The Great Commission | Frank Brancato

Welcome everyone, and thank you all for being here with us

today. As has already been mentioned,

we have several here that are visiting with us and we want you

to know that you are our honored guest.

We hope you feel that. It's great to see you, it's

great to have you, and it's good to be together.

I've enjoyed worshiping with all of you so far, and as always is

the case, I do consider it an honor to speak concerning the

Word of God. We're considering and continuing

our series that we started a while back on the 40 days from

the time that Jesus rose from the dead until he ascended into

heaven in Acts chapter 1. And of those post resurrection

Acts 1 · chapter mention

appearances, we've noticed the following and I'm going to be

very brief. It began in Luke chapter 24 on

Luke 24 · chapter mention

the morning of the resurrection where Jesus met with two

disciples on the Emmaus Rd. about 7 miles that travelled

from Jerusalem to that little village so long ago.

Jesus speaks to them, they don't know who he is, He preaches to

them and finally he reveals himself to them in the breaking

of bread back at their house. And then Jesus vanishes from

their sight. Those two disciples, they can't

sit still. The word of God is burning in

their hearts and they can't sit still.

They can't hold it back. They travel 7 miles back to

Jerusalem and they're telling 10 disciples that they just saw the

resurrected Christ. And I say 10 because Judas

Iscariot already hanged himself. And as you can see on the

screen, Thomas was not present. And about that time, Jesus

appears before them and reveals himself to them.

Then a week later, the following Sunday, Jesus appears before the

11 that were behind those locked doors, those closed doors, and

miraculously here he is and he appears there and he shows

Thomas that it's really the Christ.

And Thomas says, my Lord and my God, and therefore Jesus said,

I'm going to get back to this phrase in just a minute.

And Jesus says you have believed because you have seen, but

blessed are those who believe and have not seen.

More on that in just a moment. Then at some unspecified amount

of time, which we don't know, there were 7 disciples including

Peter. He has this great idea, I'm

going to go fishing one night and the other disciples join

him. And there are 7 disciples out on

a boat and they fish all night long.

And all of a sudden from the distance on the shore they see

Jesus, but they don't recognize him.

And Jesus calls out to them and says, have you caught any fish?

And they said, no, we've been out here all night.

We got nothing. And Jesus says, cast the net

onto the other side. They do.

On the right side. They caught 153 fish.

Jesus eats breakfast with them on the shore of the Sea of

Galilee. And then Jesus restores Peter.

You know, Peter denied Jesus. We know the story.

And then Jesus has Peter confess his love for him 3 * 1 for every

time he denied him. And then Jesus gave Peter three

ways to demonstrate that love. All right, that was the 7th

appearance, the 7th post resurrection appearance of

Jesus. Today we come to #8 where Jesus

gave the Great Commission. As an introduction, though,

we're going to go to Matthew chapter 28 and verse 16.

Matthew 28 · chapter mention

Then the 11 disciples went away into Galilee to a mountain which

Jesus had appointed them. Now, first of all, Matthew

doesn't tell us how soon the disciples go to Galilee, so we

don't know for certain. We also don't know the exact

mountain or the location. What we do know that's clear is

the apostles all were Privy of the exact time and the exact

location. In fact, it actually fulfills

his own prophetic word. Do you remember what Jesus said

while he was still living? He said, I go before you into

Galilee. Fast forward to the resurrection

morning. We talked about this passage

last time. I love this passage.

Those precious women, they just couldn't stay away.

They go to the sepulcher, right? And all of a sudden an Angel

says this a message to give back to his disciples about Galilee.

Mark 16 and seven, but go tell his disciples and Peter that

he's going before you into Galilee.

There you will see him notice as he said to you.

So it fulfilled what Jesus prophetically said,

prophetically stated, I will meet them in Galilee.

I just want to add a little thing here, a little question.

Why does Jesus choose Galilee as the meeting place?

First of all, it really doesn't matter, I guess.

But I did think it was kind of interesting.

Some thoughts that I had and I'm going to present them to you.

Why Galilee? Well, first of all, Galilee

would have been outside the eyesight of Judea, and Judea is

where everything happened. By the way, Judea actually means

city of the Jews. Now, what happened in Judea?

That was very significant. Jesus died, Jesus was buried,

and Jesus rose again on the third day.

That all happened in Judea. So it's entirely possible that

Jesus was choosing a place that was far away from the eyesight

of Judea for a number of reasons #1 Jesus wanted to spend those

days with his disciples and teach his disciples and teach

his disciples about the Kingdom and about their responsibility

moving forward. In other words, he needed an

intimate, private time. And just perhaps that's one of

the reasons that he chose to go to Galilee.

