SPEAKER_02 0:04

This Sunday, join me, Pastor Richard, as we dive into Jesus' radical call to go beyond the church walls. Whether it's your neighbor or the nations, it's time to discover your role in the Great Commission.

SPEAKER_00 0:20

Good morning, Church. Today's scripture reading is taken from Mark chapter 16, verse 14 to 20. The Great Commission. Afterward he appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at table, and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen. And he said to them, Go unto all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe in my name, they will cast out demons, they will speak in new tongues, they will pick up serpents with their hands, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them. They will lay their hands on the sick and they will recover. So then the Lord Jesus, after he has spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs. This is the word of the Lord.

SPEAKER_02 1:43

You know, God loves you. God loves you. Whether you've come in a bit tired this morning, God loves you even if you have trouble focusing sometimes and you're looking at Instagram during the service. Please don't do that. But God loves you even if you are. God loves you if you sometimes zone out. God loves you if you sit in the balcony to hide, not saying that's why you all are up there. God loves each one of you here today. And you know, I really appreciate each one of you. Because God, I don't have the same full love for you that God has, but I receive a little bit of it. And I'm so glad you're here this morning. I just want you to be reminded God loves you. God loves you very much. Well, today I want you to imagine something with me, all right? We'll use our imaginations. I want you to imagine that the government had created some way to know when your last day on earth would be. And I want you to imagine with me that early in the morning on that day, you just receive a simple text from the government. And that text said, Today is your last day. Make it count. Imagine receiving that text message this morning. Do you know what I would do and say if I receive such a message? You know, I've given it a little bit of thought. You know what I'd do and what I'd say if I receive that message today is your last day, make it count. Well, some people, some people they might go and it's time to spend as much money as I can, no longer needing to worry about my utility bill, no learning uh more needing to worry about any bills. It's time to spend. And who knows, uh, they might uh go try the Michelin Star restaurant that they've been dreaming about but never went for. Might try skydiving. Who knows? Some people, if they receive that message, it is time to let loose. I'm gonna do all those things that I I always want to do, but never felt I could. Others might go to Marina Bay Sands. It's time to just risk it all. Um, they might go and they're going to find their employer, and for the first time in their life, they're gonna tell them exactly what they think. Who knows? People, if you receive this message, uh, they do all sorts of things. Who knows? Perhaps some of our young people, if they receive such a message, they would spend the whole day playing online game. What would you do if you receive that text today? For me, I think I would I would start calling and messaging everyone that I cared about, everyone who is important to me, uh, to express my appreciation for them, for their friendship, for the relationship we've had, to encourage them to, would you continue to be a friend to others? I'd spend time with my children, assuring them of my love, and to instruct them seriously to love and care for one another. No matter what comes, no matter how they change, no matter what the future holds, you must care for one another and love each other through thick and thin. To be faithful in following God and to please leave this earth a better place than you found it. And I'd spend time, of course, with my wife, the love of my life, appreciating her, building her up with confidence for what is to come. Last words are the most important words. Last words are the most important words. And here in the Gospel of Mark, chapter 16, verse 15, we're receiving the last words of Jesus before he ascends to heaven. These last words he tells, go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. These are the most important words. But are they are they really the last words of Jesus? Uh if you have a physical Bible with you, uh, you should open it up right now to Mark chapter 16. And if you do so, you're likely going to see a little notation in between verse 8 and verse 9. If you have the Bible, go ahead and open it up. If not, uh, we have what mine shows and what I think many Bibles will show. It says, some of the earliest manuscripts do not include verses 9 to 20. Hmm. What is that supposed to mean, huh? You know, long ago we didn't have digital copies of documents, of course. Uh the Gutenberg printing press was only invented in the 1400s. Before this, writings had to be copied painstakingly by hand, letter by letter, page by page. It was very slow, it was very delicate work, and due to drowsiness, due to poor lighting conditions, uh, sometimes lack of attention, grammatical errors, sometimes inadvertently uh they were introduced. All right. And in a few instances, um, the scribe would write little short notations to the side in the margin, short explanations to explain something that perhaps was no longer immediately understood by the