All-in from Matthew 28

Today I am commenting on Matthew 28:16-20, which reads:

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 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, baptizing 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.”

As a military chaplain, I have had the opportunity to serve with all kinds of troops. Some of the most intense Soldiers I have ever known are Special Operations personnel; they are, “All in, all the time!” That’s why the entry level skill of most Special Operations units is Airborne School. When you exit an aircraft in flight at 1250ft, you are fully committed to that endeavor!

Being all-in reminds me of when the barnyard animals were debating what to get the farmer for his birthday. The chickens wanted to cook him bacon and eggs for breakfast, but the pigs objected, saying, “For you, bacon and eggs are an offering, but for us it is a real sacrifice!”

After the Resurrection, Jesus met with His disciples to give them His final guidance before ascending to Heaven. The word “All” featured prominently in His instructions.

ALL AUTHORITY:

When Jesus met with the disciples, some who were present had doubts. An old military saying is, “When in charge, take charge!” Jesus did!

He asserted His authority as the sovereign ruler of all things. Because He is ruler, He has all authority, and this is what sovereignty means.

Our government is sovereign, but its powers are limited by the Bill of Rights. Jesus, however, is King of Kings, and His authority is unlimited.

Jesus has delegated some of His authority to the church. Some people believe that Satan rules Hell like God rules Heaven. This is not so!  Jesus is ruler over all! This is why Jesus told Peter about the authority of the church in Matthew 16:18-19.  Jesus said: 

And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

So, we see that the authority of the church descends from our Lord. Jesus also extends His authority to us personally as well.

We Americans are rebellious and individualistic and proud. For example, a Kindergarten teacher was observing her classroom of children while they drew.  She asked one little girl, “What are you drawing?” The girl replied, "I'm drawing God." The teacher paused and then said, "But no one knows what God looks like." Without missing a beat, or looking up from her drawing, the girl replied, "They will in a minute."

We forget that we, too, are under the authority of Jesus. We think we can do what we want, but we can’t. We need to remember what 1 Corinthians 6:20 says: “For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.”

We all need to bow our knee to Jesus as our King!

ALL NATIONS:

Jesus gave His people a mission:

He wants all people to have saving knowledge of Him.

He wants all people to understand truth.

He wants all people to be free from the lies of Satan.

And . . . He wants us to be His tools to make that happen.

To do this we must have power! The TV comedy “Home Improvement” had a running gag about “More power,” but the truth is, humans don’t have the power to accomplish the mission assigned to us. 

We do need more power, and God has provided it to us as Acts 1:8 describes: "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."

Jesus walked day-in and day-out with the disciples, and He knew that they couldn’t do it in their own strength. He also looked down through the ages and saw we can’t do it on our own, either, so He sent us power to give us the ability to do this work.

Today, we have the Holy Spirit, the Word, our testimony and much more. We need all that He has given us, because the task is huge and difficult!

 

To do this, we, like the disciples, must go outside our comfort zone! Today, many think that Jerusalem was the disciples’ hometown. Wrong! They were from Galilee! Jerusalem was not their “home field.”

As strangers in a strange land, we never have a “home field advantage.” The only advantage we have is what God gives us. Blessedly He has given us all we need to accomplish His mission!

ALL THINGS:

We need to be “Full-gospel preachers,” not in terms of a denomination but by offering people the whole Revelation of God!

We don’t need to keep people in ignorance; they need to know the full richness of God’s love for us.

You don’t need to know very much to be saved, but you do need to know a lot to become a disciple, and our task is to make disciples, not just converts. As Paul reminds us, Psalm 47:7 says we should sing with understanding!

What is the full Gospel? Since we come to the Lord as a child, so this can’t be too hard to understand! It includes simple yet profound ideas, like:

The Son of Man came to seek and save that which was lost.

We are to love God with all our being.

We are to love our neighbors as ourselves.

We are to obey the commands of Christ and we are to make disciples.

 

Here is one key we need to remember: Before we can make disciples, we, ourselves, must be disciples!

Doctors teach medical students; lawyers teach law students. Therefore, we must be full Gospel people before we are full Gospel preachers!

If we are not disciples ourselves, we can’t make them, and if we are not making disciples, we are disobeying our King!

We really don’t want to disobey our King. Consider Hebrews 10:24-27: 

And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.

We all have things we fear, such as illness, loneliness, rejection, the Internal Revenue Service and many other things. These are nothing compared to offending the God of the universe!

ALWAYS:

We often let our fear prevent us from obeying God. We are just ordinary people and we feel incapable of doing this tremendous task. We say, “I’m no hero” and we try to duck our responsibility and let someone else do it who is “more qualified.”

I have known some heroes in my life:

Al is a father of a childhood friend. He served in the 3-4th Cavalry in Vietnam and was wounded three times in less than 3 months. He has always walked with a limp since then.

  

Chuck , who was my first platoon sergeant in the Army, was awarded a Silver Star escorting a convoy with the 4th MP Company in Vietnam.

Jeff was a missionary who had to resign because of a debilitating tropical illness he caught in Africa.

William Koehn was the administrator at Jibla Baptist Hospital and who was shot to death there and martyred.

 

Each of these folks were ordinary people:

Al had a bad temper.

Chuck had his own, stubborn way of doing things (His nickname was Crazy Harold).

Jeff was fixated on some particular theological ideas and liked to argue about them.

Bill Koehn was a mild, avuncular, unassuming man.

Yet each was a hero in his own way. And the fact is, God equips the called, He doesn’t call the equipped. 

Equally important, we can obey God and serve Him because, no matter what we face, He is always with us! He will never leave us nor forsake us! And he will help us whenever we step forward for Him.

Conclusion:

If anyone in this life has ever been “all-in,” it has to be Jesus. He gave His all so that we could have a relationship with God. The Bible also tells us that He gives us all things we need to serve God and live for Him. 

Jesus is “all in!” Are we?

Every blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt