Well, I want to look briefly, it will be briefly, at this very obvious part of the Bible when it comes to people being sent, particularly overseas. Then the end of Matthew's gospel gives what we know as the Great Commission. I've got three simple points. The power, and the purpose, and the promise. First of all, the power of this magnificent person, Jesus Christ. When it comes to power, you and I have a certain amount of power. And I don't know who the most powerful person here is. Maybe strength-wise, we could find out afterwards. We could have an arm wrestling competition. And slowly we'd get through to the grand final. I'm sure that I'd end up in the grand final. And I don't know who'd be there with me. But we'd have an arm wrestling competition. We'd find out who the most powerful arm was here. But when it comes to Jesus Christ, he makes an astonishing statement here. Verse 18, then Jesus came to them. It's this little group of disciples, really ragtag and bobtail. all sorts of different backgrounds. And here's what he says to them, and what he says to you and I here, 2,000 years later, 2,000 miles away from the events. It's been recorded. It was recorded either spoken or Aramaic. It's been written down in Greek. It's been translated many times. But the words are still astonishing. Maybe they fail in their impact because we've heard them too many times. But hear them again. Here's what this man standing there actually said. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. All authority. And it's quite a grand Greek word that was used to write down here in Matthew's Gospel. It means all mastery, all authority, all jurisdiction, all liberty, all power, all right, all strength, all control has been given to me. Again, I've got a measure of authority, and our Prime Minister has got a measure of authority. What is Jesus Christ saying here? Authority over what? How much authority? And for how long will that authority continue? Well, here it is. It's all authority. Now, all's a pretty big word because there's not much escapes all. There's no brackets here, no exceptions at all, but all authority. So all mastery, authority, jurisdiction, liberty, power, right, strength, and control. And then to fill that out, all authority on earth, certainly. area of the affairs of life on this planet. All authority over the affairs of planet Earth, this little group of men, has been given to me. But it goes above Earth, and he talks about the heavens. Now the heavens, the dwelling place of God, the immediate presence of God. God is everywhere, but there's that place where He dwells in unrestrained glory. Now the heavens that we see above, the sky at night. My daughter came round yesterday and said, what's that orange thing in the sky, Dad? We haven't seen it for so long. And then last night we saw the moon, and there were some stars peeping out, and we're seeing Essentially, the stars in our Milky Way, you can't really see, unless you're really, really of a keen eye, other galaxies without the aid of a telescope. But with a telescope, you see outside the Milky Way, and you see the heavens. Now, God dwells beyond the heavens. He fills the heavens and the earth, but He's above and beyond all that. And all authority on earth and in the heavens So the Milky Way, there's not a star system. Wherever the starship Enterprise goes, there is the authority of Jesus Christ. It's not the Klingons, it's not the Ferengi, it's not the Cardassians, it's Jesus Christ. It's not the United Federation of Planets, it's Jesus Christ. We've got the Star Wars next movie coming out. I'm so excited! But it's not the Empire. It's not the Federation. It's Jesus Christ. All authority. It's not a planetary system. It's a star system. Whether the authority is not being exercised. Then go to other galaxies and beyond. And a hundred thousand million galaxies. What is this man Jesus Christ saying, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. All authority for all time has been given to me. Jesus is saying this astonishing statement. Now, something has just happened. Something has just taken place that leads up to that particular statement. and of course it comes at the end of Matthew chapter 28 and the great resurrection account William quoted from 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and at the end there's a conclusion that's drawn but 1 Corinthians chapter 15 is that great resurrection chapter the resurrection of Jesus Christ changes everything In Revelation chapter 1, here's the Apostle John, 50 years or so after this occasion in Matthew chapter 28, he has a vision of Jesus Christ and here's what the risen ascended Jesus says to him. John says this, when I saw him I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said, Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last. I am the living one. I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore." That's