The ending of a thing matters. If you've ever watched a movie or read a book with a bad ending, you know this. A movie or a book that's enjoyable up to that point can really be tainted overall by a really bad ending. Maybe loose ends aren't tied up very well. Maybe something completely implausible happens at the very end for some kind of shock effect. But it doesn't fit and there's no payoff. If anything, it ruins everything that comes beforehand. The point stands, you know, when we are thinking about something that begins, we want it to end well. Especially if throughout our attention is being captured by story, by film, by narration in a book. If you're reading a story, you wanna know the ending, here's what doesn't happen. If you start a movie and find it enjoyable, you turn it off 10 minutes before the ending saying, I don't really care what happened to the very end. You don't do that because you do care and it does matter. The story isn't finished yet and you are in it and you want to know where is this heading. In each of the four gospels, They at some point have to bring their stories to an end about Jesus. John's gospel says at the very end, if we tried to write all that Jesus taught and did, well, then we would still be writing books because the way of trying to capture this is so vast. But these stories have to come to an end. They don't all end the same way. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all report the climactic events of the cross. They speak of the empty tomb. But after that, the post-resurrection events, they report different events, not contradictory events, just different events in the post-resurrection days that follow. Now in Matthew's case, he ends with a great commission. It's the famous make disciples of all nations. Go, make disciples, baptize them, teach them. Now, this great commission is written to Jesus's disciples when he first spoke to them in the 30s AD. We should note that by extension, Matthew records this decades later for his readers, by extension showing this was not a great commission that the 11. were to fulfill, but that the church and the disciples represented by these disciples in Matthew 28 were to fulfill. The church throughout history has always understood that this is the great commission for God's people. This is where all things are heading toward this great missional status of the people of God. This means Jesus' words to these 11 disciples are Jesus' words to Cosmo Steele Baptist Church. These are the words of Christ to us. So we're at these last verses in Matthew's Gospel. This is the 123rd sermon in Matthew's Gospel. It's a lot of sermons. Now we didn't start at Matthew 1-1 and go all the way through without a break. We did a chunk and we would do something else for a few weeks and do another chunk. But 123 sermons, we've gone through 28 chapters, and we should glory in the ending of the book. Not because we're finally glad to be finished with it, but because this is Matthew's gospel and was viewed by the early church to be the most significant of the four, the entryway into the very New Testament and the end of Matthew's gospel, a great commission to the church. What a glorious ending to a glorious book. In verses 16 and 17, we see the gathering of the disciples. And in verses 18 to 20, we see the commission to the disciples. So they're gathered and then they're commissioned. In verse 16, it tells us that the 11 disciples went to Galilee, and when I read that number, there's something sad that strikes me, because there used to be 12. In fact, every time the disciples are mentioned by number before this in Matthew's gospel, they're called the 12. But there are 11, because Judas has betrayed Christ in Matthew 26 and took his life in Matthew 27. So there are 11 here. And for the reader of Matthew's gospel who attends to that number again and again, the 12, the 12, the 12, to see the 11, there's a sense of, I remember why. I remember why there's 11. But there are 11. There's not just one that remains or two. There are most of these disciples. And these gather in Galilee together. We should remind ourselves that they fled when Jesus was arrested. Peter denied Jesus three times in the courtyard of the high priest. These disciples were not there to aid in the burial of Jesus. They weren't outside the tomb on the dawn of the third day waiting for his resurrection from the dead. Instead, women who were witnesses of the empty tomb were dispatched by an angel and by Christ to commission the disciples. Or they were commissioned to tell the disciples, I should say, that Jesus had been raised. And an angel did tell them that the Lord had been raised and the women went to bear this great news to the disciples, this good news of resurrection. He was alive once more and he was going to be alive forevermore. Jesus instructed the women as well to go to Galilee to tell his brothers to go there. They would see him in verse 10. Tell my brothers, go to Galilee, there they will see me. When we read in chapter 28, 16 that the disciples, these 11, went to Galilee, we know a couple things. Number one, the women accurately conveyed what they were told. Tell my brothers, go to Galilee, and so here they are. But number two, not only did the women convey what they were told, the disciples fulfilled what Christ instructed through those women witnesses on that third day. The instruction to go to Galilee itself is significant. It began for these disciples in Galilee when it comes to following Jesus. You see, these were Galilean disciples, fishers of men, Jesus made them, but fishers not of men were they before. In Matthew 4, Jesus tells them to put down their nets, he tells them to follow him, and where it's happening is Galilee. So they started following Jesus in Galilee and here in Matthew 28 they're in Galilee once more being commissioned. This might feel full circle in a way because they were commissioned from the very beginning to follow him and