Make Disciples of All Nations

Editor’s note: Last week I attended the Foundations Baptist Fellowship International annual meeting held at Maranatha Baptist University. Our theme was: “The World at Our Doorstep: International Ministry in the Local Church.” Our president, Kevin Schaal, gave us a brief post last week reflecting the theme. The message resonated with me as in recent years our local church has seen much growth from immigrants from abroad. As I returned from the meeting I wrote a message for our people based on this theme and offer an AI created article from a transcript of the message to give a “coda” to the messages preached at the convention.

At the heart of Christian mission lies in the Great Commission from Matthew 28:19-20: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I command of you. And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

This passage serves as the Church’s mission statement, though its full meaning wasn’t immediately grasped even by those who first heard it. The word “disciple” comes from one who engages in learning through instruction from another: a pupil or apprentice. In the New Testament context, we see disciples of John the Baptist and disciples of Jesus, people who walked with their teachers, learned from them, and prepared for their mission.

The imperative here is clear: “make disciples” or “disciple-ize.” Everything else in the passage (the going, the baptizing, the teaching) describes how this central task is accomplished. This is what churches are organized for: making disciples, baptizing them, and teaching them throughout their entire Christian life.

God’s plan of disciple making from all the nations is God’s plan for all God’s people.

God’s plan always included the nations

The concept of nations themselves emerged from divine judgment. At the Tower of Babel, humanity’s rebellion against God’s mandate to fill the earth resulted in the confusion of languages and the scattering of peoples. Genesis 11 reveals that God scattered them “over the face of the whole earth” because they refused to spread out as commanded. The international strife we witness today reflects this ancient judgment on human rebellion.

Yet judgment was not the end of the story. Following Babel came Abraham, through whom God planned to extend grace to all nations. God’s promise to Abraham was explicit: “In you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” (Gen 12.3) This blessing would come through Abraham’s descendant, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior of all mankind.

The prophets envisioned this global scope of God’s plan. Isaiah prophesied of a time when “all the nations will stream” to the mountain of the Lord, when “many peoples will come and say, Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob.” This vision of nations turning their “swords into plowshares” and their “spears into pruning hooks” awaits fulfillment, but God’s track record of keeping His promises gives us confidence in its eventual reality.¹

God’s apostles opened the door to the nations

The apostles themselves had to be led to understand the international scope of their mission. Even after receiving the Great Commission, they stood on the Mount of Olives asking Jesus, “Lord, is it this time that you’re going to establish your kingdom?” They were thinking conquest, not evangelism — domination rather than discipleship.

God orchestrated events to open their eyes. The persecution following Stephen’s death scattered the Jerusalem church, and “those who had been scattered went about preaching the word.” Philip, one of the deacons, went to Samaria — a remarkable move since Samaritans were despised by Jews as the product of intermarriage with foreign peoples brought in by the Assyrians.

When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to investigate. Their amazement at God’s work among the Samaritans was just the beginning.

The story of Cornelius in Acts 10 represents a pivotal moment in church history. This Roman centurion was a “God-fearer”: someone who had been influenced by Judaism but wasn’t a convert. God prepared both Cornelius and Peter for their historic encounter through visions.

Peter’s vision of the sheet filled with unclean animals, accompanied by the divine command to “kill and eat,” puzzled him initially. The irony was striking! Peter declared he had never eaten anything “unholy and unclean” while staying at the house of Simon the tanner — a profession considered unclean in Jewish culture.²

When Cornelius’s messengers arrived, the Spirit told Peter to “accompany them without misgivings.” Peter’s misgivings were natural: Jews simply didn’t associate with Gentiles or visit their homes. But God was teaching him that he “should not call any man unholy or unclean.”

The results were dramatic. While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell upon Cornelius and his household. The circumcised believers who came with Peter were “amazed because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also.” Peter’s response was immediate: “Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did.”

The inclusion of Gentiles wasn’t accepted without debate. When Peter returned to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers confronted him: “You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.” (Acts 11.2-3) But when Peter recounted what had happened, “they quieted down and glorified God, saying, Well then, God has granted to Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life.” (Acts 11.15-18)

This issue came to a head at the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15, where Peter testified: “God made a choice among you that by my mouth the Gentiles would hear the word of the gospel and believe… He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith.” The council’s conclusion was clear: Gentiles were included in God’s plan, and the law was not required for salvation.

