Okay. Okay. So What a lovely day it is to assemble in the presence of our living God. It blows my mind to really think that the God of heaven and earth, who made the world in the space of six days, would invite us as people into His presence. And yet He does not because of our goodness or anything within us, but He invites us into His presence because Jesus, our Savior, has paved that way. He's torn the veil of the temple and allowed us to enter into his presence. And so I'm reminded of the beauty of this day. And as I was driving here this morning, what kept going through my mind is this is the day that the Lord has made. We'll rejoice and be glad in it. And so as we begin our worship this morning, I'd like to invite you to stand as I read Psalm 150. Listen carefully as the psalmist compares and calls the entire universe to enter into God's presence. Praise the Lord. Praise God in His sanctuary. Praise Him in His mighty firmament. Praise Him for His mighty acts. Praise Him according to His excellent greatness. Praise Him with the sound of trumpet. Praise Him with the sound of lute and harp. Praise Him with timbrel and dance. Praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes. Praise Him with loud cymbals. Praise Him with clashing cymbals. Let everything has breath. Praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord. Let's pray together as we enter into the presence of our Lord. Our Father, what a privilege we have to enter into the presence of you, the presence of your Son who is alive and not in a tomb, and in the power of the Holy Spirit who lives within us. And we thank you, Lord, that as we have assembled this day, as you have called us to do. We pray, Lord, that you would help us to set aside every distraction of this past week, or this morning, or the week to come. And may we hear your word by your Spirit. Would He be pleased to open the word to us, open our hearts, that we might receive it with joy and thanksgiving. And so now as we worship, as we give you our thanks and praise, we come with clean hands and pure hearts, not because of what we've done, but because of our Savior Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray, amen and amen. Let's turn to 327 in the Blue Hymn Book, and we're going to sing praise to the Lord Almighty, the King of creation. Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation. O my soul, praise Him, for He is thy health and salvation. Alleluia. Now to his temple draw near. Join me in glad adoration. Praise to the Lord, who o'er all things so wondrously reigneth, shelters thee under his wings, yea, so gently sustaineth. Except I've seen how thy desires here have been, Granted in what he ordaineth. All that is in me, adore him. All that has life and breath, come now with praises before him. Let the unman sound from his people again. Gladly flowing, we adore Him. Amen. Please be seated. We just sang, we just sang, all that is in me, adore Him. And when Jesus was asked, what is the greatest commandment? He said, to love the Lord your God with all your heart, all that is within you, all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. And the second is like unto it, love your neighbor as yourself. And so as we read the... Ten Commandments this morning, I trust that your minds will be reflective of the goodness of God in revealing to you, and to me, his character, his nature, his attributes, as well as our need to conform to his desires. Deuteronomy chapter 5, verse 6. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me, but showing mercy to thousands to those who love me and keep my commandments. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. Observe the Sabbath day. and keep it holy as the Lord your God commanded you. Six days shall you labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore, the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day. Honor your father and your mother as the Lord your God has commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may be well with you in the land which the Lord your God has given you. You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife. You shall not covet your neighbor's house, his field, his male servant, his female servant, his ox, his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's. Let's pray to the Lord. Our Father, when we compare ourselves to your righteous standard, we find ourselves coming up short. And that's why Paul wrote in The Book of Romans, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. And yet, Lord, as we confess our sins, we are reminded that you are faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Not that you would leave us in those sins, but that you will actually cleanse us from unrighteousness. And Lord, we're so thankful that in your word we read, there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. And Lord, as the old hymn says, Jesus is our only plea. We completely grasp the significance and the depth of that statement. Because we know that if in his love and compassion, he hadn't come to this world and died on this cross, we would still be in our sins. And so, Lord, as we are reminded this day that forgiveness is in His name, righteousness is found in Him, and that new life is given to us as a gift from the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of God dwells within us to convict us of sin, righteousness, and judgment, we want to thank you that we don't stand in condemnation There's no guilt in life because we've been forgiven. And so we thank you, Lord, that as we confess our sins, you are faithful and just to forgive us. And it's with that assurance and confidence that we come to you with thankful hearts because of King Jesus and his resurrection from the dead. Amen and amen. I'm going to read from Colossians chapter 2 as a reminder of God's goodness to us. Actually, Colossians 1, verse 12, we are giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saint in light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son, in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins. That is the goodness of God to us. As we continue our worship, we're going to turn to number 328 in the blue Trinity Hymnal. 