now commissioned to the nations at the end of Matthew's gospel and a lot of things have happened in between. These disciples have heard incredibly authoritative teaching. They've seen amazing miracles. They've seen people rise in opposition against Jesus, and they know that their Savior, their Master, had been killed, and now they know He has been raised. So returning to Galilee is a significant geographical move. They don't just go anywhere. When you look at the other gospels, Mark, Luke, and John, and their post-resurrection accounts, it's clear that Matthew 28, verses 16 through 20, does not happen on the day of or the next day, but days later after the resurrection from the dead. The disciples have previously seen Jesus raised from the dead. We know this in Luke and in John. But here in Matthew 28, Jesus is engaged in a conversation with him in Galilee that happens days after his resurrection. Perhaps a week or more. And now we don't know what mountain either. It tells us that they went to Galilee and the mountain to which Jesus had directed them, but it doesn't tell us where. What we do know about mountains, though, is with Old Testament background, they're very important places where important things happen. Consider Exodus 3, when Moses encounters the Lord in a burning bush, or in Exodus 19, when Moses receives the law on Mount Sinai. Matthew's not short on mountain experiences either. Jesus gives his most famous sermon in Matthew 5, 6, and 7. It's called the Sermon on the Mount, after all. Not just the sermon, but the Sermon on the Mount. It took place on a mountain as Christ, this Son of God and Son of Man, is proclaiming a right interpretation of law and righteous life, living. Jesus goes on a mountain in Matthew 15, 29. Crowds bring to Him all kinds of sick people, the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and He heals them all in Matthew 15, 30. On a mountain again, He takes a few disciples in Matthew 17, and He unveils His glory before them. known as the Mount of Transfiguration. In Matthew 24 and 25, he delivers his famous discourse on the Mount of Olives, the Olivet Discourse. So mountains have featured prominently in Matthew's gospel at several significant vantage points and transitions. And what we need to know is the Old Testament informs us of why mountains are significant in something like Matthew. Mountains are places where things are revealed, things are shown, something of God takes place. So here, Jesus directs them, not to some back alley, and not to someone's address, but to a mountain, to a mountain. That's where we're going to end. We're going to end on a mountain. So the disciples go, though it doesn't tell us which one. This is most likely because when they ministered with him in Galilee, they were familiar with terrain, and if he directed them to a certain spot, they'd most likely previously been there before. In Matthew 28, 17, it tells us, when they saw him, they worshipped him. Let's marvel at that statement for a moment. When they saw him, they worshipped him. Which I take to imply, the 11 disciples were not traveling with Jesus to Galilee, but having previously seen the risen Christ, they're now going to meet him there at this mountain, and so there he is. They see him. And their response is worship. This is exactly what the women responded like. In Matthew 28 it tells us in verse 8 that they were going from the tomb with great joy and then verse 9 Jesus meets them and they came and took hold of his feet and they worshipped him. So the worship of the risen Christ by the women is foreshadowing the worship of the risen Christ by the disciples here on this mountain. Why are they worshipping him? Because Jesus is clearly more than a prophet. You weren't supposed to worship prophets. Prophets could even work miracles, but they weren't worthy of worship. Jesus is more than an authoritative teacher. They had great teachers in the history of Israel, but teachers weren't to be worshiped. But this man, this man, they've asked on at least one occasion, what sort of man is this that even the winds and waves obey him? And on a later occasion, they declare truly this man is the son of God. And they worship him. This man is the Son of God and the Savior of sinners, more than a prophet, more than a man, more than a miracle worker, more than a great teacher. So what is such a Savior worthy of? Well, their response indicates it. If He is who He claims to be, then what He's worthy of is nothing less than worship, adoration, honor, praise, and all glory. And I mean all glory. All glory, the adjective is significant. What we need then as sinners is to understand the worth of Jesus Christ. There's nothing in all creation superior to him. Paul says these words in Colossians 1, that all things have been made by him and for him. They're worshiping the one by whom and for whom they exist and by whom and for whom all things have been made. And if we would believe the word of God's testimony about Jesus, we will understand that Jesus is worth nothing less than absolute and all glory, honor, and praise. These 11 disciples have already had a few appearances of Jesus to them in Jerusalem, Luke 24, John 20. You can look at those on a later time. but they are prepared here to worship him. They are not less convinced of what he is worthy of. But that's not the end of the sentence. It tells us in verse 17, when they saw him, they worshiped him, but some doubted. This phrase seems like a curve ball in an otherwise everything was going well kind of scene. Some doubted. What's going on here with this phrase? What does the word some refer to, who, and what does it mean that they doubted? There are a couple ways to understand the some here. Some people take it to be a wider group of gathered folks in addition to the disciples. It would read this way, that the disciples were there, they worshipped him, but some others doubted. So there's the 11 that would be worshipping and then