Well, we return today to Matthew chapter 28, the last few verses of this gospel, what we term the Great Commission. We return to Galilee. We return to the mountain where Jesus came to His 11 disciples. And if you recall, we left them there worshipping. They had worshipped Jesus. Very emotionally intense period, post-death, burial and resurrection. They'd spent a physically challenging time in travel to the mountain, most likely. And yet, despite their physical drain, their emotional drain, these disciples, they were obedient to the commands of their master. And they were there waiting. They were there watching. They were there anticipating. His coming. And then they saw Him. There He was. Whenever it was, wherever it was, they saw Him. Whether He was afar off, whether He was close by, that sighting, it evoked a heart response and it was worship. And we looked at last time how a believer's response to seeing Christ is just that. It's worship. And the worship of Jesus flows from an obedient heart. It flows from that submissive heart. The worship of Jesus is the fruit of a regenerated heart. And finally, Matthew here, in adding some credibility to his gospel account, we might say, he completed this thought on worship with this note, but some were doubtful. there at the end of verse 17. And remember, doubt finds its roots in identity. We either doubt our identity in Christ or we doubt His identity as Christ. And last week we spoke on preparing to make disciples. And as we consider today, this aspect of the Great Commission, we're going to consider that we are authorized to make disciples. So in verse 18, we will find Jesus, He approaches the group, He addresses the group, and He authorizes the group. So let's read together our text for this series, Matthew chapter 28, verses 16 through 20. But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated. When they saw him, they worshipped him, but some were doubtful. And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations. baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. We'll be looking today at verse 18. You notice there that verse begins with, and Jesus came. There's quite a lot in just these three words, but we're gonna consider three aspects of these words, and that is intentionality, initiative, and intimacy. So in regards to, and Jesus came, the intentional aspect of that, it was indeed intentional. This wasn't just happenstance. You don't accidentally walk up a mountain. He came volitionally. He willingly came. He chose to come. And if we look at this word, came, just a quick cursory look in its Greek usage in the New Testament, that's really readily apparent. Here's just some examples of this word used in the Greek. It's used when, I think it's in Matthew chapter 4, when after Jesus' baptism, He goes into the wilderness. The devil came to Jesus to tempt Him. It was an intentional coming. The devil came to tempt Him. And then after that, the angels came to minister to Jesus. It was intentional. The woman with the issue of blood came to be healed. She didn't just happen upon Him. And the disciples came to Jesus to ask Him a question. And there's many, many more examples, but those are just four to show just exactly the meaning of this word came. It isn't a coming simply to just hang out, just to be together. No, this is what the NCO would say to the troops, move with a purpose. Move with a purpose. And I may be wrong, but I don't have the impression that as Jesus was coming here to the disciples, that he was just kind of doing a casual saunter. I don't think that he was like an elderly couple out for a drive on Sunday. I think that he was intentionally moving there. That was his focus. That was his direction. He is going to meet the disciples. But regardless, of the actual outward manifestation of His coming. It was intentional. It was with a purpose. He came with a goal in mind. Now these words, and Jesus came, it shows initiative. When Jesus came, He came with initiative. He didn't just come because, I don't know, just because. No, this was His idea. This was his idea. Remember, he specifically left instructions to his disciples to leave for Galilee. There I will show myself to them. There they will see me. And sure, it's certainly true that the disciples obeyed Jesus. They did obey the command, but it was Jesus who took the initiative, even in giving the command, in ensuring that the disciples heard the command. He sent it secondarily to the women, and then he showed himself specifically to the Marys, who in turn gave the instructions to the apostles. So it was his initiative in giving the command The disciples didn't ask Jesus, hey, can we just meet you in Galilee? Can we meet up for lunch? No. No. The text doesn't even say that they came to Jesus, but rather He came to them. This was His plan. This was His intent. It was His action. Even in the speaking, it was His action. It was His action, His speaking that set the disciples on their trip to Galilee. Notice then that Jesus came to them. Intimate. He didn't just come in general. No, He came to them. He didn't just show Himself to them from a distance. He didn't remain down there at the foot of the mountain. No, He approached them. He came up to them. He came up to the mountain in order to be near them, in order to get to His followers. He came to them. They were His disciples. They weren't someone else's. These were His disciples. He knew them. He knew all that they had been through. He knew all the things with which they were grappling, the fears, the astonishment, the disappointments, the sorrows, the joys, and even the doubts. He knew them. And I think that it was most specifically because of the doubts that he stayed true to his word and he came to them. Because when everything and everyone around you is saying one thing, showing one thing, giving you one perspective, when the peer pressure is just so great, when the societal expectations just demand a particular response, they demand acquiescence, You need something foundational to keep you from being toppled over by this surmounting pressure. You need to be stabilized. When stress is at its greatest, the basics are the most critical. all that the disciples were likely thinking and feeling right here. We went over that last time. By coming to them, He coming to them. By coming to them, Jesus was meeting all of those personal needs. He was meeting them. He was meeting their emotional needs, their mental needs, their physical needs. They needed to see Him. They needed to hear Him. Perhaps they touched Him. They needed to be encouraged. They needed comforting. And when everyone else tried to, when everyone else was attempting to forget about Jesus, to forget about the resurrection, to forget about the crucifixion, to forget about Jesus' atoning work, even some of the disciples themselves, they really wanted to believe. They needed to believe. That's what drove them to the mountain. They needed to believe. They needed to know who they were, who their God is. They needed to know their identity. And He knew each one intimately. And He loved each one. And so He came in order to give them each what they needed. And what they needed first was grounding. They needed to be grounded, to be anchored. Well, I looked up this word ground in Webster's Dictionary, the 1828 American Dictionary, and one of the definitions was this, to settle in first principles, to fix firmly. And then interestingly, as an example, an example sentence using this word ground, Mr. Webster, he quotes from Ephesians chapter three. You don't see scripture quoted in dictionaries much anymore, but here he quoted Paul in Ephesians three, I'm gonna read verses 16 through 19. It's breaking in the middle of a sentence, but, that he, that is Christ, would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power through his spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, and that you, being, here it is, rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend that is, understand, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth, and length, and height, and depth, and to know the love of Christ, which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. So Mr. Webster here refers to this verse being rooted and grounded Rooted and grounded in love. Rooted and grounded in the knowledge of Christ. Rooted and grounded in the love of Christ. As a definition for us to understand what it means to be anchored. To be fixed firmly. To set first principles first. And I think this, in Ephesians 3, is a good perspective. Not only in what it means to be grounded, but also in what Christ is wanting to accomplish in this, the Great Commission. So he approached them. Jesus came up and spoke to them. He addressed them. Well, notice first that it wasn't the disciples speaking, it was Jesus speaking. In fact, just looking back over the past few chapters in Matthew, the scriptural account, it doesn't say that the disciples said anything here. Even in, I think, all of 28, most of 27, just the very beginning of chapter 27 and the very end of chapter 26, do we see anything that the disciples say? But it was Jesus speaking. And it's probably a good thing that we don't have any recorded words by the disciples here. Because with all this stress, with all this excitement, confusion that's going on, it probably would have been nonsensical or illogical had they said something right here. Usually when we find the disciples talking and they're just super excited, it generally doesn't make a lot of sense. I mean, you have, hey, let's build three tabernacles. Can we sit at your right and left hand? Can we call down fire from heaven? No, guys, you don't get it. And frankly, I think we're more like these fellows than we'd like to admit. For we also say illogical things when our understanding of Christ, when our understanding of His mission is skewed. When we're too focused on winning medals, because of our involvement in the mission. When we're too focused and we lack the proper perspective on Christ's compassion, His patience, His vision regarding the mission, then we say some silly things. So Jesus came up and spoke to them. to impress upon them, not just his physical form, not just his image, not just his body, although that was extremely important. That was very important. That proved the physical resurrection. He did come to appear to them physically, but he didn't just come to appear physically. No, he wanted to come and to impress upon the disciples His teaching, His desire, His will. Remember, He was their rabbi. He was their pastor. He was there to give them a word. What are we here this morning for? To hear the word. He was there to give them a word. Again, the words are, Jesus came up and spoke to them. It doesn't say He spoke with them. Remember, there's not any account of the disciples saying anything up until the first part of 27, the end of chapter 26. And there, the words that were recorded by the disciples, well that's the account of Peter's denial, of his cursing, of his swearing, and Judas' remorse, his sorrow, his admission of guilt that led to his death. Those are the last recorded words in the Gospel of Matthew regarding His disciples. So Jesus spoke. He didn't just come to appear to them and scowl at them. He didn't come and give them the stink eye. No, He didn't just stand there with a haughty air of superiority looking down through His nose over His glasses at them like, Sister Bertha, better than you. He wasn't looking through his cool guy sunglasses. No, he came and he spoke. They needed to hear his voice again. They needed some direction. They needed encouragement. They were even in need of some gentle chastisement. They needed a job to do. They needed a purpose. They needed a mission. Now you all know me in a lot of the ways that I think and express certain things, and I view this verse from the perspective of a military formation. And you have all the troops there, and here is King Jesus, the commander of the armies of heaven. He's approaching His men, and He immediately launches into His orders. Now, the ceremony and the sluts, they aren't necessarily removed, they aren't necessarily ignored, but this time there seems to be something different. We're not having a formation or a meeting just for the meeting's sake. We're not getting together just to get together. This isn't an awards ceremony. This is the formation that occurs post-conflict, post-operation. It's a debriefing. It's a debriefing that is followed by a briefing. Here's what happened. Here's what we need to do. Victory has been achieved here. Some are rejoicing. They're excited. They can't believe it. They're ready to go home. Remember what they said to Jesus before He ascended. Hey, is it now? Are you now going to restore the Kingdom to Israel? They're ready to go home. And others are more like me. They're excited, but they're skeptical. Is this really the end here? They anticipate a trap. They anticipate that or they believe that the end of the war is simply a rumor. No, I'm skeptical, guys. This can't be true. It's too good to be true. Look, I've given up everything for this. I've fought for this. I've had my hopes crushed, my dreams crushed, I just can't fully commit because it hurts too much. You got guys on both sides. You know, most of the trouble that occurs within the ranks is when service members, they aren't engaged in meaningful work. They're just hanging out. The same thing's true in your family. What happens When do your kids get in the most trouble? When they don't have a job to do. The same thing happens in your business when your employees aren't meaningfully engaged. That's when the trouble occurs. So Jesus is speaking to them with words that will not just keep them occupied, not just keep them out of trouble, but words which engage their minds as well as their bodies. This isn't just a TED Talk. This isn't just a five minute presentation of something cool, something neat, something new. No, it's not even just a motivational speech. MacArthur says this, you can't motivate people by the work. You have to motivate them by the cause. These are words for a cause. These are words which are meant to ground these men in truth. These are words meant to anchor them. These words are there to instruct them about their identity. And these words identify and define their mission. By the way, don't ever think that this mission is busy work. Governments, large corporations, they tend to be really good at busy work. A lot of little people moving here and there. It's like ants scurrying here, ants scurrying there. Doing this and doing that. Everybody looking busy. They tend to be really good at busy work. Parents who aren't parenting are good at busy work. Pastors and church leaders who are sidetracked are good at busy work. These instructions, rather, they aren't like those fill-in-the-blank Sunday school booklets. They aren't like that. It's not just something to do. This isn't a course of instruction that says, okay, see up on the screen here you are, you take your mouse and you go click here and you scroll down the thing and click there and then you drag this and you drop that and you move here and you move, no. These instructions require the listeners to be fully engaged. Not just run through methodical systems. Not just do this and do that without thinking. No. These instructions require their followers to use their minds. To be engaged. To come up with creative solutions and constantly refer back to the basic fundamentals. Constantly go back and recall the ABCs. Not just your alphabet, although it can mean that. What does this really mean? But also, your airway, your breathing, your circulation. If someone is out there dying, you need to go back to the basics and stop those major life threats. The ABCs. When the pressure's on, that's what you revert to. And this is that. It's anchoring these people. So it is. The first thing that Jesus addresses here when He starts talking to His eleven disciples is the doubting. Because if someone isn't all in in the formation, they're not going to be all in during the conflict. So we have Jesus, the King above all kings, snapping these men to attention and saying, listen up. Here's your