Matthew Pt. 111 - The Great Commission

The grand finale, which you've all been waiting for, Matthew

28, turning your Bible to Matthew.

Somebody said, pastor, what are you going to?

What are you going to do after the book of Matthew?

I said, I'm going to start over. We're going to go back and I've

already got 110 sermons written. And once y'all obey all of them,

then we'll move on to another book.

So there was a pastor years ago who was doing a series of just

months and months and months and months and months on Walking in

love. And somebody finally came up to

him. They said, you know, pastor,

really enjoying your series on Walking in love.

Just wondering when you're going to preach on something else.

He said when y'all start doing it, fair enough.

But now I don't, I don't think we'll go right back into Matthew

right away. But this has been good, and I'm

very excited to preach the Word to you today, specifically the

Great Commission, Matthew 28 and verse 16.

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 of 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. Almighty God, thank you so much

for the gift of Your Word. What a privilege and treasure

that we have had to walk through this gospel verse by verse, to

behold the treasures and the wealth and the depth and the

breadth and the height. God, I pray you will continue to

open our eyes this morning and expand our vision, our joy and

our obedience and our love. I pray that the Great Commission

would not just be something that we know about, but something

that we live for. That you would, as you have

already spoken this morning to us.

That you would in this new season, That you would start a

new chapter and that we would grow faithfully obedient to the

primary calling of every Christian's life.

Help us to see the authority of Jesus and respond to it in the

only way that we should, with more love and more devotion.

Guide me in the preaching of your word.

Lord, I need you, I need your help, your direction so that

your flock receives everything you want them to have.

In Jesus name we thank you. Amen.

Matthew ends with a power punch. He ends by directing us to see

the authority of Jesus and Jesus's love for all people.

The king is come, the king is died, the king is risen, and now

the king sends out his people to accomplish the work.

This is not a soft ending at all.

This is Jesus saying. This is not Jesus saying try to

keep your faith private and hold on until I come back.

Guys like do your best to not get yourselves hurt.

Do your best to not get yourselves killed.

It's a rough world out there. Not everybody's going to be

interested in me and my message and what I have to say.

Nothing like that. This is the risen Christ

standing in total authority, sending His people into the

world to make disciples of all nations.

This passage is not just for missionaries or those who are

just ordained. This passage is for the whole

Church of Jesus Christ. It is for every disciple of

Jesus. If you belong to Christ, you

have been brought under his authority, into his mission, and

under his promise. Every Christian is a disciple

Maker. To be a disciple of Jesus is to

make disciples of Jesus. There can be no confusion about

that message from the beginning. Invitation to the final command.

Come and follow me. Well, that rabbi said we should

follow him. Why I'll make you fishers of

men. He never hit it.

He didn't say follow me, follow me, follow me.

Have a wonderful plan for your life.

It's going to be super sweet and easy.

It was day one upfront. Come and follow me.

There's a cross involved. There's sacrifice involved.

There's eternal life involved. I'm worth all of it.

You're going to be fishers and men.

It's always been there the whole time.

The way we invite people to Jesus matters.

We should tell people the whole truth about Jesus because the

whole truth is beautiful. You're not.

You cannot do better marketing for Jesus than Jesus has done

for himself. He does not need you to improve

the message. He doesn't need you to hang back

with anything. The whole truth is the best way

to share the truth. I heard there's a brother named

Christopher Alam. He was a Pakistani Muslim

jihadist and he was 19 years old and somebody had come to him and

shared the gospel with him and he still talks about, he says,

I'm so thankful. The way they shared the gospel

with me was the way the Bible shares the gospel with people,

which was come and die, come and follow Jesus, come and give your

life for Christ. He requires everything of you,

but he's paid everything for you, he said.

I understood from day one what I was saying yes to.

There was no confusion. The message didn't build and

wait over time. I mean, imagine if marriages

were set up that way, like, hey, why don't you 2 just get

together, just say some stuff. And then over time, we're going

to explain to you the massive commitment, the exclusivity,

everything that comes along with this covenant that you've made.

We'll, we'll, we'll explain more later.

Stupid, idiotic, foolish, completely dumb.

No one would ever think to do something.

But in Christianity we're like, hey, if you could just like if I

could just share some of these things.

It's all good news. It's all good news.

Following Jesus is always awesome.

Following Jesus is always great. I didn't say it's always easy,

but it's always the right thing. It's always the best thing.

So to be a disciple of Jesus is to make disciples of Jesus.

We see that all throughout the Scriptures.

And for people who have been brought into His mission under

His promise, this is our natural desire.

In verse 16. Now the 11 disciples went to

Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.

Right away you notice something here.

The 11 disciples, we're reminded again, this is heavy.

There should have been 12. But Judas is gone.

Judas walked with Jesus. Judas heard the sermons.

Judas saw the miracles. He watched demons flee.

He saw storms obey, sick bodies healed, dead people raised, and

he betrayed the Lord Jesus Christ.

That should sober everybody. I've said it before, I'll say it

again. Any person is capable of any sin

that any other person is capable of.

What are we going to do with all this vadnais?

We throw ourselves on the mercy and on the grace of God.

Lord, help me. Lord, protect me.

I cannot do anything on my own. Apart from you.

I can do nothing. You're the vine, I'm the branch.

Proximity to holiness does not equal salvation.

Being around the people of God is not the same thing as

belonging to God. Hearing truth is not the same

thing as submitting to truth. So Judas is a warning for us.

You can be close to the work of God and still be dead in your

sin and lost forever in hell. It's a sad truth.

It's a sobering truth. But we're reminded of again as

we see the 11 Because somebody's missing.