some others who are there in addition to the disciples. People who would read it this way point to 1 Corinthians 15 where Jesus appeared not just to the disciples but to more than 500 at one time. So perhaps Matthew 28 has that kind of context in view. Some say that in Matthew 28, 10, when Jesus says, tell my brothers to go to Galilee, he means not just his disciples, but perhaps even his actual family. Because we know that prior to the resurrection, they did not believe in Jesus, and yet they were raised in Nazareth. And so if they're going to all be meeting Jesus in Galilee, they would be able to encounter the risen Christ. And we know James, the brother of Jesus, becoming a believer and a leader in the early church. So perhaps there are other people who have gathered in addition to these 11. The problem, though, is the instructions in Matthew 28 where Jesus tells the women to tell my brothers to go to Galilee, not mentioning that he's going to encounter more people than just the disciples. In fact, the brothers are likely paralleled in verse 10 with the disciples in verse 7. Go tell the disciples he's risen from the dead and that he's going before you to Galilee. There you will see him. The same language is repeated in verse 10. Go tell my brothers to go to Galilee. There they will see me. So these probably are not talking about two different groups of people, but the disciples of Jesus who earlier in Matthew 12 are called Jesus's brothers. He said, I'll tell you who my brother and my sister and my other, my family is in that sense, my spiritual family, those who do God's will. So brothers, I think, are still referring to the disciples. And note that in Matthew 28, 16, it tells us that the 11 went to Galilee and they went to a mountain on which Jesus directed them. I'm not persuaded that a wider group of people are in view. I think these are the disciples. So they are worshipping, but some of those worshipping, they have this verb ascribed to them. What does it mean here that they're doubting? This word doubt is used one other time in Matthew's Gospel. It's used in Matthew 14. Verse 31, and I think this scene is informative to our present text. In Matthew 14, it tells us that Peter, in verse 29, got out of the boat and walked on water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and beginning to sink, cried out, Lord, save me. Jesus immediately reached out, took his hand, saying, O you of little faith, why did you doubt? That's the word. O you of little faith, why did you doubt? And when he got into the boat, the wind ceased. And, interestingly enough, those in the boat worshipped him. So you get a scene of worship, recognizing who he is. Truly, they say in chapter 14, this is the Son of God. So they're worshipping him. And yet Peter is described as one of little faith there, who felt uncertainty and hesitation. And that's really what a more accurate translation would be. This is not unbelief. This is not that they've encountered the risen Jesus, but now some of them don't think it's the risen Jesus, and they're not believing. They are worshiping him. They are worshiping him, and yet some of them have internal conflict. I think this is in line with what Matthew 14, 31 ascribes to Peter. He has some wavering faith. He's got some instability in him, and he's on the water, he's going to Jesus, But he starts looking away from Christ, and he starts becoming overwhelmed in the moment about these circumstances. It begins to sink, and Lord, save me. And Jesus says, oh, you of little faith, why did you doubt? And when they all get in the boat, make sure we recognize that everybody in the boat, which would include Peter at that point, worships him. So what's going on with this doubt? I don't think it's a sense of unbelief. It's better understood as hesitation and wavering faith. I think that Matthew's gospel makes a motif from time to time of little faith phrase. Little faith. You have little faith. He speaks of that in multiple instances. This is the last example, I think, in Matthew's gospel of someone expressing little faith. The disciples, we should understand, are still growing in their faith. There are some among these 11 that are wavering and that have less stability than others in the group. But here's the thing about being a disciple. Don't we recognize that it's in God's grace and by God's spirit that our faith grows? Our trust grows, confidence in who Christ is and what he's done. And there are times when we may discern in us that it is unstable or wavering. Here's what God doesn't do. God doesn't look at a disciple with little faith and cast such a person aside. Do you know why? Because the ground of our security in Christ is not the measure of our faith. This is a very important point. The measure of our security in Christ is the object of our faith, though it may be little faith. If our standing in Christ was contingent on the degree of our faith, how would we ever know if we believed enough? Can you imagine the anxiety this would fill the heart of the Christian with? Do I believe enough today? I think I did yesterday. Do I have more trust today? I'm not so sure. How does this affect my standing with God? And you feel more secure or less secure depending on how you discern the degree of your faith to be on a given day. No, our standing with Christ is not dependent on the measure of our faith. What matters is the object of our faith, who is Christ. Take two different people with two different degrees of vision, eyesight. One person has 20-20 eyesight, and the other person can't see as clearly, like myself, but wishes they had 20-20 eyesight. You take these people outside, and you point them to the sun. The sun will do what it does, acting on the people's vision like it does. And the point isn't whether both people see the sun as clearly with 20-20 vision. The point is whether both people are pointed at the sun. In Matthew 28, 17, you've got disciples who are worshiping Jesus. And