to be brought into following Him and grow in following Him. And He goes on, baptizing them.

13:12You be baptizing them. Again, y'all be baptizing them. Forgive the word y'all. I know that sounds very Texan, but it's a really good, do you get the point? You, plural, you. It's a collective. We are all. In this enterprise together. The disciples, I love that. They were all in this, baptizing them into the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. So, go. You are in a state of being sent. Therefore, make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father, the Son, of the Holy Spirit. And look at verse 20, teaching them.

14:10You all be teaching them. You all be teaching them to observe, that is, to keep, to honor, all that I commanded you. And there's another word there that you don't know really, all, and then it's another word, as far as. So it's again, it's each and everything, everything in breadth, everything in depth, you are to be teaching them. Do you see the enterprise and why it takes a collective body to do that? Put them into a state of following Christ, teaching them everything that he observed, as far as I commanded. So all that I commanded you.

15:04Wow. Have you ever think about that? Here's Christ. He comes up to you and says, okay, now, listen, be on your way. All authority has been given to Christ, heaven on earth. Now you go, you be on your way. Make disciples. Put people, put these nations into a state of following God. Now, that's a tall task, isn't it? How in the world am I going to do that? To obey all, to love as Christ loved, to honor the Father's will all the way to the point of death? Listen, we're looking at a nation and we're looking at people around here who are hostile in mind and heart to him, and our command is to make disciples out of this material?

15:53Yes. It's a commission that's above our head, isn't it? There's no way. How am I? But this is what it says. He is the one with all authority, and he is saying, you go put them into a state of learning from me. How do I do that? I can't, and yet I'm sent for this task. Well, I think that's why he adds that statement. And lo. I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

16:37I'm going to be with you in this endeavor. This commission, this mission isn't something the disciples dreamed up. It is a mission that Christ gave his disciples. And he said, It is my enterprise. All authority has been given to me, and he knows what he is doing, and this is how he is going to carry out what he wants to do. How can we do this? And yet, we're sent, I can't, and yet we are supposed to do this. Well, so that's what I want to talk to you about this week. We want to make disciples. I want you to know what making disciples is about.

17:36And as I think, as I thought through this and meditated upon this, three things come to my mind. In order for me to do this, how do I cause people to be in a state of following Christ? And that is the command. I recognize I can't cause anybody to be born again. I am not the dispenser of grace, and yet this is what he has sent me to be, is just that, an agent of grace. His grace. And every one of you who is involved in vacation Bible school this week, and I praise God, we've got young, old, and everyone in between. I'm so thankful that y'all are part of this. As many, and I don't care what role you're playing, we're all part of this, and there is a goal in mind, and that is to make disciples. Three things are going to have to happen.

18:45And again, it's above my head. It's like Jesus saying, you go put people in a state of wanting to be like Jesus, and put people in a state of wanting to obey everything Jesus commanded. That's your commission. Fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, friends, your mission is to put people in a state of wanting to be like Jesus and wanting to obey everything that Jesus expects people to be and do. It's beyond our pay grade. And yet that's the commission.

19:30So, as I think about this, three things have to happen. And first of all, making disciples of Jesus involves, first of all, causing people to desire what he provides. Now, recognize I am not stepping into the role of playing God or trying to read out of this that this is now an enterprise that God has put over to the sovereignty of man, not at all. But I am trying to stay true to the nuance of the text.

20:05You cause people to be followers of Christ. And as an agent of grace, all the authority is given to him. But how do we do that? Well, number one, I don't think anyone's going to follow Christ unless they desire what he provides. Think about it. Why would somebody go from a state of not following Christ to wanting to follow him? Well, they have to desire what he provides. You have to be able to lay a foundation in your life, in their lives, that there are two very different kings, two very different gods. There's the God of the world, and there's the true God. And you have got to bring this to bear. And let me tell you something about. The God of this world. Bunyan does a great job of bringing him out. The city of destruction personifies him with the name Apollyon, whose name means destroyer. Let me tell you something about the God of this world: he wants to destroy you. He can't stand anyone made in the image of God. He hates God, and he is out to destroy. Listen, every single enticement of sin that you will encounter in your life has an ultimate goal, and it is your destruction. I don't care what vice it is, what addiction it might be, I don't care what it may be. There is an ultimate end, and it is your destruction. That is where sin takes you. It's where it takes everybody. And as you study this figure, he ends up in the lake of fire.