current generation of readers, uh, due to cultural differences, linguistical differences. And there's a few cases of this, and most of them they're regularly identified by historians. In the case of these final verses in the Gospel of Mark, verses 9 to 20, uh, this portion of scripture doesn't appear to be in most of the earliest manuscripts. So why why do we have it in the Bible then, right? Well, while there's good reason to conclude, uh perhaps it wasn't there in the original, there's not 100% certainty. And I gotta tell you, I am no expert to say one way or the other. Uh people who have studied this, um, you know, they think probably it wasn't there, but still we're not 100% sure. And the other reason we we maybe it's included, verse 8 is quite an abrupt ending, if it just ends at verse 8. And yet, verse 9, it doesn't exactly flow very well from the preceding verses. The grammar and style is a bit different from all the rest of Mark's gospel. So what happened? Well, the best guess is that early on there may have been some pages, maybe one page, don't know, that was lost. That very ending of Mark, somehow in the process, the pages were lost or destroyed. And later on, there was an editor who they tried to finish off the gospel according to what they thought Mark had said or what seemed to fit. And so we have these verses here, but we have the notation. Now, I need to tell you, if those weren't in the original, you know what? It's okay because they're not saying anything uh completely contrary to Scripture. So they they were there, they're not part of the original, we don't know. It's not really a big problem for us. Now, I want to, this is just a little segue here. We're gonna look at look especially at verses 17 and 18. And if you have your Bible, uh do have a look with me. Uh, this is what it reads, and these signs will accompany those who believe. In my name, they will cast out demons, they will speak in new tongues, they will pick up serpents with their hands, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them. They will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover. Exorcism, speaking in tongues, picking up serpents, drinking poison, healing via the laying on of hands. Um of these are actually descriptive of what we read the apostles doing. This is things that they did. If you read the book of Acts, we we do see that demons were cast out on occasion. We know that Paul on his way to Rome, because he had appealed to Caesar, because he had been imprisoned, and there were accusations against him, on the way, if you remember, they shipwrecked on an island called Malta, not far from Italy. And they were shipwrecked there, and they went and they built a fire, and they were warming themselves by a fire, and what happened? A deadly snake came out and bit Paul, and everyone thought, Wow, this man, he is cursed. Survived a shipwreck only to have a poisonous snake bite him. And they waited for him to die. And then he didn't die, and they were amazed. Uh, we're not going into the full story this morning, uh, but you know, some of what is written here is actually descriptive of what has happened. And unfortunately, however, some have taken what is descriptive and made it prescriptive, all right? And so that's the wrong way to understand things. Uh, for instance, there is a small sect of Pentecostals in the U.S. who take these verses to mean that they should pick up deadly snakes as proof of their devoted faith in Jesus Christ. This is still happening today. There's between 50 to 100 churches in some rural mountain areas, and because of this, um, they keep deadly snakes in cages at the front of the church, and when they're singing and they're really emotionally, they're feeling things, and they want to be very brave, and they want to uh show their faith in Jesus, they'll go and they'll actually take these snakes. Is that what the verses were telling us to do? No, no, it was descriptive, not prescriptive. Now, I'm not judging these people, their sincerity, but I'm afraid that they they have lost the way. They lost the point. They made this little small thing that was descriptive into something that's descriptive. And you know, some of them have died from these snake bites, it's true. So we this morning we're just going to focus in on verses 15 and 16, you know, of which there's no controversy, no contention, no question about these. Verses 15 and 16 it says, and he said to them, Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved. But whoever does not believe will be condemned. Go, proclaim to all creation, believe and be baptized. And Matthew, he has perhaps a more word-for-word account. And so I think we'll center on this for the rest of this morning. This is Matthew chapter 28, verses 18 to 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, even to the end of the age. Having been resurrected back to life and about to ascend to heaven, Jesus gave his last most important words to his disciples. And the first thing he said is, Go, go therefore. And this Greek word porevume, it means to travel, to go out, to walk, to proceed, to depart, to journey. This is an action term, my friends. And the fulfillment of these words, it did begin in the book of Acts. And you can see kind of how things spread outward from this little tiny place on the map, Jerusalem, into such distant reaches, even during the time of Acts. This gospel which has been entrusted to not a huge mega church movement, but to twelve disciples and lose one already, now eleven. What