some of them, I mean, they're worshiping him. They feel less faith. They have hesitation. The point is not the strength of their faith, but the strength of the object of their faith. Are they looking at the sun? And they all are. Some people might read Matthew 28, 17 and think that this last line is really a totally bad report. It's not the only way to look at it. There is hesitancy within the heart of these disciples, some of them, not all of them, some of them, but I want to tell you why this phrase I think is incredibly encouraging for a few reasons. So you've got this statement of, They worshipped him, but some doubted. Why is a phrase like this encouraging, even though you wish it was different and be, you know, best and ideal if they all worshipped him and no one had hesitation in their hearts at all? This phrase is encouraging, though, because who of us has a heart that emits perfect trust and faith all the time, or even most of the time? Who of us could say of our hearts, I have unwavering faith? Be careful. If you were to jump forward and say, oh, that would describe me accurately. The gospel deals with people with real hearts who have real struggles and real doubts and real conflict. We don't have perfect faith. But we have a perfect savior. an object of our faith, full of mercy and love. So here they are again, worshiping Christ, though their faith is not what it should be, not what it could be, not what it will be. But look at this. They're real worshipers in this scene. You don't have to have perfect faith to really worship Christ. Real worship comes from inadequate worshipers. Who of us could ever come before God and accurately report, here is my perfect worship from my perfect faith? Here are real disciples. Not only are they worshipers, these are disciples. Their trust is not as strong as it will be, but they're really followers. They're really disciples and their faith will grow. Their internal struggles are what they are, but they're really disciples in this scene. That's good news. That's good news because we are woefully inadequate if we had to measure up in some sort of consistent, perfect way as a contingency for Christ to accept us. But it does not work that way. These are followers of Jesus who don't have it all right. And that's really good news. These are disciples of Jesus who have trust that's not as strong as it will be. They're with other people who trust more, who have greater faith in this scene. But God doesn't dismiss these disciples. Jesus doesn't look at them and say, oh, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, what's going on in the hearts of some of you? No, no, no, get out of here. Get off this mountain. Only those who have great faith, they're the ones that can be here. That's not what he does. God will never say to someone on the judgment day, depart from me, oh, you of little faith. He will never say that to anybody. He will never speak these words because our security in Christ is not based upon the measure of our faith, as unwavering as it may feel. It's based on the unchanging object of our faith, who is Christ. One of the lyrics in the songs we sing, a song, he will hold me fast, the line goes, when I fear my faith will fail, Christ will hold me fast. So here are disciples. And there's a mixture of degrees of faith in the group, and Jesus accepts their worship. They are his disciples. And you know what? Jesus gave the great commission to both groups. He doesn't say, okay, I'm about to make a big announcement, but if you've got little faith, this doesn't apply to you. No. He doesn't say only you of strong faith can be used for the church's mission in the kingdom. That's not what he says either. You know who he commissions? He commissions disciples. He commissions believers. Friends, they all worshiped. Some were of little faith. But that's really good news for us because if we're honest, We can really sense and resonate with that. And we know people who can well. And remember, they're not just anywhere. They're back in Galilee where He first summoned them. Follow me, He told them, and now He's going to commission them. When I look at the words of Matthew 28, 17, they worshipped Him and some doubted or some had this little faith, if you will, like in Matthew 14. I look at this and I think, man, that's a real-to-life statement right there. That's a real-to-life statement. The Bible is so honest about our hearts. We should pray for God to help our weak faith. Oh, for grace to trust Him more. I mean, that's what we want. Because we know that there are some days where we would fit more like in the second group than in the first group of those who had a certain degree of faith. And whatever God is showing us, leading us, Whatever is happening in our lives, our circumstances. We might be able to pray like the man who came to Jesus in the gospel story, Lord, I believe, just help my unbelief. Help me, God, help me. Jesus receives their worship. They are all his disciples and he commissions them all and he will hold them fast. Every one of them, he will hold them fast. It is not dependent on the measure of their faith. It is dependent on the realness of the phrase, it is finished on the cross and what he secured for them. We should look to Christ and Christ alone. Friends, when we have weak faith, we should meditate on the gospel. We should read the word of God. We should memorize the word of God. We should pray for more faith. We should trust that when I fear my faith may fail, Christ will hold me fast. I am his and he is my security. So the commission comes in verses 18 to 20. And Jesus does three things. He makes a claim, he gives them a command, and then he makes a promise. The claim in verse 18 is, all authority in heaven on earth has been given to me. And the command is, go therefore and make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you. And then there's the promise at the end. Behold, I'm with you always to the end of