Hebrews 6, 4 through 6 warns us that it is impossible to renew,

to repentance. Those who were once enlightened,

once they have tasted the heavenly gift, shared in the

Holy Spirit, tasted God's good word and the powers of the

coming age, and then they fell away.

Judas had tasted, Judas had seen.

Judas had shared in the blessings around the Son of God,

but he still fell away. So this is not a casual warning.

This is God telling us not to play games with holy things.

What else do we see about the 11?

They do what they're told to do. Simple obedience.

Again, discipleship. Jesus speaks, His people obey.

They go to Galilee. I'm sure they're thankful.

They've abandoned the Lord. They've scattered.

Am I even worthy to be his disciple?

Is anyone worthy to be his disciple?

And yet Jesus extends his kindness and his mercy.

He told them that I'm going to meet you there.

He sends the Angel to tell them to meet him there.

And the women tell them as well. They're obedient.

We've talked about this before. You want to see more Jesus in

your life, He's going to be found in your obedience.

That that's where the fellowship is going to be found.

That's where the nearness is going to be found.

Doing what he says. That's where you're going to

experience the most of his presence, the most fulfillment

of his presence. If I tell Natalie, hey, I'm

taking you on a date, we're leaving at six and she doesn't

get in the car. Why is my husband left me?

You didn't do what your husband said to do.

You're like he wants to be with you.

He's got the whole date planned and prepared.

So if you want to be in his presence, do what he said to do,

that's where he's going to be found.

As you look at the, the, the passage here, you have to

remember, as we've talked about many times before, the way

Matthew writes, the way that we write, the way we think in, in

the West is just very different. And it seems right to us.

Spoken like a westerner, though, the way we think and, and the

logic that we use in the order of events that we use, it's just

not the way it's been done globally.

It's not the way it's always been done historically.

It's just the way we're doing it now.

And to you, and I would just say it's the right way to do it,

which spoken like an American as well, right, because everything

we do is the best. So we would say, but this isn't

how Matthew writes his gospel. Matthew is not super focused on

getting his chronology right with everything.

So that's why it could explain what's happening here from verse

17 to 17. But there are places in

Scripture where the timeline of the resurrection appearances is

are compressed. Matthew does not give us every

single appearance. Luke, John, and Acts give us

other details. We know Jesus appeared in

Jerusalem already to them on the same day of the resurrection.

We know Thomas doubted there. We know the ascension happened

eventually near Jerusalem, around Bethany and the Mount of

Olives. But Matthew's not confused.

Matthew's not trying to give us a minute by minute timeline.

I mean, Matthew literally leaves out the fact, hey, guys, he hung

out with us for 40 days after the resurrection.

You know, I think I would have included that, but the Holy

Spirit said, no, Matthew, I've got that covered elsewhere.

So the Lord gives us what we, what we need here, but Matthew's

not giving us a minute by minute timeline.

He's taking us to the grand finale.

The risen king meets his disciples and he sends them to

the nation's. That's the point.

That really is the point. All the other details are, wow,

OK, that's how it happened, but we get the message that matters

for us, for our obedience. So verse 17.

And when they saw him, they worshipped him, but some doubted

they saw him and they worshipped him.

Of course, that's the right response.

Not sentimental admiration. We see a lot of sentimental

admiration for Jesus all the time.

We live in the United States of America, and in particular we

live in the South. The region we live in would be

considered what they call the Bible Belt.

So there's just Christendom has influenced America.

Everybody could say praise God for that.

And yet the downside is people can get a version of the dead

thing and then they are inoculated to the living thing.

So there, there are many people who there's a, there's a good

book called The Unsaved Christian.

Of course, there's no such thing as an unsaved Christian.

But the author, he's a pastor in Georgia or Alabama.

Yeah. And he just explains like he

said he was leaving for Bible college.

Him and his buddy were packing up and his buddy was going to

Washington State. And he said I was going to

Alabama. And he told him he's like, man,

I just got to say it. I just feel like a real coward,

like I'm going into like the buckle of the Bible belt where

everybody loves Jesus. And he, he calls it, he calls

this out. He says, I'm going to preach the

gospel in the, in the land of the, the land of the

monogrammed. And he said, you're going to

Washington, Washington state. And his buddy turned to him.

He goes, you're an idiot. He's like, what?

What do you mean? He's like, dude, I got it easy

where I'm going. Everybody, you know where

everybody stands in Washington state.

Are you a Christ follower? No.

Are you a Christ follower? Yes.

It's very obvious. He's like, you're going to

Georgia. Are you a Christ follower?

Yeah, everybody is. It's America.

It's the South. He was like, good luck to you,

bro. Convincing people who think that

they've been Christians for 50 years that they're not.

He's like, you've got it way harder than I do.

I thought that's actually true. So.

So, yeah, I can't take it anymore.

It's too hard. We're moving to Washington

State. Just kidding.

Where did all that come from? Not sentimental.

Not sentimental admiration. I tip my hat to the man

upstairs. I am very interested in Jesus.

I like Jesus, but he's not talking about or this worship is

not religious interest, It is worship.

Jesus receives worship because Jesus is God.

If Jesus is not God, of course worshipping Jesus is blasphemy.

But if Jesus is God, then anything less than worship of

Jesus is rebellion. If Jesus is God, not worshipping

Jesus equals rebellion. That's what I talked about, I

think last week. What's satanic?

Well, anything that would exalt itself against Jesus, anything

that would seek to diminish his glory.

Matthew here does not pretend that the Saints are superheroes.

Of course, none of the Gospels do.

They show their failures over and over and over and over.

John most comically, You know, when he's like, no, nobody else

cited who cut off the year. And then John's like that was

Peter. In case also I beat him to the

tomb. We raced and I won.

