The Great Commission

If you'd open up your Bibles to Matthew chapter 28, we are in what's called the Great Commission.

Matthew 28 · chapter mention

We've reached the end of our study of the book of Matthew.

We've been in Matthew for some time, and today we're going to wrap up this wonderful story,

this gospel, this testimony of Jesus, and we're going to hear him speak.

It's his final words.

So if you're there, this is the risen Jesus speaking to his 11 disciples, Matthew 28, 16 through 20.

Now the 11 disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.

And when they saw him, they worshipped him.

But some doubted.

And Jesus came and said to them, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit,

teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.

And behold, I am with you always.

To the end of the age.

There's a report from 2015 of the United Nations global issues.

And if you looked at it, the global issues pertaining to human beings on the planet were the AIDS epidemic,

children being taken advantage of at risk, women being exploited, terrorists on the prowl,

and among other things, the UN, United Nations is saying we need to address these things.

These are great global causes that need attention.

And they are worthy causes.

We want to be helping AIDS victims.

We want to be helping children at risk.

We want to be helping women who are being exploited.

We want to be doing something about global terrorism.

But what we don't see on this is Jesus' words addressing the greatest issue this world faces.

And that's the issue of sin.

To go make disciples of the nations.

So as followers of Jesus, when we see this global need to address AIDS epidemic,

we step into it to do research and to help people and to tell them about Jesus to make disciples of AIDS victims.

And when we encounter children at risk in crisis, we need to think well about social implications

and what's going on structurally in cities and in homes and neighborhoods.

And we need to address these things well.

But we need to make disciples of children at risk.

Women who are being sexually exploited.

We need to put a stop to this.

We need to be a part of that.

But women who are being exploited, among other things, need a savior.

We need to be making disciples of women who are being sexually exploited

and the men sexually exploiting them.

We need to find solutions to the ideological problems undermining terrorism.

But we got to be making disciples out of terrorists.

Love your enemy.

These causes are great causes and we need to be a part of them.

But there's one big, great cause that Jesus calls all of his disciples to be fulfilling.

And we see it in Matthew chapter 28.

Matthew 28 · chapter mention

And it's the command, make disciples of all nations.

It's global in its scope.

My prayer for you all week long is that you would be motivated to engage more fully

in Christ's global task of making disciples.

His church has been entrusted with the responsibility to make disciples of the nations.

Now, I'm guessing when you hear stuff like this,

you start having a variety of things bubbling up in your hearts.

So, for example, you'd be like, one of your first responses would be like,

I'm supposed to be part of his global work of making disciples.

I am an absolute mess.

Why would he want to use me?

Does he know what he's getting into if he wants to use me in making disciples of the nations?

I don't really have anything to offer.

I'm a mess and a failure.

If you knew my life, why would he ever want to use me?

Has anybody in the room been there before?

Jesus has a word for you today.

He's a word of grace for you.

He specializes in turning failures into those who fulfill his great commission.

Maybe there's some of you in the room today who've come in and you hear this stuff and you're like,

one more thing to add to my to-do list.

I don't have time for this.

I agree, but I don't have time.

This morning, God has a word for you.

He wants you to get a big dose of his universal authority.

He has a claim on every human being on the planet, including you.

And so when you are confronted with his global cause,

you need to be asking yourself,

maybe I should make time for this,

given who he is.

And then there's some of us who've come into this room

and we hear about fulfilling the great commission

and you're like, okay, surely I'm going to have to share my faith, right?

That means evangelism.

That means witnessing.

I've got to talk to my neighbors, don't I?

Don't I?

And you start asking a set of questions.

They never come explicitly.

They're more like background music.

Well, one of them is I start sharing my faith with my neighbor

and one of them is if they don't like it,

then what am I going to do when I'm mowing my lawn

and I see this guy mowing the lawn?

What does that mean?

It's going to be weird.

One of them is if I get asked a question

that I don't know what to answer.

He stumps me.

She stumps me.

What do I do?

This is fear.

We're afraid.

And the Lord Jesus has a powerful promise for you this morning

that is designed to crowd out fear.

My prayer for you all week long

is that God by His Spirit would freshly motivate you

to step into the great commission.

He may speak a word of grace to you this morning.

He may speak a word of authority to you this morning.

He may speak a word of promise to encourage you this morning.

Whatever the case,

He wants you fulfilling His great task.

So here's how we're going to proceed.