the age. a claim, a command, and a promise. It tells us that Jesus came to them, and His words, all authority in heaven and on earth, have been given to me, have the first of several all statements. All authority. And then in verse 19, make disciples of all nations. In verse 20, observe, teach them to observe all that I have commanded you. And the last use of the word all is in the word always. Translations have always typically, but it's all the days. All the days. So always is fine, but it is a use in the original language of the word all. All authority, all nations, all that I've commanded you, all the days. The emphasis here is, emphasis is sweeping statements. That's what are being made, sweeping statements. I mean, how sweeping is this? Authority in heaven and on earth. This is a way of saying everywhere that there's an inch of anything, Christ has authority over it. The Father has given Jesus authority. All authority has been given to me. This echoes Daniel 7, where the Son of Man goes to the Ancient of Days and receives authority over all things in Daniel 7. Jesus is the Son of Man. It was the most used title in his ministry that he ascribed to himself. The Son of Man of Daniel 7, who receives glory and authority over all things. This is something a king would have. You know, a king has rule and authority over his dominion. But how far reaching is Jesus' dominion? In heaven and on earth. In other words, everywhere where there's an inch of anything, Jesus reigns over it. It's a statement of his sovereignty. We rightly describe Jesus as the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord is a title of authority and sovereign reign. He rules. He's the king. This is further fitting because in Matthew 1.1, we're told that this is the story and the genealogy of the one who is the son of David and the son of David was a king in Matthew 1.1. And we know in Matthew 28 how far reaching this king's rule really is. It's everywhere. His jurisdiction is everywhere. There's not anything that lies outside the rule and the reign of this king. He has all authority in heaven and on earth. That's the scope of this kingdom. This is an important claim to make because the mission would absolutely be useless and pointless if it were not built on the foundation of such a sweeping claim. If Jesus says, I have authority in most places, or I don't really have authority anywhere, but here's this great mission for the nations. Instead, this claim empowers the following missional statement. The mission of the church of Jesus Christ rests on the truth of his cosmic sovereignty. He rules heaven and earth, therefore. You ever notice that the Great Commission has a therefore? So there's a command to make disciples, but it's because of something. I have authority in heaven and on earth. That is why I make disciples of all nations. All nations is sweeping, so the scope of the mission, all nations, is in keeping with the scope of his rule. He's not saying, here's how far my authority extends, but I still want you to try what lies outside that and try to make disciples of those people. My authority is far reaching and comprehensive, and so therefore, so should the mission be. All authority in heaven and on earth is mine, so go to all nations and make disciples. The sovereignty of Jesus Christ is foundational to the church's mission. If Christ were not sovereign, what hope would the nations have? Yet indeed, he has all authority in heaven and on earth. So there's hope because Christ is the king. We appropriately call him the Lord Jesus Christ. The nations are the target here, and not just some, but all. Not just those with open borders, but all. Not just ones that welcome you, but all. Not just ones that won't persecute you or kill you, but all. All nations are to have those disciples. They're the target of His redemptive mission because that's where God's heart is. And the question that we could ask ourselves is, does our heart reflect the missionary heart of God? Because he wants the redeeming work of Christ proclaimed to all the nations. Do we desire that? Is that something we want to something we think about? It's on our minds that we care for. This is, after all, the mission of the church. The most important thing that Christ ever established was his church through which the nations will receive the gospel. This is a way of coming full circle with scripture itself. Because in Genesis, Abraham is set aside so that through his family, all the nations of the earth will be blessed. That was the promise to Abraham. And when Paul writes about this in Romans, and when he writes about this in Galatians, it's very clear that Paul believes the promise to Abraham is fulfilled in what Christ has done for the nations. How are the nations going to be blessed in all the earth? How are all the families of the earth through Abraham's seed and offspring going to be blessed? Paul says, because he sent Jesus. Jesus is the son of Abraham. So Matthew 1.1 opens not only with a son of David reference, but a son of Abraham reference. And when we come full circle to the end of Matthew's gospel, we have a king who's going to be a blessing to the nations because he's a son of David and the son of Abraham, exactly how the gospel opened, proclaiming him to be. So Jesus says, go make disciples of all nations. Going is connected to making disciples, even though you want to make disciples also where you are. We want to imply that he's not saying, don't think about where you are, but think about where you're not. That's what he's saying. Making disciples of all nations is the goal. In other words, this means nations don't have the message of the gospel. There are people groups and languages that don't have their own Bibles. And we think to ourselves, which of my many translations will I choose from? Right? That's not a problem for some people groups. They don't even have a Bible translation. They might not even have a New Testament