Let us read further in Matthew's gospel in chapter 5. Chapter 5 and read a few verses there and seeing the multitudes he went up into a mountain And when he was set, his disciples came unto him, and he opened his mouth and taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. 13 Ye are the salt of the earth. If the salt have lost its savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is henceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. 14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel but on a candlestick, and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven. And so on. This morning, friends, considering especially what we read in the final words of Matthew's Gospel, we shall look at what is the work of the Church of Jesus Christ. What is our business in this world? It's summed up here by our Master who has given us the task to do. He said, In verse 18, all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. here Christ gives a vision to his church as to what she is here for and what she has to do. This is the work of the church. If you came with me to East Glasgow and visited one of the factories there, let's say the McVitie's factory where you get your rich tea and digestive biscuits, you walked into that factory and wandered around there, somebody would soon ask you, What are you doing? What are you doing here? If you're just wandering around looking at the baking and the mixing and the packing, then you would soon be asked to leave because you weren't doing anything. You weren't part of the business of that factory. And so what we've got to ask ourselves is, are we part of the business of the church? Are we just wandering around, suiting ourselves? Or do we feel engaged that a great work is going on, directed by the great manager and master of this mighty operation? to go into all the world and teach all nations. This is the reminder that we have. from the risen Christ that this is why he has made his church this is why we're here to reach the whole world that he says all nations without exception how far have we got in achieving this task and how committed are we to this great work he has done so much of the task he has gone through fire and water he has gone through his humiliation he has faithfully called his disciples here in his in our flesh he lived and he died for us and then at his resurrection as he parts from his people he says here is the work here is where you have to continue what i have begun here is the work of the church perhaps we can think of this in in four stages it's a matter of going when it says go ye therefore and teach a the literal greek says go teaching go discipling is the word go therefore discipling baptizing teaching so it's a going to do something and so we'll first of all think of going out with him he says i am with you what a glorious Way to go. If we go, we have him with us. If we don't go, we won't have him with us. If we stop going, he will stop accompanying us. It's as simple as that. That's how essential it is that we are a going church, a going out church, going out with him. Secondly, going molding others with him, teaching. We're to go teaching, discipling. Thirdly, we're to go uniting, uniting sinners to him. That's what baptizing means, uniting sinners with him. And in verse 20, go training, training an army. at his command. I have commanded to doing what he has commanded. So let's see what it is to be going out with him. What a wonderful privilege to be going out in the company of Christ. For this purpose, of course, he has sent out his spirit upon us and his spirit leads us as we fulfill his command. And very often we might feel, well, I just don't feel I can do this. How can I possibly do the work of God? How can I possibly be part of accomplishing his work? Well, to do this, first of all, there are three things, three things, friends, about going out with him. First of all, he gives us a vision of his glory. That's a wonderful incentive, isn't it? He says here, all power is given unto me in heaven and earth, therefore go. This is how we get the inspiration. We are compelled when we recapture the vision of this one who was humbled, who bled, who was despised and rejected and yet in so doing bearing our sin all the way to Calvary and purging away all our sins so that we could then go with him. He's done all this. But where is he now? He says he is in the place in heaven, all power in heaven, and an earth is mine. And we have to keep that bright vision before us. As Psalm 16 said, I've set the Lord always before me. And so as a church, as we go out into the world from our worship, we go with this vision before us of his glorious honor and reward and status and position high above all principalities and powers. Yes, Paul says, that he's been given a name above every name that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow. Once we've captured that vision, we can think, well, what else can I do? If I'm following the Savior, then I'll go out to see his glory made known wherever I possibly can. You can't do it yourself, of course. the Spirit. He goes with you and gives you a ministry to a lost world until finally every nation is going to hear. He doesn't send us on a half measures There was much to be done, but all nations will bow, it says in Psalm 86. All nations shall come and worship before him. We're heading in that direction. So let's see what parts we can have. Are we wandering around the factory, contributing nothing, or are we part of the great business of the church? accomplishing his vision, the vision of his glory. Not only do we have this vision of his ascended glory, having conquered death and having sat down at the right hand of the Father, but we have the stamp of his authority. If we are challenged in any way about what we're doing, then we've got an answer. he has authorized this. This is not the authority of some government or some charity or some business. It's the authority of the king of kings. All authority is the word. Exousia means authority. All authority is given unto me. He's got the right to send us everywhere. We know how the devil claimed the kingdoms of this world when he said, all these will I give you for they are mine. There in the Garden of Eden, he overthrew the sovereignty of Adam and ascended the throne of the earth and so was able to claim everything as his until the new Adam came and toppled him off. his pinnacle and he is thrown and Christ is now the ruler, the head of all humanity, the ruler of all the nations. He has defeated Satan, driven him from his usurpation and so he has the right before heaven. He has the authority and so whenever we are challenged We can say, I come in the name of the king. He has his claim on you. And when we face the challenge of the powers of darkness and of Satan, we can say, in the name of Christ. If you