We're just going to follow the text.

And so four moves.

First one is this.

We're going to get a dose of amazing grace.

Second is this.

We're going to see Jesus in His universal authority.

Third, the great task itself.

Make disciples.

And the fourth is a powerful promise.

So let's dive in.

His amazing grace.

Verses 16 and 17.

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee

to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.

And when they saw Him,

they worshipped Him.

But some doubted.

And you're like thinking,

well, I can see reunion there.

I see the reunion.

Remember that old Wendy's commercial

with that old lady?

Where's the beef?

Where's the grace?

Where's the grace here?

Well, let's start asking some questions.

When was the last time Matthew

had the camera of his pen on the disciples?

It was back in Matthew 26, 56.

Then all the disciples left Him

and fled in the Garden of Gethsemane.

So the last time we really encountered the disciples

is when they're on the run.

If it was a camera,

you would see their backs running from Jesus.

26, 69 through 75.

Peter bolts, but he kind of lingers.

And then he denies Jesus three times.

A servant girl says,

you also were with Jesus the Galilean.

Peter, I don't know what you mean.

Another servant girl,

this man was with Jesus of Nazareth.

And then Peter says,

with an oath,

I swear I do not know the man.

And then certainly you too are one of them

for your accent betrays you.

26, 75.

And then invoking a curse,

I swear may God throw me in hell.

I do not know the man.

And then a rooster crows three times.

The last time we see the disciples,

they're a mess.

A bunch of failures.

A bunch of guys who are denying

and deserting and disobeying their Lord.

Then immediately following the resurrection,

still inside of the tomb,

28, 7.

The angel tells the two Marys

that the risen Jesus,

he's calling a meeting in Galilee.

Go to Galilee.

He's going to meet you there.

And then in 28, 10,

after the risen Jesus physically appears

to the Marys,

he says,

go tell my brothers,

there's a little grace,

go tell my brothers

that I'm calling a meeting with them

in Galilee,

which is north of where they were,

Jerusalem.

Now let me ask you this question.

If you were on a team

and your leader,

in the moment of his or her greatest need,

and you desert that leader,

and then after the leader

goes through the hard times,

he comes back

and you get an email saying,

hey, I'm calling a meeting.

I want to meet with you.

What are you thinking?

This isn't going to be good.

What we see going on here

in Matthew

is that

Jesus is actually

purposely pursuing

his disciples

who disobeyed him,

deserted him,

and denied him,

and he's going to meet them

in Galilee.

If you just turn back

in your Bibles

to Matthew chapter 26,

Matthew 26:32

verse 32,

Jesus knew

it was going to happen.

He tells them,

this is 31,

you will all fall away

because of me this night

for it is written,

I will strike the shepherd

and the sheep of the flock

will be scattered,

but after I'm raised up,

I'll go before you to Galilee.

Get it on your calendar.

I have a meeting

in Galilee planned

after my resurrection.

And now,

in 28,

he's like,

time for the meeting.

Why Galilee?

Why Galilee?

Well, the simple answer is,

this is where Jesus

began his ministry.

This is where Jesus

called these men

to follow him.

This is the original region

where he called them

to come after him.

And so now he's going back

to meet them

in Galilee,

and you know what he's going to do?

He's going to call them again.

He's going to call them

to follow him

once again.

Matthew doesn't record

this incident,

but in John chapter 21,

John 21 · chapter mention

15 through 19,

Jesus is back in Galilee

post-resurrection,

and he has this interaction

with Simon Peter.

So this one-on-one meeting,

and we're given

a kind of front row seat to it.

Jesus says,

Simon, son of John,

do you love me more than these?

Do you love me more

than catching fish?

Simon Peter says,

yes, Lord,

you know that I love you.

Feed my lambs.

We've got a job change.

Simon, son of John,

do you love me?

Yes, Lord,

you know that I love you.

Tend my sheep.

You're not fishing anymore.

You're in the shepherding

business now.

Lord, Simon,

son of John,

do you love me?

Third time.

You think it corresponds

to anything?

Lord,

you know everything.

You know everything.

You know what I did,

Lord.

You know what I did.

And you know that

I love you still.

And then Jesus says,

feed my sheep.

Verse 19,

Jesus tells Peter

how he's going to die.

And then at the end,

two words.

Follow me.

In Galilee,

after his resurrection,

calling his rock

back to obey him

and live for him,

to follow him.

