Making Christ's Authority Reality
Genesis 12:1-3; Matthew 28:19a
By Pastor Barry York, Kokomo, Indiana, Reformed Presbyterian Church

As the RP International Conference comes to Calvin College this week, we will identify with our college and joke about "Geneva coming to Calvin," or wear our T-shirts that say "Even Calvin went to Geneva." In light of this and the particular phrase under study this morning from the Great Commission, I cannot help but remind us of when Calvin really did enter Geneva. Let’s remember when Calvin went to Geneva.

When Calvin went to Geneva, he was looking for what brought you here this week — a little rest and relaxation. But it was almost certainly for different reasons. Calvin had had to flee Paris because of an outbreak of persecution in France against the Protestants. His name had been associated with certain teachings that the parliament in Paris would not tolerate. Persecutions were severe. The Catholics in power had even devised a new way to torture the Protestants, who later became known as the Huguenots. Instead of simply burning them at the stake, they created a hoist that lowered and lifted its victims in and out of the fire so that they would slowly roast to death.

Calvin, obviously wanting no part in these new inventions, wandered for over a year, moving from one French and Swiss town to the next in order to escape detection. Because of various wars and outbreaks of persecution, in August 1536 he had to take quite a detour into the French-speaking part of Switzerland through the city of Geneva so that he could make his way to Strassburg, Germany. He had his father’s money in his pocket, and wanted to go to Strassburg to find a haven of peace and quiet where he could lead the life of a scholar, studying and writing without turmoil. In his own words he said he went to Geneva without planning on "staying longer than a single night in the city."

There was another French refugee and pastor there named William Farel. He had labored in Geneva for several years, seeking to organize the Protestant church, and his hands were full. When he heard that the brilliant young scholar had arrived in town (the first edition of The Institutes had already been published and Calvin’s fame was spreading), Farel went and found him in the room where Calvin was staying. After the normal greetings and sharing of news, Farel (like all good preachers do) got straight to the point. He asked Calvin to stay at Geneva and help with the work of the church and the reform of this community. At this, Calvin must have laughed, for it would be like someone coming up to you this week and saying, "While you are here, why don’t you just stay and help us with the church here in Grand Rapids? You can stay here for the rest of your life." We would probably respond, "Get a life!, " and in so many words, so did Calvin. He politely declined Farel’s offer, pointing out he was headed to Strassburg for his studies. But Farel (like all good preachers do) kept pressing the point. And the more he kept pressing, the more Calvin resisted. And the more he resisted, the more Farel insisted.

Farel was a real thunderball of a preacher. Through the lifting of his voice the previous summer, he had stirred up the congregation in Geneva to such religious fervor that it had taken to the streets smashing every Catholic icon it could find. He knew how to stir people up. As the evening drew to a close, Farel in frustration rose up and thundered at Calvin, "May God curse your studies if now in her time of need you refuse to lend your aid to His Church."

At that point I’m sure Farel planned to turn on his heel and march out of the room, resigned to Calvin’s refusal. Yet the unexpected happened. Calvin heard the voice of Christ speaking to him through those words. He said it was "as if God had laid his mighty hand down from heaven to arrest me."

Calvin did stay at Geneva, and except for a time during a short exile (when he did make it to Strassburg and there met his wife), Calvin labored his whole life in Geneva. And the world was changed.
Farel made his point with Calvin, now let me attempt to make mine. If you are at all aware of the state of the RPCNA, you must realize this is "her time of need." Why do I say this? Pulpits across our land have been empty for years, and they are not being filled. According to my informal reckoning, over a dozen pulpits in the RPCNA are now empty. That may not seem like many, but when you consider that we only have 75-80 congregations, it is a sizable portion. This week we are mourning with the McCrackens the loss of yet another faithful soldier of the Lord. The godly leaders of our church (men with names such as Blackwood, McCracken, Joseph, Spear, Smith, Robson) are getting older, and though I am not sure they are talking about it, others are talking about their retirement. To a younger pastor like me, the thought of not having these men with us in pastoral leadership is terrifying. Churches need associates to help with their labors, and men cannot be found. It is a time of need.

