Commissioned to God's Greatness

Matthew 28:18-20

In C.S. Lewis’s, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader,  Prince Caspian and his company set sail to the east to find the seven lost lords of Narnia to defeat the great enemy that threatened the land. The journey was smooth until they came upon a covering of darkness, Lewis writes, 

Behind them was the sea and the sun, before them the Darkness.

They knew the blessing of the journey, but were afraid of the unknown darkness that lay ahead. Their doubt made them consider turning back until Reepicheep, the mouse, spoke up,

“And why not? Will someone explain to me why not?” “If I were addressing peasants or slaves. I might suppose that this suggestion proceeded from cowardice. But I hope it will never be told in Narnia that a company of noble and royal persons in the flower of their age turned tail because they were afraid of the dark.”

Drinian chimes in,

But what manner of use would it be plowing through that blackness?

The journey hit a crossroads. Would they continue into the unknown or would they turn back to safer shores, “What would be the use of plowing through that darkness?” Reepicheep speaks up again,

Use? Use, Captain? If by use you mean filling our bellies or our purses, I confess it will be no use at all. So far as I know we did not set sail to look for things useful but to seek honor and adventure. And here is as great an adventure as ever I heard of, and here, if we turn back, no little impeachment of all our honors.”

If they were to turn back, if the great adventure was to cease, they would lose their honor and fail in their courage. 

Today our church needs this reminder to courage. Over the last four years, we have experienced the “sea and sun” of rich friendship and fellowship and gospel fruitfulness. And our voyage has led us to the unknown. We do not know the details of what lies ahead for Park Baptist Church or for Iglesia Bautista Soli Deo Gloria. And some may say, “Things have been going so well, what is the use of plowing into the unknown?” And we may need the reminder of the great mouse,

Use? If we are only filling our pews and feeding out comforts, it would be of no use at all. But we did not set sail for ourselves but to seek honor and glory for our King. We must plow into the unknown for our King demands it. 

Beloved, we need courage to believe that God will be with us as we plow into the unknown and the great adventure of the gospel is worth it. And we can’t turn back because we are afraid of the dark. 

After the resurrection, Jesus stood on the mountain with his disciples. And among the disciples there were two groups, those who worshiped and those who doubted.

Matthew 28:17,

And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. 

But when Jesus spoke, he gave them both the same word. So whether you have come worshipping the Lord or doubting his plan, Jesus gives the same word today, he commands us to go on the adventure of the great commission into the darkness, into the unknown, promising to be with us the entire way. Matthew 28:18–20

And 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.” 

Today, I want to remind you of the great adventure of the gospel by encouraging you to remember the Great Commandment and the Great Commission. 

Remember the Great Commandment

Let’s start with the second half of Jesus’ words on the mountain when he said, “teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” What has Jesus commanded us? What is the Great Commandment? It is given a few chapters earlier in Matthew 22:34–40,

But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together.

And one of them, a lawyer, asked him [Jesus]  a question to test him. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

Beloved, we need to love the Lord our God, with all everything. No matter what we do in this life, we cannot forget our first love. We have to remove all hindrances from our devotion and love of God. Whether it is sports or social media, our homes or hobbies, we cannot let anything take over our love of God. We have to commit to God what he has committed to us.

Everything.

Jesus Christ gave up everything for his people. He obeyed God in everything and then for the joy set before gave up everything on the cross. He took our sin and shame and all the legal demands of the law and nailed to the cross. He gave up his spirit and said, “It is finished.” He was dead and buried, but God raised him from the dead. Jesus commands us to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, because that is what he modeled for us. As the perfect picture of life, Jesus gives us an example to follow. 

Remember Jesus has fulfilled the great commandment to love the Father but loving us. He obeyed unto death and therefore was exalted to the highest place and given the name above every name. The greatest thing we can teach others is the gospel of Jesus Christ.

And we do that by loving Jesus Christ with all we have. As Paul told the Corinthians, “Follow me as I follow Christ.” I pray the greatest thing said about Park Baptist Church and about Iglesia Baustista Soli Deo Gloria is that they love Jesus Christ with all they have. Our affections for the Lord will lead us to serve the Lord. We do not start with external obedience, but with internal love. And we love God when we realize that while we were still sinners, God demonstrated his love for us by dying for us. He came to us when we could not come to him. He made a way for us when we had no way to him. He came to rescue us when we were lost and in the darkness. He went on the great adventure into this world of darkness to save his people by taking all the darkness on the cross. 

If you have yet to follow Christ, know that the Bible says you are in the darkness of your sin.