You know why he's back

in Galilee with his disciples?

Because he loves them.

He's called them.

He's got work for them to do.

And he's going to reinstate them.

Do you notice

where they meet in Galilee?

Verse 16,

on a mountain.

There's a lot of mountain action

in Matthew.

The last time we were

on a mountain in Galilee

with Jesus,

do you know what was happening?

He was being transfigured

in front of Peter,

James, and John.

The effect,

Peter went all stupid

and he starts talking

and blabbing

and building about tents

and then God the Father

interrupts and says,

this is my beloved son

with whom I'm well pleased.

Listen to him.

So on the mountain

in Galilee,

Jesus has revealed himself

in glory.

Do you think it's the same mountain

that Jesus called this meeting

in Galilee?

My bet is that it is.

But what we see happening here

in Matthew 28,

it's not a revelation

of the glorified Jesus,

but a revelation

of the risen Jesus.

And he's there

with a heart full of mercy

and grace.

in verse 17,

we see the effect.

They worshiped him.

These disciples

worshiped him.

It's a very similar effect

as 28, 9

where Mary,

the two Marys,

they worshiped Jesus

and in 28, 9,

did you notice

that they grabbed hold

of his feet?

Do you know why

they grabbed hold

of his feet?

Because they were lying

at his feet.

They were worshiping him.

The right response

when you encounter

the risen Christ

is to fall at his feet.

And in verse 17,

we see that,

but some doubted.

Some doubted.

Now, this is where

I want you to listen carefully.

If you're one of these people

in the room wondering,

could God ever use me?

You need to hear this.

Some doubted.

That word doubt

is the same word

that's used in

Matthew 14, 31

when Jesus,

when Peter's going out

on the water

to Jesus

and he falls in

and Jesus pulls him out

and he says,

oh you of little faith,

why did you doubt?

And the idea there is,

why did you hesitate?

Why didn't you come out

in full?

What was the caution?

What's the problem?

Now, what's going on

here in Galilee

with some of these disciples

who were doubting?

Well, they could have

had real legitimate questions

like,

is this the real Jesus?

I've never encountered

someone who's resurrected before.

Is it really him?

Kind of like Thomas

in John 20, 24 through 29

where, hey,

until I see it,

I'm not going to believe it.

But what would you be thinking

if the Jesus

you had just deserted

to his death

called a meeting with you?

What do you want to do with me?

What are you going to bring?

Why do you want to meet with me?

Some of you come in here

and say,

he can't use me.

I've blown it.

If you knew my life,

you'd know it.

I've deserted him in one sense.

I've denied him.

I've disobeyed him.

I think I maybe

even got disqualified.

You're really hard on yourself.

You think you've failed.

You think there's no chance

that God could ever use you

for anything.

You think.

But it turns out

that this little snapshot

is a snapshot

of the amazing grace

of the risen and reigning

Jesus Christ.

Before the risen Jesus

gives the great commission

to his disciples,

he gives them great grace.

The risen Christ

goes to his failed followers

and not only is he with them,

he calls them

to follow him again.

John 19.

Though they had given up

on him,

he had not given up

on them.

So when we go back

to Matthew chapter 10

Matthew 10 · chapter mention

and we see him calling

these apostles,

well, you know what

you've got to realize?

He called them

knowing full well

of what lay ahead of them.

He called them

knowing what would happen

in the mess of Matthew 26

and he called them

purposefully.

He knew he would

reinstate them in grace.

It's all part of his plan.

He purposefully

uses failures.

You want to know

what the prereq is

to being used

by the living God

for his global purposes?

The prereq is failure.

Pours out his grace

on people who fail him

in order to use him,

to tenderize them.

So Christian,

he's purposefully called you

knowing full well

when he did

what lay ahead of you

and what lay behind you.

And the basis

of his reinstatement

of his disciples

is his substitutionary death.

He forgave them

for what they did

based upon his cross work.

And so these men,

like you and me,

needed to be forgiven

on the basis of Christ's death

before sent to the nations.

So the good news here is

Jesus doesn't require

perfect disciples.

In fact,

he requires disciples

who know firsthand

his amazing,

restorative grace.

He accepts us

as we are

and changes us

by his grace

despite epic failure.

And so I hope you see here

not just a reunion

of Jesus and his disciples,

but a reinstating

of his disciples

by grace.

Grace.

Amazing grace.