an incredible phrase. I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Death, the final enemy. that which stalks us all our lives. Now, none of us here have experienced it. There's nobody here died yet. Maybe somebody will die during the service. I don't know. It happened to me during one of my very early sermons. I think I was about 20, up in Yorkshire, and somebody died. It hasn't happened since. It hasn't happened to anybody here yet. But it happened to Jesus, and they put Him in a tomb. And ragtag and bobtail disciples went off in deep despair. We had hope, but no. Oh, how dull of mind, how slow you are to understand, because the one who was dead was alive forevermore, standing there with them. And then He opened their minds that they might understand all the Scriptures said, Old Testament, concerning Him. He's alive forevermore. He was dead. But as it was prophesied in the Old Testament, as He had said Himself on many occasions, if only they'd had ears to hear, He would and did rise from the dead. Death defeated our greatest enemy, stalking us constantly, never leaves us, always following our path. Well, it got Jesus Christ, but it couldn't hang on to Him. And up from the grave He arose. Harry Houdini. a great escapologist, was fixated with the chance of maybe escaping from death. And he said to his wife, when I die, I'll make every effort to come back. If it's possible to escape from death, I will come back. Look for me on the first anniversary of my death. And so she kept her candle burning on the first anniversary, and the second, and the third, and the fourth. And after the tenth, she no longer lit the candle. Houdini couldn't beat death. Death hangs on to sinners, but Jesus Christ, I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. All authority has been given to me. The resurrection of Jesus Christ proves that he is exactly who he claimed to be. Emmanuel, God with us. Who is this person claiming such an incredible thing? All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Well, He is a man, but He's not just a man. He's the God-man. He's fully God and fully man. He's Emmanuel, the Promised One, God with us. So 2,000 years ago, it's God the Son leaves the glory of heaven as prophesied, as pictured, as foreshadowed, as foretold, and He comes to planet Earth. He doesn't stop being God. He continues to be God, but He also becomes man. In the one person of Jesus Christ, He's fully God, fully man. One person, two natures. He's come to do us good. He's come to give a great commission. He's come to bring us back to God. He's come to defeat our deadliest enemy, death itself, that stalks us constantly. There's an answer to death and to sin and to hell. It's found in Jesus Christ. He's come to make an end of sin. The resurrection of Jesus Christ proves that He is who He claimed to be. In John chapter 2, early in His ministry, He's in the temple area. John 2, let me just read this little passage. Again, we're familiar with it, but it's an astonishing thing that happens. After this, he went to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples. There they stayed for a few days. When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple courts, he found men selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money So he made a whip out of cords. Now this is the temple. This is the temple area. And drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle. He scattered the coins and the money change and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, get these out of here. How dare you turn my father's house into a market. I've been to London many, many times. I've lived there for a number of years. We have St. Paul's now, to get in now. A few years ago, I thought, I'll go. When I got there, there's a turnstile. You've got to pay £10 to get in. So I didn't go in. I was there again last time. I thought, well, I will pay that £10. I will. I'm going to pay that. I'm going to go in. But it's now £17.50. So I turned away again. I've since learned, if you go in the back door and tell them you're a minister, you get in for free. Now, I didn't know that. I'll try it next time. I have been to Westminster Abbey, and again I think that was £12 about three years ago that I went into Westminster Abbey. And you have to shuffle around, so many people there, so much to see. Now imagine, see what happens here, somebody then, an indignation that makes makes a cord and a whip and drives the people out of St Paul's and overturns the money collectors on the turnstile there. This is quite a dramatic occasion that happens here. What if somebody went to St Peter's in Rome and did the same thing there? Well, the people were indignant when Jesus did this, and so they challenged Him. Then the Jews demanded of Him, What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do this? Jesus answered