I told the church last week that Mayberry is gone and it’s not coming back. The little town and its lifestyle featured in the Andy Griffith Show is gone forever. In fact, The America of Mayberry has been gone for a long time.

America didn’t change last November when Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won the election. American has been in a state of change for generations.

This change has brought to the US the decline of Christianity and the reality of persecution.

For that reason, I want to take 2021 and prepare our church for this coming persecution. So for the next several months, we will study:

• Our Responsibility to One Another and our Responsibility to our community
• Our Responsibility to Our Government
• How to Test the Spirits
• How to Endure Hardship, Suffering, and Persecution
• How to Evangelize and Disciple When We are Not Permitted
• The Things We Must Die For

In today’s lesson, we will set an important foundation for this series. We will establish a base upon which all the other messages must be built.

And I will share with you four ways that we can avoid the coming persecution.

Let’s Pray

The Foundation

Everything every church does must be based on some key Scripture. Obviously, all Scripture comes from God. All Scripture is equal in importance. But when it comes to the mission and purpose of the church there are five passages that must come first.

Let’s first turn to Matthew 28:19-20

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

What is the popular name for this passage? (The Great Commission.)

A Commission is an instruction or a command given to a group of people or possibly to an individual.

In Matthew 28:19-20, Jesus commissioned His apostles, His disciples, and all local churches to do something.

That means whether you are Wakefield Valley Bible Church or Westminster Baptist, you have the same marching orders. Whether you are Church of the Open Door or St. Paul’s in downtown London, God has the same expectation.

A secret house church in China is under this commission. A small group of worshippers meeting under a tree in Kenya are commissioned the same.

The Great Commission is the Mission Statement for every church ever planted. Every small group. Every Sunday School class. Every Christian ministry.

What did Jesus commission us to do?

1. Make Disciples of Every Nation
2. Baptize them
3. Teach them to obey everything Jesus taught

What is the promise of this commission – Jesus will always be with us.

Why do you think this promise is important?

One reason is that when we go about accomplishing the Great Commission, it will seem like no one is with us. We will suffer attacks from Satan and the world.

We must always know that Jesus stands with us as we go about completing His commission.

Every Creature

I did promise to share with you how we can avoid this coming persecution. But first, let’s look at:

Turn to Mark 16:14-18

Years ago I learned that the passage in Matthew 28 is not the only Great Commission. There are actually four more.

In Mark 16:14-18, we find one of these four. I want to share this and the other commissions with you. When I do I want to point out what I have identified as the key teaching in each.

Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen. 15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 they[b] will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

It sounds like Matthew’s but I will point out the preaching of the gospel is not to be exclusive. We are to share the gospel with every creature.

People naturally like to be with people who are like them. What’s the expression? “Birds of the feather flock together.”

For that reason, you end up with places like Little Italy and China Town. This desire to group culturally is not necessarily sinful, but it can lead to prejudice and segregation. 

The Jews at the time of Jesus, possibly even the Apostles, were very nationalistic and inward-focused. They did not easily relate to other cultures.

But here, Jesus commands them to leave this mindset behind and to reach everyone with the gospel.

A quote attributed to Martin Luther King Jr. is that “Sunday is the most segregated day of the week.”

Consider your church. Look around at the congregation where you worship. How representative of the surrounding culture is it?

I like what Ed Stetzer says about this.

Mr. Stetzer says

“People like the idea of diversity. They just don’t like being around different people,” “Maybe their sense is that church is the space where they don’t have to worry about issues like this,”  

He goes on to say, “If you don’t like diversity, you’re really not going to like heaven.”

But Jesus has called us to not segregate but to share Christ with everyone, regardless of race, gender, or even sexuality.

He is calling us to share the gospel with people who make us uncomfortable.

But don’t let my illustration make you think only black and white, only race.

What about sharing Christ with someone who hates you? That applies here as well.

Look at John 15:18-19

“If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

On the one hand, Jesus tells us to share with everyone. On the other, he tells us that since we are His we will be hated.

Jesus is telling us to share with those who hate us.

God has called us to share Christ with every creature

America is changing. Christianity is in decline. These changes will soon be felt here. As we go forth and share the gospel with every creature, most of those we meet will hate us. With that hate will come persecution.

The Full Gospel

Persecution is coming, but there is a way we can avoid it. I want to share that with you. But first lest look at Luke 24:44-49

Turn to Luke 24:44-49

We looked at this passage a few weeks back. But we need to return to it with the Great Commission in mind.

44 Then He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.” 45 And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.

46 Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, 47 and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 And you are witnesses of these things. 49 Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.”

Many churches teach many things other than the gospel. Sometimes they teach good works. Sometimes they teach morality. Often the sermons address current events.

But Jesus called upon us to teach the gospel.

What is the gospel?

It is the fact that Jesus Christ died for our sins and rose again on the third day for our eternal life. It is a command for repentance – a turning from sin and a turning to Christ.

This needs to be the heart and soul of preaching.

I first heard this illustration from J. Vernon McGee. And I have told it over the years. Here it is again.

In England, there is a chapel built over 200 years ago bearing these words over the door: "We Preach Christ Crucified."

The chapel's early pastors did preach Christ crucified. People came with testimonies of how lives were changed, and there was vitality in the church.

But time passed. Vines grew over the motto "We Preach Christ Crucified," until it read-only, "We Preach Christ." The men who stood in the pulpit named the name of Jesus Christ but preached a social gospel of good works and morality.

The vines continued to grow until the motto read "We Preach." And they did. They preached philosophy, ethics, politics, and literature. But not Jesus Christ.