How sweet the sound

that saved

and restored

a wretch like me.

So we move

from his amazing grace.

Now let's look

at his universal authority.

In verse 18,

all authority

in heaven and earth

has been given to me.

And if you've got

a red letter edition,

notice,

we go from

black ink narrative

describing what Jesus

is doing

to red ink dialogue.

This is Jesus speaking.

And he starts by saying,

all authority

in heaven and earth

has been given to me.

And what you need

to know about

Matthew chapter 8

Matthew 8 · chapter mention

in this section,

Matthew is doing

some tie-in work.

He is connecting

Matthew 28

with Matthew chapter 21

Matthew 21 · chapter mention

and here's how

he does it.

In Matthew chapter 1,

Matthew 1 · chapter mention

excuse me,

Matthew chapter 1,

Matthew 1 · chapter mention

there's this genealogy.

And in Matthew chapter 1's

Matthew 1 · chapter mention

genealogy,

two names pop out.

Abraham and David.

Abraham would be the one

through whom God

blesses the nations

through his offspring

and David is the great king.

And on his throne,

God said,

there's going to be one

who sits forever.

2 Samuel 7.

When we hear the word authority,

it carries the sense

of the right

to require obedience.

obedience.

Who has authority?

Kings have authority.

And so when Jesus says,

all authority in heaven

and earth

has been given to me,

he's saying,

I am the king.

And what Matthew's

helping us to connect

is he's the king

from David.

The king.

The long-anticipated one.

Like I said,

authority is the right

to require obedience.

Now,

I want you to notice

the scope

of the authority

of King Jesus.

All authority

in heaven

and on earth.

Do you know

what's left out?

Nothing.

Universal authority

in heavens

and on earth.

If you look

through the greatest

telescope

to see how far

out you can see,

he's got authority

there.

The spacecraft

that we sent out

to do research

wherever it goes,

he's got authority

there.

He's got authority

there,

and he's got authority

on every square inch

of this planet.

All authority.

And did you notice

that this is

an authority

that has been

given to him?

All authority

in heaven and earth

has been given to me.

And here is another thread

I'm going to pull on

from the gospel

of Matthew.

It's not the son

of David,

King David thread.

It is the son

of man thread.

All throughout Matthew,

Jesus loves

to reference himself

as the son of man.

In Matthew alone,

that title,

son of man,

is used 30 times.

Remember this one?

The son of man

did not come

to be served,

but to serve

and to give his life

as a ransom for many.

The son of man title

brings our attention

back to Daniel

Daniel 7:13–14

chapter 7,

verses 13 through 14.

And here's what

I want you to hear.

It says,

one like a son of man

will come to the

ancient of days,

and to him

was given

dominion and glory

in a kingdom

of all peoples,

nations,

and languages

should serve him.

His dominion

is an everlasting

dominion,

which shall not

pass away,

and his kingdom

one that shall

not be destroyed.

So when Jesus

says,

all authority

in heaven and earth

has been given to me,

do you know what he's saying?

I'm the son of man,

and I've come,

and the ancient

of days

has given me

full authority

over everything.

Do you know

how Revelation 5

talks about it?

that the ancient

of days

is sitting on a throne

in heaven

surrounded by angels,

and he holds up

in his right hand

a scroll

with seven seals,

and John sees it,

and he starts crying out,

nobody can take up

the scroll,

nobody in heaven,

nobody in earth,

no one can take

that scroll,

and then before them,

do you know

who stands up?

A lamb

who had been slain,

living,

and that lamb

steps up

to the throne

and takes

the scroll

with his hand

because he alone

is worthy

to take up

the scroll.

Do you know

what the scroll is?

Authority

over all things.

God's plan

for the fullness

of time,

redemption,

judgment,

all together,

only the lamb

has the authority

to unbreak

the scrolls.

He's glorious

in his authority.

authority.

So if you've come

into this room

and you're wondering,

do I have time

for the great commission,

do you know

what Jesus says?

Make time

because all authority

is mine

and I need you,

I want you

to be part

of this great task.

If you've come

in here saying,

I'm not sure

if I got the time,

you've got to realize

that this one

making this claim

is saying

he's got a claim

on every human being

on the planet.

All authority

in heaven and earth

has been given to me.

All authority

to require obedience

of everyone

on the planet

is his

including

a claim on me

and a claim on you.