That's number one. Number two, it would limit the

number of people that actually saw the resurrected Christ in

bodily form. Why is that significant?

Getting back to that phrase, what I just said that Jesus said

to Thomas, blessed are those who believe and have not seen.

Here's the point. Christianity is all about faith.

It is all about faith. And the more people that would

actually not see the resurrected Christ would be more people that

would come to Jesus by faith, kind of like all of us today.

Maybe that was another reason, by the way, as my good old buddy

Darrell Brewer used to say, that's free.

No charge on that. That's just something I'm going

to throw in, but it kind of makes sense.

But maybe still a third reason, maybe still a third reason that

the Galilean ministry is where it all began.

In fact, if you go to Matthew chapter 4 and verse 12, Now when

Matthew 4 · chapter mention

Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He departed to

Galilee. It was there that he brought 4

fishermen and called them to be disciples.

Remember what? Remember it was on the Sea of

Galilee, Matthew 418 and 19, And Jesus walking by the Sea of

Galilee saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and Andrew his

brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.

Then he said to them, follow me and I will make you fishers of

men. What did they do?

They immediately left their Nets and followed Jesus.

And may I just slip this in? That's exactly the pattern of

all of us today that we should do.

And sometimes it takes a little longer in the process when we

hear the word of God and we're counting the cost and so forth.

But when you make the decision I'm going to follow Jesus, it

doesn't matter what you have to leave.

You leave. It doesn't mean you can't have

things in life, doesn't mean you can't have a life, doesn't mean

you can't. I'm not talking about that.

You know that. What I mean is you lay aside

anything that's standing in your way to follow Jesus.

These were fishermen. And by the way, they continued

to be fishermen. That was their trade.

But what did they do when it came time to follow Jesus?

Listen, following Jesus was more important than their job.

Remember that? What else?

Then we find others too. In verse 21.

Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James the son of

Zebedee, and John his brother, in a boat with Zebedee their

father, mending their necks. What did Jesus do?

He called them then in verse 23, and Jesus went about all Galilee

teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the

Kingdom and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of

disease among the people. So in summary, perhaps 3 reasons

Galilee was chosen. A private and intimate place

with his disciples, not seen by the masses, so others would come

to Christ by faith. And #3 it's where it all began.

All right, back to our passage in Matthew chapter 28 and we're

Matthew 28 · chapter mention

going to begin in verse 17. When they saw Him, they

worshipped Him, but some doubted.

Now there are a number of discussions and theories as to

why they doubted. And I do believe in Matthew 28.

It happened after all the other events.

This is the 8th appearance of Jesus.

This would have been the 4th appearance to the disciples, OK,

Because the 7th overall appearance was the 3rd

appearance on the Sea of Galilee to the disciples.

This would have been #4 So I do believe if you look at the

chronological sequence, because we already studied about the

resurrection and we already studied about all that in

Matthew 28, I think Matthew 2819 and 20, the Great Commission or

beginning in verse 17, actually verse 16 actually goes Fast

forward in time to the 8th appearance.

So here's my question. Why did they doubt and what did

it mean? Well, there's a lot of different

discussion about what the phrase actually means.

Doubted. Some say this, they just looked

out and saw Jesus from a distance and they just didn't

necessarily recognize Him. So they kind of doubt.

Is that really Him? I think there's more.

The word doubt according to fair means to doubt or waver.

Now in our English versions or in our English words or English

definitions, that really doesn't sound like it's very clear.

But the phrase here to doubt or waiver, Thayer says it means it

indicates A-frame of mind that might be expressed by a very

familiar saying. It's just too good to be true.

Hear. It felt like that.

I mean, something really happened.

Good to you. You know the phrase pinch me.

Oh, man, pinch me. Did it really happen?

Is it a dream? It's kind of like I heard there

was an old man one time and he was on his deathbed.

OK. He hadn't seen his son in many,

many, many, many years. He was dying.

So his son heard about it and travelled to go see his father.

His father was laying there and he was very weak.

And his father opened his eyes and he looked at his son and his

father said, if I'm dreaming, let me never wake.

If I'm awake, may I never sleep. You know why?

You know what you're saying? It's too good to be true.

I think really, that's really the context.

That's the word doubt here. It's too good to be true, but at

any rate, whatever the case might be, any doubt that they

had was short lived. And then Jesus says this in

Matthew chapter 28 and verse #18 Jesus came and spoke to them,

Matthew 28 · chapter mention

saying all authority has been given to me in heaven and on

earth. The word authority means this.

It denotes permission, privilege, right, and authority.

It also includes the power to enforce.

That's what Jesus was saying. He was saying I've got

permission from who? From God.