Not long after that, the little chapel was emptied.

I grew up in a church that would be classified a “We preach” church.

Jesus on the cross and the empty tomb was displayed in the stained glass windows. A crucifix hung over the altar to remind us of His death.

The prayers we recited recognized that Jesus died for sin.

But when the priest entered the pulpit to preach, he never once told me why Jesus died and what I needed to believe for salvation. Never in all my years did I hear the gospel taught.

We must preach the fact that Jesus died and rose again. And we must tell people why this is essential.

Persecution is coming. Our country is changing. But we must share the gospel with everyone. Even if it costs us, We must preach Christ crucified and risen.

Sin and Salvation

Soon we will get to what I promised, how Wakefield can avoid the coming persecution. But first, turn to John 20:19-23

19 Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.

21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” 22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

At first glance, this commission is like the others. But I believe there is something very important in it that the Holy Spirit through the Apostle John wants you to know.

Jesus sent these disciples and sends us. That is the same.

Jesus empowers us with the Holy Spirit. That’s new. I’ll address that later.

The thing that really stands out to me is the ministry of the church in regards to sin. Look at verse 23.

23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

We know that Christ has commissioned the church to share the gospel with all nationalities, all peoples, even those who hate us.

We know that we are to make disciples of them and to teach them to obey everything that Jesus has spoken.

And now we know that God has commissioned the church to proclaim the hope of forgiveness found in the gospel and the curse of unforgiveness retained by those who reject the gospel.

Let me ask you a few questions:

• What motivates God to forgive sin?
• Why would God not forgive someone?
• Why is that important?
• What ultimately happens to the person who accepts the gospel?
• What ultimately happens to the person who rejects the gospel?

God has commissioned the church to proclaim this truth – there is sin and death, but then there is salvation in Jesus Christ.

Today, not every church calls sin a sin.

There are many reasons for this; here is one reason. Cultures change what sin is and is not 

I’m not good with math. How many years back is 2015? (5-ish)

What is significant about the date of June 26, 2015?

(the U.S. Supreme Court struck down all state bans on same-sex marriage, legalized it in all fifty states, and required states to honor out-of-state same-sex marriage licenses in the case Obergefell v. Hodges.)

As a country, our laws changed. What was once wrong in society, is now allowed.

Countries change. Laws change. People change.

But here’s a question - does God change? (Numbers 23:19,Hebrews 13:8,James 1:17)

I live in a community and interact with all types of people in the community. I believe that I should be gracious to all who I interact with. I believe we should treat each other with kindness and respect.

But as a pastor of this church, it is essential that I proclaim both the curse of sin, the destination of the sinner, but also the salvation that can only be found in Jesus.

America has changed and will change even more. Persecution is on the horizon. But we as a church must continue to proclaim that Jesus forgives sin and saves the sinner from eternal hell.

Empowerment and Company

One last section and then I will share how to avoid the coming persecution. That will be good to know. But first turn to our last commission

Turn to Acts 1:4-8

This is the last commission we will examine.

And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; 5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” 6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be [a]witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

There are two important teachings in this commission.

1. When we do the work Jesus has called us to do, we are not alone nor are we without power. God has given us the Holy Spirit to do this work.

That means many things. Here are two.

• It means that anyone can make disciples, not just professional clergy. Why? Because every believer has been filled by the Holy Spirit.
• It means that when we are in a hard place, a place where we are not accepted, a place where we are suffering or under persecution, then we know we are not alone, God is with us.

There is a second thing that stands out in this passage.

1. God has called us to reach our surrounding community as well as the world.

In fact, I personally think that our heart for local, personal, evangelism, is the true measuring stick for a heart of missions. Not foreign missions.

Come back to me. Stop thinking about your upcoming lunch. I want you to hear from me.

I greatly value the fact that we support foreign missions. It means a great deal to me that we send about 25 percent of our budget to people doing God’s work in the Philippines, Turkey, the continent of Africa, Argentina, Japan, and even Brazil. That number equals about $41,000 dollars per year.

But how much money in our budget is allocated to local outreach? And how much did we spend?

More importantly, do we only write a check and ask the people on that bulletin board to witness on our behalf or do we share Christ as well?

Let me dive even deeper with this last question.

And this question will be directed to both you and to me.

When is the last time you witnessed to someone?

We can no longer hide behind our missionaries and hope they will witness on our behalf.

God commissioned us to make disciples, not just write checks.

Conclusion

Mayberry is long gone. It left long ago. America changed long ago. And it will continue to change.

With this change will come even greater persecution.

I believe persecution will come upon us.

But I have promised all along a way or ways we can avoid this persecution.

Here are four ways we can avoid the coming persecution:

1. Stop preaching to every person Christ crucified and risen. If we stop that, persecution will pass us by.
2. Stop telling people that sin is sin and salvation is found only in Jesus. If we stop doing that, then persecution will pass us by.
3. Stop witnessing to our neighbor and to the world. If we just turn inward and leave everyone alone, then persecution will pass us by.
4. Stop making disciples and teaching the words of Jesus to those who attend this church. If we stop doing that then persecution will not come.

The way to avoid the coming persecution is to disobey the Great Commission.

Is that what you want to do? (NO)

So since we have decided to

• Share the gospel with everyone, even those who hate us
• Tell people about sin and salvation
• Witness to our neighbors
• To make disciples and teach all to obey Christ

Since we have decided to obey the Great Commission, then persecution will come. So now let’s prepare.

Let’s Pray:

 “Please God forgive us, forgive me, for not obeying the Great Commission.”