Please open your Bibles to Matthew 28. You can find this on page 881 of the Pew Bible. It's Matthew 28. Our text tonight is verses 16 through 20 of the Great Commission. Now the 11 disciples went to Galilee, the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him, they worshiped 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'm with you always to the end of the age. Amen. Let's pray. Dear gracious and heavenly Father, we thank you. We praise your name. We magnify you. that you in your graciousness and your infinite mercy would send the greatest gift of all to become man, to live for sinners that they might be made righteous, to die for their sins, that we As those undeserving would perceive adoption, we would receive justification that we would be made right before you. Truly is a great gift. And we thank you, we cannot but thank you. And we would only ask how we could be made useful in your kingdom. And so father, as we look at this text tonight, we would ask you to open our minds, open our hearts, open our eyes, that we might behold the wondrous and glorious things in your law, that we might love you. Grant your servant the mercy and the grace to recede into the background as Christ crucified is gloriously lifted up before our eyes and hearts tonight and applied to us by the power of your Holy Spirit. Be with us, we pray in Christ's name, amen. Imagine that you are the ambassador of a king and you are sent to China. As an ambassador, you know the policies of your king. As an ambassador, you know his political ideas, his personal thoughts about the economic and the political decisions that he wants to make in China. You know how he would respond to any given situation You are his mouthpiece. You know his methods. Your authority is true only in so far as you are an extension of him. You have his royal stamp of approval. And you have been invested with all of his great and many resources. You would use them as he would. And your ambassadorship is a position of prestige and honor and responsibility only insofar as you act upon his behalf. You are not an extension of yourself, but you are an extension of your King. And Christians are ambassadors to King Jesus. In his gospel, Matthew has been setting forth the kingship of Jesus Christ. We see in the very opening words that he is the son of Abraham, the son of David. We see next in his genealogy that he has, that it's grounded, that Matthew has been infallibly arguing that Jesus' kingship is grounded in the kingship of Israel. He has set forth. the characteristics of the kingdom, of those who are serving in his kingdom in the Sermon on the Mount. He has proclaimed his parables of the kingdom. He has sent out the messengers of the kingdom. He has ridden in to Jerusalem on a donkey to Hosanna to the son of David, Hosanna in the highest. He has made his way into Jerusalem as the king of Jerusalem. But now our narrative is on the other side of the crucifixion, on the other side of the cross. He has been put to death, but raised by the Father. And he has been raised in all glory and set up as the King, as the universal King of the creation. But there's one major problem. His faithless disciples have scattered. And J.C. Ryle says that what happens in the next verses is absolutely remarkable. Remarkable. The spiritual frailty of the apostles. And they hear what comes next. Now Matthew's purpose for the close of his gospel is that we may see Christ's universal reign and its extension through the church. Through the church. And we'll be looking at this in three sections. Firstly, Jesus was given universal power and authority. Look at verse 18. And coming up, Jesus spoke to them, saying, All authority in heaven and on earth was given to me, or has been given to me. This is not the power of His deity. Jesus is holy and perfectly God. As God, He has power in and of Himself. The Father cannot confer that power upon Him. He, as God, has it already. That's not what is in view here. But the power given to Jesus is that which is bestowed on the long-expected covenantal Lord of Israel. The Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 8, Paragraph 3, puts it this way. The office which he took not unto himself, but was thereunto called by his Father. who put all power and judgment into his hand and gave him commandment to execute the same. This is a kingship that was given to him. This is a kingship to rule over his people and to rule over the creation. And it is given to him as a part of the completion of his mediatorial work. the perfect life that He lived on our behalf, the death that He died for our sins. He was raised, and at His resurrection He is appointed by the Father to be the eternal King from the throne of heavenly Jerusalem. It is a kingship that is universal. And Daniel, by the power of the Holy Spirit, foresaw this day. As we heard in the call to worship, it says, I was looking in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of the heavens. And he came to the ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And dominion was given to him, and glory, and a kingdom, so that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away. and