328, my God, how wonderful thou art. My God, how wonderful Thou art! Thy majesty how bright! How beautiful Thy mercies seek In depths of burning light! Oh, how I fear Thee, living God, with deepest, simplest fears, and worship Thee with trembling hope and penitential tears. I may love Thee, O Lord, all my dear No earthly father loves like thee. No mother hath so mild. Thou art a sinful child. Amen. We have the opportunity as a congregation to bow our heads, our hearts, and unite together in prayer. And I trust that as I lead us in prayer, that you will pray along with me as you are in these chairs, worshiping, giving thanks to our Father for the privilege of entering into that presence. So let's pray together as we lift up the name of Jesus. Our Father, as we just sung, there is no Father on Earth that is like you. We understand, oh Lord, that you are compassionate, that you do not reward us according to our sins, that you are faithful and just, that you have a plan for our lives. And Lord, as we look at the things that we face each day and sometimes each week, and we wonder when will difficulties end, when will we be able to come up for air, As Solomon writes, when we look back at these days, we shall look back knowing, even with laughter, that you have ordered our days, our steps, and our moments. And Father, some of us here this morning have heavy hearts for situations in our lives. We, like Jeremiah, like John the Baptist, Like Jonah, many prophets, many of those in the scriptures asked, why, Lord? Even the psalmist, why, oh Lord? Are you listening? Have you heard our cries? And we know that you have, because deep down in our hearts, we have a confidence that the Spirit of God bears witness with our spirit that we are the sons and daughters of you. And we understand that as we pray Sometimes your answers, at least in our time clock, are delayed. And yet, Lord, we continue to knock on heaven's door. As Jesus taught the disciples in the book of Luke, with the persistence in prayer we come. And so, Lord, as we think about the situations in our lives, whether they be in our family, in our health, in our finances, whatever they are, Lord, we pray that You would begin to give us light and direction and help. Lord, we thank You that You sent Your only Son, Jesus, to be our Savior. Lord Jesus, we know that You had to be fully God and fully man to die on the cross for our sins. And as we have confessed those just a few moments ago, we pray that you would continue to make us sensitive. Lord, may we never have a seared conscience, but may we have a conscience that's soft to the prodding of the Spirit of God through the Word, that we would be reminded of our need to step into the walk that you have called us to, to honor Jesus with our whole heart, soul, mind, and strength. Lord, we thank you so much for the blessings of this life. To just be able to live in this country where we experience the freedoms that we have, the places where we live, the families that we get to enjoy, the church that we get to worship in, the unity and fellowship that we share, the bond in Christ. Lord, I pray that as we pray for one another, as we uphold one another in prayer, that you would cause us not only to weep with those who weep, but to rejoice with those who rejoice. And so, Lord, we are very thankful that there are pregnancies right now in the congregation. There are blessings of new life and children on the way. And we thank you, Lord, that you have met the needs here and that they care for one another in a way that's beyond comprehension. And we thank you, O Lord, as well, for those who are here this morning worshiping with us. We thank you for their faithful attendance, for their attention to the Word of God. For, Lord, we know that without the Scriptures, we would be lost in darkness. We would be hopeless. We would be helpless, wandering around in this world, not wondering what our purpose is, who we are, or how we even relate to you. And so we thank you for that authoritative, inspired word of God, inerrant word of God, that guides our steps. And so as we continue our worship, Lord, and as we give you our thanks for just the privilege of being here this morning, would you continue to bless our families, our church, and this nation that we might be able to live in peaceful and godly cultures, where we see your hand at work each day. And so we give you our thanks because of Jesus, in his matchless name. Amen. At this time, we have the opportunity to bring our tithes and offerings to the Lord. We read in scripture that the Lord has blessed us, and so as a result, we want to be a blessing to the ministry and the kingdom of God. So as we have prepared in our hearts, let us give with joy, knowing that God, as we read in scripture, loves a cheerful giver. Okay. Okay. So, Father, we thank you for the privilege of giving. We thank you that you have given the gifts of giving to some. And yet, Lord, we come with that which you have blessed us with, knowing that you know our hearts and our desire to honor you. And so we give you our thanks, and we give you our gifts, knowing that our time, our talents, and our treasures all belong to you. We are simply stewards. So we give you our thanks in the name of Jesus for being able to participate in kingdom work. Amen and amen. I'd like to invite you to stand with me as we sing 377, We Have Heard the Joyful Sound, Jesus Saves, Jesus Saves. We have heard the joyful sound. Jesus saves, Jesus saves. Spread the tidings all around. Jesus saves, Jesus saves. Revenue