I serve on the Home Mission Board of our denomination, and though we are excited about the Lord’s recent blessing on our labors, we have seen 25 percent of our new works closing down. The toll of this battle is a serious one, and the board is recognizing a need to further evaluate and equip in the work of home missions. Our current foreign mission fields are crying out for workers, and our Foreign Mission Board is talking, rightly, about opening new fields. But where are the workers? It is the church’s time of need.

All of this is coming at a time when our nation, blinded by its prosperity, is steaming like a runaway locomotive about to be derailed by God, and the response of much of the evangelical world is, "Let’s just make it a circus train and enjoy the ride."

Indeed, an hour of great need is upon the church, and the church in our age and our generation must hear this royal decree of our Lord, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations." Paul McCracken did a wonderful job yesterday explaining the universal authority of Christ that precedes this decree, and has set us up for what comes today. For as Jesus met with His disciples on that mountaintop, He not only claimed His legitimate, universal authority, He went on to tell His disciples to make His authority a reality. When I say that, I don’t mean that His authority is not a reality until His disciples make it so. No, what I mean is that the ignorant, darkened nations of the world are to be awakened by His disciples to the authority that belongs to Jesus. As the risen and exalted Lord bestowed with His Father's supreme authority, Christ gives a royal decree to His disciples of how His kingdom is to be made known throughout the earth. In the particular phrase of the Great Commission, "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations" (Matt. 28:19), the Lord specifies the process of how this shall be accomplished.

His kingdom is to be made known throughout the earth…

1. By actively obeying His royal decree ("Go therefore")

You wouldn’t think it to look at it, but this little word that begins our phrase of study this morning has been greatly debated as to its meaning. You wouldn’t think theologians and commentators would really debate over the word "go," but there has been quite a bit of ink used to discuss what it means. It is because the word translated "go" is a participle in the original language, and there’s the rub. The argument basically boils down to what I will call a casual versus a formal understanding of the word go.

Often participles are used in an adverbial sense to modify the main verb. Since the main verb in this sentence is to "make disciples," those promoting the casual understanding say it can be translated "going" or "while you are going" make disciples. In other words, "while going along your way," make disciples. "Wherever you happen to be, wherever you boat may float, make disciples." "While skipping merrily along the way, make a disciple or two today." You are beginning to understand by my sarcasm what I think of this casual approach. There is nothing casual about this participle!

However, it is not an adverbial participle, but a participle that meets all the conditions necessary for what is called an attendant participle.* This is a participle whose action coordinates with the main verb. It is a participle that takes on the force or mood of the main verb. Since the main verb "make disciples" is a command, so is the going. As someone has said, "To turn this go into an adverbial participle is to turn the Great Commission into the Great Suggestion!"

So grammatically it means "Go!" Contextually, it must also mean "Go!" for this can be nothing other than a formal, royal decree from Christ. He not only says, "Go" but "Go therefore." "All authority in heaven and on earth is Mine. Go therefore!" That Jesus is speaking with all authority necessitates an active obedience.

Not only grammatically and contextually must it mean, "Go!", but also chronologically this must be its meaning. In Matthew 10:5, when He was sending the Twelve on their first preaching tour, Jesus had specifically told them, "Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter the city of the Samaritans." But now–following the giving of His life, His glorious resurrection, His coming ascension to the throne of God, the bestowal of majesty upon Him by the Father, the sending of the Holy Spirit to His followers–He says "Go!"

Perhaps the most convincing piece of evidence to me is that covenantally it must mean, "Go!" For what was the first word Abraham heard the Lord speak to him? In Genesis 12:1-3, we hear, "Go….Go forth from your country, and from your relatives and from your father’s house, to the land which I will show you." And as we continue to read, we hear the language of the Great Commission spoken to Abraham, "I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and so you shall be a blessing….and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

We often think rightly of William Carey as the "Father of Modern Missions," but do we remember that Abraham was the "Father of Ancient Missions"? For he was called to go to a heathen nation so that through him the groundwork could be laid for the land to be brought to the knowledge of the Lord. The Great Commission is the outworking of the Great Covenant God made with Abraham. That was the point of Dr. Edgar’s sermon last night as he spoke on the theme of the land and nations of the world. As heirs of the covenant of Abraham, his sons by faith in Christ, we are commanded by Christ to go to the nations and bring them to an awareness of the authority of Christ. These are for us, like they were for Abraham, our marching orders! Do we dare question them? Do we dare treat them as a suggestion?