new operations order. This is the situation. Victory is accomplished. We won. I won. I may have won the war and overpowered the enemy, but don't think that you don't have any work to do. The enemy's defeated. His defeat is absolutely certain, but he refuses to acknowledge it. Guys, you can't sit around just eating Twinkies. No, Jesus approaches and He addresses the doubts and the fears of His disciples. And He addresses it with authority. With His authority. All authority has been given to Me, He says. And this issue of authority is extremely important. It's critical, in fact. Without authority, there isn't a foundation. There isn't a legal basis for any action without authority. This is why founding documents are so important. This is why law enforcement, why attorneys, why judges, they're concerned about US code. What is the law? Code is authoritative, but itself isn't the authority. See, U.S. Code receives its authority from the U.S. Constitution, which the Constitution establishes Congress, which creates the permanent code. This is why businesses require a license, excuse me, why businesses are required a license to operate. The state grants that authority. This is why businesses, they have mission statements to explain and clarify why they exist. These are foundational things. We're back to authority. The King James renders this verse, all power is given unto me. Now there is a difference between power and authority. And just because you have the power to do something, it doesn't give you the authority to do it. To act with power but not authority is simply just to be a bully. It's making others do something, do what you want them to do by force, by manipulation, by coercion, by whatever. It's forcing someone to do something, and this is not what this verse is teaching. This word isn't saying that Jesus doesn't have the power, the dunamis, the dynamite. It's not saying that he doesn't have the power. Indeed, and most assuredly he does, he does have the power. He does have the ability. But no, this verse is saying rather that Jesus has exousia. He has the authority. He has the right. And this is exactly what Matthew is desperately wanting us to see, that King Jesus has the legal standing, He has the right to the throne based upon who He is. Jesus has authority. Now I said earlier that the issue of authority is critical. It's critical to our understanding of faith and identity. Turn with me to Matthew chapter 8. Keep your finger here at 28, but flip over to Matthew chapter 8, and we're gonna read verses 5 through 13. Now, probably for all of you, this is a familiar story, but what most of you have likely not seen, including myself, this is the end of the Sermon on the Mount, And at the end of chapter 7, and it continues through chapter 10, Matthew here in this section is really wanting to drill home this point of authority. So let's read Matthew chapter 8, 5 through 13. And when Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him imploring Him and saying, Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, fearfully tormented. Jesus said to him, I will come and heal him. But the centurion said, Lord, I'm not worthy for you to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me, and I say to this one, go, and he goes, and to another, come, and he comes, and to my slave, do this, and he does it. Now when Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who were following, Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel. I say to you that many will come from east and west and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And Jesus said to the centurion, Go, it shall be done for you as you have believed. And the servant was healed that very moment. Now this centurion, he recognized authority. He recognized it when he saw it. He lived under it. He had some of it. His worldview was one that revolved around it. So when this man comes and he begs Christ, he implores Christ to heal his servant, He was acknowledging Jesus' authority. He was also placing himself under Jesus' authority, placing his servant under Jesus' authority. And his desire was for Jesus to exercise this authority, even over sickness. And did you notice Jesus' response to this? It says, He marveled. He marveled at it. His response was one of joy and wonder and amazement at this man's understanding of authority. But Jesus goes even further and He uses this as an opportunity for teaching of His disciples, those who were following Him. And essentially He said that this man's understanding of authority, and specifically of Christ's authority, it was faith. And it was a greater faith than he had encountered with any in Israel up to this point. So how does our understanding of authority impact our faith? Well, it has to do with the person of Christ. And I don't think that you can actually separate these two, authority and faith. If we could, if you could separate authority and faith regarding Christ, then we could receive Christ as Savior, but not as Lord. You see, faith believes Jesus' identity. He's Messiah. Faith believes that. Saving faith recognizes and submits itself to His authority, His position. He is King. You know, incidentally, this is confirmed in a couple passages in the Scripture One, I see in Peter's confession that Jesus is the Christ. And Jesus saying that He will build His church upon His identity as Christ. So we have the authority and the identity