22:00He has no, he would rather go to the lake of fire than bow his knee and worship God. But not only that, he doesn't mind taking everybody with him that will go. He doesn't even love his own. He destroys his own. There is no repentance in him. There is no bowing. He has no qualms, leading as many as he can into eternal destruction. That's the God of this world. Ah, but then there is another God, the true God.

22:48And you know what? He offers forgiveness. He offers life. He loves you deeply. On a level you can't even imagine. He's good. He's thoroughly good. He's always good. And all of his designs towards you are good always because he cannot do anything else. That is who he is. Now, which of the king? Which king is better? You must bring the gospel to bear. Do you realize there are two kings and you are serving one or the other?

23:26You must desire what the true king provides. And Jesus Christ is the true king. He proved it over and over. And what he provides is what you need. Who are you going to serve? The true God or the God of this world? No one is going to follow Christ unless they understand what he provides. So, by your words, bring these truths to bear. This is gospel truth. Making disciples of Jesus also involves causing people to admire him and his ways. So, it's not just for a person to go from a state of not following Christ, they must desire what he provides, but then they also need to come to admire him and his ways. They're not going to follow somebody they don't admire. You and I don't.

24:38So, we must cause people to admire him and his ways. This is the road of sanctification. And we do this by ourselves, by our own testimony, not just our words, but by putting Christ in front of them. Husbands, by showing your family what a Christ-like figure looks like. Make your children admire Christ's ways by the way you live. Even if you struggle, let them see your struggle, but let them see in you a genuine admiration for the true King and His ways. You're not going to walk in His ways if you don't admire them, and neither will any of the kids that we bring.

25:29Third. Making disciples of Jesus involves causing people to aspire to live for his glory. So they must go from desiring what he provides. Do you desire the true king? Do you admire his ways and himself? Third, as an agent of grace, you need to be an instrument that causes people to aspire to live for his glory. Not to be a person who has to be seen. But in this enterprise endeavor, what is important is that Christ be seen. You and I cannot save. People can look at us and worship us all they want, but it will do them absolutely no good.

26:27And so that's what has to happen in making disciples. Just as I look at this, and I'm looking at this, this statement, you go and put people into a state of wanting to be like Jesus and obey everything he expects people to be and do, it's not going to happen unless you become an instrument that causes people to desire what he provides, admire him in his ways, and aspire to live for his glory. And that comes. By the words you say and the things you do.

27:05And if, and that's the enterprise. And we're all part of this. So that's just an overview of this verse. And practically, how does this come to play out? Well, let's talk about next week. Let's talk about the mission that we as a church have been given. It's not like, hey, let's go do this. No, he has sent us. We are in a state of mission. The question is, are we being a good steward of it? And I love that so many of you are part of this.

27:49But here are the daily themes for Pilgrim Days this week. Now, we have four of them. If we had three, it would have fit really pretty. But we have four. So this is how it goes. Day one, we're going to spend time impressing the need to desire the king and his grace. So we're going to take the kids through the gospel from the city of destruction to the mount of deliverance at the cross where their sins, where the burden is lost. We're going to communicate the gospel. We're going to make a strong contrast between the God of this world. And the true God, the true king. Because we want every kid, every person that enters into this building to desire the king and his grace. Listen, if you're here tonight and you don't know him, let me tell you, you can desire, I want you to desire the king and his grace. And you talk to anyone here that knows him, and they will impress upon you, yes, desire him. He is better than the God of this world. You can stop serving him and serve the true king. He offers forgiveness, life, blessing.

29:14So, day one, that's what we want to do. And every one of y'all who are part of this, and I don't care if you're setting up props, if you're running the blessing room, if you're completely behind the scenes, or if you're right there out in front, I want you involved in the lives of every one of these people that comes in, impressing on them a desire for the king and his grace. He is really worthy of being desired.

29:51And so we all play a role in that. Second day, day two, is admire the king and his way. We'll make it into the house beautiful. The Bunyan's picture of the church and the importance of growing in grace and prudence and piety and discretion and all of that. And admiring the king and his ways. And there's going to be a whole bunch of characters that come along that don't admire his way. They are the agents of disgrace. And they are the ones that want to keep you out of his way. There's formalists, hypocrisy, mistrust, timorous. We'll look at those, sloth, presumption, and all of these characters.