You know

in the playground

when two boys

are fighting

and one boy says,

you know,

you've got to do this

and the other boy says,

no, I'm not going to do it

and then the boy

who says,

I'm not going to do it

says,

well, who says?

Who says I've got

to do that?

It's a claim

of saying,

by what authority

are you requiring

this of me?

And so when Jesus says,

go make disciples

of the nations

and we find ourselves

saying,

well, who says?

Do you know who says?

The son of man.

The son of David.

The one who possesses

all authority

in heaven and earth.

So far,

what we've seen

is this.

Amazing grace

now coupled

with the universal authority

of the risen Jesus

and so standing

before us right here

is the king

of grace

and he is going

to now entrust us

with the greatest

task

you will ever

be given.

So let's look

at this great task

in chapter 20.

If we ask,

what is the task?

You can sum it up

in five words.

Make disciples

of all nations.

That's the great task.

And it controls

everything here.

It's the command

that commands everything.

We've got to ask

the question,

well, what is a disciple?

Well, essentially,

a disciple

is someone

who has experienced

the life-transforming

grace of Jesus

and is now

focused

on living for Jesus

in every area

of their life.

It's both.

One who's experienced

God's forgiveness

in Christ

and one who's

intentionally

living for Christ

in every area

of their life.

So if you have

someone who says,

okay, I've experienced

God's grace,

but it's not living

for Jesus,

they're not a disciple.

And if you have

someone who's saying,

well, I'm trying

to live for Jesus,

but they've never

experienced God's grace,

they're not a disciple either.

A disciple is someone

who's experienced

firsthand

the grace of God

and they are seeking

to live for Jesus

in every area

of their life.

That's a disciple.

And what makes

Christianity distinct

from all other religions

on the planet

is this.

Religion says,

I obey,

therefore,

I am accepted.

Where Christianity says,

I am accepted by Christ,

therefore,

I obey.

Religion says,

work so that you

can receive grace.

Christianity says,

receive grace

and put it to work.

Those who've been

graciously accepted

by Christ

intentionally

live for Christ.

And a mature disciple

makes disciples

of others.

Starting next week,

we're going to start

a series called

the 21st Century Disciple.

And what we're going to do

is we're going to tease

this out.

We're going to tease out

what it means

to be a follower

of Jesus

in this place

at this time.

So,

make disciples

of the nations.

You've got to feel

the weight of that

given by the

all-authoritative one.

Now we've got to

ask the question,

how do we do that?

How do we make disciples?

Well, there's three words

here that help us

understand how

to make disciples.

Matthew 28,

19,

go.

And then we see

baptizing.

And then we see

in 20,

teaching.

We make disciples

by going,

baptizing,

and teaching.

How do we make disciples?

Well, we go.

We move towards

other people.

We don't move away

from them.

We move towards them.

We move towards them

so that we can tell them

about the person

and work of Jesus

so that they would receive

God's blessing

of salvation.

We are all missionaries

sent by Jesus

to declare to the nations

the blessing

in His name.

Do you know

who the ultimate

missionary

of the Christian faith is?

Jesus Himself.

He came

in order to reconcile

us to God.

And now He sends us

that we would speak

the words of eternal life

to other people

that they would be

reconciled to God.

So we go.

I was recently sent

a video link

to SpaceX's

launching

of the Falcon Heavy.

Think of this

go as a launch.

Think of this

go as a booster rocket

that is fueled

by God's

redeeming grace

that delivers

the payload

of the gospel

to those

God has placed

in the orbit

of your life.

Go!

Go!

Go to them!

You've been redeemed.

You've experienced

God's grace.

Now go

and proclaim

Jesus to others.

Not only do we go,

we go baptizing.

Those who encounter

the risen Christ,

those who become

His disciples,

they go public

as His disciples.

We've got a group

of people

who are thinking

through being baptized

on March 11th

right now.

And on March 11th,

that evening,

when we're in the pool,

I'm going to ask

each baptism candidate

two questions.

First question is this.

Have you put your faith

in Christ alone

for the forgiveness

of your sins

and the promise

of eternal life?

Do you know

what I'm asking them?

Have you experienced

the transforming grace

of Jesus?

And I'm going to ask

them a second question.

Have you determined

to live for Christ

all the days of your life

no matter what?

Are you going to

intentionally live

for Jesus?

And when they say

yes and yes,

I have the privilege

of saying,

based upon your

profession of faith,

I baptize you

in the name singular

of God,

of the Father,

the Son,

and the Holy Spirit.

