This morning, we'll be looking at Matthew chapter 28, verses 16 through 20, the last five verses of the Gospel of Matthew. I'd ask you to please turn with me there as we turn now to the preaching of the Word. If you're using your pew Bible this morning, you should be able to find this on page 1062. So hear now the word of God. Now the 11 disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him, they worshiped 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. Let us bow and seek the Lord's blessing. Our gracious Father, we thank you for these final verses of the Gospel of Matthew. What a wonderful way to end this account of your earthly ministry. And we pray, Lord, that as we look at these words, that you would be guiding our hearts and minds, that you would be taking your truth, and that you would be molding us according to the image of your Son. And Lord, please be with my mind and my mouth, that I may proclaim your truth with boldness. In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen. When we first began the series in Matthew, I believe it was in April of 2012, we looked at it as an introduction of that book, of how Matthew would be orchestrating and organizing his gospel account according to a theme, a direction. We have in the other gospel accounts, one example of this, of Jesus kind of going around in different spots But Matthew has this trajectory of where he begins on the outskirts and he's been pointing us more and more as Jesus begins his ministry in Galilee and then is moving towards Jerusalem with the climactic interaction and confrontation at the pinnacle of which is the crucifixion and then his burial and then his resurrection. And although Matthew's gospel for the vast majority has been angling in down towards Jerusalem, what we have here in these final verses is his trajectory outward, coming from Jerusalem, going back out. And the point of it is, it's in these verses here that Matthew gives us is that these are marching orders for the church, for how we're to carry on the ministry, the focus, the goal, that we as the church are to be looking towards and moving towards. And so he is writing to a predominantly Jewish audience, and he's had this theme of Christ coming in, meeting confrontation, but here he's going back out. So as we look at these verses this morning, and what I want us to come away with is this charge, is this idea of here, our Lord, our King that we've been singing of in the Psalms. It's giving us marching orders of what we're to be doing here, of how his earthly ministry continues through the work of his bride, his body, the church. And so the theme we'll be looking at, the overall theme is to let us make disciples as we boldly proclaim the gospel. Let us make disciples as we boldly proclaim the gospel. Now, first of all, when we look at this verse, or these verses, we're gonna lay the foundation of where does our boldness come from? Where do we get our strength, our sense of courage in this call of Christ? Now, in these verses 16 through 18, and then the last part of verse 20, We see that in contrast to the guard before, which then went to the Pharisees and told them what happened, we have now the 11 disciples went to Galilee. They were obeying the orders and the command that the Lord had given them through first the angel descending at the tomb and then Jesus himself meeting the women and telling them to go on and tell my disciples to meet me here. And we don't know exactly where this account falls in We are told that Jesus after he was resurrected was on earth for another 40 days And he was seen by about 500 different people We don't know where this account kind of fits within that time frame And so what we need to look at it as is in the eyes of Matthew how the Holy Spirit used him to give us this information And what Matthew is drawing our attention to the fact of this is after his resurrection and kind of leaving us with this message. And so as we consider them in that light of the disciples' reaction as they come to Jesus. In Matthew's account, this is when they first meet him. And they come to the mountain that he had directed them. And when they see him, like the women before them, they worship. This is the appropriate reaction to the risen Savior. But we also see here that some doubted. Now, this may be referring to, you know, we lovingly call Thomas, doubting Thomas. I personally think he gets a bad rap, because once he saw Jesus, he bowed down and worshiped as well. He just wanted to be sure. But this word here translated as doubt in the Greek, it's only used a couple of times. And it gives the idea more of hesitation. The other time that it is used is in Matthew chapter 14, verse 31. This is where Peter steps out of the boat and he's walking on the water as Jesus is walking towards him on the water. But then he looks around and he begins to sink as he sees the waves. And what does Jesus say? Oh, you of little faith, why do you doubt? Why do you hesitate? Now, Consider now, as the disciples come to Jesus, He is the risen, glorified Savior. He is the risen Savior. And we have through other accounts how His disciples didn't immediately recognize Him. And so they're hesitant. But they're coming forward and they're worshiping. But in this weakness of the disciples, notice what Jesus does. He comes to them. He doesn't stay far off, but He comes to them. What a wonderful short little phrase, Jesus coming to his disciples who some of them are hesitating, some of them aren't quite sure, and he's removing their doubt, he's showing them who exactly