Hope Is Spreading

[0:00] well here we are we are in our third service back together again last week was easter the week before palm sunday and we've been going through the story um and palm sunday hope is building that sense of people people's excitement and hope building as the the promised king comes into the city and then by good friday the hope is fading as things turn sideways and then on easter sunday we looked at last week the fact that hope is alive in the resurrection of jesus and so today as we reach the end of matthew's gospel what many of us will know is the great commission we are looking at hope is spreading and one of the questions that i want to explore today is who is jesus and why should the whole world know so if you have a bible you can turn it to the end of matthew's gospel chapter 28 verses 16 to 20 if not don't worry i'm going to read it out it might be up in the back as well matthew chapter 28 now the eleven disciples went to galilee to the mountain to which jesus had directed them 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 amen so he said this to a bunch of disciples in galilee two thousand years ago where are we now in the grand scheme of the great commission do we not find that on a global scale we have the same divided experience as those on that moment in galilee when he met them in galilee when they saw him some worshipped him but some doubted that's true on a global scale on a global scale every nook and cranny of this earth some worship him some doubt and that sounds about like every church service ever as well doesn't it some worship some doubt and what is it they doubt well firstly that jesus has risen that he has even risen at all that he is alive or that he is the king that he claimed to be and remember this is a group of people who knew jesus when jesus first came to this group in this text some worshiped some doubted this is a group of people who knew him he was standing in front of them he had been ministering to them for years they'd seen miracles upon miracles they knew him they knew what he said they knew what he did they seen his death and he was standing before them very much alive

[4:04] yet some still doubted and on the one hand it's actually encouraging it's encouraging because they knew him they spent years with him he was right in front of them but yet they doubted if it took them a while it's okay if we don't have it all worked out it's okay jesus can handle our doubts we don't wait until we've got everything figured out before we come to jesus but on the other hand the challenge is what would it take i mean what would it take is that not still the challenge today it's like the world is not lacking in any evidence for the resurrection of jesus it's really not it's not a leap of faith to believe in jesus there's no lack of evidence that he is alive and working powerfully in the world today i mean today he is still the most influential person in all of history people have been trying to stop his movement from the very first day that his tomb was found empty people have been trying to shut up the testimony of his disciples yet there are more historical documents for the testimony of jesus than anything else in history different people throughout the centuries have persecuted and killed christians yet it only seems to make the church grow bigger why do they bring such reform to nations why do these christians change the world in a good way why does persecution and death not stop them why is there both a peculiar love and a peculiar hatred of this man jesus more than anyone else in history why is the name of jesus still proclaimed in the world two thousand years later despite the brutal attempts to stop it why does so many people worship him as being alive and as if reigning today if he is still dead why is the calendar hinged on this one man why has there been no body found after two thousand years why is there no other adequate explanation for the events if he was not risen the world is not lacking in evidence some worship him others doubt what will it take i suppose that's the million pound question isn't it it will take something of a miracle and those of us who believe and those of us who worship know know about that miracle and it will take something from us and something from jesus and that's what this passage is all about although it's not always going to be easy the mission that we are given is to spread hope could you ask for a better mission to spread good news to proclaim good news to announce the gracious king who died for us we needn't be embarrassed or awkward about the message that we have as we get to tell the world about hope in the midst of despair we get to tell the world about joy in the midst of sorrow and good news in the midst of bad news we get to tell the world about life in the midst of death what better message or task could we possibly have and as we'll see we do not do it on our own authority or with our own power or even simply on our own so the question we're going to explore is who is jesus and why should the world know see jesus came to them and said 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've commanded to you

[8:05] and behold i am with you always to the end of the age why should the whole world know who jesus really is because jesus and no other is the one who has all authority in heaven and on earth not just in israel he's not just the king of the jews two weeks ago on palm sunday we celebrated that moment that jesus rode into jerusalem identifying himself as the long promised king and so although within a week he was crucified his resurrection vindicated him as the true king see whatever the people concluded about this man that led to him being crucified was clearly wrong because god reversed that and rose him from the dead vindicating him and proving that he was indeed who he claimed to be and that's what paul says isn't it we find that in romans paul an enemy of christianity at the beginning a staunch jew paul went out to the gentiles proclaiming christ as risen and reigning and in romans we see this sorry in acts in acts chapter 17 paul finds himself in athens and he says this see the times of ignorance god overlooked but now now that jesus has come has lived and died and risen and ascended now he commands all people everywhere to repent because he's fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed and of this he has given assurance to all by raising this man from the dead jesus christ this is paul a previous enemy preaching to gentiles in athens god has overlooked ignorance towards him but now that jesus has come god commands who all people everywhere all people everywhere that's why we are here today if that were not true we would not be here so on the day of judgment no one can now say but i didn't know i didn't know about it ignorance was overlooked at a point but now in respect to the gospel going out to all nations now god commands all people everywhere to repent and how does god do this how does god go about commanding all people everywhere well through this the great commission through the apostles the witnesses the church the christians the gospel go therefore and make disciples make repenters of all nations all people everywhere and baptize them in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit and of all these people everywhere teach them all to observe everything that jesus has commanded why because jesus is their king he's the king of the world god commands all people everywhere to repent through the gospel being proclaimed in all nations disciples been made of all nations why does this concern the whole world well you remember in jesus trial pilate said to jesus are you the king of the jews jesus says well you've said so they have an interaction pilate says so you are a king and jesus says listen my kingdom is not of this world see jesus is not merely the king of the jews nor is he necessarily a king of this present world here today this world is passing away his kingdom will encompass