You can’t save yourself because you have sin. Jesus came to take your sin through his death and resurrection. You can be forgiven today, if you turn from your sin and trust in Christ. Do not delay. He is a gracious and willing Savior. 

As we commission a new church, we must first remember the great commandment to love God with all our heart, all our mind, all our soul, and all our strength. We remember to love him as he has loved us. And as I think over these last four years, I can confidently say, this is what I have seen in those we are sending. I have seen you rejoice in the gospel. I have seen how your love for God has spurred you on to love one another. I can’t count how many conversations have begun and ended speaking about how good God has been to us and how grateful you are for his sacrifice for you. I want to remind you to stay in his love. Whether we go or stay, we must stay in the love of God. We never outgrow our need for his love. 

Let us never be like the church at Ephesus who was known for patient endurance, known for good doctrine, known for obedience, but had abandoned the love they had at first. They forgot how they had fallen and needed the gospel like everyone else. Beloved, never forget what God has saved you from. Never be wise in your own sight. Love God as he has loved you. 

Remember the Great Commission

Why are we commissioning a new church? If the last four years have been full of “sun and sea,” why would we change such a good thing? Let's go back to Matthew 28, he came to his disciples and said,

Matthew 28:18–20a,

And 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.

The command given is to make disciples with three participles that modify the command. So are called to make disciples by going, baptizing, and teaching. Now those who heard this command on the mountain, the 11 disciples, do what in the coming days? They plant churches. How did the early church fulfill the Great Commission? They planted churches.

How do we fulfill the Great Commission? We plant churches. We multiply our work by reproducing. 

Our hope as elders has always been that we would be a church that plants other churches. We would raise up elders and send them to lead other churches. We would raise up members who know and love the gospel and send them on mission for the gospel. And we have seen that over the last 4 years. God has been so faithful to us. As we gathered as elders last night, Pastor Daniel quoted Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3:20-21,

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. 

Far more abundantly than all we could ask for. This has summed the last four years. Four years ago, in the height of Covid, we were struggling in caring for our hispanic members. We were in a season of pain and desperation. And in the midst of the pain, God was providential working for our good. A simple google search eventually led me to Victor Rodriguez and a small church plant in Charlotte, Soli Deo Gloria. Victor received the email when he was studying the wrath of God. He immediately went to our website to see what this church was about. The first message he came to was when we were studying the wrath of God. Victor said to Eunice, “I think God is going to do something.” And he sure has. He has done far more abundantly than all we could have imagined. From the first meeting in our parking lot to the humility of so many members willing to relocate to Rock Hill to the ordaining of two more elders and a deacon, to growing in number and in wisdom, God has done a great thing! 

One of the greatest privileges of my life over these last four years has been to watch God work in and through our church to build a window into heaven.

Revelation 7:9–10,

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

We have seen a glimpse of this reality every month for the last four years. We have seen people from different languages, different nations, crying out, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb!” We have been given a little taste of heaven. And it has tasted so very good. 

And now the Lord has led to this moment when we continue the gospel adventure and plow into the unknown. We don’t turn back but look ahead. We look toward the future and believe that God will continue to do for us for more abundantly than we can ask or think. We never know exactly what the Lord will do or how he will plan on using us. But we know he will be with us. For he has promised that he will be with us always even to the end of the age. 

The decision to plant has been affirmed unanimously from the congregation. The Holy Spirit has led us to this place so we are confident that he has great things in store for Park Baptist

Church and for Iglesia Bautista Soli Deo Gloria. We served together as one church for 4 four years and now he is asking us to serve side by side as two sister churches for many more. I was reminded last night of one of my early prayers for Park Baptist when I arrived 13 years ago. At the time the church came looking back to what it once was so I began to pray that the church would believe that the best days were ahead of us and not behind us. I think it would be wise for us to begin to pray that again. As sweet as these last four years have been, God wants to do far more in both our churches. He wants us to continue to grow in the

Lord, to make disciples, to raise up pastors and missionaries, to serve the nations, and to plant more churches for his glory. 

And even though I am excited for what the Lord will do in and through us both in the days ahead, I am still going to miss being one church. As I have reflected on the last four years, I have been filled with a profound sense of gratitude and appreciation for the kindness of God.

He has been so good to us. And I know he will continue to be so good to us. So as we plow into the unknown, into a season of serving as two churches and not one, I pray we face the coming days with courage for the Lord is with us.

There is much more that could be said, but let me simply end by saying to the soon to be members of Iglesia Bautista Soli Deo Gloria. We love you and we are excited for how the Lord is going to use your church for the glory of God.