he is. And he approaches his fearful disciples. Now as Jesus then begins to take away their doubt, their hesitations, what he does to do this is to declare to them who he is after his resurrection. He says, Jesus came and said to them, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Now I've heard in the past questions of if Jesus is God, if he is the second person of the Trinity, What does this mean? What authority is Jesus being given that he didn't have beforehand? Well, we need to remember that, yes, as the second person of the Trinity, Jesus is eternal. He is the creator of heaven and earth. He is the one who spoke things into being. But we also need to keep in mind that Jesus, as the man, he was born. There was a point where the second person of the Trinity left the realms of glory, entered the womb of the Virgin Mary, and took to himself an actual true body, an actual human soul, and was born. And in this state of humiliation, Jesus went through all kinds of sufferings. We're also told that he grew in wisdom and in stature. In his humanity, He was weak, he was frail. And Jesus, having obeyed perfectly throughout his life, through the resurrection, being declared the Son of God, is now given all authority and power. This is Psalm 2 playing out. The nation's rallying and raging against God, but God says, today I have begotten you he has set up his king, he has set up his anointed. And in Philippians chapter two, verses five to 11, we read this. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself. By taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men, and being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. The foundation of our boldness is the fact that Jesus has this authority. We are getting this command from the King of heaven and earth. All authority, every realm and facet of the created world is under the direct authority of Jesus Christ. And we, brothers and sisters, are like heralds. And we don't have heralds as back in the olden days with kings. When a king wanted to give a message to his people, he would send out a herald to declare the message. Now the response, the herald himself didn't have any authority, any power at all. But he went to the people declaring the message. And because it was from the king, it was to be listened to and observed and obeyed as if the king himself were standing in front of the people telling them this message. That is what Jesus is doing here in the Great Commission. He is saying to his people, you are my heralds. Here is your message, go and proclaim it. And if people reject us, they're not rejecting us if they reject the message, they're rejecting our King who has sent us in his name. Now that's one aspect of the foundation of our boldness is the authority of Jesus. But the other aspect of our foundation of our boldness is the fact that he is always with us in the presence of Jesus. He ends this passage with, behold, I am with you always to the end of the age. Now this is in the illustration of a herald that I just used. If a herald was sent out, the king wasn't there with them. King was back in his castle. But what a glorious thing where the illustration falls short in that our king is actually with us as we proclaim his message, his gospel. Now as we consider these words here, and we looked at one of these references this morning in one of the adult Sunday school classes, but whenever God commissions one of his servants to a particular task, especially a daunting task, He gives them the assurance that I am with you. Be strong and courageous, he tells Joshua in Joshua chapter one, verses one through nine. Be strong and courageous. Take these people, this nation of Israel, across this Jordan and conquer the land. Be strong and courageous. I am with you. When he calls Moses in the burning bush, to go back and lead these people out of slavery. He says, I am with you. And in John chapter 15, verse 26 through 16, verse 15, Jesus here, encouraging his disciples in the gospel of John, says that it's a good thing that I am leaving you and going back to the Father. Why? Because the helper will come. In Jesus' act, In His absence, the Holy Spirit has been sent and is with His people. Jesus then says that this is to the end of the age. This Greek commission isn't just for the 11 disciples that are there listening. It's not just for the 11 disciples that Jesus is saying this to. The fact that Jesus says to the end of the age gives us our marching orders 2,000 years later. This is to the church, and we being part of the church have been given this great commission by Jesus to go and to make disciples. Now, considering this, how will you and I then stand? Will we stand in boldness for Christ? Will you and I proclaim with grace but boldly what God has called us to and done for us? In many ways, our society is reaching a tipping point. The lines are being drawn in the sand. We are beginning to be told by our society that our Christian faith, our Christian beliefs, Are ideas of bigotry, racism, intolerance, hate, are we going to stand boldly for Christ? Or will we follow the ways of our society? Now, as we think about that, as our society is becoming reaching this tipping point and a clearer line is being drawn in the sand. Let us remember that even the Apostle Paul asked the people of God to pray that he would be bold. That he, the Apostle Paul, would be bold and speak as he ought. And let us remember that when we are afraid to take that stand, when we are afraid to speak out for Christ, Let us remember who it is that does stand with