But Matthew doesn't pretend the Saints are superheroes.

He recognizes and he acknowledges that some doubted.

So this could have been Matthew's just Matthew just

combining his timeline. He was like this was the day of

the resurrection. Thomas doubting this could be

other doubting. So other other theologians and

Christians throughout the ages have said this could have also

applied to not a doubt of like is Jesus raised after we've been

walking with him for 40 days. I'm still not sure what to make

of all this, but it could have been just been confusion on I

don't understand what's happening now.

I don't know what's next. I'm doubting can this thing move

forward at this point? This is nice, Jesus, but Jesus

still clearly has no interest in like, OK, now let's March on

Rome. So like, what are we doing

exactly? He's still just talking to us

about the Kingdom. Like, when are we going to like

what's supposed to happen next? And they still probably until

this moment comes, they still probably don't know what's

coming. I still think that they might

not realize that they are the whole plan and that they were

the plan 3 years ago, which is still wild.

It's still wild that the Lord chose to use us.

I mean, look at us, look in the mirror.

This is His plan. Well filled with His Spirit,

filled with His Spirit and equipped with His Word.

Who are we? Well, on our own, nothing, but

in Christ we're well able. We're like Caleb and Joshua and

we look at the land and we say we are well able to take the

land. There's giants in the land.

No, no, it's ready. There's big fruit there and it's

ripe for the picking. It's all ours.

It'll be just like the Lord said.

That's the response of the disciples of Christ.

Why? Because they walk in the

authority of Christ. Because we walk in the power of

Jesus. Because he gave us power to

trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of

the evil 1, to lay hands on the sick so that they would recover,

to drive out demons, to raise the dead.

So who are we? We're the people of God now.

We're the righteousness of God in Christ.

This is where identity has to shift for us.

This is where we have to go from.

I'm just this, I'm just this small thing.

I'm a Sinner who's saved by grace.

I'm just not going to hell anymore.

That's essentially who I am. I'm just a person who won't burn

to. I actually have a mighty calling

because I have a mighty God. Maybe that's where you have some

of your doubts. You're doubting what your

abilities are because you're ultimately still doubting what

the Lord has said about you and who you are now in Christ.

What do we do now? What's the plan?

Am I really able to move forward?

We should acknowledge there's a difference between doubt and

unbelief. I'm categorizing them

differently. Doubt, I would say is a

struggle. A struggle forward though, and a

struggle ultimately that will lead you to the Lord if you

allow the Lord to lead you. Unbelief is a settled refusal.

Doubt says, Lord, help me understand.

Unbelief says I will not bow, I will not believe, and I will not

obey. Doubt can still be facing Jesus,

but have concerns, have questions, and have hesitations

as it faces Jesus. Doubt could still be in the

room, but doubt could be helped. Doubt has options though.

Doubt can go towards the Lord or a doubt can go towards unbelief.

But doubt and unbelief, I want you to understand.

Like sometimes I have doubts about stuff.

Well, congratulations on being a human being, but also keep going

to the Lord with all of it. Be real and all of your prayer

and be engaged in relationships that are discipling you and

discipling others and in the fellowship of the body and

having mentors that are disciple you and peers who are growing

with you. Your questions get answered and

your doubts get comforted and people pray for you and you get

breakthrough and you get blessing.

To claim that you never have doubt makes you a liar and to

hide your doubt makes you a prideful fool.

So acknowledge that you've had doubt or that you are

experiencing doubt in a particular thing, in a

particular area, not, not, not maybe things that you may be

used to doubt, but something now that you're struggling with and

share that with somebody so that it can be surfaced, so it can

come to the light and it can be prevented from ever becoming

unbelief. Unbelief is when something is

hardened against itself in the Lord.

There are people who love the Lord and they will be with the

Lord forever, but they have unbelief in their lives in

certain areas in regarding in regarding the promises of God.

But they're locked in a belief in a particular area because of

a doctrinal perspective, because of a philosophy, because of a

theology. They doubt.

Some doubted. Verse 18 And Jesus came to them

and said, all authority in heaven and on earth has been

given to me. Jesus came to them.

This is another sweet mercy of the Lord.

They didn't have to climb up to Him and prove they're worthy.

Even though some were doubting, He came near.

He spoke to them. What does He say?

All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.

Not some authority, not local authority, not religious

authority, only the important distinction I will make to you

over and over, and I will always pound the pulpit on Jesus

doesn't just have authority over like religions.

Jesus has all authority over everything, everybody,

everywhere. Authority over heaven, authority

over earth, authority over angels, authority over demons,

authority over kings, authority over nations, authority over

presidents, authority over prime ministers.

He has authority over your home. He has authority over your body.

Jesus has authority over your marriage.

Jesus has authority over your money.

Jesus has authority over your future, over your children, over

your church. Jesus has authority over your

death. Jesus has authority over your

eternity. Jesus is not asking for

permission. Jesus is not running for office

to win a majority vote. Jesus is not asking for anyone's

perception on it. He is saying this is the way it

is. Jesus is King right now over

everybody. This is the authority that he's

establishing before the Commission comes.

All authority has been given to me.

I want to clarify though, Jesus did not become God at the

resurrection, and he didn't even gain more authority after the

resurrection. The Son has always shared the

full divine authority with the Father and the Spirit.

Jesus is eternally God, but after his obedience, His death

and His resurrection, this is the public declaration where the

Father exalts Jesus as the risen God, man, the Messiah and the

victorious King. This is the public proclamation.

Before it had not been publicly proclaimed that Jesus is King

and Lord over all. Now the church age has begun and

this is the time for the church to run with the message Jesus is

King. Well, what about?