Jesus had spent a few years investing in them. Well, it bore fruit. And they went out and they were fulfilling this. They were going out into the whole of creation. The gospel extended outwards from Jerusalem, eventually reaching Rome during their time. The command to go is one that calls us to action. It requires us to be active and intentional. And this great commission given by Jesus to his disciples, including us, requires us to be proactive, not waiting for others to come to us, but that we would be active and intentional in going. And this means that our proclamation of the gospel, please listen to this, does not primarily take place here in the church building. He didn't command his disciples, wait for people to come and ask you about your faith. He said, Go therefore. And so the proclamation of this gospel is meant to be outside the church doors, among our colleagues and our neighbors, acquaintances, uh, friends that we've made at the Hawker Center, wherever we go, it is meant to be there that we are proclaiming the good news of Christ. He says, Go therefore and make disciples of all nations. And it's understood by them, and it needs to be understood by us, that every believer is a disciple. Every believer is a disciple. There's no such thing as a believer who is not a disciple. The only difference is some are being obedient and some are not. And this was a radical, radical command, even in Jesus' time. Make disciples of all nations. I mean, they would have been thinking, what you mean even the Samaritans? We're supposed to make disciples of them? Even the Gentile nations? Really? Even to the Romans who are occupying our nation? We're supposed to make disciples of them not just men, but women too. These last words, in the cultural context, they were radical words to make disciples of all nations. And you need to take note of this. Disciple making is not just the duty of pastoral staff. All right? Disciple making is not just the duty of pastoral staff. Would you repeat that with me, please? Disciple making is not just the duty of the pastoral staff. I see many of you are afraid to repeat it. That's all right. Disciple making is something that every one of us, every disciple of Jesus, is called to do. We're not just to receive, we're also to make disciples. We ourselves are disciples, we are called to make disciples of others. And if you haven't figured out your purpose in life yet, let me tell you, this is a good place to start. Make disciples. What does it mean to be a disciple? Well, it means to believe in Jesus, to learn from Jesus, and to follow him in obedience and devotion. It's not that complicated, right? Therefore, we are all called to impact people so that they will believe in Jesus, so that they will learn from him, and they will follow him in devotion and obedience. And Jesus continues his command saying to baptize them. You see, in the days of the early church, it was understood and expected that having believed, you would immediately be baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. There is no waiting, no period of trying to decide if you really intended to follow Jesus or not. Either you were all in or you were all out. And those who believed in Jesus, they were baptized as quickly as was practical. Okay? How quick was that? Well, in Acts chapter 8, beginning in verse 29, we read one account. I want to share that with you. And the Spirit said to Philip, Go over and join this chariot. So Philip he ran to him and he he heard him reading Isaiah the prophet. And he asked, Do you understand what you're reading? And he replied, How can I unless someone guides me? And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. This was an important official from Ethiopia who was returning at that time. Now this is what the passage of the scripture he was reading was. It said this, like a sheep he was led to the slaughter, and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opens not his mouth. In his humiliation, justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth. Who is this talking about? Jesus, right? And uh the eunuch said to Philip, About whom I ask you, does the prophet say this? About himself or about someone else? And then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this scripture, he told him that. The good news about Jesus. And as they were going along the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, See, here is water. What prevents me from being baptized? And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized them right there on the roadside. Wow. Jesus was revealed to him. He believed in Jesus, and straight away he was baptized. And so if you are sitting here this morning, and you are a believer, you are a disciple of Christ, and you haven't yet been baptized, you need to sign up for the next baptism. This is what we read from Scripture. This is what Scripture shows us. Go, be made a disciple, be baptized. Alright? Okay, we're gonna move on. Jesus continues his final last words, the most important words, saying, Teach them to observe all that I have commanded you. Disciples, that's each one of us here. Disciples are to make disciples, leading them to baptism and teaching them to observe, to be obedient to all that Jesus has commanded. What commands are we talking about? Commands here in this passage is in a bit more of a general sense. It would include what scripture they had at the time, the Old Testament, the commandments that Moses had received, as well as the life and words of