of Christ there in Peter's confession. And then it's also confirmed, I believe, in the demonic legion's response to Jesus. So this was a collective group of evil spirits, and they interacted with Jesus, they spoke with him, they had a discussion, and they recognized Jesus for who he was. He says, what have we had to do with you, oh son of God? They knew him, they believed, they recognized. They even recognized that he had authority. They recognized that they were unable to oppose his authority. but still they willingly refuse to submit themselves to His authority. So Jesus speaks and things happen. Christ speaks and people believe. The Lord speaks and creation occurs because of His authority. One more account, Matthew chapter 21, we have this where the chief priests and the elders, they're coming to Jesus and they are questioning His authority. They ask really specifically, by what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you this authority? Now certainly when they asked this question, they weren't actually inquiring or interested in who this Jesus was. No. No, they really just wanted to trap Him. They wanted to catch Him in His words. They wanted to put Him between a rock and a hard place. They were attempting to pit Jesus' authority and Rome's authority. Well, of course, Jesus can't be outmaneuvered. So by the time you get to chapter 26, they had pretty much just given up trapping Jesus. And they just decided to make up a false claim. They decided to just falsely accuse him regarding his authority. And they were willing to go to such great lengths that they made this astounding, this shocking statement. They said, we have no king but Caesar. Are you serious? You actually said that? I mean, that's akin to them saying, we've never been enslaved to anyone. Come on, guys. How ignorant are you? Have you forgotten your history that quickly? You're currently enslaved, by the way. They said, we have no king but Caesar. You see, they rejected Jesus' authority. They rejected God's authority. And in rejecting that authority, these guys were left with only one other quote-unquote ultimate authority to which to appeal, and that was Caesar. That's why discussions of any substance inevitably return to religion and politics because these two are the only two quote-unquote final authorities. So whenever you and I allow our thinking to be influenced by these authorities, these professionals, these smart cats, scientists say, experts say, Whenever we allow our thinking to be influenced by authorities, whether they are legitimate or not, any authority that is lesser than Christ, that comes to a different conclusion than Christ, we end up with irrational positions. And it doesn't matter the context, whether it's military, whether it's political, whether it's religious, whether it's scientific, it doesn't matter. This is why solo scriptura is so important. This is why it's so reformational. Where does the authority lie? One other biblical passage I want to reference that I consider almost as a parallel to this in Joshua. Joshua chapter 5. I love this story. It's so full of power and symbolism. It's Joshua there. He's going out and doing this reconnaissance. Prior to the attack on Jericho, Joshua 5, 13-15, it says this, Now it came about, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked. And behold, a man was standing opposite him, with his sword drawn in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, Are you for us or for our adversaries? He said, No, rather I indeed come now as captain of the host of the Lord. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and bowed down and said to him, What has my Lord to say to his servant? The captain of the Lord's host said to Joshua, Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy. And Joshua did so. So what we see here is authority, multiple aspects of authority. We have political authority. He says, are you for us or for our adversaries? Which side of the aisle are you on? Are you a D or are you a R? Are you an independent? What are you? And Jesus says, no, come on. This political authority is so great that it commands respects from both sides of the aisle, from all. The authority here is so great, it doesn't matter who you want, it commands respect. It's a military authority. You know, he's standing there with a sword drawn. He is conducting a pre-assault reconnaissance, and he is called the captain of the host of the Lord. It's a military authority. There is a personal authority. He says, what does my Lord have to say to his servant? It's a personal authority. And he immediately submitted himself before Him once he was identified. He was a religious authority. He fell on his face and bowed down. This is holy ground. He is a religious authority. It's worship-inducing. And that's exactly what we have here in Matthew 28. All these authorities coming together in one person. The scriptural witness is clear that there is no authority rivaling the authority of Almighty God. There's none. Just simply His actions as Creator alone is enough to grant Him ultimate authority. But God is THE authority, and it is only by His authority that any other authority exists. And that's what Scripture says. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. But back to our text. Jesus isn't just saying that He has authority. He isn't just saying that He's got authority over this particular section, this particular little subset. No, He's not just saying that He's got authority even over Israel. He's not saying that He's got just authority over of all the nations. No, He has all authority everywhere at all times. And this emphasis upon all is indeed an intentional emphasis. And as you look at this, you've probably already noticed that this is the first of four explicit uses of this term all. All authority, verse 18. All nations, verse 19. All commands, verse 20. And at all times, all ways, verse 20. Now, I wouldn't be surprised if this mention of all authority, this mention of heaven and earth that we see here, isn't intended to push us all the way back to Genesis 1.1. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. See, both are verses of introduction. They're introducing us to beginnings, to foundations. Both introduces to supreme authority. Both are inclusive, that is, all are included. Both are exclusive, nothing is accepted. Both summarize everything. Both categorize the one with authority, those without or under authority. Both are comprehensive, total, heaven and earth, and I could keep going on. But Matthew wants to get our attention because this is a foundational statement. Christ's kingdom encompasses all because that's how big God is. Remember, my God is so big, so strong, and so mighty, there's nothing my God cannot do. Well, all authority in heaven and on earth. Well, heaven. What does that include? What does that look like? What is this authority in heaven? It's a lot of things. Well, there's the physical heaven, there's the visible sky outside, that it's always there, and even when it's night we can see it, and even the invisible elements within that visible sky. It includes that. Well, it's beyond the reaches of that visible sky into outer space. Okay, that's the second heaven. And this space is so large that we can't measure it. I mean, biblically speaking, the stars are equated to grains of sand on the earth. Count the stars if you're able to. No, it is so large that we can't fathom it. It's massive. And then there's what scripture refers to as the third heaven. We might call this the spiritual heaven. But where God is, if we can say that God is a particular place where He resides, this is there. And that's not just where He is, but also where all the other angelic beings are. It's where the creatures are in the throne room saying, holy, holy, holy. It would include even, at least I would include it here, in the Hadean world of the departed spirits. I might include that in the earth, that's whatever. But lastly, this heaven would also include what Paul references in Ephesians, prince of the power of the air and the spiritual forces of wickedness in heavenly places. So his authority extends even there. That's heaven, what about earth? Well, just as a quick aside here, I love the fact that despite man's just incessant idolatry, while all the other planets are named after false gods and goddesses, mythological things, Earth is still called Earth, which validates the scriptural account, because that's what God calls the Earth. Anyways, try to push God out of the picture and you can't. Geographically, this is the entire globe. It's the planet Earth. All the continents, all the nations, all the seas, all the deserts, all the rainforests, all the places of ice. Everything here. It's all things and all life on this planet. And the biblical narrative centers around this particular place on earth, this nation of Israel. And the earth would there begin, if we could say that, begins in Jerusalem, then extends out to Judea and Samaria, and then it goes out to the uttermost parts of the earth. The earth incorporates all. It's all who are on the earth, that is, all who are alive. It's all who are under the earth, that is, those who are dead. And on the earth would also mean all authority in every institution, be it familial, be it governmental, be it ecclesial, be it financial, political, Business, commercial, it doesn't matter. It's past, present, future. It's living, it's dead, it's near, it's far, it's cursed, it's redeemed, it's personal. It's every institution. It doesn't matter. It's all authority in heaven and on earth. One other thought about that. This includes all the authority within the Trinity. all the authority found within the Godhead. Remember, he says, it has been given to me. And the only being that has the authority to give that much authority away is God the Father and God the Spirit. So all the authority of the Godhead has been given to Christ Jesus. All authority. And that's why Jesus can say to baptize in the name of the Trinity. That's why it says at the end He will hand over the kingdom to God the Father when He has abolished all rule and all authority and all power. When all enemies are under His feet and the last enemy being death is abolished. This is why we preach Christ. Because it's all His. Solus Christus. This is why we preach Him. He has all authority. And if you haven't got the point, you can't give Jesus any authority. You can't make Him Lord of your life like an idol on a shelf. He is the Lord of your life. The only decision you get to make concerning Jesus' authority isn't a matter of does He have it or not. It isn't a matter of how much He has. It is whether or not you will accept His authority. And for the believer, if we're foolish enough to refuse to acknowledge Jesus' authority, to refuse to submit