What about Yahweh? There is one God the Father, Son

and Holy Spirit. He's always been the same God

and it's always been about Jesus.

Jesus is king. Now we are clearly declaring.

Now we are plainly speaking. Can you prove that to me,

Pastor? I love when you all ask me that

question. Long ago, Hebrews 11 At many

times and in many ways God spoke to our fathers by the prophets.

So this is a Jewish author writing this book, writing the

book of Hebrews to who? You only get one guess, only one

guess on this one. This is written to Hebrews, to

Jews long ago, at many times and in many ways.

God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days

He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed the heir of

all things, through whom He also created the world, He, Jesus.

He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of

His nature, and He upholds the universe by the word of His

power. After making purification for

sins, He sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high,

having become as much superior to angels as the name He has

inherited is more excellent than theirs.

In the old days he spoke to us, to the prophets, but now guys,

all is fully revealed through Jesus.

He has always had divine authority, but now his authority

is is declared and displayed. The crucified one has risen and

heaven announces what the earth must learn.

Jesus Christ is Lord of all. Hallelujah, Hallelujah verse 19.

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.

So there's a there's a helpful Bible reminder tool.

Whenever you find a therefore in your Bible, make sure you know

what it's there for very clever. A dad came up with that that

that Bible training. It's helpful, though, if there's

a therefore, find out what is it in reference to.

So therefore, what's He referring to?

I have all authority in heaven and on earth.

So because I have all authority in heaven and on earth, go

because I have all the power, because you should obey me,

because the whole world needs to hear, and because the whole

world needs to know. He's connecting the command of

what they're supposed to do to the authority of who He is and

what He has. Because I have all power.

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.

There, of course, we see the Trinity once again.

Although the word Trinity is never used in Scripture, the

theology is always taught. Go there for it, because Jesus

has all authority. The Great Commission is not

built on your guilt. The Great Commission is not

built on you having passion or you having a heart for others

even which of course Christians will have.

The Great Commission is built on the authority of Jesus.

This is not Jesus saying go and see if anyone would let me be

Lord. Jesus is saying, go tell them I

am Lord. That should reframe the way you

talk to people about Jesus. You're not having a, a an

approach where you're passive. You're not having an approach

where you're saying, would it be all right?

You have no apology to make. You have good news to share.

Don't be sorry, be joyful, don't be sad, don't be worried, be

excited. Jesus is Lord.

The main command is to make disciples.

How do we make disciples? Well, he doesn't say go make

church attenders. He does not say make more

religious consumers. He does not say go make people

pray prayers and ultimately still never follow me.

He says make disciples. A disciple is a learner.

A disciple is a follower. A disciple is an apprentice,

someone brought under the teaching and under the authority

of Jesus Christ. That's what a disciple is.

Are you a Christian? I rarely use that word.

I haven't. I've rarely used that word for

years and years and years now. I have tried to get more

specific because I live in the land of the monogrammed.

So I get more precise and I say Christ follower.

Aren't they the same thing? Well, they should be, but the

culture that I'm in has has ruined that word and made it

mean nothing because everybody's a Christian.

Literally every president we've ever had in this country is a

Christian. Like everybody's a Christian.

If you need any sort of social clout in the American South,

it's still beneficial to use that tagline.

It is. Its power has faded,

unfortunately, but but that name is still beneficial to you.

So if you're running for an election, it's a good idea to be

a Christian and you'll make some church attendances as well

before Election Day to make sure everybody can see.

Jesus didn't ask for any of that.

He didn't command any of that. A disciple is a learner, A

follower and apprentice. Someone brought under the

teaching, someone brought under the authority of Jesus Christ.

He has authority over everybody, but this looks like someone

who's actually submitting to the authority of Jesus.

A disciple is not someone who attended a class.

So this is the mistake that we often make is we can we can

reframe discipleship and say it's a series of classes.

It is a it is a bulk of information.

Information does not make disciples.

Obedience makes disciples. I have met people waterlogged

with truth who are not faithful. I've grown up in the church.

Praise God. That is a testimony of mine and

I'm thankful for it. I grew up, my dad was a pastor.

I was there before service. I was there after service.

Wednesday night, Sunday morning, Sunday night, all a blessing.

But in that I've seen a few folks.

I'm only 41, so I'm a very young man, but I've seen a few things

over the years and I've seen people who had all the knowledge

in the world and not the fruit. I'm interested in fruit.

I don't have all the knowledge in the world.

You're looking at your two time college dropout pastor, in case

anyone had forgotten. But fruit has been my pursuit

and loving the Lord has been my pursuit, and I find that that

keeps me safe. Is it wrong for us to have

classes and programs? It's not wrong.

It is wrong though, because it has become a substitute for

actual discipleship because the church unfortunately has turned

discipleship into programs. And if you go to good churches,

faithful churches, Bible preaching churches, they still

often say we have a discipleship program instead of something

that models more of the discipleship program that Jesus

invented and that he ran for three years.

It looks something like this when you're hanging around the

fire pit. They see how you are with the

crowd. They see how you are with the

woman at the well. They see how you are when you're

tired and exhausted. They see how you are in the

middle of the storm. It is a life together.

Discipleship. That's what discipleship look

like in the Scriptures. Maybe I can't do it the same

way. Well, maybe we can't.

Maybe you're not going to call 12 others to come and follow you

and live with you. And others may support your

ministry and discipleship time. And yet, how can we best pursue

the model of Jesus? It involves life on life kind of

stuff. So then churches were like, OK,

it's true, we do need life on life.