soon will hold the tides, seas, and cross the waves. Onward is our Lord's command. ♪ Jesus saves, Jesus saves ♪ ♪ Wafted on the rolling tide ♪ ♪ Jesus saves, Jesus saves ♪ ♪ Tell to sinners far and wide ♪ ♪ Jesus saves, Jesus saves ♪ ♪ Sing ye islands of the sea ♪ Echo back the ocean waves. Earth shall keep her jubilee. Jesus saves, Jesus saves. Sing above the battle's strife. Jesus saves, Jesus saves. By His death the pain was died. Jesus saves, Jesus saves. Jesus saves, Jesus saves. Give the winds a mighty voice, Jesus saves, Jesus saves. Nations now rejoice, Jesus saves, Jesus saves. Shout salvation, full and free. I seriously doubt that our text this morning is unfamiliar to anyone in this room. But it's called the Great Commission, and we read that in several of the Gospel accounts. But I'm going to read this for you, as we're going to dig into this text for a few moments this morning, to be reminded of what Jesus has to say to us as his disciples. In Matthew chapter 2, 28 verse 16, we read, Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him, they worshipped him, but some doubted. And 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. This morning and this evening, we're going to be talking about the centrality of the resurrection, not only to the disciples' understanding of what life is all about and eternity, but we're going to look at the centrality of the resurrection as it affects our lives and our actions in the future. Now, there are many reasons why I'm a pastor. I could sit and go down that road with you for a moment, but I will say there are many more reasons why I'm a Christian. Some of those overlap, but the reality is, I'm a Christian because there are so many reasons to believe, as R.C. Sproul had a series called, Reasons to Believe. If we were talking about reasons why we are Christians, or reasons to believe, we could talk about predictive prophecy. I could spend the next 25 minutes on just that one point, but this is an introduction so I can't do that But maybe we should do that at some point in the future predictive prophecy and how it relates to our faith Another reason why I know I'm a Christian is that we read in the scriptures that the Holy Spirit God the Holy Spirit who lives within us bears witness with our spirit and That is, there's an internal desire, an internal drive in my life that I want to follow Christ, that I want to even believe. I mean, if the Holy Spirit hadn't opened my eyes, hadn't, as it were, spiritually raised me from the dead, I wouldn't have any interest in spiritual things. I would love to do a series on prayer. I've had so many specific prayers answered in my life, you guys. He would say, I don't believe those. And I still stand in awe at the things that God has done. And we could go down that road as well, and I know you could all do that as well. You know, as a Christian, as a pastor, I've seen lives changed. I've seen families changed. There's nothing, outside of knowing that your children are walking with the Lord, there's nothing more exciting than to see an atheist come to faith in Christ and then join your church. That was so invigorating to me as a pastor, having the opportunity to share the gospel with people who were atheists. But the most convincing thing that I would say, and that which is indisputable, I mean, you could doubt my internal feelings and say, oh, that's just a feeling, Ralph, you're misled. Or you could say, change lives, yeah, maybe they just felt guilty for the things they did, and they really don't have any reasons to believe. The most convincing thing, my friends, is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. That's why we're going to spend this morning dealing with the goal of the resurrection in Matthew 28, and tonight we're going to look at the power of the resurrection. When I talk about the resurrection of Christ, it's historically true. There were eyewitnesses. The Apostle Paul tells us, at the time of writing 1 Corinthians, that there were over 513 people who saw Jesus alive. Well, maybe they were seen in apparition. Well, listen to this. Jesus appeared to individuals. He appeared to groups. He appeared to the groups of the disciples. Then he appeared to a bunch of folks at the same time. He appeared to the disciples on the road to Emmaus, more than one. He appeared not only to his friends, but he appeared to enemies. That's pretty profound. I mean, it's not like a bunch of people sat in a room and said, You know, Jesus was crucified. He's buried somewhere. We need to figure out how to keep this religion going that he started. So how can we do that? Well, why don't you go out and tell people that he healed your mother-in-law? Why don't you go out and tell people that you saw a man who was lame from birth, and he's now walking? That isn't what happened. It was so clear that after Jesus had risen from the dead, that historical documents outside of the New Testament speak of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And to me, that just is incredible. And I remember listening to one attorney. This goes back to the Watergate era. Some of you don't even know what Watergate is, I'm sure. But the attorney who was put into prison, Chuck Colson, I heard him speak down in Detroit at a prayer breakfast. And he said, I would love to be able to take the resurrection of Jesus Christ into a court of law, because I could prove it without doubt and beyond dispute that any jury would agree with the scriptures that says that Jesus rose from the dead. I'm like, that's pretty powerful. Obviously, at the time he was put in jail, but he became a Christian through that, and now that's why he would want to defend it. So today's theme, as I said this morning, is resurrection's goal. And if you have your outline that I threw on the table back there, or sat, I should say, we're going to look at three things