WEBVTT 00:00:00.880 --> 00:00:02.959 January 2022. 00:00:03.359 --> 00:00:06.480 You guys remember what you were doing in January 2022? 00:00:08.640 --> 00:00:17.120 Well, for a lot of you, not every one of us, but for a lot of you, you heard me say, please turn with me in your Bible to Matthew chapter 1. 00:00:18.160 --> 00:00:22.239 And we started a journey through the gospel of Matthew. 00:00:22.879 --> 00:00:30.719 So here we are in September 2024, and I invite you to turn with me in your Bible to Matthew chapter 28. 00:00:31.760 --> 00:00:35.840 And we'll look at the last five verses of this book. 00:00:36.320 --> 00:00:38.640 Won't be the very end of our look at this book. 00:00:38.799 --> 00:00:49.679 Next week, Micah is going to kind of look back over the past 33 months that we've been together in this book and give us the essence of what we should take away with us out of Matthew's gospel. 00:00:50.719 --> 00:00:54.320 Today we're going to be looking at verses 16 through 20. 00:00:54.799 --> 00:01:00.240 Interestingly, Matthew's only resurrection account with Jesus and the 11 apostles. 00:01:02.159 --> 00:01:19.599 But even that's kind of secondary in nature because there's something included here, not the ascension passage, but the closing verses of Matthew bring us to what's often known as the Great Commission, in which Jesus gives to his people their marching orders. 00:01:20.319 --> 00:01:32.159 These five verses comprise the Great Commission and establish for us what is the most important ongoing agenda for God's people to the end of the age. 00:01:33.599 --> 00:01:42.159 And so Matthew here encapsulates in these final verses the primary thrust of the whole book of Matthew. 00:01:42.799 --> 00:01:54.959 That Jesus has come to inaugurate a kingdom of God on earth by bringing men and women, boys and girls, into a saving relationship with himself. 00:01:55.760 --> 00:01:57.359 Let's read the passage. 00:01:58.159 --> 00:02:03.120 The eleven disciples traveled to Galilee to the mountain where Jesus had directed them. 00:02:03.280 --> 00:02:06.799 And when they saw him, they worshiped, but some doubted. 00:02:07.040 --> 00:02:12.639 Jesus came near and said to them, All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. 00:02:12.879 --> 00:02:24.560 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 everything I've commanded you. 00:02:24.800 --> 00:02:30.080 And remember, I am with you always to the end of the age. 00:02:30.319 --> 00:02:36.960 The first thing I want us to notice in this passage is the setting of the Great Commission, the setting of the Great Commission. 00:02:37.120 --> 00:02:45.360 And in verses 16 and 17, we're giving a few little themes that are familiar to us by now, having gone through Matthew's gospel. 00:02:45.520 --> 00:02:49.439 And the first one is the location, Galilee. 00:02:50.159 --> 00:03:03.120 One of the things that stands out in the resurrection passage, going back to the earlier part of chapter 28, is that when the women come to the empty tomb, they're given a double charge to instruct the apostles to head to Galilee. 00:03:03.439 --> 00:03:12.080 In verse 7, the angel says, He is risen from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee. 00:03:12.400 --> 00:03:13.840 You will see him there. 00:03:14.800 --> 00:03:21.840 And then in verse 10, Jesus himself says to the same women, Do not be afraid. 00:03:22.080 --> 00:03:27.680 Go and tell my brothers to leave for Galilee, and they will see me there. 00:03:28.240 --> 00:03:31.439 And so in verse 16, where do these men go? 00:03:31.680 --> 00:03:33.120 Well, they go to Galilee. 00:03:33.199 --> 00:03:34.159 That's where they go. 00:03:34.400 --> 00:03:36.479 And we shouldn't find this place odd. 00:03:36.719 --> 00:03:44.639 This has been introduced to us often as the location of Jesus' earthly ministry, particularly in Matthew's gospel. 00:03:46.080 --> 00:03:53.840 It's not only a statement of familiarity, but it's also a statement of assurance to these men of who they're going to meet. 00:03:54.240 --> 00:04:10.479 Because before Jesus was crucified, in Matthew chapter 26, he said to them, Tonight all of you will fall away because of me, for it is written, I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered. 00:04:10.800 --> 00:04:18.639 But then he said this, but after I have risen, I will go ahead of you to Galilee. 00:04:19.839 --> 00:04:33.040 So here these men hear this term Galilee, and they realize the same Lord before he was crucified is the same Lord after the crucifixion and after the resurrection. 00:04:33.759 --> 00:04:35.199 Go to Galilee. 00:04:35.519 --> 00:04:38.879 Well, Galilee's been a familiar place for us in Matthew's gospel. 00:04:39.199 --> 00:04:45.439 It's mentioned 16 times, more than Judea, more than Jerusalem. 00:04:45.680 --> 00:04:48.879 It is the place where Jesus' ministry was set. 00:04:49.279 --> 00:05:07.519 In fact, at the very beginning in Matthew chapter 4, it says this: this was to fulfill the prophecy of Prophet Isaiah, land of Zebelan and Naphtali, along the road by the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, the people who live in darkness have seen a great light. 00:05:07.759 --> 00:05:12.480 And those who live in the land of the shadow of death, a light has dawned. 00:05:13.199 --> 00:05:28.959 And so Jesus, when he began his ministry in verse 23 of chapter 4, said, He went all over Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, healing every disease and sickness among the people. 00:05:29.360 --> 00:05:41.199 So the light that dawned at the beginning of Christ's ministry in Galilee, it's no wonder that at the end of Christ's earthly ministry, that same light shines in the same place. 00:05:42.720 --> 00:05:46.399 But there's something else mentioned here about the setting of the Great Commission. 00:05:46.480 --> 00:05:48.079 It's also a mountain. 00:05:49.040 --> 00:05:55.040 Go to a mountain, it says in verse 16, to the mountain where Jesus had directed them. 00:05:55.920 --> 00:06:04.079 Again, throughout the Gospel of Matthew, we've seen Jesus on mountains, the sermon on the mount, right? 00:06:04.319 --> 00:06:06.079 Chapters five to seven. 00:06:07.040 --> 00:06:09.519 Mountains where Jesus went for solitude. 00:06:09.680 --> 00:06:12.720 Mountains are where Jesus went to meet people. 00:06:13.519 --> 00:06:17.040 Mountains in Matthew are connected with Jesus' temptation. 00:06:17.199 --> 00:06:20.800 They're connected with places of faith and security. 00:06:22.639 --> 00:06:33.839 A theme connected to the book of Exodus, where God reveals himself to his messenger in order to declare his will. 00:06:34.319 --> 00:06:44.639 And here we have God in Jesus Christ revealing to his messengers his will of salvation for the nations. 00:06:46.240 --> 00:06:51.600 Something else we see in this setting is worship in verse 17. 00:06:53.199 --> 00:06:55.519 We see that they worshiped. 00:06:56.000 --> 00:06:59.920 Again, in Matthew's gospel, Jesus has been the object of worship. 00:07:00.240 --> 00:07:03.839 Worship by the wise men in chapter 2 and verse 2 and 11. 00:07:04.079 --> 00:07:07.360 Worship by the disciples in the boat in chapter 14. 00:07:07.600 --> 00:07:11.680 Worship by the women after the resurrection in chapter 28. 00:07:12.319 --> 00:07:15.279 The devil tried to get Jesus to worship him. 00:07:16.160 --> 00:07:23.279 And the response was one that there's only one object of worship, and that is the God of the Bible. 00:07:24.000 --> 00:07:37.519 And so Matthew here is teaching us that there's no clash of conflict between the worship of God as a monotheistic Jew and the worship of Jesus, because Jesus is God. 00:07:40.079 --> 00:07:46.240 But the setting also brings to us another familiar theme out of Matthew: faith and doubt. 00:07:46.800 --> 00:07:48.079 Some doubt it. 00:07:48.959 --> 00:07:52.720 We've seen the theme of faith all through Matthew's gospel. 00:07:53.040 --> 00:08:00.879 The Roman centurion, the friends of the paralytic, the woman with the discharge of blood, the Canaanite woman. 00:08:01.120 --> 00:08:06.399 All of these have expressed clear decorative faith in Jesus Christ. 00:08:07.120 --> 00:08:11.839 But also throughout Matthew's gospel, we've seen doubts. 00:08:12.079 --> 00:08:15.439 And the ones who have doubted the most have been the disciples. 00:08:16.079 --> 00:08:20.959 They doubted in the sermon, OU of Little Faith, chapter 6 and verse 30. 00:08:21.199 --> 00:08:25.759 They doubted in the boat, OU of little faith, in chapter 8 and verse 26. 00:08:25.920 --> 00:08:33.200 They doubted on the sea, oh you of little faith, when Peter cried out, help me, I'm sinking, save me, Lord. 00:08:33.440 --> 00:08:35.600 They doubted by the shore. 00:08:35.919 --> 00:08:39.039 They doubted after the transfiguration. 00:08:39.440 --> 00:08:42.720 It's no wonder they doubted here again. 00:08:43.919 --> 00:08:53.600 Whether they're confronted by the storm, confronted by the lack of bread, confronted by the inability to cast out demons, these disciples are doubters. 00:08:54.320 --> 00:08:59.360 While outside the apostolic circle are emblems of faith. 00:08:59.600 --> 00:09:01.679 It's a remarkable thing. 00:09:02.159 --> 00:09:08.399 And I think it's one of the statements that makes the authenticity of this gospel ring so clear. 00:09:09.039 --> 00:09:23.840 These men don't hesitate to talk about how foolish they are, how doubtful they were, how lacking in trust they were throughout the whole ministry of Jesus Christ, even into the resurrection. 00:09:24.720 --> 00:09:26.000 They doubt it. 00:09:27.360 --> 00:09:35.840 And Matthew is trying to help us understand here that the resurrection was not something they had anticipated, even though they had been told it. 00:09:36.320 --> 00:09:56.879 That the resurrection wasn't just requiring some religious enthusiasm and gullibility to believe, but that they could actually doubt the historicity and authenticity of this momentous occasion that Jesus literally rose from the dead. 00:09:57.919 --> 00:10:03.120 And that they would have verifiable proof that he did. 00:10:04.879 --> 00:10:07.840 Take your hands and touch me. 00:10:08.559 --> 00:10:11.759 Thrust your hand to my side, Thomas. 00:10:12.000 --> 00:10:15.519 Don't be doubting, but believe. 00:10:17.120 --> 00:10:19.840 The doubt was normal. 00:10:20.480 --> 00:10:27.039 The belief was something they could grab a hold of because it was more than just enthusiasm. 00:10:27.200 --> 00:10:29.440 It was more than just gullibility. 00:10:29.759 --> 00:10:33.679 It was irrefutable truth. 00:10:36.399 --> 00:10:42.000 Now that brings us into this section that we look at, that we spend a lot of time on. 00:10:42.879 --> 00:10:50.000 And the first thing that I want to see beyond the setting of the Great Commission is the source of the Great Commission. 00:10:50.159 --> 00:10:55.200 And we're introduced in verse 17 by the first of four all statements. 00:10:57.200 --> 00:11:03.840 All authority, all nations, all things Christ commands, all our days in Jesus' presence. 00:11:04.080 --> 00:11:09.679 And here is the first, the one that all authority is found in Jesus Christ. 00:11:10.240 --> 00:11:19.200 He begins in verse 18 by giving that remark All authority has been given to me in heaven and in earth. 00:11:19.600 --> 00:11:22.399 What a word of comfort that must have been to them. 00:11:23.679 --> 00:11:32.639 Leaving Jerusalem, the place probably in hiding because of fear that they would be grabbed a hold of as disciples of Jesus who had just been crucified. 00:11:33.279 --> 00:11:48.240 Leaving that place, heading out days' journey back to Galilee, sitting there and meeting up with Jesus, and to hear the first things he says to them is all authority has been given to me in heaven and in earth. 00:11:49.039 --> 00:12:01.360 That he was and is and always will be their master, that he has come with power, power to protect, and yet also, as we'll see, power to commission them to action. 00:12:02.720 --> 00:12:09.120 Now, let us remember that the authority of Jesus Christ prior to this has also been stated. 00:12:10.000 --> 00:12:13.120 It's been heavily stressed throughout Matthew's gospel. 00:12:13.360 --> 00:12:27.679 Jesus had the authority to do this, to do that, the authority by which he spoke, the authority by which he cast out demons, the authority by which he raised the dead, the authority by which he brought sight to the blind. 00:12:28.080 --> 00:12:34.960 This is not to say that the resurrection authority is somehow different than the authority that he had before. 00:12:35.519 --> 00:12:41.759 It's not as if it became more absolute, but it does talk about the scope of it broadening. 00:12:42.159 --> 00:12:48.799 Now it is all authority in heaven and in earth that has been given to him. 00:12:49.519 --> 00:13:01.440 And he now reigns as what we call the mediatorial king, where all of God's authority is mediated through Jesus Christ, God man. 00:13:02.639 --> 00:13:15.120 Here we find the answer to that vision in the book of Revelation, where a scroll that was sealed with seven seals was brought out before all humanity. 00:13:15.679 --> 00:13:23.039 And the cry there was, Who is worthy to open the seals and to release the scroll? 00:13:23.519 --> 00:13:29.600 And John wept because he said, I found no one, no one who was worthy. 00:13:32.159 --> 00:13:35.919 And he was told, Don't weep, but look. 00:13:36.960 --> 00:13:46.399 And he saw a lamb as if it were slain, coming, the lion of the tribe of Judah. 00:13:46.720 --> 00:13:54.240 And it was declared to him, he is the one who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll. 00:13:54.480 --> 00:13:58.960 The authority of heaven and earth is his alone. 00:13:59.519 --> 00:14:00.799 And here it is. 00:14:02.080 --> 00:14:09.840 Here is that climatic vindication of his humiliation that Paul talks about in Philippians. 00:14:10.159 --> 00:14:34.159 For this reason, God highly exalted him and gave him a name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, whether it's things in heaven or in earth or under the earth, and every tongue confessed that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. 00:14:35.519 --> 00:14:39.279 This statement is the turning point of redemptive history. 00:14:39.600 --> 00:14:45.759 The King has come and is reigning over heaven and earth. 00:14:46.480 --> 00:14:57.600 This is his dominion, and he's exercising it at the dawn of this new day with a new power, with a new command that we'll get into in just a moment. 00:14:58.720 --> 00:15:03.279 All of this is coming out of the foreshadowing of the Old Testament. 00:15:03.679 --> 00:15:09.039 The Old Testament in Daniel chapter 7 in verses 13 and 14. 00:15:09.600 --> 00:15:15.679 The Son of Man, once humiliated in suffering, is given ultimate authority. 00:15:15.919 --> 00:15:21.840 Listen to Daniel 7 and see if it doesn't ring with the sound of Matthew 28. 00:15:23.120 --> 00:15:40.480 Daniel says, I continued watching into the night visions, and suddenly one like a son of man was coming with the clouds of heaven, and he approached the ancient of days and was escorted before him, and he was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, so that every people, nation, and language should serve him. 00:15:40.879 --> 00:15:48.879 His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will not be destroyed. 00:15:50.320 --> 00:16:02.559 This Jesus is standing on this mountain in front of his apostles, saying, He is the fulfillment of that prophecy in Daniel 7. 00:16:03.919 --> 00:16:05.919 But there's something else. 00:16:06.240 --> 00:16:18.480 And it's something we miss a lot because we read an English Bible that's been put into the order it's in for a long time, not realizing that the Jewish Bible actually ended differently. 00:16:18.720 --> 00:16:22.000 What's the last book that you read when you read your Old Testament? 00:16:23.200 --> 00:16:27.440 Malachi or Malachci, the Italian prophet, right? 00:16:28.399 --> 00:16:29.039 Right? 00:16:30.879 --> 00:16:32.240 You read Malachi. 00:16:33.039 --> 00:16:38.799 What would the people in Jesus' day have finished their reading of the Old Testament with? 00:16:40.320 --> 00:16:41.840 Second Chronicles. 00:16:42.399 --> 00:16:44.720 Second Chronicles, not Malachi. 00:16:45.840 --> 00:16:49.279 This would have been the last thing that they would have read. 00:16:50.480 --> 00:17:06.880 In the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken through Jeremiah, the Lord roused the spirit of King Cyrus of Persia to issue a proclamation throughout his entire kingdom and also to put in writing. 00:17:07.200 --> 00:17:11.920 Listen, this is what King Cyrus of Persia says. 00:17:34.480 --> 00:17:37.440 The passage carries a lot of similarities. 00:17:37.680 --> 00:17:43.279 It carries the similarity of an authority statement in which heaven and earth are invoked. 00:17:43.519 --> 00:17:46.799 It carries with it a new beginning for God's people. 00:17:47.519 --> 00:17:50.160 Again, another similarity. 00:17:50.400 --> 00:17:57.920 It includes the similarity of a directive to undertake a task, there to build a temple. 00:17:58.240 --> 00:18:04.319 This one for the people to go out and build a meeting place of God, a temple. 00:18:04.799 --> 00:18:09.680 But it is not a building, but the people themselves for the temple. 00:18:10.400 --> 00:18:16.400 And it carries with it the idea of God being with those who are directed. 00:18:16.640 --> 00:18:18.480 And the similarities don't end there. 00:18:18.640 --> 00:18:21.599 These are just the ones I'm going to take the time to mention. 00:18:22.319 --> 00:18:39.039 At the end of Matthew, Jesus is offering his great commission, not as a pagan king to theocratic Israel, but he's speaking as the true divine king Jesus to the remnant of the true Israel, the eleven. 00:18:40.079 --> 00:19:12.319 And Jesus, just like Cyrus, was given earthly authority to ensure that the temple was built, so Jesus is granted all authority in heaven and on earth where the true greater temple is going to be built, but not one built with hands, but one built by God through the Spirit and the Word to bring new life to people where they themselves would be built up as stones in a wondrous temple of the people of God giving praise to God through Jesus Christ. 00:19:13.119 --> 00:19:28.079 Just as Jesus told the woman at the well, it won't be in this mountain or in that mountain, but God is seeking people who will be true worshipers who will worship him in spirit and in truth. 00:19:28.720 --> 00:19:49.920 And this is why the Apostle Paul said in Ephesians 2 that we are built on the foundation of the apostles, the declaration of the Great Commission, and prophets, the promises of the Old Testament, with Jesus himself being the cornerstone. 00:19:50.240 --> 00:19:59.200 In him, the whole building being put together grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 00:20:00.640 --> 00:20:02.079 So here we are. 00:20:03.039 --> 00:20:14.160 The source of this great commission flows out of the types and figures and promises and prophecies of the Old Testament. 00:20:14.400 --> 00:20:25.839 And Jesus here is now talking about the dawn of a new day with a new temple being built, with Jesus standing as king over his people who will give him praise. 00:20:27.440 --> 00:20:45.680 And so when Jesus speaks about this, he speaks about it with the authority to bring an assurance to these men that from the day that they're given this commission until the day of the consummation of the age, they go with the authority of Christ who is doing his work through them. 00:20:46.000 --> 00:20:50.240 And we can enjoy that same sense of comfort. 00:20:51.359 --> 00:20:54.319 That brings us now to the substance of the Great Commission. 00:20:54.480 --> 00:20:58.880 We have the setting of it, the source of it, and now the substance of the Great Commission. 00:21:00.880 --> 00:21:05.359 Here, Jesus gives them four elements of this. 00:21:06.000 --> 00:21:14.160 First of all, to go to all nations, to all ethnos, to all tribes, to all peoples. 00:21:15.200 --> 00:21:28.720 Not the way we think of nations so much, but the way they would have thought us nations, in their ethnicities, broken up into those smaller areas than what we might call nations. 00:21:30.480 --> 00:21:33.440 Matthew's gospel begins with a genealogy. 00:21:34.400 --> 00:21:43.359 It begins with a genealogy that traces Jesus' line back to David and then back to Abraham. 00:21:43.920 --> 00:21:49.119 Luke goes all the way to Adam, but Matthew starts with Abraham. 00:21:49.839 --> 00:21:52.000 Why does he start with Abraham? 00:21:52.400 --> 00:21:56.720 Matthew starts with Abraham because with Abraham God made a covenant. 00:21:56.960 --> 00:22:05.839 With Abraham, God made a covenant in which he promised within the seed of Abraham all the nations would be blessed. 00:22:08.640 --> 00:22:31.440 And every time that covenant promise was reiterated in the Old Testament, in Genesis 18 and verse 18, and Genesis 22 and verse 18, the phrase in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, it would have these words, ponta ta ethne, all the peoples. 00:22:32.880 --> 00:22:33.839 All nations. 00:22:34.720 --> 00:22:45.359 The exact same phrase here, ponta ta ethne, all the peoples. 00:22:46.960 --> 00:23:10.799 And so Matthew is returning to the theme that he started with in Genesis, in Matthew chapter one and verse one, that the blessings that were promised to Abraham that would be through him to the whole earth started with the coming of the Christ, Jesus, is now being fulfilled in the exaltation of the Christ, Jesus. 00:23:11.200 --> 00:23:26.960 And so this is why he is commissioning us to go, because the fulfillment of the Abrahamic promise is being fulfilled through the gospel proclamation, through the apostolic declaration that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior. 00:23:27.839 --> 00:23:33.599 It's no coincidence here that Matthew ends with the whole world. 00:23:33.759 --> 00:23:36.079 It's exactly how he started. 00:23:37.440 --> 00:23:41.359 That Jesus is a fulfillment of the Abrahamic promise of blessing. 00:23:41.680 --> 00:23:44.240 The kingdom is come in Jesus Christ. 00:23:44.400 --> 00:24:00.480 And this new king is now through his disciples calling people from all nations to submit themselves to his lordship, being filled with the Holy Spirit and creating a new society, one full of love and forgiveness. 00:24:02.000 --> 00:24:12.640 Outside that society is darkness, where the flesh reigns rather than the spirit, where Satan, the prince of the power of the air, still holds sway. 00:24:13.759 --> 00:24:22.960 But the final goal is that all peoples would be able to cry just as Paul said, that every knee would bow. 00:24:24.079 --> 00:24:25.200 So that's the first part. 00:24:25.359 --> 00:24:29.200 Go to all nations, but then make disciples of them. 00:24:30.720 --> 00:24:40.319 The aim of this proclamation is for that all people everywhere without distinction might become disciples of Jesus Christ. 00:24:41.839 --> 00:25:00.960 Just to put it technically, one person wrote this to disciple a person to Christ is to bring him into relationship of a pupil to a teacher, taking his yoke of authoritative instruction, accepting what he says as true because he says it, and submitting to his requirements as right because he makes them. 00:25:01.200 --> 00:25:16.079 Basically, he was saying this: that a disciple is a person who identifies with the person who's discipling them, a person who accepts what the person who's discipling them says, and a person who submits to what they're being taught. 00:25:16.319 --> 00:25:18.799 Jesus said, make disciples of him. 00:25:19.200 --> 00:25:26.480 So we identify ourselves with Jesus, we accept what Jesus says, and we submit ourselves to what Jesus commands. 00:25:26.640 --> 00:25:28.400 It's as simple as that. 00:25:29.039 --> 00:25:34.880 Those who hear, those who welcome, and those who obey Jesus' teaching. 00:25:35.200 --> 00:25:37.920 The Apostle Paul put it a little differently. 00:25:38.160 --> 00:25:45.519 He said, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 00:25:45.920 --> 00:25:52.960 For one believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confess with the mouth, resulting in salvation. 00:25:53.200 --> 00:25:56.720 For the scripture says, Whoever believes in him shall not be put ashamed. 00:25:56.960 --> 00:26:03.359 For there's no distinction between Jew and Greek, because the same Lord of all richly blesses all who call upon him. 00:26:03.680 --> 00:26:07.519 For everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. 00:26:07.759 --> 00:26:15.440 Those who identify with Jesus, those who welcome Jesus, and those who submit themselves to Jesus. 00:26:15.680 --> 00:26:17.039 That's what it is. 00:26:20.559 --> 00:26:23.039 Now, notice two more things. 00:26:23.759 --> 00:26:32.240 First, there's the going to all the nations, there's the making disciples out of all the nations, and then there's baptizing and teaching. 00:26:33.440 --> 00:26:43.519 Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I've commanded you. 00:26:43.839 --> 00:26:53.920 Now, I don't have time to get into the Greek construct of all of this, but let me just tell you that baptism teaching do not coordinate directly with making disciples. 00:26:54.240 --> 00:26:58.160 They are subordinate to making disciples. 00:27:00.240 --> 00:27:06.000 There are a lot to say about that, and I could probably spend an hour just talking about that, but I won't. 00:27:06.160 --> 00:27:14.400 But what it's basic, what I'm basically saying is this baptizing and teaching are not the means of making a disciple. 00:27:14.559 --> 00:27:20.720 You don't become a disciple by being baptized and then being taught and then becoming a disciple. 00:27:20.960 --> 00:27:26.160 You are baptized and taught because you already are a disciple. 