How do we fix that? We'll make life groups and

that's where we'll put it. But even then, we can still fall

short in building programs and it can still just be, this is

where we gather together. But if you don't still have

relationships that are discipling one another,

correcting one another, helping one another, and deeply

connected to one another, then you could still just end up with

programs that people attend, and you could still end up with

fruitlessness. Well, what's our life group do?

Well, we're studying this, we're studying that, we're studying

this. Keep studying, by the way, keep

studying, but for the purpose of obedience.

So a disciple is an obeyor. And where are we supposed to

make these disciples? This mission, he says, is for

all nations. Remember, Matthew's gospel is

written to Jews. So Matthew from chapter 1 here

to chapter 28, he's writing to a Jewish people.

He has presented the kingship of Jesus literally from chapter 1,

because Matthew's just awesome like that.

And now if somehow somebody missed it, which would have been

impossible along the way, now it's just even all of it all

just explodes. For Jesus came as the son of

David, as the son of Abraham, as the Messiah of Israel.

But the nation of Israel still thought that things were going

to be exclusive for them. Jesus is correcting that

misunderstanding. All nations.

Does he mean every country? He does mean every country.

But in particular, the Jewish readers would have understood.

Wait, not just us, that's right. Not just you.

All nations, all people, group Jew and Gentiles.

That's, that's you and me, most likely all of us.

You're you're definitely one of those Jews and Gentiles.

What's a Jew? A genetic descendants of

Abraham. Those are the Jewish people.

Abraham had kids, they had kids, they had kids and the Lord

multiply to more than the stars of the sky and the Lord bless

them and made promises to them. That is what a a Jew was.

And then the Gentiles was everybody who didn't come from

Abraham. But it was never just for them.

The promise to Abraham was never only for Israel.

Through Abraham's seed, all the families of the earth would be

blessed. Who is Abraham's seed?

Jesus. The Sunday school answer hit me

with it. Jesus, Jesus is Abraham's seed.

Remember, Psalm 2 says it this way.

Ask of me and I will make the nation's your inheritance, your

inheritance. That's the Father talking to the

Son. And then we read Psalm 110 this

morning. The Lord's Messiah will sit at

his right hand until he makes his enemies his footstool.

The nations belong to Jesus, not a small Jewish group hiding in a

corner. Not just these eleven men.

The Kingdom of God is going to the ends of the earth in Romans

2. Clarifies what a true Jew is.

A true Jew is not a Jew who is 1 outwardly, meaning a genetic

descendant of Abraham. A true Jew is a Jew inwardly,

not just the circumcision that happens to the flesh, but he he

describes it as the circumcision of the heart.

So all the nation, all the other nations are not second class

guests. They're made disciples of the

King and the Lord said, I'll even break off a branch and

graft in another one. How do you get in Jesus?

That's it. Only by trusting in Jesus.

That is what makes us the children of Abraham.

Jesus said I I can raise up stones and make them children of

Abraham like you guys are counting on, like your actual

lineage. You're literally counting on the

family tree saving you. That is not what I intended and

that is not what I was teaching. I can make rocks be Jews.

So do you think it's special to be a Jew anymore?

And he says and yet it is. There are there were advantages

to being Jew, but but not for eternal perspectives.

How do I become a child of Abraham?

You have faith like Abraham had. You believe God's word and that

is counted to you as righteousness.

Abraham believed God. How do you get saved that faith

By faith. Faith was counted to him as

righteousness. You want righteousness accounted

to you. Of course you do.

Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and then you become a true child

of Abraham as well. This passage is one of my

favorite in the Bible. I say that about a lot of

passages, but it's more true of this one.

Often Christians will ask and they wonder, what is God's will

for my life? Dear Christian, I present to you

the answer to that question. Good news, you don't have to

fish, You don't have to wonder. This is God's will for your

life, to make disciples, to actually be a disciple maker.

No matter what your job is, no matter what your age or stage in

life, this is always the first thing that you should start

with. Pastor Chris Morgan at

Cornerstone always taught us well.

He said if you will focus on the general will of God for your

life, you will find the Lord getting involved and the

specific will of your life. But everybody always does it

backwards. I want to know my special,

special, special, special plan all about me and how I can have

all of my dreams fulfilled. I'm a disciple of America and

I've been taught that everything about me is great and

individualism is the highest value that I could ever aspire

to. What do you want to be when you

grow up? You can be anything you want to

be. Don't you dare let anyone tell

you you can't be anything. Where did that get us?

It literally gave us children who thought they could be the

opposite gender. That is the extreme insanity

that it led to. You can be anything.

Don't you let anybody. I mean, come on, there's we got

some good movies that that fit that theme, right?

So sometimes there's a there's a feel good story around it.

But could it be taken to an idiotic conclusion?

Yes, it can and yes it has. So there's a spectrum there.

I gave you the level 10 worst case scenario.

But there are other stupid options along the way.

And there is much dumb selfishness that takes place

along the way. Instead of make me a vessel,

make me an offering, make me whatever you want me to be.

Amen. I came here with nothing except

what you have given me. Jesus, bring new wine out of me.

My life is actually completely and truly yours.

And if you want me to clean septic tanks with teaspoons, if

that pleases you, then that pleases me, because my will is

to do your will. And the Lord said, I can work

with that. Delight yourself in the Lord.

He'll give you the desires of your heart.

There's more to that passage I'm standing on.

He'll give me the desires of my heart.

If you delight yourself in Him, because then your desires have

actually become His desires. That's the play He ran on you

there. Your desires, your desires are

actually correct instead of selfish and idiotic.

What is God's will for my life? Go there for and make disciples

of all nations. This is your highest purpose.