The book of Revelation provides the ultimate vision of God’s international plan. In chapter 5, the heavenly chorus sings: “Worthy are you to take the book and to break its seals. For you were slain and purchased for God with your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.” Every believer in Christ will join that diverse crowd, representing every nation under heaven.

God’s providence has brought the nations to us

Modern history has seen remarkable missionary movements, particularly during the great century of Christian missions led by the English-speaking church. Pioneers like William Carey to India and Adoniram Judson to Burma blazed trails that led to gospel witness in every corner of the earth. Missionaries suffered and died, but they also lived to establish churches and bring people from every nation into God’s kingdom.

Today, however, providence has brought a new dynamic: the nations are increasingly coming to Western nations. Churches that once sent missionaries to distant lands now find themselves ministering to people from those same nations who have immigrated to their communities.

Consider the many nations represented in our own church: people from Sudan, Nigeria, Mali, Ghana, Korea, China, Hungary, Mexico, Peru, the Philippines and numerous other nations. We’ve recently held International fellowship meals at Thanksgiving as celebrations of global Christianity, where believers share not just food but testimonies of God’s work across cultures.

Local Church Implications

This global migration presents unprecedented opportunities for local churches. Many Western nations have populations that have consciously rejected God, making evangelism challenging. But immigrants often arrive in a state of openness. Their lives are changing, they’re encountering new situations, and they may be more receptive to the gospel message.

The question becomes: What are we doing about the Great Commission in our own communities? Some believers hesitate to witness because they don’t know what to say. While learning various evangelistic methods can be helpful, the most important factor is knowing God’s Word and loving both the message and the people who need to hear it. Consider these comments from an insightful book, The Trellis and the Vine:

Christian ministry is not very complicated. It is simply the making and nurturing of genuine followers of the Lord Jesus Christ through prayerful, Spirit-backed proclamation of the word of God.³

This requires knowing Scripture well enough that when you hear about someone’s life situation, you can point them to God’s truth.

The lesson here is that although we all have different gifts and abilities, the most important factor is how much we love the message of God, and how much we love the people all around us who need to hear it. You may not be the person who is going to preach to crowds, or lead Bible study groups, but if you really long to see other people become disciples of Jesus, then you will find ways of doing that within the gifts God has given you.⁴

Sometimes it’s as simple as extending an invitation: “We have a great church with people from all over the world. You should come and meet some of them. I’ve learned much about the Bible there. We have a great fellowship.”

The principle from Acts 8:4 applies to every believer: “Those who had been scattered went about preaching the word.” This isn’t just for professional ministers — it’s for all Christians.

Some believers have unique opportunities based on their cultural background or language abilities. They can reach people that others might never connect with, sharing the gospel within their own cultural frame of reference. Even when language barriers exist, the attempt to communicate God’s love transcends linguistic limitations.

The world has indeed come to our doorstep. The question is whether we’ll recognize and respond to this divine

The mandate is clear: love God’s Word, especially the message of salvation. Talk about it with people. Share what you know. You may not have all the theological terminology, but you know the Lord Jesus Christ — and that’s what people need to hear.

The ending of this story is already written in Revelation 5 — a great multitude from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation worshiping before the throne. Our task is to help write the chapters that lead to that glorious conclusion, one conversation, one invitation, one act of love at a time.⁵

Don Johnson is the pastor of Grace Baptist Church of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada.

This article was produced by Claude.AI based on a message preached by pastor Johnson on June 15, 2025. The audio and video will be available later this week. The article was reviewed and edited by pastor Johnson and is offered for your edification.

1. See Isa 2.1-4 [↩]
2. I am indebted to Chuck Phelps for this observation. [↩]
3. Colin Marshall and Tony Payne, Trellis and the Vine: The Ministry Mind-Shift That Changes Everything (S.l.: Matthias Media, 2024), 151. [↩]
4. Marshall and Payne, 170. [↩]
5. I am indebted to the speakers at our recent conference for the entirety of this message, though the form and composition is my own. [↩]