that are bolded on your outline, the king's authority, the king's mission, and the king's presence. And when we talk about the king's authority in our text, that Jesus comes to the disciples for the Great Commission, and he says, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Now this is an interesting statement. Because first of all, when he says all authority, what is left? Nothing. in heaven and on earth. There's no other authority left. It's been handed to Jesus. And what he was doing at this point is he was actually stating that this authority that he had, not only as God the Son, but the authority that he earned by way of the cross has been given to him. Now, the reason why I say this is because when you look at throughout Scripture and you talk about the kingship of Christ, It's interesting because in Luke 1, verses 30-32, the angel tells Mary that Jesus would be given the throne of his father, David. But when did that happen? When was Jesus actually given the throne of his father, David? Is that something that's going to happen somewhere in the future yet, or has that already happened? When you look at Jesus' kingship, in Matthew chapter 4, you remember Satan comes to Jesus, and he says, Jesus, look at all the kingdoms of the world. Kingdoms of the world. If you simply bow down to me, I'll give you all of these kingdoms. Now, that was a real temptation. Because what was being stated here was, Jesus, you don't have to go to the cross to earn your throne. You could just simply bow down. If he had succumbed to that temptation, we wouldn't even have eternal life. We wouldn't have forgiveness. We wouldn't have direct access to our Heavenly Father. But instead, he turned that aside and refused to sin. Now keep in mind, folks, when we talk about temptation, there are two parts to temptation. The first one is the presentation of the evil, and the second part is actually succumbing to that evil. So when the scriptures talk about Jesus being tempted, in his heart, in his mind, bowing down to Satan was not even an option, though it was presented to him. It was presented to him in a very enticing way. Presenting evil to someone isn't sin. It's only sin, as James tells us, when we are drawn away by our own lusts, when we want that, when we say, I want to go for that. That's when we actually sin. So we could be in a room where sin's happening and it doesn't affect us. It's not drawing us away. Our heart's not saying, I want to do that. And so this temptation from Satan was really real. But Jesus didn't once flinch and say, let me think about this cross thing twice. He said, no, my mission is to go to the cross. When did Jesus earn his throne, folks? Remember the feeding of the 5,000? Does anyone remember what the response of the crowd was? After Jesus fed 5,000 people, that's just numbered according to men. You can double it if their wives were there, 10,000. If they brought one kid, there were 15,000 people there. There were a lot of people that he fed that day. You remember, at the end of feeding the 5,000, it said the people wanted to make him king. Remember that? You can imagine Satan coming to Jesus saying, Jesus, we got voters. They love you. You've just fed them. Everybody's got their bridge cards and their food stamps, and they got a free meal. They'll vote for you, Jesus. All you have to do is now step into this role as king. You see, it wasn't just at his temptation that Satan was tempting him, but along the way throughout his life, there were temptations where Satan was actually whispering in his ear, saying, there's opportunity here for you. So keep all that in mind as a background as we move into our second point, keeping a secret. All of us not only know how hard it is to keep a secret, but we've all been offended when someone didn't keep a secret. Did you ever wonder why Jesus said at least eight, maybe as many as 10 times, if there's some different people that he said this to, he healed the woman at the well. or forgave her sins, and you know what he said to her? Don't tell anybody. Remember those eight to 10 times in the Gospels? Don't tell anybody. Don't tell anybody. When he healed the leper, when he healed Jairus' daughter, when he healed the man who couldn't speak, when Peter said, you are the Christ, the son of the living God, profound statement on the deity, authority, messianic rule and kingship of Christ, Jesus says, don't tell anybody. Right? Remember all those? So now we come to our text, and it's interesting, because it goes from, keep it secret, to tell everybody. Take it to the ends of the earth. So we have to ask, what changed? What happened? Why would Jesus tell 8 to 10 people, at least that we have recorded? There may have been more recorded. Don't tell anybody what I did for you. Don't tell anybody. Don't tell anybody. Keep it quiet. Of course, none of them did. And it was obvious. If a man had been sitting by a pool his whole life, and now he can walk, you would have to say, what happened? Well, this guy, this man named Jesus healed me. But now Jesus gives his disciples full authority. He charges them now to go. It's interesting, if you look at Mark chapter 9, I think we get a hint at the reason why Jesus told these people to keep it secret, and now he says, go tell everybody. In Mark chapter 9, remember they're on the Mount of Transfiguration. The disciples are just soaking this in. Wow, we've never seen this before. We got to see Moses and Elijah. Peter wants to hang out for a while, build some tents, let's keep this going. And Jesus says, don't tell anyone until the resurrection. That's the key point. Don't tell anyone until I arise from the dead. Now, why would he say that? Well, the Jews wanted to make him king at one point after he fed 5,000 to 15,000 or more. The other people, as the news goes out, it brought questions from the religious leaders about