I would like to ask you to think of the excitement and anticipation you had in coming to the International Conference. Our children have been bouncing off the walls the past few weeks, and all of us have been thinking about the friends, family, activities, Christian fellowship, and learning we would enjoy. We came looking for rest and relaxation.

I hope your Sabbath days are somewhat like this, as you eagerly look forward to coming to church for many of the same reasons. Yet as followers of the risen Lord, we must learn to enjoy not only the coming, we must make ourselves ready to listen for the going. We are gathering around the throne of Christ this week to worship and adore Him, but if we truly are worshiping, truly adoring Him, will we not also be hearing Christ say "Go!"? Like Calvin, you may not have expected to hear that authoritative voice. But we are gathering to be sent, gathering to be equipped, gathering to be renewed in His command to go. If you are not going as a church, if you are not going purposefully, actively seeking to obey this decree, do you know what that makes our denomination or your congregation? A church that is going nowhere! May it not be!

Christ goes on to tell us that His kingdom is to be made known throughout the earth…

2. By powerfully instructing on His glorious kingdom ("and make disciples")

Making disciples is a work that Christ has assigned to the Church. This commission is bestowed on the disciples, the apostles who formed the foundation of the Church. Christ shows that this commission is to be accomplished through the Church because the nature of this work is seen in the participles that follow, which are participles of means that explain how it is carried out. My brothers will be teaching on these phrases on Tuesday and Wednesday, so just note for now that as families come under the influence of the gospel, they are to be baptized into the church and then instructed on life in the kingdom of God. So rather than explaining how this work is to be done, which is the assignment of the other men, I want to emphasize to you that this is the job of the church. It is only in the church where complete disciples can be made. Why do I say this?

My wife Miriam and I were converted through a parachurch organization, and we remained outside the church for several years following our conversion. I would ask that you please understand that the remarks I am about to make are not to disparage this group. I am commenting solely on the incompleteness of disciple making apart from the church. The particular parachurch organization I was in emphasized discipleship by teaching me how to do such things as have a quiet time, study the Bible, pray, and do evangelism. It even had some accountability. I thank the Lord for this group, for it provided to me wonderful initial training. I still use that training even to this day in my ministry. Yet it was incomplete, because in the context of an informal organization that was not the church, the full essence of discipleship cannot be grasped.

Discipleship means understanding the true life-and-death nature of following Christ. Everywhere Jesus spoke of discipleship, He associated it with life and death. Maybe at a family conference like this it would be good for us to consider Luke 14:26-27: "If anyone comes to me, and does not hate his father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, and yes, even his own life, then he cannot be one of My disciples. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple." One cannot be a disciple of Christ unless he is willing to die to self and live unto Christ. Nothing, not even the deepest of human relationships, is to be allowed to interfere with that.

How serious is the gospel of Christ! Those who do not grasp the importance of the church in covenant with Christ in the making of disciples do not comprehend the seriousness of this task. For that is why the church has vows for those who join her, so that her members realize the solemn commitment they are making in being a follower of Jesus. That is why she has sacraments, so she can point her members to the life and death nature of the gospel. That is why she is to have elder oversight, so they can encourage faithfulness and pursue those who wander.

The importance of this comes out in the word for "make disciples," which is just one word in the Greek. It means to make learners, pupils, or students out of people. It is a word where we get English words like man (so called because he is a "thinking" being), mind, and mental. Yet it entails far more than mere mental understanding. That is why this word also gives us English words denoting fields of mental practice, such as "medicine" and "mathematics" which are derived from this word. To become a disciple means then that you put yourself under the correcting influence of another who will shape and mold your life, so that you "learn the practice." Like our main speaker, I am a Math teacher by trade. However, unlike Bill, I no longer teach. I’m like the old fellow from Trinity. You’ve heard of him?

There once was an old fellow from Trinity,
Who solved the square root of Infinity.
But it gave him such fidgets,
To count up the digits,
He chucked Math and took up Divinity.