translation, much less all 66 books. We have such a wealth of riches in God's kindness to us, really good, glorious translations of the Bible. And yet some nations, some people groups are unreached and very difficult, hard to reach places high of persecution and opposition. But the going is part of this command here. It's attached to it. It's a participle in the original language. It's not necessarily an imperative, but it's connected to it. So it functions like one. They're to make disciples how? They're to go and make them. Those that aren't disciples should be. Do we realize that and agree upon that? Do you have a heart for those who don't know Christ? They ought to be a disciple. Do you have an aim or plan to reach them? Those in your family or friends or neighbors? You know, it might be an enticing thing in the minds of some Christians going to the nations, yes, to go to the nations, but they won't go to their neighbors, you know? Make disciples of all nations, absolutely, but what about going across the street first? I mean, I think we have a sense of how close to home our missional mindset must be. But yes, take the gospel to the nations. Yes, pray for those who go. Some of you in this room may have that future ahead of you, where years from now or even months from now, you will be going to the nations. Praise God for that. But we should also make disciples wherever there aren't disciples. We should want people to be worshiping where there isn't worship. In his great book on missions, Let the Nations Be Glad, John Piper says, missions exist because worship doesn't. In those nations, in those groups, in those people who don't know Christ. What we're wanting them to do is to worship God. We're wanting them to be like the disciples who see the risen Christ and they worship Him. That's why we have missions, because we want worship to be taking place. We want worship of the living God to take place. So in the same booklet, The Nations Be Glad, Piper says missions is an ultimate. Worship is ultimate. Missions has an expiration date. But worship is for eternity. So missions exist because worship doesn't and worship of the nations is what we want to be happening to God. That's what he's worthy of. Jesus here is saying to make disciples of all the nations because he is worthy of nothing less than every nation in the world exalting his name. Crazy people talk like that or gods talk like that. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. So connected to the going and making disciples is this baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Spirit, first of all. Baptism is the first step that initiates these disciples. They're to confess publicly their commitment to Christ. That's what baptism is. Baptism pictures outwardly the truth of our union with Christ inwardly. It's not irrelevant. It's not optional. It's not an extra or a bonus. We've died with him and we've been raised to newness of life and this is part of the command of the disciples. So it's a matter of obedience. Believers should be baptized. To be baptized in the name denotes a kind of commitment or belonging to. It's saying I'm associated with this person. I'm baptized in their name. It's a way of taking oneself and pledging oneself to another. Baptism, as a friend of mine put it one time, baptism is faith going public. And I think that's a good way of thinking about it in a turn of phrase. It's going public with faith. It's saying I'm going to be baptized in front of people because this is a confession publicly that I'm making by my undergoing a baptism. It means my faith has gone public. It's a declaration. Baptism is a public confession. In the New Testament, the people who are baptized are those who have put their faith in Jesus Christ. So we believe, the Bible teaches, believers baptism. This means that if you had something happen to you with water before you trusted in Jesus Christ, it would be inaccurate to call that a baptism. You haven't been baptized and so you should be. The Great Commission involves baptizing disciples, so your baptism is a matter of your commitment and obedience to Christ. Did you note here that when he says, baptize them in the name, he doesn't say the names of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit? New Testament scholars make an interesting point here. I mean, it would be appropriate to say that the persons of the Trinity, plural, persons as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but to say the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit, that's a very interesting observation that I think people have made, and we want to note it here. The name is singular, and yet Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in the ministry of Jesus, these are clearly not synonymous persons. These are different persons. Jesus believed that the Father sent him, and that in the power of the Holy Spirit, he was going to minister. So in the very language and ministry of Jesus, the persons are different, and yet baptizing them in the name of, and I think this speaks to the kind of foundational verses operating in the doctrine of the Trinity. We believe that there is one God who dwells as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, three persons, One God, a triunity. So the idea of a singular name here, that's good to emphasize. But then the plurality of persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, that's also important to see. Thinking again about another way of Matthew's Gospel coming full circle, toward the beginning of Matthew's Gospel, Jesus is baptized. So you have baptism connected here with the mission of the disciples, right? But Jesus is baptized toward the beginning of Matthew's Gospel. And you know what happens with the presence of the Son there in the river? As the Spirit descends and the Father speaks, And so you have this picture, this glorious picture of a Trinitarian thing going on, where Father, Son, and Spirit are in Matthew chapter 3. And now at the end of Matthew's Gospel, the connection to baptism and some sort of Trinitarian reference, that's not lost on the disciples. That's part of their mission, to baptize them in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. And there are other instances we could look at as well. For time's sake, Matthew 11.27, Matthew 12.28, those are a couple of the references where members of the Godhead are mentioned in Matthew's Gospel. In verse 20, after baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, there's an emphasis on teaching. Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. Making disciples involves instruction. We don't come to Christ knowing everything we should know. In fact, it's very important to recognize that as believers, part of our discipleship is unlearning as well as learning. There are things that we bring to the table and our assumptions about life and the way the world works and about who God is and about the way sin works and about the way evil works and about the way salvation works. We come to the Christian life with things that have to be unlearned, as well as things that we need to learn, right? It involves both. So in our discipleship, what he's telling the disciples is, we gotta teach them to observe all that I have commanded you. Jesus's words are to be the things that people are instructed in. Now this isn't all encompassing because we know that the disciples and the apostles taught Jesus from the Old Testament. It can be rightly said that even the Old Testament is the word of Christ to us, preparing the way for his incarnation and mission. But we're not, as disciples, making things up as we go along. That's not what we're interested in doing. We're not trying to be overly innovative and creative. We're trying to take the Word of God and apply it to the people of God for the glory of God. This means worshipers are learners. And that's a posture of heart, my friends. Worshipers are learners. We're not less than worshipers, but we are to be taught the Word of God. He says here, taught all that I have commanded you, which is a way of saying that the curriculum for the Christian life is Christ. The course we enroll in is the gospel news. And it's one we don't graduate from or move on from. It's Christ. We want to be schooled in the gospel. We want to revel in the glories of his word. And we want to be astounded again and again at what he's revealed to us. This means that church teaching ministries ought to have both shallow and deep areas, like getting into a swimming pool. So that people can get in and be able to get their footing in their bearings, but we also want to be able to go deep and behold wonders. And a church ought to have ministries and opportunities for all manner of growth and instruction. But in the end, the curriculum is Christ. Philippians 121, Paul says, For me to live is Christ and to die is gain. Galatians 2 20, I've been crucified with Christ in the life I now live in the flesh. I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. Not only are we teaching what Christ has has commanded, it tells us teaching them to observe. One of the things we're to instruct people to do is to obey Christ. In other words, we're not just trying to fill their heads with knowledge, we're after heart transformation, life transformation, the redirecting and recalibrating of our affections and what we love and what we treasure. We're wanting people's lives to be aimed Christward. One way of describing the Christian life is that it is a Christ-centered life. That is what we want. We want to have a Christ-centered life and a gospel-driven life. So those who are baptized and taught, what we're taught is not only what Jesus has said, not only what the Word of God teaches, but we're instructed, now you should obey that. That's what a disciple is. A disciple is a follower of Jesus, not someone who just says, well, you know what, I memorized the whole Sermon on the Mount. Well, I mean, good, but if you've memorized what Jesus has commanded you and you're not trying to observe what he's commanded you, then part of your discipleship is in terrible jeopardy, right? I mean, we have to recognize here that we're teaching people to observe what I have commanded you. And that's because in the end, friends, it's just not about us. Christ is given commands, Christ is worthy of obedience, Christ is worthy of worship and honor because He's risen from the dead. It's all about Him. The promise of the Great Commission. We've seen the claim, we've seen the command, and we now go to the promise. Behold, I'm with you always to the end of the age. We've seen so many times in the Gospel of Matthew where Matthew uses the word behold. And it's probably very fitting that he has one more for you. And it's a good one. But right before he tells you, I'm with you always, he says, now behold. Get ready for this. I'm just going to lay this on you. He says, I'm with you always to the end of the age. Now, the end of the age in Matthew's gospel, Matthew 13 and in Matthew 24, it refers to the day of judgment. In Matthew 13, 39, and 40, for example. Matthew 13, 39, and 40. The harvest is the close of the age. The reapers are angels. Just as weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the close of the age. The son of man will send his angels. They will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and lawlessness, and throw them into the fiery furnace. And in that place, weeping and gnashing of teeth there will be. The righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their father. He who has ears, let him hear." And of course, Jesus is speaking pictorially there and graphically about the separation of the righteous and unrighteous on judgment day, isn't he? when all things will be made new in a kingdom that will be dwelled in by the people of God and yet a time of judgment eternally for those who are not worshipers of Jesus Christ. So he says