This is your greatest calling. No matter, no matter what you do

for work. I'm just, I'm retired, or I'm

doing this or I'm doing that, or I'm a plumber, or I'm a Baker.

I'm a Candlestick maker. You are first a disciple maker.

That is your calling. That is your priority, no matter

what your vocation may be. You have a calling Christian and

you most likely undermined it. You most likely minimized it.

Yeah, I got a lot of stuff I'm doing also need to throw in

there like, like I really ought to do this Christian thing.

I'm making disciples. No, my friend, you had your

hierarchy messed up. This is the umbrella with which

we start from. How do I make disciples in my

context, with my children, with my friends, with my family?

This is God's will for your life.

This is the high calling of your life.

Verse 19. Go there for and make disciples

of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of

the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Disciples are marked publicly.

Baptism is not an optional decoration for Christians.

Jesus includes it in the making of disciples.

Baptism identifies you with God the Father of God the Son, God

the Holy Spirit, one God. These are not names plural, but

one name, singular. He says baptize them in the

name, the word that Jesus used. There is a singular word.

It's not a plural word, He's not saying in all three of us.

So this again, the mystery of the Trinity is revealed to us to

some degree here. Baptize them in the singular

name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

There is one God and three persons in your baptism says I

belong to him. It is a public sign of your

union with Christ, of your cleansing of the death of your

old life and your resurrection and a new life.

It is entrance into the visible people of God.

I want to identify with the Church of Jesus Christ.

That's me. I want to be with Jesus people.

I don't care about any other table.

I don't care where the cool kids sit.

I want to sit with Jesus people because Jesus people are the

cool kids. I know that.

I've learned that. I want to be with them.

If they're going to suffer, I want to suffer with them.

If they're going to rain, I want to rain with them.

I don't care. I love Jesus Church.

I'm going to be with Jesus Church.

None of you could ever offend me out of Jesus Church.

I promise you, there's nothing any of you can do to offend me

away from Jesus Church. Could it create friction and

you're in my fellowship? Of course it could.

But nothing can drive me away from Jesus Church.

How could it? I love Jesus so.

I love his body. You offended me.

You hurt me. I need to forgive you.

I need to do my best to reconcile with you to the degree

that I'm able. Maybe I can do that fully.

Maybe we can't. That'll be up to you, but you

can't do anything to push me from Jesus church ever ever.

I mean, I guess y'all could all like literally like throw me out

if you did that together, but I wouldn't leave his church.

You would just make me leave salt.

But I'm not abandoning Oh the church.

Me and Natalie, we got church hurt.

We got church hurt. People leave the church over

church hurt like that. You ever had restaurant hurt?

You have had to restaurants there, don't you?

You ever had a bad experience when you were shopping anybody?

Yeah. Have you gone shopping again?

I'm shopping hurt. We're going to work through it.

I'm going through. I'm going to a shopping treat, a

trauma counselor, pastor. Are you going to minimize

issues? You know I'm not.

You know I'm not. But I can tell the whole truth

and not just part of it. That's a mark of maturity to be

able to acknowledge all of the truth and not a portion of it

that suits your storyline. Christians want to be baptized

because they want to say I have died, I have been raised, and I

identify with Jesus's people. Verse 20 teaching them to

observe all that I have commanded you, and behold, I am

with you always to the end of the age.

So this again is where we miss it in the modern West.

Jesus did not say teach them everything I taught.

He says teach them to observe everything I have commanded.

We are not just to say, hey, here's what Jesus taught.

Our mission is to teach someone to obey.

This is why you notice that my preaching might sound different

from other sermons that you may have heard at other places and

other times. Faithful pastors are teaching

you to obey. They're not just teaching you to

know what they know. I don't just need you to know

what I know. My responsibility as I disciple

you is to make sure that you actually obey.

This is why church discipline matters.

This is why authority in the church actually has teeth and

actually has the ability to move someone towards obedience, To be

able to say my brother in Christ, my sister in Christ, I

have to confront you on this issue.

I have to confront you on this sin.

I have to call you to account on it so that you would be

restored, just be restored instantly.

Let's not escalate anywhere beyond this moment.

But if necessary, we can and we will because the goal is not

just information transfer. Like we said before, I've seen

lots of information transfer, but fruit is the thing that

Jesus is looking for. Branches that do not bear fruit

get cut off and thrown into the fire.

So we are always loving one another by seeking to teach one

another to obey, to make sure that we observe His

commandments. You're not discipled because you

know more Bible trivia. You are discipled when the Word

of Christ is teaching you to obey Christ.

Teaching matters. Doctrine matters, truth matters,

but teaching has to be aimed at obedience.

Parents, this is what you do with your children.

Not just filling their heads with Bible facts, but teaching

them to obey Jesus. I have and hope this doesn't

embarrass mom but I have like 0 memories of mom and dad doing

like Bible catechism with us. I have 0 memories of actual like

sit down for Bible study time as a family.

I don't think that's the highest calling.

I don't think it's the highest far and I'm sure there were

some, but I have literally 0 memories of it and I am so

thankful for the way my parents raised me because I was raised

in the presence of God, not only the principles of God.

We had both. But I don't ever remember a

systematic approach. But I just remember, like my

parents love the Lord for real, for real.

I just remember my parents loved God.

I remember they walked in the fruit of the Spirit and the

gifts of the Spirit and our prayers were answered and the

Lord was just a part of our life.

Like just in deep. And I didn't even know that as a

kid. I'm like, this is just what

Christians do. This is just how Christians

live. And then I would get around

other Christians and I'm like, well, that was weird.

And when you're little, you don't understand those contexts.

So you just think, huh, that red flag must mean nothing and

that's how you do it when you're a kid.