I've got privilege. I've got right, I've got

authority, and I've got the power to enforce it.

I got all the votes. Like my dad used to say.

Jesus had all the votes do whatever he wanted.

He was totally in charge. Notice this about Jesus with the

apostle Paul said to those Colossians in Colossians chapter

Colossians 1 · chapter mention

1, beginning in verse 16 and verse 2, verse 18, You see all

this Him, he, he, He, him, him, He.

You could just plug in. By the way, Jesus, you could

just plug Jesus in there. I'm going to read it like that.

For by Jesus all things were created that are in heaven and

that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether Thrones or

dimensions or principalities or powers.

All things were created through Jesus and for Jesus and Jesus is

before all things. And in Jesus all things consist.

And Jesus is the head of the body of the church, who was the

beginning, the first born from the dead, that in all things

Jesus may have the preeminence. It's all about Jesus now.

Jesus had the right to the throne.

By the way, the Bible says that Jesus would be on the throne of

David. Those words are used in the

Bible. Jesus also.

The Bible also says that Jesus would be a king like David.

Jesus had all the authority and every right to be on the throne

for a number of reasons. Let's talk about the obvious

reason. I don't want to sidestep this.

I don't want to take away what Jesus did, because this is

really the number one main reason.

This is really the main reason #1 because Jesus was willing to

come to this world #2 because he was willing to submit to what

the Father wanted him to do #3 because he lived a life that was

perfectly sinless. He became the sacrificial Lamb

of God. He died on the cross for the

sins of the world. He was buried on the third day.

He rose again. He ascended to his Father, and

now he's on the right hand of God, reigning on the throne of

David over the Kingdom, the church.

That's obvious. But you know, if you look at the

Bible on the Old Testament, there are prophecies that have

to be fulfilled. Jesus actually has the right to

be on the throne, reigning over the Kingdom, being King of kings

and Lord of Lords. He has the right to all of that

for three other reasons. Number 1, he has the tribal

right. What does that mean?

Tribal, right? Well, the Bible says that Jesus

came from the tribe of Judah. Now we understand this, and I'm

not going to spend a lot of time on this, but in the Old

Testament, Jacob had twelve sons.

Jacob's name was changed to Israel.

Jacob had twelve sons. Those 12 sons represented the 12

tribes of Israel. We know that OK, in the Old

Testament, the system of authority or the scepter, it

says of authority would be through the tribe of Levi.

But something would change. Notice Jesus would be from the

tribe of Judah. In Hebrews Chapter 7 and verse

Hebrews 7 · chapter mention

14 it says for it is evident that our Lord arose from Judah.

Notice of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning the

priesthood. In other words, in the Old

Testament, the scepter of authority was through the tribe

of Levi. Now you know what's interesting

in Genesis chapter 49? Don't turn there because we

Genesis 49 · chapter mention

don't have time. But in Genesis chapter 49 and

Genesis 49 · chapter mention

verse 10, it talks about the very fact that the system of

authority would not be in Judah until when it says until Shiloh

comes. Do you know what the word Shiloh

means? It means Messiah.

In other words, it would be through the tribe of Levi.

Until when? Until the Messiah came, and it

would be through the tribe of Judah.

Incidentally, Jesus would be on the throne of David.

David was from the tribe of Judah.

So all that being said, Jesus not only had the right because

he was God's Son and God's sacrificial lamb and fulfilled

God's purpose, but also he even had the tribal right to be on

the throne, the scepter of authority, the system of

government or the law of government, and it would be

through Judah. It would be Jesus, all right.

Second reason, He had the legal right.

He said, what do you mean the legal right?

He had the legal right. Now remember the connection has

to be to David. So the legal right, Joseph, who

by the way, I'm going to phrase it like this, the foster father

of Jesus. I didn't say the father of

Jesus. The father of Jesus is God, the

only begotten Son of God, and that which was conceived in her

was of the Holy Spirit. OK, so Joseph was not the father

of Jesus. However, being the foster father

of Jesus, he was the descendant of David, as we read in the

lineage in Matthew chapter 1 verses one through 16.

Matthew 1 · chapter mention

So Jesus has the tribal right to the throne.

He has the legal right to the throne, and #3 he has a blood

connection through Mary to David in the lineage given in Luke

Luke 3:23–31

chapter 3, verses 23 through 31. Yeah, he's got all the rights.

So Jesus now is King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

He is now enthroned as King and Savior over the body, over the

Kingdom. He's the head of the church.

Then Jesus says this, I love this.