Jesus Himself. We don't need to make it too complicated. Disciples, that's all of us, were to instruct others to follow what the Bible says. Pretty simple. You don't have to be a pastor for that. You don't have to have gone to seminary. You don't have to have gone for your theological studies. Whatever you have learned from Jesus, whatever is in the Word, you are to teach to others. And Jesus continues on saying, And behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. These last and final words of Jesus before he ascended are, I am with you. And I tell you, the disciples, they needed those words. We know they went through a lot of hardship, they went through persecution, they went through all sorts of things, they were scattered all over. They didn't stay and work and build up a pension fund for themselves. They went out because they were obeying what Jesus had said. Go therefore, make disciples. It was active, they were journeying. And all except for John, church tradition tells us they were even martyred for their faith. So these words, I am with you, were precious words to them. And my friends, they should be precious words to us. These are not small things. This is not something lightly said. Jesus says to his disciples, I am with you even to the end of the age. Whatever you may face, whatever heartbreak, whether you've had family members pass away, whether you've had a miscarriage, whatever it may be, Jesus says, I am with you. Doesn't matter what attacks may come, doesn't matter what goes on around you, Jesus' promise, even this morning, is I am with you. I am with you, and he will not abandon us. Go, make disciples, baptize them, teach them, I am with you. Now some critics may question, do we still need to go today? I mean, what about our home nation? Hasn't the gospel been preached in every nation already, anyway? It's not so easy to get a visa anymore. And isn't it lying if you go on one visa but you're there for another purpose? Some will even say, I can't go. My parents are elderly. I'm the only child. I'm the eldest child. I'm the one who's responsible for caring for them. You know, these are good questions. And I think we we need to break them down. What about our home nation? I did a little research, and there are over 500 churches in Singapore already. As we know, our wonderful nation. Uh, you can you can probably walk from end to end. I'm not sure how long it's gonna take, but maybe we can do it within 24 hours, I would think, perhaps less than that. Apparently, there's about 6 million people in Singapore now. I'm gonna take their word for it. I can't count that high. Uh, and there are about 654,000 Christians, is what they estimate. So about 10% of the population here in Singapore identify as Christian. Is there room for making more disciples here? Yes, thank you. Yes, there is room for making more disciples in Singapore. There's absolutely room for that. There's also room for making disciples in other places as well. Some will say, well, hasn't the gospel been preached to every nation already by now? Worldwide, there's about 7,000 people groups that have been identified as having little or zero, no access to the gospel. That's about 3 billion people. 3 billion people with little or no access whatsoever to the gospel. And so having a Christian presence in some of these places is not the same as having the gospel accessible to everyone. Some places, for instance, Mongolia, are the believers there? Yes, there are believers. Are the believers all throughout the country? No. No, there are not. There are many places, even if Jesus appeared in a dream to a person, they wouldn't know where to go to find out more. Even if they traveled to the next town, they still won't be able to find some. So there is a large amount, according to estimates, three billion people who still have little or no access to the gospel. And so the call to go is still very relevant today because there's people dying in darkness every day who have not even had a chance to hear the gospel. Not even one chance to hear the gospel. Now, some may say, well, look, isn't it lying to go on the wrong visa to be a missionary? You know, long ago I went to India for over a year for missions. And you know the visa I went on was a tourist visa. You know how long my tourist visa was for? Ten years. They gave me a 10-year visa for tourism. Amazing. Uh, that doesn't happen anymore, I'm afraid. Uh, but it's a good question. And there's many so-called closed nations that are not open to missionaries. And I've got to say, wisdom is needed for uh you know answering certain questions. If your visa is one thing and your traveling as another. For me, my answers and my actions regarding this are guided by two firmly held beliefs. All right. The first is we are commanded to go, whether the receiving nation welcomes us or not. This is this is a higher authority to me. If we are called to go, we must answer God. Because even we sing, we put you in the highest place, we lift you up. He has the first place in our lives. The other firmly held conviction, uh, lying and deceiving people can ruin my witness as a Christian. So, how do we navigate? God is capable of making ways. God is capable of giving us favor where there would not otherwise be favor. And so, in these impossible situations, I find we must turn to God and ask Him to make a way. Now, perhaps the most common thing I've heard by those who they feel they are meant to go, and yet they are held back is they say, I can't go because my