to the end of this age, he says I'm with you literally all the days. All the days, every week where there's a Sunday through Saturday, Jesus is with you every one of those days, all the days I'm with you. This is empowering because going full circle again, Matthew tells us in chapter one, Jesus is Emmanuel. He is God with us. And that wasn't just true in his birth where they thought, OK, here we have God with us. Jesus is going to ascend to the father and reign at his right hand and subject all enemies under his feet. But he's no less with us spiritually. In fact, in the giving of the spirit that unites us to the Lord Jesus Christ, we are in Christ and Christ in us. In the language of Colossians and Ephesians. We can say that we are with Christ and in Christ and he is in us and with us by his spirit and in the word of God. So he says, I'm with you all the days to the end of the age. The Old Testament in Jesus's day was ordered differently. It didn't go from Genesis through Malachi. Some of the books were in a different order called the Law, Prophets and Writings. And our order of the Old Testament came much later. In Jesus' day, the last book of their Hebrew Bible was 1 and 2 Chronicles. So our books of Chronicles, which aren't at the end of our Old Testament, they were the end of their ordering. And it's interesting to note what some people have observed with the language. The way the Chronicles end, the way their Bible would end before the New Testament was written, it's interesting that Matthew's gospel has a remarkable set of echoes. In 2 Chronicles, chapter 36, A really important figure had come upon the scene of Israel's history named Cyrus, who was going to deliver the people from captivity to Babylon, and they were going to return to the promised land, they were going to rebuild, and Cyrus was raised up for this purpose. In the language in 2 Chronicles 36, 23, thus says Cyrus, king of Persia, the Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all kingdoms of the earth. You got this statement that Cyrus makes about authority under heaven. And it tells us he's charged me to build a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever's among you, all of his people, may the Lord his God be with him. And so you have this statement about God being with his people and this statement about authority. And it's very likely, it seems to me, that Matthew looks at the end of the Old Testament. And the words of Jesus here are especially appropriate to end this gospel because this is the declaration of the gospel news of Christ that's inaugurated something new, something better than a return from Babylon. This is an exodus from sin and death and the captivity of our iniquities under God's wrath. This is better than Cyrus, who was a Persian. This is Jesus, the Son of God, who was sent. There's an escalation in better and more glorious news where, indeed, Cyrus ruled for a time under heaven, but Jesus has all authority in heaven and on earth forever. and better news for His disciples than simply saying, God will be with you. They know Jesus so personally after all of these years with Him, and He says to them, I am with you always, to the end of the age. They know that they won't live as long to the end of the age, which is good news for anybody reading the Gospel of Matthew after them, because they will know that the promise of Jesus here is for them. Matthew's gospel does come full circle with full testament background and glorious echoes from various parts from Genesis all the way to the end of their Hebrew Bible. Matthew's gospel presents for us a savior about whom we ask this question like in Matthew chapter 8. What sort of man is this? Because he does all of these miracles and he does these glorious teachings and he undergoes this terrible suffering and death. But on the third day is raised and the announcement that the gospels end with, aside from their post-resurrection encounters, which they report differently. In Matthew's gospel, the resurrection, this announcement of good news, go and tell to the women, go and tell my disciples, that foreshadows the commission here to everybody. This is our commission. Friends, we look at the words of Jesus here and we have to know that thousands of years later, the nations must still be reached. People groups to pray for, people groups to penetrate and to go to and to help and aid. People are doing such important work throughout the world because of the mission of Christ. It rests on the sovereign rule of our Lord over all things. The reason we can pray for this and the reason we can go with boldness and confidence and the reason we can send people and encourage is because Christ has all authority in heaven and on earth. The Great Commission is framed by great statements of Christology. He has all authority in verse 18. And He is with us in verse 20 all the days. As if to say, omnipotence is what He has. And omnipresence is a great promise in verse 20. What sort of man is this? The sort of man who has all authority in heaven and on earth. Who's the last Adam and the son of David and the son of Abraham. bringing about the first fruits of the resurrection, which is our hope. Friends, the Gospel of Matthew is rightly well regarded throughout church history, beloved by so many in the early church as even the foremost of the four Gospels, and we should treasure its message. It proclaims our Savior. We should love its teaching because it's also part of the all that I have commanded you that Jesus said. So we have been instructing our hearts through these 123 sermons. And even though we come to the end of this book, we're not yet at the end of the age. And so we can trust that Christ is with us. Christ is with Cosmos Dale Baptist Church. Christ is with all the churches that bear his name. And he's with us to the very end, empowering us under his sovereign rule of heaven and earth that we might make disciples, love him, treasure him above all things.