He said, now I'm going to give you something and I appreciate

it very much. Wade's prayer, because Wade said

about the Great Commission and about we need to be about the

Lord's business in our life. And I really appreciate that

because I want you to notice we're going to read something

that was and study something now that was given by Jesus to the

apostles. That's true.

But did you know that this refers to you too?

Notice he said, 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. Look at the word go.

Now I'm going to tell you what we do.

First of all, the Lord is opening up the time.

He's saying, look, the doors of salvation are now open and it

gives the process. The first thing is go.

This is what we do. Sometimes we think, you know

what go means. Go means send the preacher.

And when it says all nations, we think, man, we got to send them

to foreign fields. We got to send Frank to the

Philippines, which you did 15 * 15 different years.

We got to send preachers to Africa.

You live there. Great stuff, by the way.

I'm not saying it's not part of it.

Always part of it. You better believe it's part of

it. What I'm?

Saying is, it's not limited to that.

The Great Commission is not limited to preachers that devote

their life to preaching the Word of God and travelling all over

the world to take the gospel to the all nations of the world.

It's not limited. I'm going to get real.

Personal. Everybody here under.

The sound of my voice. Brother or sister, I'm talking

to you. Go means you, and sometimes that

means in your own backyard. Sometimes that means.

With people that are around you, it applies to every Christian.

I remember Reuben Creek Mall. Reuben Kriegbaum.

Led to his upper 90s. Reuben Kriegbaum.

Was instrumental in taking the gospel to I don't know how many

people in his life. And after he would.

Study the word of God with them. He would baptize them for the

remission of sins. And you know what he would say?

He would say this. He would say, OK, now you go do

the same thing. You know why?

Because Jesus said go. That's every.

Responsibility of every Christian.

OK, so maybe you're doing this. Maybe you're saying, look,

preacher, I don't have the ability to do that.

I don't have the ability to preach.

I don't have the ability, I don't know God's word like that.

I'm not a good speaker. Well, I'm going to talk to you

about something that actually works for all of us, OK?

It works for all of us. You know, it's called

relationship evangelism. It is a real thing and it does

work. And I'm going to give specifics,

specifics on how it does work. What is relationship evangelism?

Relationship evangelism is a Christian approach to sharing

faith by building genuine relationships with people and

demonstrating Christ's love through actions and words within

those connections. You might say, well, I can't.

Preach. You can do that.

Can you do that? Come on now.

What else? It emphasizes being present in

others lives. Oh, you mean I got to actually

be involved in people's lives? Yeah, I mean, I got you have to.

You mean I got to like people? Yeah.

Yeah, you do. Here we go.

Listening to their struggles, sharing the gospel naturally

within the context of a developing friendship rather

than through the pressure or predefined programs.

I'm going to tell you something. I'm not.

Well, I got, let me just say. It like this, anything that you

do to further the gospel within the realms of within the realm

of what the word of God says is a wonderful thing.

There are times. When people have sent out direct

mailers to communities and mass mailed TV programs, podcasts,

radio programs, all of these things are tools to reach

people. But I'm here to tell.

You right now. The greatest?

Form of evangelism on a personal level.

Is people that you? Know or people you've come in

contact with. Don't answer out loud, but you

might ask yourself the question, why am I here?

Who did I know? Who did I know that brought me

to worship one day? Very.

Few are people that just walk in, although we've had those.

Most of the time. It's because somebody cared

enough about them to invite them, or somebody had a

relationship or a connection to them.

And you know what? That's better than any program

in the world. What else?

Here's some key aspects, though. It includes being authentic,

showing care, finding common ground, and being patient,

allowing for organic conversations about spiritual

matters and a shared journey with God.

By the way. Before we go any further.

Are you kind of getting the? Gist of what I'm saying that

when it comes to evangelism. Get it out of your.

Mind that we're just going to go preach 1 sermon.

Hey, I did it. I'm done.

I'm good. I'm that's it.

They didn't accept it. They didn't accept it.

I'm moving on. They weren't interested.

Come on now. This is work, and it's a

lifetime of it. OK.

All right. How does it work?

How am I going to do all that? I'm going to give you some

specifics #1 you got to be present.

What's? That mean?

Invest time and understanding and engaging with people's

lives, not just surface level interactions.

That's number one. Got to be deeper than that.

I love this one. Be genuine or build genuine

connections. Cultivate real friendships by

caring for others, sharing milestones, and offering

support. Number three, share

authentically. In other words, be yourself,

live out your faith in a way that reflects Christ's love,

allowing your life to speak. And I'm going to tell you, you

may not know much about the Bible, but you, if you're a

Christian and a follower of Jesus Christ, your life can

demonstrate what you believe. And you know what?

People can see it, It's authentic and people will

respond to it. That's what gets results.

What else? Here's something else too.

In other words, I got to be present, absolutely build

genuine connections. Yes, you bet I got to be

authentic, but what else? Find common ground, discovered

shared interest to build rapport and create natural opportunities

for deeper conversations. Do you see all the work that's

involved before you ever get into the deep conversation?

You got to I, I. Call it like this this This is

my phrase I guess, but or. Else maybe I got it from.

Somebody else, I don't know, but you got to build up some equity.

You got to build up. Some equity with people.

That takes time. And then you find common ground,

you have deeper conversations. Then what?

Then share the gospel. Naturally, as trust and

understanding grows, share the message of Christ in a way that

feels organic to the relationship, whether through

personal testimony, inviting them to services, or discussing

spiritual topics. And I want to make a point here

about personal testimony, please.

OK. When?

I say personal testimony. I'm not doing this.

I'm not saying I want to give my testimony all.

Although that's not. Bad.

Let me explain the negative side of what I mean.

This is what I don't think we're to do.

When I. Give a testimonial about my

life. For example, I used to be this,

I used to be that, I used to be that, I used to be that.

And I changed and I am different now.

That's all about me. Who cares?

But when I reach out to somebody and I say, you know what?

I used to struggle to. But the Lord.

Changed my life let. Me show you how you can change.

Yours. That gives the Lord the.

Credit. That's what.

Gets results when people know that the reason that you're not

the same that you used to be is because of the Lord.

What the apostle Paul said, he listed all those sins terrible

name. You're not going to hurt the

Kingdom of God, but then always says and such were some of you.

In other words, you used to be that, but you ain't that

anymore. What are you?

Washed. Sanctified.

Justified. Beautiful.

See the point? And the next one, and the final

10. This is very, very, very, very

important. Here.

It is be patient and persistent and understand that sharing the

gospel can and will be a continuous process.

Wow, that takes time. You.

Know what I learned as an? Evangelist.

I learned as an evangelist a long, long, long, long time ago.

Yeah, I know. I'm getting older.

I learned a long time ago. When I was younger, I saw it

differently. I was a little more impatient.

But the older that I got. I realized, you know what the.

Result has. Nothing to do with me at all.

There are three things involved. I got to spread the gospel.

There's the heart of. The recipient has to be

receptive to receiving the gospel.

I got nothing to do with that. And then God gives the increase,

and I certainly have nothing to do with that.

I only got 1. Out of three.

So I learned. Frank, just do your part.

And then work with. People and work with them and

try to work on that heart with the word of God and maybe the

Lord can change their heart. See.

And you know what else I learned too?

If I'm still living, I'm not judged by the outcome or the

result. I'm judged on my activity and my

efforts. I'm just going to do my part.

That's my job. That's my job.

I came to preach the gospel. OK, going back to our passage,

Jesus says go. And then Jesus says do what or

what? What?

Jesus, what are you talking about?

He said make disciples. I want you to get that please.

Jesus is. Talking about converting people,

get this to Jesus, converting people to the Lord.

What does the word disciples mean?

Or make disciples? It actually means to lead a

person to become a student and ardent follower of Jesus and

including a desire to heed his instructions.

That's what we need to do. That's our job.

And again, this responsibility is not just for the preacher,

it's for every Christian. Then he says this and when you

make disciples of all nations, then baptizing them in the name

of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit.

This phrase baptizing them is part of the conversion process.

Please get that. You know the command is in.

An active voice. You know what that means with

regards to baptism. The administrator is active.

The subject. Is passive or submissive?

Wade talked about that last week.

He talked about when we baptized Ray Creek Bomb.

Ray Creek Bomb last week. We can have to go however long

it's been. We baptized.

Ray Creek Bomb and it took three of us.

Not because Ray Creek Bomb was so big.

It took three of us guys to get it done.

Because Ray Creek bomb. Is a little guy.

But because of his. Physical condition, so we didn't

hurt him. It took me, Wade and Chris, and

I'm telling you it took all three of us so we wouldn't hurt

him. Baptizing is active on the part

of the administrator. The other.

Person is submitting to the act of baptism.

I had somebody say one time I was getting ready to baptize

somebody in a river. He said, well, couldn't if it's

cold. He said, I got an idea.

Couldn't you just kind of just, it's hard to get in and out?

Couldn't you just both kind of just jump in and and as you're

in the air when you get in the water, just kind of no, you

baptize me. Who's baptizing who then?

There's always. An administrator, a baptizer,

and there's always a recipient the baptize E OK, so how about

the Ethiopian in that case, the Ethiopian man said, what's

keeping me from being baptized? Here's water.

