Commandments of Jesus: “Teaching Them to Observe All Things That I Have Commanded You …”

By Norman H Drummond

Before Jesus ascended to heaven, He gave His last instructions, telling us to “go make disciples” and “teach them to observe all things I have commanded you.”

But what are the commands of Jesus?

Norman H. Drummond, who has served in a variety of Christian ministries over more than forty-five years, tackles that important question. As you read, learn how to:

• identify the commands of Jesus found in the four gospels;
• recognize the difference between which of Jesuses words are commands and which are important, precious, amazing, and awesome, but not commandments;
• “make disciples” by clearly teaching new believers “all things I have commanded you.”

The commandments of Jesus were not handed to us as a concise list like the one Moses received on Mount Sinai. However, His commandments are recorded for us in scripture, and He expects us to obey them.

Studying these commandments reveal a major difference between the commandments given to Moses and those given by Jesus. They are as different as “Thou shalt not ...” and “If you love me ...” and they are eternal truth.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Nov 5, 2021
• ISBN: 9781664248557

Norman H Drummond

Norman is minister of pastoral care at Calvary Baptist Church in Columbus, Georgia. He is a graduate of Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. He has served in a variety of ministries in more than forty-five years of full-time Christian service, including five years in youth ministry, eleven years as pastor, thirteen years active duty as navy chaplain, a short fifteen-month chaplaincy with a rescue mission, nine years as associate pastor of a large church with multi-ministries, and six years as chaplain of an assisted living community. He dabbled in writing for most of his life, but only became serious about writing in 2003. After posting a weekly blog on the subject of humility, he self-published True Humility with WestBow Press in 2012, available only as an ebook on Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com, and others. His current blog at www.normandrummond.com is a weekly post focused on Philippians 4:8. His sweet wife, Connie, has been by his side for forty-five years. She is a registered nurse. She and Norman retired in May 2020. Their beautiful and amazing daughter is mother of their six grandchildren, a graduate of Georgia State University, and a pastor’s wife in Woodstock, Georgia. Their brave and handsome son, Daniel, living in Costa Rica, is a graduate of University of Georgia and an IT specialist and mobile applications director at Southern Regional Extension, Forestry.

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ISBN: 978-1-6642-4854-0 (sc)

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ISBN: 978-1-6642-4855-7 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021922301

WestBow Press rev. date:  11/05/2021

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CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter 1     Repent and Believe

Chapter 2     Follow Me

Chapter 3     Baptism and the Lord’s Supper

Chapter 4     Seek the Kingdom

Chapter 5     Love One Another

Chapter 6     Do Good without Hypocrisy

Chapter 7     Let Your Light Shine

Chapter 8     Do Not Worry or Fear

Chapter 9     Confess Me before Men

Chapter 10   Pray with Persistence

Epilogue

About the Author

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Nothing good is ever accomplished without the encouragement, support, advice, and prayers of friends and family. Everything I write has been influenced by them, as well as my pastors, Bible teachers, college and seminary professors, coworkers, fellow ministers, and more. I am grateful to God for blessing me with loving and caring people throughout my life.

It is impossible to give enough credit to the power of prayer. Were it not for people who talked to the Lord on my behalf, my life would have been much different and perhaps much shorter. I thank God for giving to me my loving mother, Gladys Joy, who has never stopped praying for me, and my wonderful wife, Connie, who loves the Lord and is my sweet prayer partner.

I am afraid if I were to begin naming others who pray for me, I would leave out some special people. I must, however, thank some immediate family members for their prayers: my daughter, Rachel, and her husband, Corey; my son, Daniel; my six grandchildren; my sister, June, and her husband, Don; my sister, Santha, and her husband, Ken; my sisters-in law, Vickie and Tracie; and my aunts, uncles, nieces, and nephews.

I asked a few people to read this book to edit and correct it. Those who provided assistance were my daughter, Rachel Reynolds; my sister, June Wilhite; my brother-in-law, Dr. Don Wilhite; and a wonderful friend and editor, Rosie Osborne, owner of readablereachbooks.com.

My home church has been Calvary Baptist Church for the past eighteen years. During that time, I have enjoyed three lead pastors who have faithfully preached the gospel and led our congregation in ministry, evangelism, and missions. Each of them has read my book and provided encouragement. I am thankful for the wonderful Christian leadership of Don Wilhite, Jeff Struecker, and Ricky Smith.

Thank you all, and may God bless you.