[12:06] the whole world all nations but it will be a kingdom without darkness and sin and it will be a kingdom without end see jesus is actually the one that paul was speaking about appointed to judge the whole world and righteousness he's the chosen one proven by the fact that he was risen from the dead so let me look at four reasons four quick reasons why this man concerns the whole world number one because the whole world is passing away the whole world is perishing no one can get away from that fact doesn't matter where you live in the world doesn't matter who you are all people everywhere the whole world is passing away that's number one number two because jesus will then judge the whole world in righteousness no one can get away from that fact either and that may seem harsh but we want that we actually want justice we know what it's like when we see the governments and the courts not exercising perfect justice now we're afraid of it being exercised on ourselves but on others we want justice and here is someone who will judge the whole world in righteousness he will do what is right number three because jesus died for the whole world he became a propitiation for the whole world so that people would not perish but that all people everywhere might be saved and number four because jesus is the king and will inherit the whole world his kingdom will encompass the whole world so that's why it concerns all people everywhere we are all perishing we will all be judged but jesus has died for us all to be saved if we repent we needn't perish or be condemned and we all have the free and gracious offer of entering into his kingdom a kingdom that will be without darkness without sin without pain without sorrow and without death we all have the opportunity to enter into that kingdom now the gospel the gospel is not just a nice story it's not a multiple choice that we give folks it's not an optional extra in life the gospel is the proclamation of something that is true whether people agree or not it's the heralding of the king whether people bow or not at his arrival the gospel is the announcement of his kingdom whether people obey or not that's what it was in the ancient world people would run proclaiming the coming king when a king was going to possess a land so before jesus before he comes in power to possess the whole world he sends his messengers out to offer peace to the entire earth peace to his enemies that's what we all were peace to his enemies that they may accept the peace terms before he comes now we're told about this way back thousands of years before jesus was born in the psalms in the scriptures but for instance in psalm 2 a royal psalm and this is where we get the term christ god's chosen king in this psalm psalm chapter 2 it talks about the nations and the peoples being against the chosen one they're plotting against god and his chosen king and in act chapter 4 the disciples refer to this psalm concluding that it's talking about jesus psalm so the psalm goes on to say to this of this special king the lord said

[16:07] to me you are my son today i have begotten you ask of me and i will make the nations your heritage and the ends of your and the ends of the earth your possession so whoever this king is the nations are his heritage the ends of earth his possession that's why it concerns the whole world because he is a king that will possess the whole world now in matthew we have the risen jesus saint his disciples all authority in heaven and on earth not just some authority not just some authority over this land called israel all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to jesus go therefore and make disciples of all of this it's no coincidence jesus says this because he is the king of sam two as we see in acts one jesus also said you will receive power when the holy spirit has come upon you you will be my witnesses in jerusalem judea and samaria and to the ends of the earth this is what we see happening throughout acts and it continues to happen to this day this is why we are here today why make disciples of all nations because jesus will judge all nations possess all nations so unless all people everywhere want to tremble at his appearing unless all people everywhere want to perish and be judged then we should all turn from our sin and obey the righteous king and that's not a burden that is so that we can have life and rejoice at his appearing so that his coming again would be a joy to us and we would enter into his eternal kingdom and his coming again is as sure as his first coming it will happen it is coming some some might say that sounds forceful but the call for people to repent and obey is not a twisting of arms under the threat of a power hungry dictator no it's not it's the merciful offer of forgiveness to undeserving sinners the gracious offer of the admittance into his kingdom paid by the blood of the king himself we would never get into the kingdom of god on our own merit but he is paid for our admittance by his own blood the king of that place remember what the lord himself said in isaiah 55 come everyone who thirsts come to the wars he who has no money come come and buy and eat come buy wine and milk without money and price you don't need to bring anything to the table come and eat jesus is the one who has made this free admission possible by his blood see he's the beloved son of god he is the anointed king of all nations the nations are his heritage the ends of the earth are his possession and so when jesus says go therefore it's on the basis that all authority on heaven and on earth is his authority to both send messengers into all the earth and also to call the whole earth to repentance and faith and obedience and that's why we are here today there's a similar commission in luke chapter 24 jesus said thus it is written that the christ should suffer the anointed king should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in the name of this king to all nations in his name the name of jesus to all nations so for a moment i want to remind us of where why matthew is finishing his gospel here