As a math teacher, one thing I always encountered in the math classroom was that many students do not like math. What I discovered, though, is that it is not so much the math they do not like, but the discipline associated with the math. They want to do their own thing when it comes to math. They do not like to be corrected. They do not want to follow the examples as specified in the book and by the teacher. These students fail to learn the practice. So often I would tell a failing student that the problem he was having with math was not with his mind, but with his heart. He would not accept seriously the correction and guidance that was being offered. It is precisely here where we begin to see the connection between disciple and a related word, discipline. This is where the Christ-given authority comes in, what is meant in the phrase that we must "powerfully instruct on His glorious kingdom."

You see, if you are going to have disciples, then there is going to have to be some discipline. We see this most clearly with our children. We know that our children are to be made into disciples of the Lord through discipline. We are to be involved in shaping, correcting, encouraging, molding, spanking them–all God-given ways to love them into the kingdom. Is this not what the Proverbs tell us?

Proverbs 3:11-12 "My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline and do not resent His rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in"

Proverbs 13:24 "He who spares his rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him diligently"

Proverbs 19:18 "Discipline your son while there is still hope, and do not desire his death"

Proverbs 23:13-14 "Do not hold back discipline from the child. Although you beat him with a rod, he will not die. You shall beat him with the rod, and deliver His soul from Sheol."

Note again the connection between discipline and life and death. We must be in a covenant relationship in order to accomplish this.

It is this understanding of discipleship that explains what can only be deemed as a strange incident in the life of Abraham. He had been in the Promised Land for 24 years when God sent a three man visitation committee to see how His missionary was faring. They found there were no converts to speak of, that one of the members of that covenant community had strayed, and that what we often depend on for our churches to grow - a covenant birth — had not yet occurred. They told Abraham that in a year Sarah would have a child, and what a blessing this child will bring to him. Yet in the midst of that joyous news, these men (who we know were the Lord and his angels) left to see how things were down at Sodom and Gomorrah. Recall that at this point the Lord has a moment of self-reflection in which He asks Himself whether He will tell Abraham why He is going. Can you remember why He decided to tell Abraham?

In Genesis 18:17-19 the Lord said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, since Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation, and in him all the nations of the earth will be blessed? [Hear in those words once again the Great Commission]. For I have chosen him, so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord [Notice Abraham was to make disciples] by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring upon Abraham what He has spoken about him." The Lord destroyed those cities for their wickedness, but He had an ultimate purpose in it. Recall that Abraham knew Lot was in that city, and that he pleaded with God to spare it if at least 10 righteous ones were found there. Yet we read in Genesis 19:27-29 that "Abraham arose early in the morning and went to the place where he had stood before the Lord; and he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the valley, and he saw, and behold, the smoke of the land ascended like the smoke of a furnace. Thus it came about, when God destroyed the cities of the valley, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities where Lot had lived." The Lord was declaring that His holy servant Abraham was in the land, a land that would one day belong to him and his children. Abraham was to use this destruction as a means of instruction. He was to tell his children and household how serious following the Lord really is. One can hear Abraham and his descendants in the years that followed this event warning those around them about the importance of following the Lord. "Don’t wander from faith in the Lord. Let me tell you about your cousin Lot…."

Discipleship means life and death, a separation of the righteous from the wicked. True biblical discipleship demonstrates that in the only place that it can–in the context of the covenant community of the church. Members of churches must "learn the practice" of following Christ, and gain both an appreciation of the blessing of faithfulness and learning the consequences for disobedience. The message in disciplemaking churches must be loud and clear: If you come to Christ and His church, you must live in the fear of the Lord, walk in holiness, and avoid evil. The church must be a place where it is clear we are chosen by God because "we command the children and the household of faith to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice." We must live with that understanding, and lovingly remind each other of it often, rebuke if necessary when members stray, and even remove if correction is refused. Without discipline, there is no true discipleship. Are these the type of congregations the RPCNA is building? For it will be the only way we will ever see the final aspect take place.

The kingdom of Christ is to be made known throughout the earth…

3. By extensively proclaiming His majestic presence ("of all the nations")

I’m not going to spend a lot of time explaining and defending what the term "all the nations" means. In Psalm 22 we read that "All ends of earth remembering Him shall turn themselves unto the Lord." In Psalm 96 we sing that "all families of earth should ascribe glory to the Lord." We know that in Revelation 5 "every tribe and language and peoples" shall be gathered around the throne of Christ.