who Jesus is. And he's actually, on our turf, healing. And they weren't happy with that. So it could prematurely change things if people, everybody knew what was going on. And so Jesus is very clear to say, don't tell anybody until the resurrection. So between all of those and right now in Matthew 28, we now have Jesus risen from the dead, standing in front of his disciples, saying all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me, go and make disciples. So what Jesus is actually doing here, friends, is He's extending His authority. He's already said, all authority has been given to me, Jesus, and now He's saying, you disciples, take that authority to the ends of the earth, to the nations. When He says, all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth, those are two important qualifiers. In heaven, as you may recall, I think I've mentioned this here, that in the ancient Near East, whether you were a pharaoh, whether you were the king Nebuchadnezzar, whether you were a king in Israel, your son was sitting on the throne with you. And when we talk about the kingship of Christ, if you have the father ruling the nation, and the son sitting on the throne with him, it's not like there's a lower throne that he's sitting on. I remember going the first time in the Detroit Pistons basketball clubhouse. Those are some big boys, number one. Number two, they would take up two of these chairs. I mean, we're talking big boys. And the chairs that they sat in were at least this wide. If they're getting some medical care, or they're spraying their ankle or something, they weren't in it. I don't know how much I can describe it. It's like piano bench. It's huge. I mean, it's like, are you kidding me? I mean, I felt small. You go to Prisky's Market, and they've got that big chair, right? You know that big chair? It's like that. You just feel small. Well, it was big enough in the ancient Near East that the father and the son could sit on the throne. So if the father went off to war to actually fight, the son's still sitting on the throne. He's not sitting on a lower throne, he's sitting on the throne. So when Jesus says, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me." That's the imagery that should come to our minds. That Jesus has been given the authority to sit on David's throne, which is equal with the Father's throne at this point. In heaven and on earth. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. How did the New Testament apostles understand this phrase? All authority on earth has been given to me? Well, first of all, in Daniel chapter 7, it talks about the Son of Man being given dominion over the world. If you read Revelation 1-5, and I'll just read these to you quickly, John writes, Grace to you and peace from Him who is, who was, and who is to come. From Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. Interesting. Jesus has been given the authority, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me, and John the Apostle tells us that Jesus is ruler over the kings of the earth. I don't know about you, but that strikes me quite interestingly. In 1 Timothy 5, Paul says the same thing. Well, let me back up, I didn't finish Revelation 1-5. He is the king of the rulers of the earth to him who loves us and has freed us from his sins by his blood to him be glory and Dominion forever and ever so Christ is the king of kings and lord of lords and that's what Paul tells us in first Corinthians I'm sorry in first Timothy chapter 6 that Jesus is the blessed and only sovereign the king of kings and lord of lords as you know and you as you keep reading in Revelation we are told that that Jesus is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. That's how the New Testament writers understood Him. And we're going to look at that this evening when we talk about the power of the resurrection. Our second point this morning is the King's mission. We want to look at the what, the who, and the how. But what is this? What is the mission? Well, you know, a lot of people, I've heard sermons growing up over the years, a lot of pastors would preach on this text and they would say, you need to go, you need to go across the seas, you need to be a foreign missionary. But the language of what Jesus is saying, the command isn't, go. It assumes you're going, because He's already sent the 12, and then He sent the 70, and now He's sending disciples to the end of the age. That is, all of us. He's assuming that we're going to go. So literally, the language is, and you're going. It's assumed you're going to be going. You're going to go whether you're going across the seas to be a missionary. You're going to go whether you walk across a room to talk to a friend about Jesus. You're going to go if you're at a restaurant. You're going to go wherever you are. In your going, the text says, make disciples. That's the central command of the text. That's what we have to understand. The king's mission is to make disciples. It's not just converts. I grew up Baptist. And any time Billy Graham was on TV, my dad was always watching Billy Graham. He was Southern Baptist, for those of you who didn't know. And it was the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Jesus is calling us not just to get converts or to lead an atheist to Jesus. He's calling us to make disciples. That's really clear. It's very clear. There's a process. It says, baptizing and teaching, baptizing them in the name of the triune God, teaching them to obey all things that I have commanded. So Christianity is not just a spectator. I shouldn't say it's not just. It isn't a spectator religion. It's a religion in which we are actively growing, learning, Taking it to the next level as it were as we understand our responsibilities You know ongoing instruction in everything that Christ commanded is so critical and what is he commanded? Well, we