And then I put them

down in the water

and I say to them,

united with Christ

and His death.

And when they come up

out of the water

four minutes later,

I say,

raised with Christ

to newness of life,

they're going public

with their faith.

They're saying,

I'm identifying

with the triune God

of the Bible.

I've experienced

His grace

and I'm living for Him.

That's why I'm doing this.

And you know

what the effect is?

Here's the effect.

Anybody who sees

or hears about

a Christian's baptism,

if they're not a believer,

they say,

oh, oh, oh,

he's one of them now.

She's one of them now.

And for those of us

who are followers of Jesus

and when we see

someone baptized

and they profess

the good profession

in public,

we're starting to say,

oh, they're one of us now.

They're one of us.

And so God uses

this baptism

to set His people apart.

And He commands us

to baptize those

who respond

to the gospel proclamation.

Baptism is a disciple's

public announcement

that they have died to sin

and now live for the triune God.

But not only are we to go

and while we're going

proclaiming Christ

and baptizing,

this is all part of

making disciples,

we're teaching them.

We're teaching them.

Teaching them what?

Jesus says,

all that I commanded you.

You teach them

all that I taught you.

What you receive from me

entrust to them.

Take, give.

And so when Jesus says,

if anyone would come after me,

he must deny himself,

take up his cross

and follow Him,

we got to say that to people.

Before you become a Christian,

my friend,

before you become a Christian,

are you willing

to deny yourself,

take up your cross

and follow Jesus

all your days?

We don't advocate

an easy believism here.

To become a Christian

is to follow Jesus

and it changes everything.

We also teach things like,

hey, love God

with all that you got.

Matthew 22.

You love God

with all your heart,

mind, and strength.

Don't love yourself

with all your heart,

mind, and strength.

Don't love money

with all your heart,

mind, and strength.

Love God

with all your heart,

soul, mind, and strength.

And so what that means

is this.

When we call people

to follow Jesus

and they need to deny

themselves to follow Him,

they got to give up

the greedy gathering

of money.

And for the glory

of Jesus,

they generously

give money away

for the cause

of Christ.

And we need Him.

Matthew 22,

Jesus goes on,

He says,

teach,

we need to teach

to love our neighbors

as ourselves.

So what we do

is we teach disciples

of Jesus

to love those

who look like you

and love those

who don't look like you.

To love those

who like you

and love those

who don't like you.

Because that's what

Jesus taught us.

But if I can just say

one thing here,

and if I can just be true

to Jesus' words,

notice He says,

teaching them

to observe

all that I have

commanded you.

Disciples are made

by teaching them

to obey

what Jesus commanded.

So not only

do we tell them,

hey,

if you want to follow Jesus,

you've got to deny Him

to yourself.

We say,

you've got to obey that.

We don't just tell them,

love God with everything

you've got.

It's like,

you've got to.

Not just love your neighbor.

It's like,

you really do

need to obey Jesus

in that.

We teach His disciples

to obey

all that He commanded.

The goal

of Christian teaching

isn't just

getting as much truth

into the warehouse

of a person's brain

and just let it sit there.

That's not the goal.

Don't think about

your brain

as a warehouse.

Think about it

as a distribution center

of grace.

The goal

of truth,

the goal

of Christian teaching

is to get

biblical truth

into the distribution center

of your mind

and order it

for it to be distributed

in every area

of your life

through obedience.

Jesus wants

all of His commands

functioning fully

in the life

of a mature Christian

for your good.

So we make disciples

by calling them

to Jesus,

by going to them,

baptizing them,

and teaching them

and notice

who Jesus calls us

to go to.

Who do we make

disciples of?

We make disciples

of all nations.

The Son of Man

who's been given

authority over

all in heaven

and earth,

He makes a universal

claim on the nations.

All people everywhere,

Jew and Gentile,

black and white,

male and female,

old and young,

all over,

He has claim

on them

because He's

universal authority

over them.

Every image bearer

in this city

and around the world

needs to hear

of the person

and work of Jesus

to be reconciled

to Him.

There's another

Matthew 1 tie-in here.

Remember that genealogy

spoke of David

and Abraham.

Genesis chapter 12

Genesis 12:3

verse 3 says,

Through an offspring

of Abraham,

all the families

of the world

would be blessed.

All the nations

of the world.