his kingdom is that which shall not be destroyed. And we see in our text that there are two realms of Jesus' universal power and authority. And firstly, it is a power in heaven. And as it is a power in heaven, it takes on the characteristics of heaven. Firstly, it is omnipotent. It is infinite in scope. It is inexhaustible, no matter how much of it is used. It is immeasurable. What he wills to come to pass must. What he does not speak into existence cannot come into existence. The power so great that even the most powerful creatures in the creation, the seraphim, bow in submission. Angels, choirs of angels, bow and sing praise and laud and honor to the King, to Jesus, the risen Lord. He has an angelic army at his beck and call. That is power. martyrs, and those who have gone before us into glory, worship and bend the knee and swear fealty to him alone. But not only is it omnipotent, it's eternal. It will never fade. It can never grow old. It is never impeachable. 2,000 years he has been king and lord over the heavenly kingdoms, over the new Jerusalem, over the creation. And 2,000 years more he will reign. But not only that, his universal kingship goes into eternity future. Every single day, every single age that passes, as we live sinlessly and worshipfully before the Lord of Glory, His kingship will never end. We will serve Him always. It's an eternal kingship. But not only that, it is righteous. It is pure in motives. It is pure in its execution. He cannot sin. He doesn't sin against us as he uses his power. It's holy. It is a purity of wisdom in which his power is executed. There's a holy power. is unlike every single nation that exists today. It cannot be polluted. It cannot be corrupted. It cannot be defiled. No. No, it's pure. And it glorifies the Lord in all of His uprightness, in all of His goodness. That is what characterizes the Lord Jesus Christ's reign over the creation. Lord Byron is said to say that power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely. I say praise, laud, and honor to the fact that that cannot be applied to the Lord Jesus Christ. It cannot. He's incorruptible. But it's not just with a power in heaven that was given to him, but rather it is also a power on earth. And firstly, it is a power over political powers. The fact that he holds in his hands, King's hearts, that he directs, that he directs King's wills, rulers wills, princes wills. They are all called upon to submit to him. They are called upon to act righteously, to rule in light of his righteousness, in light of his purity, in light of his mercy and grace. Psalm 2 says it this way. You are my son, today I have begotten you. Ask of me and I will make the nations your heritage, the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. Now therefore, O kings, be wise. Be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Jesus Christ is the true potentate unto whom every other ruler must submit, must submit. He's the Lord also over creation and providence. He creates things out of nothing. Out of nothing. He speaks it into existence. It's by the word of his power that he creates. It's by the word of his power that he sustains. It's by the word of his power that we will be brought also into glory. Everything from microorganisms to supernovas answer to the Lord Jesus Christ. All of it. The Lordship of Jesus knows no boundaries. There's no place where his authority is not answered to. but also it is his lordship over the church. He is the head over the church. Ephesians 1 says it this way. He, the father, seated him, Jesus, at his right hand in the heavenlies. Far above all rule and authority and power and lordship and every name having been named, not only in this age, but also in the age to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him to be head over all things to the assembly. That's us. which is his body, the fullness of the one filling all things in all. It is by the wisdom of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit that the church is founded. It's established. And here in the Great Commission, it is being established. And as he pours his Holy Spirit out upon the church in Acts 2, it's being grounded in his rule. It's by his power, it's by his wisdom, it's by his righteous, pure wisdom that men in this church are elected onto the offices that they are. It's by this power, this rule that we send out missionaries, that we send out evangelists, that we elect pastors, that we elect elders. It is by this power that he forgives sins. It's an infinite power. forgives our sins. He makes us pure. Paul says it himself at the end of chapter three that what he's really looking forward to is the fact that this power not only sanctifies him, but it's that which he looks forward to when he receives his body in glory. That's the power that we rest upon. That's the power, the kingship of Jesus Christ that we are dependent upon. It is the power to make even the greatest sinners holy. And we're all great sinners. It is the power to translate people out of the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of light. It is the power which protects us. It's the