us. We are never alone. And we are called to call people to follow Christ and to bow down to Him. Now, if there be anyone here who has not yet bowed their knee to Christ, who hasn't believed and submitted to Jesus Christ, the calling upon you this morning is to consider who is calling you to repent. This Jesus, the one who has been given all authority in heaven and on earth, is the one who calls you to repent this morning. Now, as we consider then, you know, this foundation of our boldness, the fact that it is the authority of Jesus on which we proclaim the message of the gospel, and as a fact that he is present with us at all times to the end of the age, we are never alone. As we then are sent out, what is exactly the Great Commission calling us to do? On our second point, let us grow as disciples and also reproduce, looking at verses 19 through 20. You know, this verse, as Jesus says, after he's declared his authority, he says in verse 19, go therefore and make disciples of all the nations. Now there's a lot that has been preached on this word go. And it's been used in a good way for the motivation of countless mission works. And this is good. But the essence of the word here is not a command. but it could be literally translated having gone or while going. The assumption here is that the people of God would be going as we are living, as we are doing what God has called us to do in our lives. Now that may be to go far into the farther reaches of the earth to be a missionary, or it may be to be here at home. being a teacher, working at Boeing, working in construction, in retirement, living in a community, or also the politically correct term of a home engineer or a stay-at-home mom. We are called, regardless of whether you're called to stand behind a pulpit or your daily work is just in the muck and mire of the real world. We are all called to be a witness for Christ. The command here comes, as Jesus says, make disciples. That's the imperative. That is the command. That is what we are instructed to do, is to make disciples. You see, There's a lot set up of making converts, getting someone to say that particular prayer, to make that decision. That is just the beginning of the Christian life. And what Jesus is calling us to do is, yes, we're to strive to make converts, to bring people to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior, to bow humbly before him, but that's not the end game. The command is then to make disciples, to not leave these people having made a decision, but to bring them in and graft them in and to teach them how to live as a Christian. And that brings us to how do we make disciples? Well, Jesus gives us kind of a two-pronged approach here. First, baptizing them. in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Baptism is the new sign of the covenant. It replaces circumcision. And it is given to not only young boys in their birth, but to boys and girls. All who come to faith in Christ and their children are to be baptized, to receive this sign of the covenant. And what Jesus says here also is interesting. He says, in the name singular of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. The Father, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, one singular name, one God, three persons. We must believe in the Trinitarian God to have true saving faith. Now, The examples that we have in the scriptures of people being baptized, in the book of Acts, they didn't go to a class after hearing a sermon or being preached to by one of the apostles or one of the other servants, and then after a year or so of instruction, then were baptized in the covenant community. No, they heard the word, they heard it preached, They expressed faith, believing faith in Jesus Christ alone, and they were baptized. Baptism isn't a graduation ceremony for attaining a certain level of spiritual understanding. It is a sign of our birth and being born into the covenant of God. Baptism is a sign of our covenant for all of God's people. After baptism comes teaching, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age." As I said, converts are not enough. Disciples are commanded. And when Jesus talks about making disciples, what he's talking about here is a process that we call sanctification. It's that lifelong process of growing in our knowledge and understanding of who God is and what He desires of us. That molding from God, of molding us more into the image of Christ as we are taught all that Christ has commanded us. Now some think that, well, he's saying here that we just need to focus on what, you know, some Bibles have red letters in the text. that we should just focus on the actual words of just what Jesus said here in the Gospels. That's not what Jesus is saying here. He's talking about all of his word. What he has taught. His teaching didn't begin in his earthly ministry. His earthly ministry and the teaching that he gave was a calling people back and an unfolding and a proper understanding of what had come before and what had been misinterpreted. How do we teach? And when I think about teaching here, we need to keep in mind that we ourselves are still in need of being taught. It is a lifelong process. But we also need to help those and others, brothers and sisters, new converts to the faith, to learn and to understand what Christ requires. What are ways that we can do this? First of all, an idea of worship. his very act of what we are doing here. In Ephesians 4, verses 11 through 16, we read these words. And he, that is Jesus, gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. so