30:41They think little of the king and his way. But it's there. You need to admire that. This is what sanctification is about. And growing in the graces of the church and in community, and surrounding yourself and being part of those who admire the king and his way. So that's what we're going to be looking at at day two. Now, day three, we're going to hit a lot of trials. And this daily theme for Pilgrim's Days is to inspire others to follow the King. And this is really in the face of trial. You need to desire the King. If a disciple is going to follow Christ in everything to the end, he's going to have to desire the King. Then he's going to have to admire. The king in his way, and then they're going to need to be inspired to follow the king even amidst hardship. We're going to go into Vanity Fair, where faithful is going to be burned at the stake, and how his burning at the stake and his testimony to be faithful inspired another young pilgrim by the name of Hopeful who will come on the scene because of the faithful testimony of faithful. And so, if a person is going to continue in the way, inspire them to follow the king even in the midst of difficult times. And I promise you, every person that comes in and is part of our group this week is facing some challenges of some kind. And I don't care how little they are or how old they are. You want to inspire people to stand firm, hold true, keep following even in the midst of trials. And so that's what day three is about. And we're all part of it. I don't care if you're running snacktivity. I want you to impress these things. You're too part of this enterprise of making disciples, of putting them into a state of following Christ.

32:53And fourth, now I get back to my aspire. Aspire to. Live for the king's glory. And this is that to have heaven, to be about all about the king, and really wanting him to be seen, aspire to live for the king's glory. Why do we live? Like I said, no one really needs to see us at all, except as in the in through the light that we are agents of his grace. This mission enterprise is something he dreamed up, he thought about, and he has called us and has put us into a state of being on mission with him. That's what life is about. And we, as we grow, we are to be more about him and less about us in all of our responses to one another, in all of our ministry, in all of our dealings, in all of our businesses, in all of our associations, whether school, whether work, whether play, or whatever you put in there, we are to live so that Christ can be seen. That's what our aspiration is about. This is what making disciples inevitably involves, is wanting him to be seen, not us. So even the way you respond to your mom or your dad, in the back of your mind and at the heart of your being, needs to be, I want Christ to be seen. Seen in my response.

34:35So, as you think about what's ahead, we're all part of it. We're all part of this enterprise. We are in a state of being on mission, and it's nothing I or anyone else here did. It's something he did. And we are in this together. All of us are to go, and as it relates to this next week, all the souls that come in and out of this building, we are to be good stewards of. We are to put them into a state of wanting to be like Jesus. And you know what? If you don't want to be like Jesus, you're not going to be able to make disciples. In fact, if you don't want to be like Jesus, the only kind of disciple you can make is one that's twice the son or daughter of the devil as you are.

35:42You go and put people into a state of wanting to be like Jesus by the way you live, by the things you say. Reach out to them. Go to them. That's part of this. You are in a state of mission to each of these goats. Care. If they're across the room, go to them. That doesn't mean you're there. Just because you're in the same room, go to them. Talk to them. Listen to them. Go to them.

36:11Cause them to desire the King, to admire His ways, to aspire to live for His glory. Put them into a state of wanting to obey everything Jesus expects people to be and do. And again, we do that by showcasing Him in all of our responses and in all of our actions. Let us showcase Him. So that's what this week is about. And I am so thankful that so many are part of this. And I pray that the Lord will bring in a harvest of righteousness in the hearts of people this week. May there be a lot of planting. May there be a lot of fruit going down deep into the hearts of our young people. Let me pray, and we'll go. Heavenly Father, we thank you. This mission is way beyond anything we can do. We cannot make anybody do anything.

37:27And yet, you have put us in. In such an enterprise, to be agents of your grace, and you with us and working through us will bring about the desired result of making disciples. Through efforts like these, this week, you will be putting people into a state of following you. Help us, help each of us here tonight to appreciate this privilege. Help us ourselves to be in a state of following you and desiring your ways and admiring your ways and inspiring others to walk in your ways and aspiring to live for your glory and everything we say and do. Thank you, Father. Protect us this week. Bless this week. Protect the word.

38:25Pray that you'd keep it from being stolen, from fallen on hard soil. Father, please keep, bless, and be honored this week. We depend upon you as the one who has promised to be with us in this endeavor. In Christ's name, amen.