parents are elderly, and I have to care for them. I want to read for you uh just one verse. This is the book of Luke, chapter 14, verse 26. I'll just read it for us. It says, If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Jesus didn't mean that we need to hate our immediate family. All right, that that's not the meaning. He was speaking metaphorically, he's speaking to make a point. Jesus must come first in our lives, and not just by a little bit, he must take the clear first place in our lives. Otherwise, we are not his disciples. And so, to those who say, I can't go because I'm caring for my parents, you know. If God calls you to stay here in Singapore, where there is still much need of making disciples, be obedient to that and take care of elderly parents. We're called to honor our mother and father. We are, of course, we care about them. But if God calls you to go somewhere else, the way I read this, we need to obey his call. And this is not just speaking generally for me, myself. You know, I I left my home country about 30 years ago. I haven't been there to take care of my parents who are now in their late 70s. Uh, it's been difficult at times, it's been quite difficult at times. But you know, I pray for them and I trust that if God has called me to be away, then God will provide for them, those to care for them. That's I have to put my faith in him because if I love my family more than Jesus, more than my God, then I'm not his disciple. That's what I read from this scripture passage. Our first allegiance must be to Jesus. And I ask you, where is your first allegiance this morning? Despite what critics may say, the commission to go is just as relevant and important today, uh, even if our way of fulfilling it may vary according to different circumstances and God's specific call. So, how do we fulfill it today? Uh, first, every one of us has to realize that if you are a believer, you're also a disciple. If you are a believer, you are also a disciple. And if you're a disciple, you need to be baptized. And if you're a disciple and you haven't been baptized, please sign up. We're going to open registration, I think, in the next coming weeks. Please sign up to be baptized. Because this is in obedience to what Jesus has said. Baptism, it doesn't save you, but it demonstrates something that's already taken place inside when you put your faith in Christ. Just like an apple tree is going to grow and produce apples. You know, a disciple will produce visible signs of their faith, and this includes baptism. And as a disciple, Jesus has called you to go and make disciples. And that's for each one of us, not just pastoral staff. That is God's call to each one of us as disciples. And we will teach them about Jesus and about the Bible to the extent of our knowledge. Going is not passive, it is active. You can go here in Singapore or you can go to other nations, but the important thing is you're being active in obedience to God and that you are going. For some of us here, uh going can look like volunteering to work with active aging centers. That's one way we can go. And we can share the love of Christ there even as we help out in other ways. For others, it can be joining the West Timor Medical Mission. I hope we saw that one coming, right? This is one way we can answer the call to go. And I believe it's next Sunday, next Sunday, next Sunday after the service will be that meeting. If you feel God's stirring something, why don't you just attend the meeting, find out the details, and see how from there? Because one way or another, if you are a disciple, you need to answer the call to go. For others, it might be taking a gap year. Uh for Youth with Emissions Discipleship Training School. It's a six-month program that includes about three months of outreach. You will go. It can look like if you're running a business, finding a way to share the good news of Christ with your employees. There are many ways to answer the call to go, but the important thing for us to realize that calls to each one of us. And each one of us has to find a way to answer it. Last words are the most important words, and in his last words, Jesus commanded us to go. And so the question is: how are we going to respond to the commission to go this morning for each one of us? For many who are retired, who are seniors now. Ask the Lord. I don't have all the answers. Ask the Lord, how is it that you can respond to that call to go? For students, how is it you're going to respond to the call to go? For each one of us, we need to have a response. And I just want to acknowledge many of you here, you're already responding. Okay? I know this. I've seen it. I know especially some of the connect groups. Wow, you're very active in reaching out. Some of you uh in the workplace, you're already active in reaching out. Awesome. That's wonderful. So I would just want to acknowledge and recognize some of you are already, you you've heard the call, whether you realize you were hearing the call or not, and you're being active in going, you're being active in making disciples. Let's all make disciples. Let's all answer the commission that Jesus has given to each one of us. And so we just leave things right here. This morning, we remember last words are the most important words. We remember we are all disciples, and we remember we are all called to make disciples.

SPEAKER_01 39:49

We pray that you put Mr. Two by the Word of God today. If we'd like to know the word of each visit of the website, I see a blessing.