[20:07] and where matthew has came from so you don't need to turn to this but you'll remember if you know that matthew starts his gospel with the genealogy if you turn to the first page of his gospel you remember that he starts his account with a genealogy of jesus and if you look at the opening line of this gospel of matthew you will see that he wants people to know that jesus is both the son of david and the son of abraham the opening line of matthew's gospel this is the genealogy of of jesus the anointed king the son of david the son of abraham and if you know about your bible if you know your covenants you'll know there was a covenant with abraham and with david and the covenant concerned their sons to david and samuel second samuel 7 god made a covenant to establish the throne of david forever that one of his sons would sit on the throne and his kingdom would have no end all the jews would know about this covenant all the jews would know that this would be fulfilled by the anointed king that was promised this covenant that that god promised and when god promises he never fails to fulfill his promise that god promised to establish the throne of david and that one of his descendants would sit on the throne forever and his kingdom would have no end the jews knew this that's why there was the excitement over jesus at palm sunday this is the anointed king who's going to sit in the throne of david and then further back in genesis chapter 12 god made a covenant with abraham that one of his offspring through one of his offspring all the families of the earth would be blessed see this wasn't a a jew only thing never was a jew only thing wasn't a thing only for israel israel was just a vehicle to take this to the nations and the disciples later in the new testament pick up on this that in genesis chapter 12 it's it's singular abraham's offspring that is jesus of nazareth through jesus of nazareth all the families of the earth will be blessed and if you're a christian if you're believing in jesus you know about that blessing today is that not true all the every corner of the earth families blessed through this one man jesus of nazareth that's why we're here today so when matthew opens his gospel saying that jesus is the son of david and jesus is the son of abraham it should be no surprise to end his gospel with jesus being the messiah and bringing blessing to all nations it's the trajectory that the messiah would go that through him all the earth would be blessed paul would say in romans chapter 1 verse 5 that this was to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations see the whole world has been called to faith in jesus the king of the nations all people everywhere being called to repentance and faith in the name of this one man because he is the king of the nations and through him and him alone will all families of the earth be blessed and we want that we want that for our friends our families our neighbors business people our towns all families of the earth the fact that me and you are here today is living proof of thousands and thousands more disciples doing this through the ages that through this one man through his name the families of the earth are blessed with forgiveness of sins and eternal life through his name a great

[24:08] number of believers being faithful to their king jesus have brought the gospel to us today in bell's hill many at great cost through the centuries but nevertheless with the authority of the king himself and they paid the price to deliver the gospel and bring people to faith and obedience as paul says for his name's sake among all the nations that we are baptized into the one name it's not the names of the father and the son and the holy spirit it's the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit and the name of the one true god through jesus christ if you're a believer then you are forgiven you don't carry the burden of your sin anymore you don't expect the judgment of your sin anymore what you get is eternal life what you get is entering into the kingdom of the eternal king the blessing to all the families of earth that the son of abraham will bring his eternal life with god through his son and this blessing is now yours if you believe because jesus gave someone the authority to call you to faith someone gave jesus gave someone the authority to call me to faith that i may have this that's why i'm here today the first 20 years of my life i was an enemy to jesus and someone by the authority of him brought the gospel of good news to me that i might have this blessing through abraham see this is our mission as ones who have come to faith and received the blessing that we may continue the work of calling all people everywhere to faith in the king of the nations that they too may be forgiven and receive the blessing of eternal life and as he not given us this mission without the authority to carry it out he says all authority has been given to him in heaven and on earth we do this on his authority the authority of the king that rules the nations when anyone asks why why are you doing this whose authority do you have to do this is that not why the disciples against against the charge of the chief priests and pharisees and the council in jerusalem who told them stop doing this stop proclaiming the name of jesus stop proclaiming life in his name well did they stop no and we thank god that they didn't because we wouldn't be here today if they did they don't do it in their authority they don't they don't do it on their own authority they do it in the authority of the king of the nations he's not only given us authority to carry out he's given us power to carry out you will receive power power when the holy spirit has come upon you now yes the apostles were the witnesses and we have their testimony here but he gives his holy spirit to everyone who believes so if you believe you have his holy spirit within you you have the power to carry this out don't be fooled by your own weakness look at what god can do we don't only have the authority and the power to carry it out but we have the name to carry it out that we do it in his name and finally he's given us the promise that we do not carry it out alone but we carry it out with his presence behold i am with you always to the end of the age with you always i'm with you when you're sitting in the cafe with that person i'm with you when you're talking to your family member on the phone i'm with you when you're up against it and you feel alone remember