You're like, that seems different, huh?

I must have a misunderstanding. And then of course, I stopped

being a child and I grew up and I realized, wow, my childhood

was amazing because my parents raised me in the presence of

God, not only the principles of God.

I've seen people raised in the principles of God exclusively,

and they never end up in the presence of God.

This is a household where the rules are established, where the

truth is established, and there might be family worship every

single night of the week. Discipleship is happening.

So they thought, and those parents thought, Lord, we are

doing our part, we're doing what's right.

But they were just principles and there wasn't the fruit in

their lives. You know anybody like that

raised in the principles, the rigid legalistic principles of

God instead of the presence of God?

Well, meaning parents have missed it there.

But the fruit matters more. So I'm not saying you have to

pick between the principles and the presence.

I'm not saying that. But if you had to, if you had

to, you pick the presence, because if you start in the

presence of God, God will get you to His principles.

Look at Moses. Did he start Moses with the 10

commandments? Moses just wandering out in the

wilderness and Moses finds the 10 commandments, the principles

of God? No, he starts with the fire of

God in a burning Bush, and Moses meets the presence of God.

Years later the law comes, but the presence of God changes a

person. The presence of God makes all

the difference in the presence of God makes you want to obey

the commands of God. That's why Moses was so markedly

different from all the other people of Israel.

He's up on the mountain and the presence of God.

The people of Israel said we don't want to go into the

presence of God, just tell us what he said.

But they don't have any desire or power to obey it.

Moses comes down filled with the Holy Spirit, his face glowing.

The people didn't even want to see his face.

We don't even want to see the power of the Holy Spirit in your

life. Cover it up.

It's weird. The presence of God has to be

the priority and that leads to fruitfulness and that leads to

faithfulness. This is why we actually get to

obedience. This is what we must do with one

another. Not just sitting in rows or

listening to sermons, not even gathering for our Bible studies

to acquire more knowledge, but helping each other also obey

what Christ commanded and leading one another into the

presence of Jesus. He said teach them to obey

everything that I have commanded, everything that Jesus

has commanded. The ignorant will often say, the

ignorant, those who don't know the Bible, but you need to know

this so you don't get stumped by it.

They'll say where did Jesus talk about this or that or the other

And they'll take some like where did Jesus say I'm not supposed

to be on my cell phone that much.

You know, just stupid arguments. First of all, you already know

in that moment you're dealing with a dog and a pig.

So just be mindful of how many pearls you really want to throw

out there because they're going to devour your pearls and then

they're going to devour you. So just keep in mind when you're

dealing with a fool, not to, not to give your time and attention

where it's not going to be fruitful.

But that said, some people ignorantly think that Jesus only

speaks in the four gospels, but they forget that the whole Bible

is the word of God and Jesus is the word of God.

He's the word of God made flesh. So it's all Jesus.

Or if you want to be more particular, you say it's the

word Jesus, the Word, and then the Word made flesh, and then

it's his apostles teaching everything that he taught.

So everything this means we're not going to edit what Jesus

taught. We don't get to say I like his

comfort, but not his commands. I like his forgiveness, but not

his authority. I like his promises, but not his

warnings. I like his mercy, but not His

Holiness. I like everything about Jesus.

That includes his commands about forgiveness, repentance,

marriage, lust, money, enemies, prayer, humility, truth,

judgment, divorce, holiness, love, everything.

Everything. Which part of Jesus am I

supposed to obey? All of it, all of it.

You got your whole Bible. And in particular, there are

some things in your in the new covenant that you are not bound

to obedience to anymore. Some, not all, but some.

But still your whole Old Testament is relevant for you.

Every command in your Old Testament is not required for

your obedience. You're allowed to mix your

fabrics now. Good thing because you probably

all are wounds and you're allowed to have bacon now.

And yet your whole Old Testament is still a blessing to you.

Don't fall into the trap and think in like I just read the

New Testament because I'm a Christian.

That would be an ignorant mistake.

Your whole Bible is about Jesus. Your whole Bible is for a

blessing, for edification, for comfort, for strengthening, for

correction. But your New Testament in

particular, all of it is perfectly relevant for you

exactly where you are. The disciple of Jesus does not

stand over the words of Jesus, deciding which ones fit the age.

The disciple bows under the words of Jesus and learns to

obey them. Who, Lord?

I'm struggling. Who?

This is heavy. Who?

You're crushing me like a grape. Lord, make new wine.

Make me closer to you. And we're closing.

Teach them to observe all that I have commanded you, and behold,

I am with you always to the end of the age.

Matthew begins in chapter 1 with Emmanuel, God with us.

And Matthew ends with Jesus saying, I am with you always.

He wasn't with us temporarily. He wasn't with us for 33 years.

He is with us always. This is not sentimental.

This is not religious poetry. This is the living Christ

promising His real presence with his people.

He does not say I was with you. He is not merely say I will be

with you again one day. He says I'm with you till the

end of the age. What does that mean?

It literally means until the end of time.

So when is He not with me anymore?

That day's not coming. I'm with you till the end of the

age. The end of which age?

The church age. How does the church age end?

Well, you're going to like this part.

Jesus comes back so he's always with us, forever and ever.

The Lord is really with you. I don't feel like he's with me.

Me too. I have days like that, right?

Anybody else or just me, man, I feel like the Lord's not with

me. Yes, we have emotions.

Congratulations again on being human.

We have feelings. We have deceptive thoughts.

We can feel doubt in that moment, but we don't let it lead

to unbelief. We return to the promise.

This is why we have to have God's Word to remind us about

God's presence as well. He really is with me, Lord.