00:27:28.079 --> 00:27:34.160 Baptizing and teaching don't make you a disciple, but they characterize you as one who is. 00:27:35.680 --> 00:27:39.680 The preaching of the gospel results in repentance and faith. 00:27:39.920 --> 00:27:48.480 And a person who's turned from sin and turned to the Lord Jesus Christ is going to identify with Jesus Christ. 00:27:48.559 --> 00:27:53.359 And baptism is the means by which you identify with your Savior and His people. 00:27:54.240 --> 00:28:08.000 And the teaching to observe all things is the means by which you show that you're submitting yourself to that one who is now your Lord, bringing your life in greater degrees of conformity to his will. 00:28:08.319 --> 00:28:14.400 Not in a linear way, not in a jump in some higher life that you've all of a sudden gotten into. 00:28:14.640 --> 00:28:24.079 But as God moves and shapes your life progressively, you become more and more like the Savior that you love and obey. 00:28:31.839 --> 00:28:32.720 Just like C.S. 00:28:32.880 --> 00:28:42.240 Lewis said one day, he said, Yeah, when you when you've come to Jesus Christ as your Savior and He begins to make changes in your life, you think, Oh, that's good. 00:28:42.480 --> 00:28:50.799 I I needed I needed a couple of those shingles on my roof replaced, and and there was a little painting in the side room that I needed painted. 00:28:50.880 --> 00:28:55.839 And, you know, it's a it's a little bit of a disruption in my life when those kind of things are happening. 00:28:56.079 --> 00:29:02.720 The repairmen's come in, they brought in the paint, they've traped all over my carpet, but you know, that's okay. 00:29:02.960 --> 00:29:11.119 But then all of a sudden you realize that when Jesus Christ comes into your life, he doesn't come in just to patch the roof or to paint a side room. 00:29:11.279 --> 00:29:18.240 He's knocking out walls and he's pouring new concrete and he's ripping off the whole roof. 00:29:18.400 --> 00:29:21.359 And you say, wait a second, what is this? 00:29:22.240 --> 00:29:37.440 And you realize that the king has come into your little cottage, not to just make it a little sweeter, nice retirement home for yourself, but he means to make himself a palace, and he's going to dwell in it. 00:29:37.759 --> 00:29:48.079 And so he's knocking out your walls, he's ripping off of your roofs, he's laying out bigger foundations because he is making a place for the king to reside. 00:29:48.559 --> 00:29:49.200 Amen. 00:29:52.079 --> 00:29:57.440 So baptism is a declaration of identity. 00:29:57.759 --> 00:30:04.160 Teaching is a declaration of submission that disciples already have. 00:30:04.960 --> 00:30:14.079 And so when you become a part of New Hyde Park Baptist Church, one of the things that we're going to ask you, first of all, is are you a disciple of Christ? 00:30:14.319 --> 00:30:16.720 Have you identified yourself with Jesus Christ? 00:30:16.960 --> 00:30:20.640 Have you welcomed Jesus Christ into your life? 00:30:20.960 --> 00:30:23.759 Are you now submitting yourself to him? 00:30:24.240 --> 00:30:29.119 And will you now follow him in baptism to be identified with his people? 00:30:29.759 --> 00:30:39.279 That's why we baptize only those who confess with their mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in their heart that God has raised him from the dead. 00:30:39.680 --> 00:30:42.000 That's why we don't baptize babies. 00:30:42.240 --> 00:30:44.640 That's why we don't baptize infants. 00:30:44.960 --> 00:30:58.559 It's why we don't baptize little children, but those who can from the heart speak of that transforming work of God's grace and salvation to bring repentance and faith into their life. 00:31:02.640 --> 00:31:23.200 Let me speak last of all, not just to the setting of the Great Commission, and not just the source of the Great Commission, or the substance of the Great Commission, but to this last thing here, to the security and strength of the Great Commission. 00:31:24.720 --> 00:31:31.359 Jesus here says, I am with you always to the end of the age. 00:31:33.279 --> 00:31:44.880 First of all, it tells us that this task is to be proclaimed not simply by the apostles, but by generations of people after them. 00:31:45.359 --> 00:31:49.759 That this is a commission not just for these men, but for all his people. 