power which preserves us. It's the power that he has as the divine shepherd. It's an infinite power. It's a power by which our enemies will be and are and have been defeated. But because Jesus is this all-powerful head over the creation, he also tells us how his kingdom is to be spread. And Jesus' kingdom, and this is our second point, Jesus' kingdom, Jesus extends his reign through the ministry of the church. The kingdom expands righteously only insofar as we submit to his kingship, as we submit to his lordship, to his reign. It is effective only when we use the means by which he has established to grow the kingdom. And Jesus, with a resounding, clear statement, tells us how to grow the kingdom in the Great Commission. But first, I wanna look at something else. I want for you to notice the sentence structure of verses 19 and 20. The main verb is disciple, make disciples. It's one word. Disciple, it's a command. It is not the object of the verb to make. It does not make disciples, even though, even my ESV Bible says, go therefore and make disciples. No, it's disciple command, exclamation point. That's what it is. Who are we to disciple? All the nations. And there are three participles around this main verb. There is go, there is baptize, and there is teach. What is the function of these participles? They explain how to make disciples. How do you make disciples? By going, by baptizing, and by teaching. Disciples is not the object of the verb to make. And so we don't, we shouldn't translate the next part as go to the disciples, baptize disciples, teach disciples. That's not what's being said. It is make, I'm sorry, it is disciple. The nations, go to the nations, baptize the nations, teach the nations. That's what's being said here. And so first we seem, that the church is active and it ought and should go. Look at verse 19. Therefore go, make all the nations disciples. Where were they? They're in Galilee. They've gone to a mountain that they've been told to go to by the Lord Jesus Christ. Where do they go in the book of Acts? They go to Jerusalem. They wait for the Holy Spirit. And then they go to Judea. And then they go to Samaria. And then they go to the uttermost parts of the world. What are we to do? Or to go and preach the gospel to China. Or to go and preach the gospel to Peru. Or to go and preach the gospel to Africa and Brazil. But it's more than that. It's a little more simple than that too. Or to go and preach the gospel to our friends. Or to go and preach the gospel to our families. It's really all non-Christians. That's what's in view here. Even Israelites. Even Jews. Everybody is in view here. It is presidents and farmers, lawyers, orphans, doctors, businessmen, friends, family. We go into prisons and we preach to prisoners. We go into high schools and we preach to children. We preach even to the people on the streets. That is the fulfillment of this text, the church being active and going. And we go as heralds and ambassadors of the Lord Jesus Christ. One of the things that we ought to be doing is supporting our missionaries with prayer, with finances, with loving fellowship as they return home, with words of encouragement as they're there. We are to be instruments of repentance in people's lives, faith in people's lives. We're not the activators of faith, absolutely not. Only the Lord Jesus Christ, only the Holy Spirit can translate a person out of the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of light, can give them a new spirit, a new regenerated heart whereby they can take hold. But we are to be instruments of the Holy Spirit in His doing that. It is not just making people say that Jesus Christ is a King, and it's certainly not just making people, asking people to say that Jesus Christ is the King. What's the point? It's to make people, it's to see people say that Jesus Christ is their King, is their Lord, their Savior. That's the point. We are to be light. And that light is not to be hid under a basket. Is that what you are doing? Is that what we are doing? The most effective instrument in the kingdom of God is you. As you live your lives in holiness and in righteousness as Christians before non-believers, Are you doing that? It's so easy to make our homes and our families monasteries, safe havens, cloisters, but they're not. They're not. They are salt and they are light. Christian families are the most instrumental or the most effective instrument in evangelism. Are you doing that? Are you heeding the call of the Great Commission? We are here to equip you to do that. But secondly, we also see that a characteristic or one of the methods of, or I'm sorry, that the method of discipleship, of making disciples is also baptizing. And I think that this is a clear authorization from the Lord Jesus Christ himself of the ordinary means of grace ministry. There's baptizing and there's teaching. Those are the only two things mentioned here. Sacraments and the preaching of the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at verse 19. Baptize them, that is the people of the nations, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. What is baptism? Baptism