INTRODUCTION

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 things that I have commanded you …

—Matthew 28:19, 20

I would love to have been a fly on the wall on the day my father laid down the law with my sister’s boyfriend. I used two common phrases or idioms in that sentence. The first one, Fly on the wall, means to be secretly present to witness something. Laid down the law means to give someone a strong, insistent order or command, possibly accompanied by a threat. Please forget that I mentioned my sister’s boyfriend. I would love to have been a fly on the wall the day God gave Moses the Ten Commandments. Wouldn’t you? That was a powerful, awesome, almighty God moment. I am the Lord your God … you shall! (Exodus 20:2–3).

Most people, even non-believers, can name at least six of God’s ten. Most Christians cannot concisely state six of the commandments of Jesus. Many Christians can quote Matthew 28:19–20 but not the commandments to which Jesus referred in those verses when He said, teach them to observe all things that I have commanded you.

Our dear Savior died on a cross paying the price for our salvation. By His blood we are forgiven when we believe in Him and trust in Him. All who believe in Jesus as Son of God and Savior have read the gospel story and visualized that last event of His physical life on earth. After His death, burial, and resurrection forty days later, Jesus met with the eleven at a mountain in Galilee. There He spoke the words in Matthew 28:19–20 we call the Great Commission, "Go and make disciples. There He promised to be with us always, even to the end of the age. After that, He was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God" (Mark 16:19).

Many artists have painted their depictions of Christ’s ascension. My favorite is by a fourteenth-century artist named Benvenuto Tisi or Garofalo. He painted a beautiful scene of Jesus ascending as the disciples watched. His painting left out the little baby heads with wings that filled the canvases of many of the other ancient artists. Garofalo included in the scene a cloud of saints and angels receiving the Lord in the air. One day we will see Him emerge from those clouds as we ascend to meet Him.

As Jesus left the earth, we are left with His last words hanging in the air. He gave us a mission. Make disciples! Baptize them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit! Teach the new disciples to observe all My commandments! All His commandments? What were His commandments? Which words of Jesus are commands? We who love the Lord want to know. We need to know.

Sorting through all the words of Jesus provides us with some very definite commands. There are other things Jesus said that are not as easily understood as a command. My years in military service taught me one key principle about the commands of a senior officer. It is that a command does not have to sound like a command to be a command. Not every command begins with I hereby order you … or the words I command you … A commanding officer needs only to mention something they wish would happen. Those serving under them understand that an order has been given.

The centurion who confronted Jesus with a request for his dying slave understood authority. Elders of the Jews urged Jesus to help this Roman military leader. As Jesus neared his home, the centurion sent friends who relayed his request.

Say the word and my servant will be healed. I also am a man placed under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to one, Go! and he goes, and to another, Come! and he comes, and to my servant, Do this. and he does it. (Luke 7:7–8)

This soldier understood authority on a human level, but he also had faith that Jesus’s authority extended to a much higher level. He could merely speak, and the servant would be healed. Jesus marveled at his great faith. We know and respect the authority of our Lord. Our response to any command from Him must be, Say the word, Lord, and we will do it.

Which Sayings Are Commands?

We are prepared to do what our Lord commands. But we must determine which sayings are commands. Which words must we be careful to practice and teach as His commandments? We love all the words of Jesus. A careful study of His words in the four gospels finds that not all are commands. In fact, they can be classified as either general conversation, directions intended for the moment, prophecy, quotes from the Law and the prophets, warnings, revelations of Himself, prayer, promises, teachings, or commandments. Here are some examples of the different types of Jesus’s communications:

• General conversation: "A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, ‘Give me a drink.’ (John 4:7) Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe." (John 4:48). These are great conversation moments but not commandments.

• Directions intended for the moment: "Take nothing for the journey, neither staffs nor bag nor bread nor money; and do not have two tunics apiece. Whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart. (Luke 9:3–4) Go into the village opposite you, where as you enter you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Loose it and bring it here." (Luke 19:30) These are not commandments to all the disciples of Christ.

• Prophecy: "And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; … Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory." (Luke 21:25, 27) These are extraordinary words of Jesus, but not a commandment.

• Quotes from the Law and the prophets: "Jesus said to him, ‘it is written again, you shall not tempt the Lord your God.’ (Matthew 4:7) It is written, ‘My house is a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a den of thieves." (Luke 19:46) Jesus speaks with authority from Old Testament scripture, but these are not His commands.

• Warnings: "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. (Matthew 7:15) Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 18:10) Jesus warned us regarding many things, but those words were not commandments.

• Revelations of Himself: "For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you’ or to say, ‘Arise and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins. Then He said to the paralytic, ‘Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house." (Matthew 9:5–6) Jesus declares