Philip said, if you believe with all your heart, you may.

He said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

Upon making that statement of fact, they stopped the chariot.

They both went down into the water, both Philip and the

eunuch. And what he Philip baptized him

the administrator, right? Well, the point being is.

This dear friend, there comes a time in everyone's life when

somebody realizes I'm not saved, I need to be baptized for their

mission to my sins. And that person asks what must I

do to be saved? Or that person asks what's

keeping me from being baptized. Then an administrator gets that

done. OK, Sadly today I know there's a

lot of folks and I want you to really stay close to me on this,

please. There's a lot of folks.

That think that you can have a relationship with Jesus without

baptism and I'm just going to say Jesus said otherwise.

OK, my question is this though. Is.

This verse teaching the absolute necessity of baptism.

In order to be. Saved.

That's the big question, That's the big debate with people all

over the world, all over the Christian professing world.

A lot of people. Believe this, make disciples is

when you're saved and then over here you're baptized as an

outward sign of an inward faith. But is that exactly?

What Jesus was talking about, what was He referring to?

And by the way, when people look at this passage or any other

passage and try to discredit or try to say that or deny the

necessity of baptism, they do it with three statements.

And by the way, the three statements by themselves I agree

with 100%. And you know what, you will too.

Here they are. Some people say that the

necessity to be baptized is insignificant or it doesn't

matter because number one, no man can merit his own salvation.

You know what I say to that? Amen and Amen.

Nobody. Can merit his own salvation,

that is true. I can't do.

It on my own, that's what Jesus, when Jesus gave those

beatitudes, he said you got to be poor in spirit.

Blessed are those that are poor in spirit.

In other words, I realize I'm nothing without God.

I'm nothing without Jesus Christ.

I got a sin problem in my life. I need to do something about it.

And when I fulfill it or fill God's righteousness with my

emptiness, that's what God wants.

That's what God blesses, right? So it's true no man can merit

his own salvation. True statement #1 OK, here's

true statement #2. Man is saved by.

God's mercy. Is that true?

Absolutely true. God's mercy is God not giving us

what we do deserve. Then people say this.

Wait a minute. Mankind is.

Saved by God's grace, Is that true?

Yes, that is true. What is grace?

It is the unmerited salvation. So is the unmerited favor of

God, which is salvation. So I can't merit my own

salvation. I am saved by God's mercy and I

am saved by God's grace. All of that is true.

But Please remember. This OK?

Grace in. Every dispensation of time.

Has. Never erased the necessity of

obedience. Ever, Ever read the Word of God.

Folks, let me give you several things here.

How does it all work? It's really simple.

Number one, God in His grace provides a plan of salvation as

His gift. That's true. #2.

Man in response to that gift. Reaches.

Out and accepts the gift by obedience #3 Salvation in every

age though, has been by grace through faith.

In other words, grace is unmerited favor of God.

It's a gift, but faith is my part.

I got to do something, faith being the same thing of

obedience. So about that grace.

Salvation in every age is by grace.

I get it. But please notice baptism is

man's way of receiving that grace.

I didn't take away from anything.

I didn't take away from God at all.

I didn't take away from the blood of Christ.

That's how you contact the blood of Christ when you're baptized

for the remission of your sins. Then he says this and baptize

them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy

Spirit. Bull said it this way.

The combined authority of the Godhead.

That's what we're doing. When somebody's baptized into

the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, it is

baptized into the combined authority of the Godhead.

To be baptized into this is to be brought in subjection to the

combined authority of heaven in a covenant relationship with the

Godhead. Have you ever stopped to?

Consider that when we baptize somebody in the name of the

Father, Son and the Holy Spirit, that's just not a formula of

what we say. I say that, I do say that.

Absolutely, I've always. Said that.

But it's more than. Just a formula of what you have

to say. What is it?

Bull said it this way. It's not only a command, it's a

sacred act whereby we receive the fullness of the blessings of

the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Wow. JW Mcgarvey said it like this.

He that is. Baptized is brought in

subjection by that act to the Father, to the Son, to the Holy

Spirit, and in consequence, with this subjection he receives the

remission of sins. Your sins are.

Washed away. But get this, you also have a

relationship with the Father, the Son, Yeah, and the Holy

Spirit. At baptism.

You know what the flip side is? If you haven't been baptized,

you don't have a relationship with the Father, the Son, and

the Holy Spirit. If one act is what you how you

get it, then the lack of that act means you don't have it.

Fair enough. OK after a person.

Comes to Jesus is baptized for the mission of sins.

Guess what, we ain't none. I'm sorry for the word ate he

said. I talk verse 20, he said.

Teaching them. What does teaching?