This Commission is clearly not saying just to make disciples "from" the nations or "out of" the nation, but "of" the nations. Jesus is telling them, "Turn the nations of the earth to Me. Make my authority their reality." As converts to the gospel increase, then families, communities, and nations are to be affected. He who has all authority in heaven and earth is making sure that will be reality.
In our generation, the church has lost sight of the greatness of our Commission. In our age of unbelief, we believe it is impossible that nations and governments could turn to Christ. And it is impossible–apart from Christ. But in Christ and His authority, it is possible and has even been reality.

That is why it is so important to study history. Our young congregation has been doing a study on a historical survey of the different creeds and confessions of the church. We have been amazed at what God has done. In particular, consider Calvin again. Calvin’s influence, first on his community, and then upon the nations, can be seen in history of the confessions. In 1536, he wrote the Genevan Confession, which the leaders of the city followed in helping govern both the church and the civic arena. In 1560, the Scots Confession, which was written by a Calvin pupil we know as John Knox (with the help of five other Johns), was presented to the Parliament. In 1561, the Gallic or French Confession, which was written by a pupil of Calvin named Antoine de Chandieu, was presented to King Charles IX.

Other confessions were drawn up throughout the nations of Europe, most of which were influenced directly or indirectly by Calvin. Let us not forget that our own Westminster Confession, which we love, was formulated by an act and the oversight of the English Parliament. These nations came to the church asking help to be discipled, to be corrected for Christ! Praise the Lord for His mighty deeds! And remember, that though certainly many, many other factors must be considered, we still cannot overlook the significance of that night at Geneva when one man responded to the authoritative decree of Christ.

This brings us to a question: Why is the RPCNA, with such a rich heritage and lengthy existence, not more globe encompassing? My question is not meant to demean the work of previous generations or the existing one, for we have many godly examples and wonderful models to follow. But why are there not more works that have been done, more nations touched by the influence of this church that has so touched me? (I took my turn riding that circus train, and I’m so glad to be aboard this church and serving its cause.)

I don’t want to analyze the demographics, talk about church politics, or discuss all the rough breaks we Covenanters have received. For only one issue is key, the same issue that Abraham had to face. It is believing the gospel and the authority of the One who stands behind it.
Do you recall that in Galatians it tells us when the gospel was being preached to Abraham? It was when he was told to go outside and look at the stars, for so his descendants would be. That was the gospel! Believing that message resulted in him receiving the righteousness of God. We say we believe the gospel, but do we believe it is so powerful that it cannot only redeem my life, but that of great multitudes, of nations? Must we not have the same faith as our father Abraham, we who have seen the Christ?

When Jesus approached the eleven on that mountain and gave them this Commission, their response was recorded for us in Matthew 28:17: "Some worshipped, but others were doubtful." Why were they doubtful? Those beatings, that cross, the ugliness of death were all too fresh in their minds, and they could not comprehend the glorified Lord before them. The cost almost blinded them to the glory.

Dear friends, the church is at a time of great need. It would be easy to grow fearful, to begin to doubt whether God is with us, to be overwhelmed by the impossibility of the task. Lay those things aside, and look at Him. Hear Him! Where is Christ commissioning you to make His authority a reality? To which of you is the Lord saying, "Go, put yourself under that older Christian’s wing to get the discipleship you need, for you do not yet know what it means to follow Me"? To whom is He declaring, "Go, fill that pulpit"? Who might hear Him say this week, "Go to those people that are strange to you and serve me there. Go to that mission field"?

I do not need to say to you this morning, "May God curse you and your pleasures" if you do not listen to Him. For His blessings for obedience, and His cursings for not obeying, have already been proclaimed. I merely ask, "How will you respond to the royal decree of Christ?"

*NOTE: This was not brought out during the sermon, but the conditions for an attendant participle are: 1) The main verb must be aorist; 2) The participle must be aorist; 3) The main verb must be in the imperative or indicative mood; 4) The participle precedes the main verb; and 5) It usually occurs in the context of a narrative. Usually meeting three or four of these conditions is enough to treat a participle as an attendant one. In the case of Matthew 28:19, all five conditions are met.