[28:10] elijah hiding in the cave i'm the only one left god says no you're not i have ten thousand more but you're with me god not say that to joshua as i was with moses so i will be with you fear not jesus says i am with you always fear not whenever you open your mouth to share the gospel he is with you he's with you always so go therefore not without his authority not without his power not without his name and not without his presence and perhaps you do find it intimidating to talk about your faith to others to tell the gospel to someone else perhaps you feel weak and inadequate perhaps you think others are are better or more qualified i mean the new testament was mostly written by paul who said in my weakness he is strong he prayed he prayed for a certain thing to be taken away and jesus said no no my grace is sufficient for you be weak and you'll see how strong i am through you be weak and the world will know it wasn't you how could the church as weak as it was throughout the centuries do this how could the church bring people to faith in every corner of the earth the church that is weak other religions have taken taking the earth through war not christianity christianity is a persecuted religion people been chased beaten imprisoned and killed talk about weakness look at what god can do look at what god can do how much more qualified can you get when jesus said that you do this with his authority every one of us that you do this in the power of his spirit that he has given you every one of you and that you do this in his name no other name given under heaven by which people were to be saved in this name and he's given you this name to do this in and how much more qualified can you get when he says that he is with you always the truth is people are subscribing in this world to one person or another people are disciples of someone or another but there is only one way that leads to life and the end that's the source of all life which is jesus there's only one man who was resurrected from the death to new life there's only one way to god and the end and that is through his son jesus and without people knowing the truth about life and jesus the truth that he is the only true king and that he will one day take full possession of the earth that jesus will judge the world in righteousness without people knowing that what hope is there in life and death see the commission of jesus is not merely to make converts to sign up members to a club but to make disciples of all nations because there are countless people present in a different way other than jesus there are countless countless people present in a different way and all those ways only lead to death and perishing in the end all those ways only lead to judgment the whole mission of jesus was to show people the true way to bring blessing to all the families of the earth that he is the king he is the way and the truth and the life there is no one comes to the

[32:12] father except through him and that is precisely why you should unsubscribe from everyone else and subscribe to jesus follow him because only through jesus will you know the way the truth and the life only through jesus will you have the blessing of forgiveness and resurrection and eternal life see only through the king of the coming eternal kingdom will you be able to enter and live that's why all nations need to be disciples of jesus because only through him will they have life this is how the world will be saved the world needs saved death has a 100% success rate against humanity in those terms and the world is perishing the only way the world can be saved as if all nations are made disciples of jesus because only through him is their life so let us make disciples let us make disciples knowing that we do so with the authority of the king with the power of the spirit of the lord within us doing so in the name of the only true god and doing so with the promise of his presence with us and none of our own weaknesses will ever get in the way of that knowing that the message that we present to the world is one of hope and one of life we needn't be embarrassed about our king or the good news that he brings we do not proclaim a dictator we proclaim a king who has died to make this possible for everyone all people everywhere so let us do so with great joy and confidence in his name knowing that our feeble attempts are accompanied by his authority his power his name and his presence and he will be glorified and we hope that that is true for this town in Bells Hill let me pray

[34:22] God our heavenly father we thank you that we are here today because someone took the the step to share the good news with us someone in mind of our own condition and our own perishing in mind of our own sin and the coming judgment was mindful enough to share in their own weakness the good news about Jesus your son with us that we might know life in his name and so Lord we thank you today for Jesus we thank you that we see today the evidence that he is risen and that he is reigning and powerfully working on this earth that there are people in every corner of the earth worshipping him but still others doubt so help us by your spirit Lord to continue to spread hope in our town that people might know in the name of Jesus there is life and forgiveness life everlasting and may you be glorified in his name who is this Jesus of Nazareth he is not just some historical figure from 2000 years ago he is not just some

[35:43] Jew for Jews he is the king of the nations what is the problem of this world but sin and death who can escape it who can deliver us look at the man Jesus no other man like him served like he did loved like he did taught like he did yet what did his own people after fulfilling countless prophecies of the king that would come what did his own people do but crucify him we have no king but Caesar they said what but God knew and intended and chose the cross to show his love to the world that no one took his life but he laid it down so that we could be forgiven and freed from sin and death and through his death and resurrection has made this possible for all people everywhere if you do not know

[36:50] Jesus put your faith in Jesus there's no one else who can bring blessing to the world no one else who can bring hope and life eternal no one else who can solve the problem of sin and death and if you do know Jesus then tell someone else about him and now to him who is able to strengthen you according to the gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations according to the command of the eternal God to bring about the obedience of faith to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ Amen Amen God bless youemosd himself He wore the prophets upon him through the wicked world like enough oflarını and he's in love knowing that he was convicted for example that hisahl was the uh in heaven he leaves his heart and he