What Matthew

is helping us

see here

is that Jesus

is the offspring

of Abraham

through whom

all blessings

of God's salvation

are distributed

to the world.

Jesus came

with blessing

on His lips.

Remember Matthew 5,

3 through 10?

Those who respond

to Jesus

in repentance

and faith,

blessed are the poor

in spirit

for theirs is the

kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those

who mourn

for they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the meek

for they shall inherit

the earth.

Blessed are those

who hunger and thirst

for righteousness

for they shall be satisfied.

Blessed are the merciful

for they shall receive mercy.

Blessed are the pure

in heart

for they shall see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers

for they shall be

called sons of God.

Blessed are those

who are persecuted

for righteousness sake

for theirs is the

kingdom of heaven.

Blessing, blessing,

blessing, blessing,

blessing.

Through Jesus,

the offspring of Abraham,

all the nations

of the world

will be blessed.

Here's what this means

for us.

God wants blessing

to fall upon

the residents

of Allendale.

He wants them

to experience

his new kingdom blessing.

In order for them

to experience that,

they need someone

telling them

about Jesus.

Harbor Park,

God wants them

to experience

the blessing in Christ,

but in order for them

to experience that,

they must have someone

tell them about Jesus.

Frank Neighborhood,

Wilson,

Lincoln Park,

Forest Park,

Whitecaps,

Horizons,

you name it.

God wants blessing

to fall upon people

in our city.

And the only way

that's going to happen

is if they respond

in repentance

and faith to Jesus.

And for that to happen,

they need someone

to tell him,

to proclaim to them

the person and work

of Jesus.

He wants blessing

to the nations

and he's ordained it

in this one

who has authority

over the nations

so that blessing

will fall upon

the earth forever.

If you're a Christian here,

you need to feel

the weight and goodness

of this.

You have been commissioned

by the king himself

to take up

this great cause

of making disciples

so that all the nations

of the world

would be blessed in him.

Think about your neighbor

on your right

and your left

of where you live.

God wants blessing

in Christ on them.

And he's called you

to bring it to him.

At least offer it to him.

Christ's amazing grace

coupled with his

universal authority

compels us

to take up

this great task

of making disciples

of the nations.

And this great task

is bigger than any of us

and it's going to be challenged.

So Jesus ends

with a promise.

A powerful promise.

And behold,

I'm with you always.

The promise Jesus

makes here

at the end

of the Great Commission

and at the end

of the book

of Matthew

is a promise

of his empowering presence.

And there's another connection

to Matthew 1.

Jesus,

descendant of Abraham,

descendant of David,

born of a virgin.

Do you remember

what he's called?

Child is given to us

and his name

will be called

Emmanuel.

God with us.

Jesus came as God

with us

and now he sends us

and he is God

with us

on the go.

He's with us.

He's with us

always.

All authority,

all nations,

I'm with you

always.

literally,

the whole of every day.

He is with you.

The whole of every day,

the one who has authority

over all

is with you.

Mediated now

through the Holy Spirit,

he is with you.

The whole of every day.

Let me tell you

how that works out.

Him being with us

empowers purity

in our church.

Him being with us

empowers

perspective

until the end

of the age,

the culmination.

We're aimed at that.

Him being with us

empowers

proclamation.

We boldly

proclaim

Jesus,

who he is,

what he's done,

and what he offers

the nations.

But this

empowers

perseverance.

This promise

empowers

perseverance.

His presence

with us

strengthens us

to overcome

any hostility

directed at us

on account

of his great name.

He gives us

a promise

to press on

through.

In short,

the promise

of his empowering

presence

encourages us

to press

on

through

proclaiming him

to the nations

until he comes

back.

Why does he

end

his commission

in this book

with a promise?

He knows.

He knows

that this

great task

is bigger

than any of us

and he knows

we're going to be

tempted to fear.

And he says,

I'm with you

always.

I'm with you.

Maybe you came

in here this

morning and you're

like,

he can't use me.

Oh,

he can use you.

He's got grace

in abundance

to make you

ready and send

you out.

There's nothing

that you have

done that is

overwhelming

to the king

of kings

and he can't

change and

bring about

goodness.

Maybe you came

in here thinking,

oh,

great commission,

I don't have

the time for that.

Well,

maybe you've

encountered

the one who

has authority

over all things

and now you've

got a little bit

more awe

in your heart

and a little bit

more humbleness

and saying,

oh,

man,

I've got to

make time for

this.