go out to Africa, you'll find that there are people there oppressed or possessed by the devil, and you have to claim authority of the risen Christ. You've to plead the blood and the power of that blood and you'll see the demons cringe and depart under the authority. We've got that authority. He tells us it's how mine and therefore I give it to you. What he's doing here is he is It's a covenantal statement. He's saying, here am I, the sovereign, who am declaring the terms of the covenant. And the terms are this. Here is the obligation that you have as a subject of the covenant. Your obligation is to go. Go discipling, go baptizing, go teaching. It's a stamp of his authority. And thirdly, friends, we go with him when we realize the power of his integrity. If you look at Romans chapter 1, you see how Paul is motivated in his great evangelistic work. And as he's writing to the Romans, he tells them, this is why I can do what I'm doing. He says, I'm called to be an apostle separated to the gospel concerning his son, Jesus Christ, made of the seed of David and declared to be the son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead. There Paul is grasping hold of what Jesus said on that mountain in Galilee. after having risen from the dead. He said he's declared to be the son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead. And when he talks about being the son of God, it means not only that he is the second person of the Trinity, but it means that he is the covenantal head of the people of God. He is the son. And so, it's this power, resurrection power, which is available to us. In other words, you and I have supernatural power available with which to confront all the natural powers of the world and of the flesh. We've got at our disposal the supernatural power, resurrection power of Christ. As Paul tells us in Philippians, he says, that I may share in the power of his resurrection. You have a share too. You can claim that share. Go in obedience and experience the power, resurrection power going with you. And secondly, friends, we go, as I've said, molding others With him we go with him to mold others. It says here a teaching all Nations this kingdom of God is spread by knowledge and Not only knowledge but discipleship free because the word here teaching is the word of the same word as the disciples. And when you think of discipling, it's more than just being sitting in a school class. It means three things. It means a forsaking. As soon as you move, as soon as you go somewhere, you leave something behind. And that must be the spirit with which the church lives and walks. There are things that have to be left behind, just as when the disciples were first called, as Matthew tells us, the men were fishing by the lake of Galilee, they were getting on with the business of their lives and supporting their families, but all of that changed when they were told that they had to forsake all that they had and here we have it. He said to them, follow me and I will make you fishers of men and they straightway left their nets and followed him. Didn't just follow him, they left their nets. Perhaps some of us are dragging nets of one kind or another behind us and it's hindering us from doing the work that the Lord wants us to do. What is that net that you're still clinging to? You know how little children very often have a blanket that they drag around with them, a comfort blanket? I'm afraid it's like that with some of us. We're still clinging to false comforts when we need to be out there for the Lord, forsaking all others. This discipleship also means finding the truth. Remember how when Jesus was teaching after feeding the 5,000, there were many, many who turned away from him. It seemed as if they were all going to desert him until at last Jesus said to the disciples, will you also go away? What was Peter's answer? Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We need the truth. We have to have the truth. And you are the only source of truth. And therefore, we have to go where you go. We have to be with you where you are. That's the role of the church as it fulfills its commission from Christ. And it also means fashioning new recruits for him. You know what it says in Romans chapter 12? That after we've realized what Christ has done for us, Paul says, therefore, knowing the mercies of God, I beseech you. I beseech you, therefore, to be transformed by the renewing of your mind. that you may prove what is that good and acceptable will of God. There's a molding, friends. But there's also going. At his bidding involves drawing sinners to him, uniting sinners with him. He says here in Matthew chapter 28 and verse 19, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. I wonder if we really appreciate what our baptism signifies, how precious it is to us. You remember how before Jesus began his ministry, John the Baptist was doing his work. He's called a Baptist because his great work was baptizing. And yet you find from Acts that this baptism was not sufficient. It's called a baptism for the remission of sins. Well, you say, isn't that all we need? No, it's only a preparatory baptism that John had. And when Jesus came, he was baptized with the baptism of John. Why was that? Why did he go into that water? Did he need to be cleansed? Well, friends, the truth is that that water, that Jordan River was polluted. It was already polluted with all the sins, symbolically, all the sins of these people that John had already baptized. And so when Jesus went into that water, he was defiling himself. He was polluting himself with the sins of these people. He took their defilement. He was made sin for us by that baptism at the Jordan. But in taking the sins, the pollution of that river, he was purifying that river. so that when his disciples began baptizing in his name, they received that purification of Christ. And so it's all a matter of identification. Christ has identified himself with us and with our sins, and we identify ourselves with him and all who are baptized are identified united brought into a union with christ first of all by water but of course water is only an outward external symbol isn't it it's not that water of baptism that's going to save you and unite you forever to christ remember what jesus said In John chapter three, verse five, he said, except a man be born again of water and the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. And what Jesus is saying there is that we need a baptism, but we need a baptism of the spirit. That's what our new birth is. It's a baptism of the Spirit. And when we go out, when we go out in Jesus' name and preach a gospel, whether it's in North America or Sri Lanka or Zambia or London or whatever it is, and people come to a knowledge of the Lord and we baptize them, we are recognizing that they have been baptized by the