that we may no longer be children tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness and deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow, so that it builds itself up in love. So why did Jesus give the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the shepherds and teachers, or you could lump that into one category, pastors? It's for the equipping of the saints. It's for the teaching, the growing in our understanding and knowledge of who God is, what he requires of us. I am here, brothers and sisters, and pastors everywhere, to help us all you and me grow in our understanding of God's Word, so that may we all, you and me, might be equipped to do the works of ministry. And I say this to myself, you know, how are we inviting people to this setting, to where they would hear the gospel and hear a call to repentance? This is one way we can seek out converts and bring people in, is to actually invite people in, those that do not know the truth, to sit under the preaching of the Word. But there's also a way that you and I teach one another in this context. It's not just from the pulpit that teaching is being done. But by the singing of the Psalms, as we are commanded to by God in Colossians 3, verse 16, We are to teach and admonish one another in the singing of psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. You realize, brothers and sisters, as we take these books and as we sing, that in those moments, you and I are actually teaching one another. We're instructing one another. We're encouraging one another. in that passage in Colossians 3, verse 16 begins by saying, let the word of Christ richly dwell in you. Another way that we teach ourselves is through the daily meditation on God's word through our devotions. And we can teach one another and help them learn all that Christ has commanded by showing others, new converts, how to study God's Word. But there's also an aspect of making disciples just simply by living related to the word go. Do we share our lives with each other? Do we have one another in each other's homes, breaking bread together, encouraging one another, talking about our struggles and our difficulties, talking about things that we're facing Maybe encouraging things of what we're reading in God's word, how we can pray for one another, how we're sharing our lives with each other. But also consider not only among brothers and sisters, but also in the world. As we go out in our communities, in our neighborhoods, at school, at work, let us remember that the world is always watching. The world is always watching. If they know that we are Christians, they will be watching us, and our very lives are instructive of who Christians are. Why is teaching important? Why does Jesus say to teach? Well, I saw in my newsfeed this week of a pastor in South Africa that was arrested for cruelty to animals, but the reason why he was arrested for cruelty to animals is that he was having his congregation eat snakes in the worship service. He was also making people in his congregation act like horses and he would get on their backs and he would ride around. Why do we need to teach? Why is it important for our heads to be filled with the knowledge of God? It is out of our understanding of doctrine, of the truth, of theology, of what Jesus has taught. It is out of this understanding that flow our actions and what we do. If we do not know, we will not do. And this is the same for every facet of existence. Why do we go to college? Why do we go to college? Why don't we just hand surgical tools to someone off the street and say, can you cut this appendix out of me? People need to be trained and instructed. They need to know where the appendix is. Then also how to use the tools. And their knowledge, their instruction shapes and molds and directs their actions. That is why Jesus commands us to teach. to make disciples, to proclaim the gospel of grace, that they may be baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and then to start that lifelong process of being molded more into the image of Christ as His disciple. And so, brothers and sisters, because Jesus our King has given us discharge, because He has been given all authority in heaven and earth, because He is with us always, Let us go from here and step out in boldness and proclaim the good news of peace, calling people to repentance. And if you're here this morning and do not believe, know that Jesus Christ, the King of glory, the eternal Son of God, calls you to bow before him today. Our gracious Father, we thank you for this call that you have laid upon us as your people. We being the church, we pray that we would, Lord, proclaim your truth boldly. Give us boldness in an increasingly hostile world to stand firm for the truth. Let us take comfort in knowing that we are not alone in our fear and trepidation. For even the apostle Paul cried out that the people would pray for him to be bold. Let us, Lord, take comfort in knowing that you have given us this charge and that you are not like an earthly king which gives a message to his herald and sends them on their way without his presence, but you, Lord, are with us in a way closer than any earthly king could be to his messengers. For you, Lord, by your Holy Spirit, indwell us. We cannot hide from your presence. We cannot go anywhere where you are not. We pray, Lord, that you would help each and every one of us to be bold in our various ways, using the gifts that you've given to us to make disciples. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray, amen.