Them mean. Teaching them simply.

Expresses the ongoing and continual process whereby those

who are saved remain saved. Now let me just say this please.

It does teach. In the Bible.

That you can. Fall from grace, it does say

that. We are taught in the new.

Testament that we are. We are.

Even if you're justified by the old law, if you become a Creek,

you fall from grace. You can fall from grace.

He that goes and. Tries to get A1, who's gone back

and turned a Sinner back to the heir of his way.

Has caused great things. Has caused that person to be

saved and not lost. It is true.

That sometimes we could turn our back on the Lord for a while.

What we have need to do is come back to the Lord.

So sometimes teaching is the process whereby that happens.

But please let me tell you this, it is not about perfection.

You will never achieve it and you will never arrive.

And if you are a Christian, I'm saying this to all the older

folks that I hear that I dearly love here.

I'm telling you right now, if you think you've arrived, you're

mistaken. I'll tell you when you arrive,

when you're done, you've arrived.

And I mean, when you're not here, that's all you can do.

Does that mean, older person, that you have to keep growing in

Christ even though you've been a Christian for 70 years?

Yeah, that's exactly what that means.

Exactly what that? Means.

It's about not. About perfection.

It's a dominant direction. And you know what that calls

for? That calls for teaching.

OK, so here's my question. Teach what?

What's that mean? Teach what?

Here's the problem. Far too often souls come to

Jesus, they obey the gospel, they become a child of God, and

then they're left on their own. And you know what happens then?

They start struggling spiritually.

I've even heard people say, well, they weren't convert.

Well, you didn't. What'd you do to help them?

Conversion's a process, too. You don't get it overnight.

That's why the apostle Paul said those very words.

He said, I labor with you again. He's talking to Christians like

a woman travails in birth. By the way, my daughter-in-law

and my son, they just had a little boy.

Yeah, there was some travailing in birth.

Taylor just has that. I'm telling.

You know what I mean, ladies. That's what.

Paul said he does by way of a struggle.

Labouring with them. Until when?

Until Christ is formed in you, wow you.

Know what I find? In that God gives time for

growth, and I also find there's a necessity for growth.

OK. It's a dominant direction.

A new Christian. Needs constant edification,

attention, attention and encouragement.

It all begins with the milk of the word when you're a baby in

Christ. First Peter two and two as

newborn babes desire the pure milk of the word.

The King James says sincere. You know what that word means?

It means without wax. But really the point being is

this, it is without flaw. The Word of God is without flaw,

and a baby in Christ, excuse me, needs milk, needs the perfect

milk of the word that you may grow thereby.

But you know what? At some point, milk's not

enough, and at some point you're going to need the meat.

Hebrews 6 and. One, therefore, leading the

discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go

on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of

repentance from dead works and of faith toward God.

In other words, as the Bible says, there's a time that's now

come that you ought to be teachers, but now you need the

basic stuff again, all over and over again.

I'm going to tell you at some point you got to grow.

That takes teaching and that takes the meat of the Word of

God, OK? Well, there.

Comes time in every baptized believer's life that he has to

stand on his own 2 feet. I get it.

There never comes a point when further edification is not

necessary. All right, my question is this.

Teach. Them what?

This is very important. We're almost finished, but

TuneIn teach them what Jesus said to observe all things that

I have commanded you. I'm going to give you several

things that all things does not mean OK all.

Things does not mean. Binding with the Lord is not

bound. And.

I'm not plugging in examples here.

You do that at the general statement.

That's a statement of fact. It does not mean binding things

on new Christians that the Lord has not bound.

OK. I heard somebody.

Say one time I don't know the Bible, but I know what's right.

That's kind of the way we always used to do it.

OK, that's binding with the Lord has not bound.

It is just as dangerous to bind what the Lord is not bound as it

is to loose what the Lord is not loose.

So that's number one. What it doesn't mean, it doesn't

mean binding. What the Lord is not bound #2 it

doesn't mean any tradition or custom that's not bound by

Scripture. There's a difference.

Between a custom, a tradition and things that by the way,

there are liberties and we're allowed to do OK, here's a

difference between that and what is given us by law in the

scriptures. So just because it's a liberty

and we're allowed to do it doesn't mean we can bind it on

somebody else. Again, I'm not talking about

law. I'm not talking about the word

of God teaches us to do. I'm talking about things that

the word of God is not authorized or is not regulated.

Either way, I'm talking about traditions and customs not bound

by Scripture. One example I might say we

always in our in our brotherhood, I guess we meet at

10:00 or 10:30. Tradition, custom, we got to

meet at 10:00 or 10:30. Absolutely not.