Holy Ghost. baptizing them in the name of the Holy Ghost. When they're identified, when they commit themselves to the name of the Trinity, they are witnessing that the Holy Spirit has brought them, cleansed them and brought them to newness of life. It's by water and the Spirit. But you remember how when John the Baptist was preaching and proclaiming and foretelling Christ's coming, he said, I baptize you with water, but he shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Have you received that baptism of fire? We know fire, of course, so often symbolizes painful purification. that's what discipleship that's what Jesus says when he says go that's what he's what he says when he says you're going to baptize them it says he's saying that they are identifying themselves not only with Christ in his suffering but experiencing his suffering Paul says again in Philippians he says that i may know the fellowship of his suffering you know something of suffering don't you can you see you can you identify whatever pains you have mental or physical or spiritual can you identify them with christ's suffering can you say i'm having a share i'm tasting something of his suffering And that's the way I will be purified. That's the way I will also be identifying myself more closely with my Savior and Lord. That's the way I will be prepared to go further and further and further in obedience. And when you look at a third point here concerning baptism, you look at the epistle of John, first epistle and chapter five, We read there again something that's very closely associated with baptism and that is the witness. Remember how when Jesus was baptized there was a witness from heaven from the father and from the descent of the dove upon him and this is how This is how John describes it in his epistle in chapter five. Let me just find that, verses seven and eight. He says there, This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ. Not by water only, but by water and blood, and it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that bear record on heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness on earth, the Spirit, the water, and the blood. and these three agree in one. So our baptism is not just a baptism of water and fire, it's a batter of water and blood. In other words, our baptism speaks about the atoning work of the shed blood of Christ. And when we go out, we ask people to identify with Jesus they must understand there can be no union with him apart from understanding and claiming by faith that perfect sufficient sacrifice of his cross and his blood That's the mission of the church. And there's one last thing about the mission that we have. Jesus said, baptizing them into the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. What was he referring to here when he's saying the role of the church is to teach? Well, you remember that he had told the women through the angel and repeated it personally to the women, go and tell my disciples to meet you in Galilee on the mountain that I have appointed. Well, could this be any other mountain than the mountain that we read about? in Matthew chapter 5, because there it's specifically stated, seeing the multitude, he went up into a mountain and when he was set, his disciples came unto him. There you have a premonition, you could call it. before acting out of that final meeting of his disciples in the mountain. And on this mountain, in chapter five, he gives the training instructions that, of course, they never forgot because Matthew has recorded it almost word for word, you could say, in these chapters. And so here is what to carry with us. As we go out with him, as we train others for him, how can we sum it up? Because we only have time to sum it up here, what this teaching is. First of all, it's declaring an empire of peace. declaring an empire of peace. When you look at the blessings that are proclaimed here, when you see how Jesus said, when someone has offended you, then first be reconciled to your brother and then come to the altar. It's because Christ is proclaiming a new order, not of enmity and strife, but his kingdom and his influence and his authority and his power. It's a power that brings peace. In fact, you heard the story of the Emperor Napoleon. After all his great campaigns, he was defeated. And he was heard to say, In his comment about his own life and the life of others, there have been many conquerors of this earth, but all have been defeated except one, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. We conquered by force, he conquered by love. That is the way we are to conquer the world, introduce an empire of peace. as we train and teach. We have to train, we have to inspire a passion for purity. Remember how he said, if your eye offends you, pluck it from you and cast it from you. It's better to enter into a life with one eye than to enter into hell fire with two eyes and of course you're talking about reference to immorality and adultery and all kinds of things like that it's this this kingdom is a kingdom with a passion for purity perhaps one other thing we could mention here is it's a kingdom with heritage at the end of chapter, well, further on chapter five, it says, he says here, lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt. This is the message that we are taking with us. This is what we have to teach people. And how busy are we? This is the business of the church. It's a matter of laying up treasure day by day. Some people are trying to accrue funds for the retirement. They're struggling these days to find how to find savings or an annuity or a pension. And they say, what can we do? It just seems to melt away before we can get the benefit of it. That's what Jesus says. He says, moth and rust corrupt. But if we lay up treasures in heaven, then of course it will not perish. You've heard about the lady, I'm sure, who had a poor gardener working for her, and she had a dream one night about going to heaven, and when she reached there, She was going through the streets and the angel said, here is your home. She had a very little house prepared for her up there. Of course, it's just a story. And she said, oh, no, this won't do for me. I'm used to much larger accommodation. What about this house next door? That will suit me better. Oh, that's your gardener's house. But she said, he's not used to that kind of thing. How is it that he's got such a grand house? Oh, the angel said, that's what we did with the material that we received. And so, friends, what material do you have laid up there in heaven? How can you do it, you say? Well, we can be part of this great work that Christ has commissioned us to do. Let's be busy. Let's go, therefore. discipling all nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit. For Jesus said, I'm with you all the way, even to the end. Let's pray.