could take the whole scriptures That's why Paul says in Acts chapter 20. I have not shrunk back from declaring to you the whole Thank you counsel of God That's the mission So that that's what he's called us to do it. Now. The question is who? If you have your Bible open, it says, baptizing and making, go therefore and make disciples of all nations. Thank you. There are a few that can read. Appreciate that. Of all nations. Now, in all honesty, the word for nations is the word ethne in Greek. It's where we get the word ethnos, like ethnicity. And friends, I'll say this. I've read literature on both sides of the camp here. And there are people who read this and say, well, when Jesus says, go make disciples of all nations, He's not talking about nations that you and I think of normally. We have borders. You have to show a visa to get into Switzerland. You have to have permission to enter Russia. That's not what Jesus is talking about. He's just saying, go to ethnicities. Well, that is a possible interpretation of this word. So it could be ethnicities. It could be people groups. It could also be used in a general sense of Gentiles. We have references in which the same word is not, it's contrasting Jews and Gentiles. So take the gospel to all Gentiles. Again, removing the concept of nations as we might understand it in our culture today. I would suggest to you this morning But if we're going to understand what Jesus is saying, we have to understand what the Old Testament is saying. Because remember when Jesus was walking down the road to Emmaus with the disciples, He explained the things concerning Him from the Law, the Psalms, and the Prophets. He was going to the Scriptures to understand. And not only was Jesus doing that, but the New Testament Christians, their Bible, friends, was the Old Testament. Right? The rest of the scriptures weren't around then. Paul hadn't written, Peter hadn't written anything. So could Jesus be using this word, nations, in the sense that America, Russia, China, Ukraine? Well, we actually, as mission boards, we go to those nations, number one, but how did the New Testament understand that? Well, I will say that if you look at the... I don't even know where to tell you to begin, because there's so much evidence that if we have a theological bent, and we say, well, we don't think the Gospel changes nations, it only changes individuals. So therefore, this can't be talking about nations, as you and I understand, with borders, and etc., different countries, etc. My point is this. Rather than read into this text, let's let it read into us. And so in order to do that, we compare scripture with scripture. So we have to ask ourselves, not only how did the Old Testament read in this, but if you look at all over the scriptures in the Old Testament, you had that word nation translated from the Hebrew into the Greek. And it's the word ethnos, or ethne, nations plural. Ethnos is singular, ethne is plural. You have the root of the word. Those of you who are foreign language folks, you'll understand that. But my point is simply this. It uses that word and talks about the nations, the Medes and the Persians, and all those nations in the Old Testament. We read that the nations will come and worship the Lord in the Psalms. We read that. Is it just talking about ethnic groups? Well, I might suggest to you that, yeah, it can be used different ways in the Old Testament as well, but there are many, many more occasions where it's talking about specific nations. The word ethne does. But here's my biggest pull on this. It comes from the Apostle Paul on two occasions. In Genesis chapter 12, verse 3. Moses writes what God told Abraham was, in you, Abraham, all of the families of the earth will be blessed. And it literally means families. It means people groups. That's what it means. But when Paul quotes Genesis 12.3 in Galatians chapter 3, verse 8, He doesn't use the word that would fit for people groups. Rather, he uses the word ethne. In you, all the nations of the earth will be blessed. So we say, OK, so why is Paul not really going with the word laos? That would be talking about people in a more personal, family sense. Well, if we go back to Paul through Luke, as Paul's preaching to the Athenians, Paul uses the word nations. in Acts chapter 17, and he uses the word nations, and he says regarding the nations that God has set their time and their boundaries. I don't know about you, but that sounds like he's narrowing it. That sounds to me like Paul saying there are nations with boundaries that need to hear of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It doesn't matter if we can just go right into that nation, or if we need a visa, or we need a passport, whatever it takes. Paul in Acts 17 says there are nations with boundaries that God has set up so that people would perhaps seek Him. To me that's really clear. The word boundaries literally is made up of two words, which means setting limits or setting boundaries. That's why it's translated boundaries. It's the only place in the New Testament where that word occurs. And I can't help but think, as Paul used his Roman citizenship, he says, you can't beat me, I'm a Roman. than Acts 22. Paul realizes that his citizenship means something. So when he talks about nations, he's part of the nation of Rome, he's part of that nation, and that has certain benefits. So when he says, God has given us boundaries, that perhaps people would seek him, that's the context in which he's giving this statement. So friends, as we look at this, When he says three times, all authority has been given to me. All nations need to be discipled. All that I have commanded. I mean, we can't narrow that down and say, okay, it's not important. The word all is important, the word nations is important, the word authority and his commands are clearly stated there. That