ourselves to His authority over this area or that area of life, then our mission effectiveness decreases. We may preach, we may teach, we may even be the means by which someone comes to know the Lord Jesus Christ and His authority, but our work won't be in full submission. It may even be in pretense. And whether Christ is proclaimed in pretense or in truth, well, God be praised, but let's be sure that you and I, that we personally bow our knee before Him within time rather than be forced on it in eternity. So drawing this to a close here, We remind ourselves that we're looking at the Great Commission, the mission of Christ to His church. We are considering Christ's will, Christ's mission. And we haven't even gotten to the actual statement itself. We haven't even gotten to the actual mission. We've just been preparing. We've looked at the necessary preparations. We've looked at now the legal authority for this operation. And here's a couple other things. And this is where it gets very personal. This is where it gets personally convicting, personally very weighty. Well, because of the fact that Jesus has all authority, there is no one who outranks Him. No one outranks King Jesus. And here He is, He has came up and He has spoken. We have a direct command from Him. It is a verbal command. It is a written command. Because of this mission of Jesus, none has the right to revoke it. No one has the right to retask you, to remission you. None can revoke their commission. You can't even revoke your commission. You can't resign it. You can't ignore it. But I wouldn't recommend that. We have some scriptural accounts in which church members were decommissioned. But that included and involved their death because they were found unfit for service. One of the brothers mentioned a battleship earlier, not just a cruise ship. You can go and you can see decommissioned battleships. These scriptural accounts of decommissioned individuals are there as dry docked ships always there to remind us that they were unfit for service and parked. Because Jesus has authority in every location, so should his disciples be in every location. They should be scattered in every field, every trade, every institution. They should be citizens of every country. They should be involved in every godly initiative. Even as creation is everywhere declaring the glory of God, so also should His people be, should Christ's disciples be there declaring His authority. They should be saying Jesus has all authority. Wherever they are, wherever people are, there should Christ's authority be proclaimed. There should His mission be enacted. Because as the hymn says, for everywhere that man can be, thou God art present there. Lastly, even as the children were discussing in the catechism today, Because God's authority is in heaven and on earth, so also His will ought to be done in heaven and on earth. What is His will? To go make disciples. Wherever you go, whatever you do, in whichever country you reside, do all to the glory of God. What glorifies God? The exaltation of Christ to save His people from their sin. You see, Christ hasn't just given us a command to do something, though He certainly has that prerogative. He has that right. He has that authority. He's not just given us a command to do something. This isn't simply the duty of a Christian, though it is our duty. This isn't just that. No, this is a task which King Jesus has authorized. He has authorized it. It's a legal operation. It's an authorized mission. But not only does Jesus hold the authority, not only is the mission authorized, you're authorized to conduct it. King Jesus has personally commissioned you. He has authorized you to make disciples. You know, people get all up in arms about their rights. Their right to free speech, their right to bear arms, their right to their own home, to privacy, to a fair trial, etc., etc. They get all up in arms about these rights. Listen, the King of heaven and earth has personally given His subjects, His citizens of the kingdom, a right. He has given you a right, the right to make disciples. Are you not going to exercise that right? If you don't exercise the right, If you want to give yourself a label, that is a hyper-Calvinist. That is a fatalist. If you don't exercise your right, that's what you are. If you don't exercise this right, it just might be taken away. And that is applicable to both individuals and to churches. For this same Jesus is the Living One. He has the keys of death and of Hades, the one who walks among the lampstands. He is the all authoritative one. He says to his disciples, to his church, do the deed you did at first. What did you do when you first became a Christian? Man, you were on fire, weren't you? You were just overjoyed and excited and you wanted to tell everybody. You at least wanted to tell somebody. Do the deed you did at first or else I'm coming to you and will move your lampstand out of its place unless you repent. Unless you repent. If you're his disciples, if you are his group of disciples, he's approached you. He has addressed you. He has authorized you. Will you not go? Will you not speak? Will you not act? All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. If God be for us, who can be against us? Who can be against us? All authority in heaven and on earth is mine, Jesus declares. May you, may I worship this King Jesus and be obedient to Him. Lord bless you.