This is the final devotional in this Sent series. Matthew - and God through Matthew - ends this Sermon on the Mount with an encouragement to remember Jesus’ authority.
'When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.' (Matthew 7:28-29)
In The Great Commission, the key text for this series, again, we see that Jesus’ authority is a key factor.
‘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)
In response to this whole Sermon on the Mount, they are amazed at His teaching with authority. What does this mean? On the mountain, Moses received laws that were written by God. However, on this mountain, Jesus speaks with the authority of God. He is God teaching His people how we wants them to live. He keeps repeating, “But I tell you”. He says, “everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” Our response will be in direct proportion to our view of His authority over us.
In Luke’s account of the wise and foolish builders. He opens by asking the question,
‘Why do you call me, “Lord, Lord,” and do not do what I say? (Luke 6:46).
What a convicting question! It’s nonsensical to say “no Lord”. However, passivity and prioritising other things is also saying “no Lord”. Will we be disciples and make disciples as Jesus commands? Will we become serious students of God’s word as part of the local church? Will we seek to help less mature Christians to grow in their faith? Will we seek to serve, invest and invite in our communities in order to help them to come to faith? Jesus has authority and so is able to infuse our submitted weakness with His strength.
RESPONSE
If Jesus is Lord, and we know that He is good, and we know that He has authority then we need to say a big “Yes” to Him as we finish this series. Yes, I’ll hear your words. Yes, I’ll do your words. Yes, I’ll be a disciple. Yes, I’ll make disciples… Like Isaiah, we will say,
“Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” (Isaiah 6:8)
COMMUNITY GROUP STUDY - SIV-WEEK - GO AND MAKE DISCIPLES
Notices
It might be good to begin with notices. Please share from this week’s Church News.
Please share with the group
This is our second SIV-Week study. SIV stands for Serve, Invest and Invite. This is a simple way of thinking about reaching our community for Jesus. On Sunday, we finished our Sent series. During this series we’ve been considering The Great Commission where we are told,
‘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)
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