is our mission. conscientiously see that the gospel changes not simply individuals, not simply families, not simply cities, but it will change nations. And we've seen that throughout history. I could debate anybody on what this word nations means. Does it mean Gentiles in general? Does it mean people groups? Or does it mean nations with borders? We could talk about that. But I can tell you there's one thing that anyone and everyone will have to agree on. It does not mean individual. We read this and we say, go and make disciples of all nations. And we think once we have discipled one person, we're done. We're good. It's not that that's not important. That is so significant, because when, say, dad changes in the family, and statistics are really crazy on these. I mean, people track this, George Barnard. When dad becomes a Christian in a non-Christian home, the chances of everybody else in that family following, wife, children, it's like 80%. If mom becomes a Christian and dad doesn't, it drops down to about 35 or 40%. So, individuals being saved, being forgiven, getting baptized, and coming into the family of God, and understanding that they need to teach and observe all things that Jesus taught, individuals are important. But my point is, Jesus' vision is greater than just a bunch of individuals dotting all over the world's landscape. His vision is bigger than that. It's based on Old Testament, where nations you've made will worship you. Psalm 91 or 2. We could just get out your concordance. You could get that out and just look up the word nations and chase it through the Old Testament. I think you're going to be convinced that what I'm sharing with you in such a truncated way is so true. So I'm going to just wrap up our third point really quick. The King's presence, lo, I am with you always to the end of the age. Friends, whenever you step out to speak to someone about Jesus, It's not that you're going by yourself. You are going out in the presence of Jesus Christ. You are representing him. I find it interesting that before Jesus ascended into heaven, in fact, while he was in the garden, he was talking to the disciples, and he said, I'm not going to leave you as orphans. You're not going to be like people that don't have a father, and you don't know who your mother is, and you're just by yourself somewhere lost. I'm not going to leave you as orphans. I'm going to send you the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will live within you. He will guide you into all truth. He will convict you and the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. All of these things that Jesus says regarding the Holy Spirit are actually revealed and happen in your and my life. Because where is Jesus? He's seated at the right hand of the Father. So how is he everywhere present till the end of the age? Remember that big theological debate, did the Father send the Spirit, or did the Father and the Son send the Spirit? The Father and the Son sent the Spirit. This really echoes the Immanuel, God with us. His name will be called Immanuel, God with us. He's with us through the presence of the Holy Spirit who lives within us to the end of the age. Let me wrap this up really quickly, folks. It is the resurrection of Jesus Christ that gives him all authority. That is, He is the King. That's why I have these points, the King's authority, the King's message, and the King's presence, because He is King. And we're going to see that really clearly tonight from Acts 2, there's no question about that. But this tells us, first of all, that we need to be in submission to the Lord. I'd love to ask this question, what area of life is Jesus not Lord over? for you and for me. What area of life is Jesus not Lord over? Whether, therefore, you eat or drink something that mundane, daily activities or whatever you do, dwell to the glory of God. Friends, Jesus is Lord over every area of life. He's Lord over your business. He's Lord over your life. He's Lord over your family. He's Lord over this church, he's lord over culture, he's the lord of lords, he's lord over governments right now, ruling and reigning. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15, because of the resurrection and because he's seated at the right hand of God, here's the quote, he must reign currently now until he puts all his enemies under his feet. And so the resurrection goal is not just people individuals having a statement of faith in Christ, it's broader than that. It's really clear that it's much broader that nations would bow down. That's why people from every tribe, nation, kindred, and tongue, that's why this is so important for us to understand. And our founders understood that though individuals will be judged in the final day before the Lord, the Lord punishes nations this side for what they do with the light that he's given to them. We need to intentionally speak the Lord's name. As I said to you earlier, Christ may not be calling you to go across the ocean, but he's calling you to go across the street or across the room because he desires all men everywhere to repent. I would encourage all of us friends, even you young people. I remember the first person I led to the Lord was one of my best friends. I was in fifth grade. We sat in my bedroom, and I talked to him about Jesus. He was a fun kid to be around. And I said, Dave, you need to understand that even though you're not going to church, and we do that every Sunday in our home, you need to understand that God loves you, too. And Dave became a Christian. His mom and dad came to his baptism. Dave is still walking with the Lord today. He lives in Wisconsin. He's got a family. And I'll never forget that, because I had a heart for this kid. And I remember sending, this is going to really date me, I sent personal, handwritten, sixth grade handwriting letters to Batman. Batman was on