My king

calls me to

it.

And maybe

you came here

at the thought

of sharing

the Jesus,

the Lord Jesus

who wants to

bless your

neighbors

came in

fearful.

but his

presence

puts courage

in your

heart

to proclaim

Jesus

in winsome

and wise

ways.

We're going

to see people

respond.

People are

already responding.

When we go

and declare

Jesus,

people will

respond.

I'm going

to close

by saying,

how does

this work

out?

How do

we fulfill

the great

commission?

Here's how

it works

out.

Every day,

this is

what it

looks

like.

It starts

with you

in your

prayer closet

with your

Lord and

King.

It's like

you before

the Lord

saying,

oh Lord,

use me.

I'm a little

nervous,

but God,

would you

give me

strength,

would you

give me

power to

live for

you today,

to proclaim

you,

even if I

catch heat

for it.

It starts

with you

in your

prayer closet,

then it's

about you

around your

dining room

table with

those closest

to you.

Do you know

where we start

to reach the

nations?

around your

dinner table

with your

kids.

Make disciples

of them.

And then we

move from our

dining room

tables to our

neighbors on the

right and the

left and into

our city.

we believe that

God has called

us uniquely as

a church to

call men and

women from

every culture

and race in

this city and

to respond to

Jesus and unite

us together into

one people in

Christ.

That's why we

believe we're

here.

We believe God

gets a greater

glory when he

unites a

diversity of

people.

people.

And so we're

want to

intentionally reach

out with the

gospel to the

very different

neighborhoods

surrounding this

building in

Kenosha.

Now if you're

looking for a

place to serve

you hear this

message and

you're like

you know what

I'm sold

where do I

start?

We've got a

couple places

for you to

start.

Wednesday

afternoon

mentoring

program here

it's called

King's Place.

Jasmine are you

here?

If you want

to step into

something that

needs people to

make disciples of

children this is a

great place.

Talk to Jasmine

after the service.

She can help

you.

Danielle Morrow

are you here?

Our King's Kids

Ministry.

Do you know why

we're teaching them

the Bible?

So that we would

make them disciples

of Jesus.

If you're interested

we need help.

We need hands in

King's Kids.

Talk to Danielle.

Billy Youth

Ministry.

We have needs in

our youth ministry

for men and

women to come

alongside of our

students to saddle

up next to them

and partnering with

parents help them

follow Jesus.

If you have a

burden for middle

school and high

school students

here's the guy

you need to talk

to.

Wilson Partnership.

Elise Sear.

Elise Sear.

MIA.

Well said.

We've got the

Wilson Partnership

multiple times

during the week.

Let's see you.

Kevin Reiterman.

Kevin serves there

faithfully.

He can talk to you

about that.

Sunday morning

breakfast.

Matt Sear.

Raise your hand

brother.

We need people to

help out there.

We've got 20,

30 people coming

Sunday mornings to

eat breakfast and

hear the gospel.

We've got unprecedented

opportunities to share

the gospel with

people.

We need help.

Talk to Matt.

Greeting teams.

Mr. Whittington,

raise your hand back

there.

If you're new to the

church and you're

looking for a place to

step in and start

making a difference for

the Lord Jesus, get on

the greeting team.

You know why?

People come here in 30

seconds they know you're

legit or not by the way

you greet them.

Warmly in the gospel or

just doing your duty.

We've got a vacation

Bible school coming up

this summer.

We've got evangelistic

Bible studies in

neighborhoods on tap.

Step in.

My prayer all week for

you has been this.

That God would motivate

you by his spirit to step

more fully into this

great task he's entrusted

to his church to bring

glory to his name and

blessing to the nations.

Let's bow in prayer now.

Triune God, we come to

you and we recognize that

you have given us a task

that is way beyond us.

It's kind of scary.

We run into limits real

quick of time and money

and resources and people

but we're so grateful

that you're in it with

us God.

And we pray Father that

you would pour out on

our church a fresh

filling of your spirit,

a fresh empowering of

your presence to

strengthen us to go

and make disciples of

our nations, of our

neighbors, of those

around us, of who we

live life with.

God, would you give us

eyes to see and bold

hearts to proclaim.

God, would you rally us

as a church, would you

unite us as a church

in this mission of making

disciples of the nations.

God, thank you for this

mission.

Thank you for entrusting it

to us.