00:31:50.400 --> 00:31:55.599 That this is something we're to do until the day our Savior returns. 00:31:57.440 --> 00:32:06.720 That the disciples carry out the ministry of Christ and proclaiming the kingdom of God, the rule of Christ in the lives of undeserving people. 00:32:06.960 --> 00:32:27.599 And so we too take up the same apostolic charge and message to preach the kingdom of Christ, the rule of Christ in undeserving people's lives, as he brings new birth to them, as he envelops them in within his people, as they identify with him and learn to walk with him. 00:32:28.880 --> 00:32:41.680 But there's also something here that gives us great comfort as we do it, not just the perpetuating proclamation that we have, but also the promise of his presence. 00:32:58.480 --> 00:33:00.640 I am with you always. 00:33:01.599 --> 00:33:04.720 Now, always is a great word to translate this. 00:33:04.880 --> 00:33:06.000 I will not deny it. 00:33:06.160 --> 00:33:11.359 But underlying that word always is a Greek idiom. 00:33:11.519 --> 00:33:19.200 And idioms are sometimes difficult to translate, sometimes they just don't work across language barriers. 00:33:20.079 --> 00:33:32.079 But in this idiom is this pasos tas the whole of every day. 00:33:33.200 --> 00:33:40.720 I am with you the whole of every day, even to the end of the age. 00:33:41.200 --> 00:33:55.279 You see, it's not just the horizon that Jesus promises his presence with us in, it's also the whole of every day that he promises his presence with us in. 00:33:56.960 --> 00:34:00.640 Now that makes me weep with joy. 00:34:01.440 --> 00:34:10.320 It's one thing to try to stretch my mind into the day when Christ breaks the clouds and returns and says he's with his people. 00:34:10.880 --> 00:34:18.000 But isn't it wondrous to also know that that same Savior says, I'm with you the whole of every day. 00:34:32.320 --> 00:34:45.280 Whether they bring happiness or heartache, whether they show us growing holistically or falling into a hole, he's with us every moment of every day. 00:34:46.400 --> 00:34:50.159 The presence of the Master to be with us. 00:34:51.039 --> 00:35:04.800 What a wonderful way that the one we were introduced to as Emmanuel at the beginning of Matthew, God with us, is the one who leaves us at the end of Matthew as Emmanuel, God with us. 00:35:06.480 --> 00:35:08.480 Jesus present with us. 00:35:09.280 --> 00:35:14.880 Present with us as we go into all the nations and make disciples of Jesus Christ. 00:35:15.199 --> 00:35:20.719 Present with us as those people are baptized and enveloped into the life of the body of Christ. 00:35:20.960 --> 00:35:31.360 With us as we go through every day of maturing as his disciples, learning to take on board all those things that he commanded us. 00:35:31.599 --> 00:35:35.199 Present with us as we await the day of his return. 00:35:35.599 --> 00:35:51.599 Present with us as we see the days will grow evil and worse and worse, but he's still with us, with us until he brings everything to an end and folds up time into eternity. 00:35:52.000 --> 00:36:08.559 When he brings his people into his presence, blameless and with great joy, with us always, with us here and with us there, but without us never is our Savior. 00:36:08.800 --> 00:36:10.159 Let's pray. 00:36:12.320 --> 00:36:19.840 Father, we're so grateful for the gospel that we've been working through these past many, many months. 00:36:20.159 --> 00:36:24.320 Thank you for what it's shown us about Jesus Christ. 00:36:24.719 --> 00:36:28.480 Thank you for the glorious promises that we've received. 00:36:28.800 --> 00:36:35.599 Thank you for the glorious pattern in Christ as He's welcomed the brokenhearted into his presence. 00:36:36.559 --> 00:36:46.639 Thank you also for the precepts you give us, for it is in these things that we learn to love our enemies, to love one another, and to love God primarily. 00:36:47.440 --> 00:36:55.119 And we thank you for this last declaration of your everlasting presence with us. 00:36:56.639 --> 00:37:00.000 Oh God, thank you for the journey we've been on. 00:37:00.239 --> 00:37:09.760 And Lord, as we rehearse this journey next week, may we treasure these things as they become part of our lives over these past several months. 00:37:10.079 --> 00:37:13.039 To your praise and glory, we ask in Christ's name. 00:37:13.360 --> 00:37:14.000 Amen.