TV. What was that, guys? Who played that role? Doesn't matter. Who was it? Adam West. Thank you, yes. Thank you. But he's old as me. I sent personal handwritten letters to him, to Wilt Chamberlain, to Jerry West. I love basketball. Because I wanted them to hear. And young people, you can do the same thing. Your friends, friends in the neighborhood, friends in Antrim County, they're lost. They don't know where they're going. They don't know who they are. And you have a tremendous opportunity to influence and affect them for the Lord for eternity. Just this week, I had a former neighbor who moved to Florida reach out to me. And he sent me a text and said, Pastor Ralph, I'd love to talk to you. So I responded with a phone call. And he told me he's got ALS, Lou Gehrig's disease. There's no cure for that. And his sister asked him a week or two ago, how's your soul? He knows where his soul is. And 10 years ago, he helped us through a difficult situation with our granddaughter. He drove me to get some things in a foot and a half of snow that my car wouldn't go through. But because he worked for Ford Motor, he had a four-wheel drive big vehicle that could go through all that. So we spent a little time together. And the fact that our 21-day-old granddaughter died was a good opportunity for me to talk to him about heaven and hell. And I said, Roger, I said, The reason why I'm sharing this with you is because I want you to spend eternity with us in heaven. And he looked at me and he said, Ralph, that's the nicest thing that anyone's ever said to me. So when his sister said, how's your soul? Who are you going to talk to? He said, I got a guy, a guy I want to talk to. So I'm going to be going over to his house in a week or so. But you will have that kind of an impact in people's lives if you take the opportunities that God gives you. That's why it's a command to make disciples, baptizing, teaching. And friends, it's amazing when you see the Lord change people's lives when they say, I don't need that. The church is full of hypocrites. It's amazing when you see God actually change those people's lives. That's why tonight we're going to look at the power of the resurrection, to do that. Not simply to change individuals, but in so doing, changing culture. Let's pray together. Lord God, as we bow before you as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, we thank you that you are the Sovereign, as the Apostle Paul tells us. Lord, that nothing goes on in this world without your notice, without your decisions without your working, and even in difficult situations in our lives when we are wondering, where are you? I'm reminded of the statement in Genesis chapter 50, what people mean for evil, you mean for good. And you are so powerful, you're able to take those difficult situations and turn them into something that is honoring to yourself, that is good for us, that actually helps us along life's path. And through our faith in you, we see the miracles that you perform. So Lord, we ask this morning that as we think of the resurrection's goal to make disciples, not just talk about the resurrection, but actually see people initiated into the church, see people growing in their faith, and then multiplying that. Lord, that's the goal, the resurrection. We understand that Christ said it was finished and he accomplished everything, that our sins would be forgiven. We understand that. But it's not just information. It's motivation. It's direction. So we thank you again for this day, and that we can reflect on the words of Jesus as the King of kings and Lord of lords. For his glory and fame. Amen and amen. We're going to sing 405 as a hymn of response. The message we've heard, I'm going to invite you to stand with me as we sing, Far and Near the Fields are Teeming. Far and near the fields are teeming with the rain. Far and near their gold is gleaming o'er the sunny slope and plain. Lord of harvest, send forth reapers here to thee we cry. Send them now the shears to gather near the harvest time pass by. We send them in the noontide's glare. When the sun's last rays are gleaming, bid them gather everywhere. Lord, our beds send forth reapers here. So to thee we cry. Send them now in sheaths to gather near, the hottest time pass by. Thou whom Christ the Lord has sent, We gather now the sheaves of gold, and we're there at evening when we come, come with joy untold. Lord, the harvest and the fruits, give us all to thee weep. Receive as the benediction these last two verses in Jude's short letter. Now to him who is able to keep you from falling, to present you blameless before his presence, without fault and great joy, to the only God our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord. Be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority before all our time, now and forever. Amen and amen. 472 for our final reflection. ♪ Christ, Lord, our Savior dear ♪ ♪ Is not died, if Thou art near ♪ ♪ O may the earthborn clouds arise ♪ ♪ To hide Thee from Thy servant's eyes ♪ ♪ When this obtuse of kings ♪ My weary eyes gently see, Thee my rest on the street to rest, Forever on my Savior's breast. Abide with me from morn to eve, for without thee I cannot be. Abide with me when night is nigh, for without thee I dare not sleep. Is the Lord your wandering child of thine? Has firm dedicated thy voice divine? Now, Lord, the gracious birth begin, Let him now with peace descend. me, Lord, for Thy dear Son, that You, that I, this day, have done. With my powerless self, indeed, I ere I sleep, at Thee sleeping, May my soul on Thee repose, and with sweet sleep my eyelids close. Sleep that may morn this day, to serve my God when I awake. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him all creatures here below. Praise Him above the heavenly host. Praise Mother, Son, and Holy Ghost. And all God's people said, Amen. Go in peace.