Autonomous congregations get to regulate that and decide what

they want to do, what's best for them.

What did God say? Worship.

OK, so we wouldn't take a tradition or a custom.

Here's nothing. How about order of worship?

By tradition. And custom we do a certain

thing. Do we have to do that?

No, and we can't bind that either.

Not bound by scripture. #3. All things does not.

Mean our opinions that are not biblically based or those things

that are not based on God's word.

OK, So what do all things mean? And I'm going to use the

Scriptures 2 passages in Acts chapter 20 and verse 20 and how

Acts 20 · chapter mention

I kept back nothing that was helpful.

Just keep that phrase in mind. The first thing Paul says.

I didn't keep anything back that was helpful OK, but proclaimed

it to you and taught you publicly and from house to

house. Drop down 7 verses for I have

not shunned to declare to you the whole council of God.

So he said one verse I didn't keep anything back that was

helpful and another verse he said I did.

I have not shunned to declare to you the whole council of God.

What is the whole Council of God?

The whole Council. Of God, according to bulls,

means everything that God revealed to Paul concerning

Christ, salvation, the Kingdom of God, which is the church and

its relations to men. Isn't that the Christian life?

All things that. Were helpful is the whole

council of God. So what are we to teach them?

What Jesus had. Commanded.

What do we teach them? Everything concerning Christ,

salvation, the Kingdom of God, which is the church and its

relationship to men. Our relationships too.

And you know what? I got news for you.

That is a lifelong process. OK, that's the teachers

responsible. Excuse me, responsibility.

Now what about the student? The student must be.

Willing to obey Jesus's words, even if it means changing his

preconceived notions and even if it's considered radical or even

quote UN quote legalistic by the world.

One thing about legalism, it's used in a very negative context

today. But you know, the word

legalistic or legalist is somebody that keeps or upholds

the law. What's wrong with that We?

Are under the law of Christ. So somebody that?

Keeps the law of Christ is somebody that's being legalistic

about that very thing. What's wrong with that?

Legalistic. Keeps the law, but the world

looks at it like a very negative thing.

I'm just saying this. The student must be willing to

obey the words of Jesus, even if it means changing your

preconceived notions, even if it's considered radical or

legalistic by the world. And finally, Jesus said this.

And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

Amen. You know this is one of the

most. Beautiful statements in all the

Bible. Matthew's Gospel account now

comes to an end. He had lived the perfect life.

He died for the sins of the world.

His victory over. Death has vindicated that

authority. He's the head of the body, the

Church, the Kingdom of God, and for those that are in Christ,

Jesus gives the sweet assurance. Get this, I will never leave you

nor forsake you. And that gives us.

Peace, and that's the peace that surpasses all understanding that

our guard our hearts and guard our troubled minds.

Philippians 4 and verse 7, great blessings.

See, the Lord doesn't leave us, folks, We leave the Lord.

But let me just leave you. With one final quote and I am

finished. For those who dare to launch out

on the sea of life with Christ as their captain, there's peace,

there's joy, there's serenity. The storms of life matter, the

waves of persecution role. Jesus will not abandoned ship.

With him at the helm. We are assured safe passage from

this world to the. Shining.

Portals of heaven, are you here this morning?

And you're not a child of God. We never close.

A time when we teach from the Word of God without extending an

invitation. It's the greatest invitation all

the world. It's the invitation to become

saved, to become a child of God. The Bible says first.

Of all, in Romans 10/17 you got to hear the Word.

So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

After. You hear the word of God, you've

got a choice. Believe with all your heart.

Hebrews 11 and 6. Without faith, it's impossible

to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is,

and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Then what? I got to change.

I got to repent of my sins. Acts 17 and 30.

Truly these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands

all men everywhere to repent. In other words, I'm born in this

direction. I want to do an about face and I

want to follow Jesus. What else?

I need to be willing to confess Jesus as the Son of God.

Acts 837. Then Philip said if you believe

with all your heart, you may. And he answered and said.

I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

Upon taking these steps, you're a fit candidate to go to the

point of salvation that we studied this morning in the

Great Commission and be baptized for the remission of sins.

Mark 1616. He who believes and is baptized

will be saved, but he who does not believe will be condemned.

And one final passage isn't necessary.

First Peter 321. The like figure where to even

baptism does also now save us. Not the putting away.

The filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience

toward God by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

If you've never taken those steps of obedience, we would

love to assist you in that, if you will.

Maybe you have, but you've drifted.

You've been away from the Lord. Just come back.

Repent of those things, confess those things.

We'll pray with you and for you, and God will forgive and

restore. If you want to be in a class,

come forward while we stand while we see.