them, destroy this temple and I will raise it again in three days. The Jews replied, it's taken 46 years to build this temple and you're going to raise it in three days? But the temple he had spoken of was his body. And after he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture. and the words that Jesus had spoken. The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead proves He is exactly who He claimed to be. There's no doubt who He claimed to be. He claims to be exactly who He was, Emmanuel, God with us. When Paul writes his letter to the church in Rome, here's his opening words, a little bit on to this opening glorious sentence, who, speaking of Jesus Christ, through the Spirit of holiness, was declared with power to be the Son of God by His resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord. All authority in heaven and on earth, all authority, always, over all things. Remarkable claim. Others, I, the pastor here, I have a certain amount of authority, apparently. The elders apparently have a certain amount of authority. Local counselors have an amount of authority. Prime Ministers, Presidents, Kings have an amount of authority, but it is limited. It's derived, it's a delegated authority, it's limited and it's temporary. It does come to an end. I thought of one of the most powerful men, I've been thinking quite a bit in recent times about this, this particular man, Joseph Stalin, there in Russia. And in the 1930s up to the 1950s, if you lived in Russia, you recognized the power and the authority of Joseph Stalin, and he was greatly feared. But his power was limited to within Russia and its increasing sphere of influence. If you are outside, if you lived in America, you could almost laugh at Uncle Joe, he was known as. You could laugh at him. He had no power or authority over you. He was limited. But it was also a temporary power. In 1953, he went to his bed and he didn't get up again. George Stalin was dead and his power finished there, or to an extent it did. Do you know what they did with him? They eventually, they laid him in state for three days, and people filed past. He's in a glass case, and they look at this man they once feared, the authority and the power he had, which is now gone, but still there's something of an awe about him. And then after that, he was taken away for six months, and he was embalmed. And then he lay in the Kremlin next to Lenin in a glass case. And until, now where is it? I've got the date here. Until 1961, there he was right next to Lenin. And Lenin is still there in the glass case. Joseph Stalin was taken out in 1961 because the consensus was he'd done a lot of bad things at Stalin. And apparently someone said they had a vision of Lenin who said he didn't want Joseph Stalin laying next to him, thank you very much. So they took him out and they put him in a little grave somewhere else in the Kremlin. and Stalin's power and authority gone forever. Jesus Christ, his power is inherent, it is total, it is eternal. He is God and He rules over all. We might not think it so. Maybe at times it doesn't appear that way. But it's Jesus Christ who has all authority over all things to rule and also to judge. He's the judge of all the earth. And one day every human being will stand before Jesus Christ and it's on His Word that we go to heaven or to hell. He is the one who judges. He speaks a parable here in Luke chapter 12, and here are some very sobering words. I tell you, my friends, he says, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. That's interesting. The worst thing that anybody can do to me is to kill my body. I heard a report of a preacher who was preaching just last week. A wonderful little picture he gave. Death, the final enemy. and death that stalks us all our lives eventually will chase us, if we're believers, all the way into the arms of Jesus Christ. Isn't that a wonderful picture? That's the worst that death can do to you, because when he gets us, he puts us straight in the arms of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Oh, says Jesus, don't be afraid of him who can kill the body, and after that can do no more, but I will show you whom you should fear. Fear him. who after the killing of the body has the power to throw into hell, yes, I tell you, you should fear him. Now, this is Jesus Christ. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. And he's the one who will make that final judgment. But let's move on rapidly. This is only my first point, by the way. Points two and three are really, really brief. But here's the emphasis we want to come to now. Let's get back to Matthew's Gospel. All authority in heaven on earth has been given to me. Always as God He has power to rule and command. But here's something new. Something has happened since the resurrection. Something new has been given to Jesus. Some new authority has been given to Jesus. Now, he's always had this authority because when God plans something, it's as good as done. But now it's actually established through what's happened so very recently. He has some new authority, something wonderful, something spectacular. Now, because of what happened at Calvary, he has the power and the authority to forgive sins. This is wonderful. This is the best news that there could ever, ever be. Because of what happened at Calvary, he now has the power and the authority not only to rule and command and to judge, but to actually forgive my sins. That's why He came into the world, not to see how we're getting on. He came to take away my biggest problem. My biggest problem is sin, and it's sin that leads to death, not only physical. There's spiritual death here and now. If I'm not a Christian here this afternoon, I'm wondering, is there really a God? Deep down I know there must be. Why don't I know Him? Sin is the problem. God is pure and holy and clean and majestic, and I've messed up. I'm a sinner. I do things wrong because I am a sinner by nature, I love myself intensely, and it leads to this separation here and now, it leads to physical decay and ultimately physical death, then it leads to an eternal death, the soul, the real bit of me that thinks and plans and decides and loves and is drawn and recoils, that's the real me. I'm not an arm or a leg or an ear or a nose or a tongue. I'm a human soul. I'm a human being. I dwell in a body. And this soul will never ever cease to be the real me. And the eternal death is to be cast away from God's presence forever and forever. But because of Calvary, the Judge of all the earth now has an authority to do something spectacular and forgive my sins. And he says to a group of people in Mark 10, verse 45, even the Son of Man didn't come to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many. Sinners must die. the wages of sin is death. But here's someone, God who's become man, who dies on Calvary, the man Christ Jesus. As a man, he's paying the guilt for mankind's sin. Because he's also God, there's infinite worth in that sacrifice, such that he can say, whosoever will may come. Come to the banquet, come all you who are weary. Are there too many now? Never too many. Infinite power, infinite worth, infinite authority, come to me, all you, no brackets, no brackets, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. In Christ there's forgiveness of sins. He lived for me, He died for me, He rose again. Now, what if Calvary had never happened? It might well still be a St Melon's Baptist Church, but we'd just be about religion. And we'd be sort of hoping that in the end we might have done enough to sneak in, but deep down we know we never could do enough. If Calvary had never happened, there'd still be religion, but there'd be no reality. There'd be no hope. But it has happened. Glory be to God, it has happened. So all authority in heaven, and an earth has been given to me." That's the first point. The second one's very, very brief. Building on that, Jesus doesn't say, well, hang around and enjoy and have a little holy huddle. Therefore, what's the purpose? Therefore, go. Therefore, go. All authority, therefore, go and make disciples. Now, it's happening here, and it comes to us. It's not just for Beck this afternoon to go to Uganda. It's for me to go back to Pildi Farm. It's for you going back to Kinkoid, and you're off to Rogerston, I guess, and there's a commission there. There's a commission there. What am I to do there? Well, have a happy, happy time. Well, I hope we do have a happy, happy time at Pildi Farm, Kinkoid, and Rogerston, wherever we might be scattered, but there's an overriding purpose to it all. to be witnesses in life and with lip and to draw people into Communicate this incredible message. Go and make disciples of all nations, teaching them to obey everything I've commanded you. The commission in Mark's gospel, go and take the gospel to all nations. What's the gospel? Very simple. Holy God, sinful me, the wrath of God on sin. What's the answer? Jesus Christ, He's the bridge, Son of God. God becomes man. He's the bridge. He lives for me. He dies for me. He rose again from the dead. What must I do to be saved? Don't get it wrong. It's not religion. Trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. Believe on Him. Embrace His finished work. The Spirit makes these things real. I'm the sinner. God is holy. Thank God that Christ died for me. God have mercy on me, a sinner. We embrace Him. Here's the Gospel. The end of Luke's Gospel. The commissioning includes this. And preach the forgiveness of sins in my name. My friends, if you're not a forgiven sinner here, you're in great danger. And here comes the warning again. Flee to Christ. Trust in Him. There's no other hope. Religion, church going, nice family, nice friends. Nothing will do it. None but Christ can do helpless sinners good. We sang that hymn 766. What a wonderful hymn. It is well with my soul. My sin. Happened to me. 4th of August 1976. My sin. All the bliss. of this glorious thought, my sin, not in part, but the whole. And if there was a little bit left out, missing from the blood of Christ, I'd be sunk to hell. Even the slightest sin would sink me to hell. But here's the glory, not in part, but the whole is nailed to His cross. I bear it no more. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, O my soul. But it's not just Pildi and Kinkoyd and Rogerston. It does include Uganda. So I'm glad someone's going. I remember Beck coming to see his elders a few years ago now. She said, I feel a call to Africa. And then she said, I love Africa. Well, doesn't everybody? Well, I thought, quite frankly, I'd rather just stay in Wales. Personally, I'd rather stay in Wales. But the Lord is calling people to go to all the world. I'm so pleased. And thanks be to God that you've obeyed that call, and you're going there. And we know where you're going to, and echoing what William said, it's not as if this is something really completely new and out of the blue to us. This has been going on for a long time. You've been there on short visits and longer visits, and now it's a full, fully-fledged, established commissioning to that work there in Uganda. Working in the hospital and sharing the gospel there as well. And you're obeying this command. But let me close with this wonderful promise. There's the power, the purpose. What a wonderful promise to hang on to. Go and surely I is the one with all authority to command the galaxies. I mean, Andromeda, 100,000 million stars. Some say they can see it without a telescope, but I think you use a bit of imagination. I mean, my eyesight's getting not brilliant, but sometimes I can imagine it's there, but then get a telescope on it, and yes, oh, there it is, there it is. And all authority, and he commands that galaxy. They say in about three billion years, it'll intermix with the Milky Way. I don't believe a word with it. all be changed long before that ever happens. But the one who commands the Andromeda Galaxy and the Milky Way and regions beyond, he says, I will be with you. For how long, Lord? Well, to the very end, when death pushes you out of this little planet. He only pushes you into my arms. I'll be with you all the way, all the way. Go, now I like the authorized version here. Go and low. I will be with you. No go, no low. It's not a Nordic language. It's English, old English. No go, no low. If I'm gonna be all self-interested down at Pildi or, We can't expect that lively sense of the Lord's presence with us, but when we go, when we're obedient, oh, I will be with you always. In the back, Tony was praying that we know the Lord's presence with us. But the Lord's always with us. What's Tony praying about there? Well, he's praying that we be sensibly aware of that presence. And that's a wonderful thing. It changes everything. Sometimes a light surprises the Christian when he sings. It is the Lord who rises with healing in His wings. Those wonderful occasions. Paul, of course, it happens remarkably to him. He's in Corinth and all opposition. And the Lord came and stood with me. Don't be afraid. I've yet many people in this city. Oh, so many things to make us afraid in the world today. But what about this? He who has all authority, I will be standing with you Always, even to the point where death pushes you off this planet, he only pushes you into my arms. Anyway, what a wonderful, wonderful gospel we have. All power. What's the purpose? Therefore, go. And what's the promise? I will be with you always, even to the very end. Well, may you know the richness of that promise, Beck, as you get onto the plane. You enjoy flying? I don't like flying. Not a keen flyer. I think it'd be okay if I was driving the plane, but it's just being at the back there, not knowing quite who's at the front there. Anyway, the Lord's there with you, and as you land, show up the, we're committed now, quite like to overhear those words. The landing as well, and whatever diseases might be stalking and worries about this threat and that threat, He is with you always, even to the very end. Let's pray, shall we? Father, thank You for a brief time in Your Word. We thank You for the magnificence of the Gospel and that Jesus Christ now, because of Calvary, has all authority to forgive sins. Oh, we take this glad message and pray, Lord, it will be burning in our hearts. We'd be keen and eager to share this dominant, all-pervading, all-exceeding message that little things might no longer be an issue to us, but all that matters is Jesus Christ and Him crucified and a message that sins can be forgiven by people simply trusting in Him and repenting. Oh, what a glorious message. To God be the glory we pray. Amen.