I feel alone today, but I know You're with me.

My stupid brain doesn't feel like it, but I'm not submitting

to my brain. I'm bringing my brain in

submission to You. I'm a believer, Lord, and I know

You're with me to the end of the age.

Why would He emphasize that? I'm with you to the end of the

age. What's the context?

Well, it's also connected to the mission.

Go make disciples. PS Not everybody's going to like

it when you tell them that Jesus is currently king.

Not just one day, right now the devil's king, but one day Jesus

will be king. Wrong.

Jesus is king. Does Satan have a limited

temporary jurisdiction? Yes.

But he was crushed by Christ on the cross and through the

resurrection, so now he doesn't have authority over the church.

That's the whole point of the takeover.

This is a hostile takeover, hostile towards Satan and his

Kingdom. And now Jesus said, I want you

to go take over the world, boys. I want you to go everywhere and

tell everybody. And that's exactly what they did

everywhere and everybody, even Thomas who doubted he went to

India. Alan's thankful, literally.

We're not being silly. Like Allen's village in South

India. They can trace.

They have it documented. They can trace every generation

back to Thomas. When Thomas got to India, to

their village, his middle name is Thomas.

Thomas gets a bad rap, like doubting Thomas, like Bro Thomas

was a stud. They went everywhere and they

changed the world, but not everybody was eager to receive

it. So Jesus is encouraging them,

I'm with you. I'm with you always, no matter

what. By the Holy Spirit, Christ is

truly with His people. So Jesus is not physically

standing beside you the way he stood beside the disciples in

Galilee, but he is here. Ephesians 3 speaks of Christ

dwelling in our hearts through faith.

Galatians 2 says Christ lives in me.

Colossians one refers to Christ in you the hope of glory.

John 14 is where Jesus tells us that the Father gives another

helper, the Holy Spirit, who is with us forever, and Jesus is

with us by the Holy Spirit. He dwells in His people, He

leads, He strengthens, He comforts, He convicts, He

empowers, and He keeps all the days.

The days you feel like it, the days you don't, the confusing

days, the days you feel bold, the days you feel weak, the days

the mission feels exciting, and the days that obedience feels

costly. He is with you until Christ

returns. The whole church age is covered

by this command and by this promise.

The King who sends us goes out with us.

So as we finish Matthew, we don't finish Matthew with the

disciples staring at an empty tomb wondering what to do next.

Oh no, he's just gone. Now what?

Well, let's try and be nice people.

No, we have to carry the message.

This is God's will for your life to not obey.

This is disobedience. Let's just make sure we're

making plain spoken, obvious connections here.

To not have any pursuit of this is disobedience.

This is not something that you become at a certain level of

maturity. There are different levels of

maturity. I'm going to talk to you about

those later this summer and I'm going to show you those and help

you identify where you are and what season you are in your walk

with Christ and how you can grow from it.

Oh, there's no shame and condemnation any of that.

It's just called growth. It's a good thing.

But even the baby level is a disciple maker.

I'm going to show you that too. So it's not like, and someday

you'll actually tell someone about Christ and his kinks.

No, no, no, that one travels with you the whole time.

You're always a disciple maker of Jesus.

You're well able and you're well qualified to talk about the good

news and the work that God has done for you because Jesus has

all authority. That's what he expects.

That's what he commands. All authority belongs to Him,

All nations belong to Him. All of his commands must be

obeyed. And then until he returns, He'll

be with us all the days. So go make disciples, teach your

children, speak to your neighbors, open your home, share

the gospel. Call people to repent, to

believe the gospel because God so loved the world that he gave

his only Son and teach them to obey Jesus.

Don't just teach the teachings of Jesus, but you're going to

work with and walk with. Take ownership and shepherd

someone. Pastor, isn't that your job?

No, it's not. It's my job to equip you to do

the work of the ministry. Do I shepherd you?

I do, but I don't shepherd in place of you.

There are others who also need your shepherding.

Do not shrink back. You do not make peace with a

private small faith. Your king is alive, the nations

belong to him, and he is genuinely with you.

He will help you. Heavenly Father, thank you for

the good news of our King. Thank you for your glorious

gospel. In particular, Lord, we thank

you for our brother Matthew, your faithful apostle who

followed you, who obeyed the Holy Spirit in recording this

book. What a privilege and pleasure it

has been to preach your word, Lord, to your people and God

today as it culminates and as it encourages us and fills us

again. God, I pray that your church, I

pray that all the people would continue to see the glory of

Jesus and his mighty, mighty, mighty authority.

My words I know, have not done it justice, but Holy Spirit, you

are fit for the task and I pray you will continue to massage

your truth into your people so that they would see the power

and glory and authority of the King Jesus.

And then therefore go and tell the whole world and make

disciples and baptize people, not asking them if you, if they

would let you be king, but reminding them that you already

are, so they would be drawn into your family, that they would be

rescued by your love and rejoice over by your church.

Thank you for saving us. For those who are not yet in the

Kingdom God, who have not yet bended, bend their knees, bowed

their hearts, and surrender their lives to you.

And I pray that they would come to the full Jesus, the whole

Jesus, the true Jesus, and the real Jesus, the only Jesus, the

one who has a wonderful plan for their lives, The one who loved

them so much and took their shame and suffering and sin and

nailed it to his own body on the cross.

The one who calls them to repentance and obedience.

And most importantly, the one who gives them the power to do

it all. Save souls right now, God, and

draw them. Draw them near.

Help the rest of us to love them well, to be a church full of

love, full of the fruit of the Spirit, full of the gifts of the

Spirit and full of the presence and also the principles.

In Jesus name we love you, we thank you, Amen.