If you'd open up your Bibles to Matthew chapter 28, we are in what's called the Great Commission.
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.
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,
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?
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,
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
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
in this section,
Matthew is doing
some tie-in work.
He is connecting
Matthew 28
with Matthew chapter 21
and here's how
he does it.
In Matthew chapter 1,
excuse me,
Matthew chapter 1,
there's this genealogy.
And in Matthew chapter 1's
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
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 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
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.
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.
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.
Thank you that you've
called us to it.
We want to be faithful to
you, Lord Jesus.
Give us, help us, direct us,
we ask and it's in your
name we pray.
Amen.
Thank you.