is the sprinkling with water of a believer, or the child of a believer, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. It is a sign and seal of the new covenant of grace. It is a, and it signifies our need to be engrafted into Christ. It signifies our need to partake of the benefits of the covenant of grace. It signifies our need to be engaged and set apart for him and for his use. But it also authenticates the promises of the new covenant. It is saying these things are true of all of those who take advantage of the means by which we have salvation. And what is that? Faith. It's true. It is certifiably true. That is the function of baptism. That is the function of sacraments. It is also the public profession of our being set apart to be the Lord's. It's the public profession of our entrance into the visible church, the church of Jesus Christ. And I think oftentimes we forget that baptism is primarily evangelical. It primarily has to do with missions, with converts, with the growth of the kingdom. Are we going? Are we baptizing? What are we baptizing them into? Well, we baptize them into the name and the authority of the Trinity. The name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. He is the Trinity, is God. And God is a spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His being, in His wisdom, in His power, in His holiness, in His justice, in His goodness, and in His truth. That being we have identification with. We receive that being's name upon ourselves. We enter into fellowship and communion and covenant by the name of that being being placed upon us. He calls us friend. He calls us servant. He calls us Christian. But we also see that the God in whose name we are baptized is also three persons. And these three persons are wholly and perfectly God. They are different in their personalities. And it's by faith that we have deference, that we trust and depend upon the election of the Father, the atoning sacrifice. of the Lord Jesus Christ and the application of it to us by the Holy Spirit. It is a monergistic work. And allow me to tell you, my friends, beloved, that our salvation is not only by Christ. And what I mean by that is it is by the Holy Spirit. It is by Jesus. It is by the Father. Do we believe in Christ alone? Absolutely. But our salvation is beautifully Trinitarian. And we have communion with all of them. We must know with whom we are identified. and is entirely important for us as Christians, as those who are going out amongst others, as those who are going out amongst non-believers and are being challenged in our own faith to know with whom we are identified. That is part of our sanctification, to know about the living and true God, to know about Christ. It sanctifies us. To know about the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, that sanctifies us. nor we need to know with whom we are identified. But thirdly, the extension of the kingdom is through teaching. And Jesus emphasizes the centrality of teaching the word of God in the expansion of the kingdom when he says, teach them, that is the people of the nations, to keep all things whatsoever I have commanded. First and foremost, the church preaches the word of the living and true God. It preaches the whole counsel of God. It preaches not just his life, not just his words, but the entire book, the entire Bible. There's no aspect of it that we are not responsible for knowing. Why? Because it sanctifies us. Why? Because thereby we are made followers. We are made disciples. We are made students of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. That's what it is to be made a disciple. It's to live in imitation of the King Jesus. How do we do that? By learning his word, by listening to the preaching of the word, by being dependent upon them, by being dependent upon the Holy Spirit to change us through them. That's what we are, that's what kingdom building is. We see in them His excellencies, His attributes, His works, and we oftentimes ought to be awed. Are you awed by the God of the Bible? It's through preaching that men's souls are converted, and it's through preaching that men are sanctified and made disciples. We have the honor and the privilege to reflect and imitate the living and true God. And the Holy Spirit works that in us. How? By the teaching of the scriptures. And we are sanctified. We pursue him. We pursue knowledge of him, not in order to gain salvation, but in love. Why? Because of the salvation, the glorious, full, robust salvation that he has already given us. That's why. We do not obey the scriptures merely to gain it. We obey because we have already, it has already been given to us. That's why. And we ought to love it. And we ought to be able to agree with David that the law of the Lord is sweet. The law of the Lord revives the soul. I wonder how many of us, this person included, find reading their Bibles laborious. Is it sweet? Is it something you look forward to and yearn on a daily basis? That's communion with the living and true God. As reading your Bibles, you realize that the triune God is with you. When you read, covenantally with you, when you're being taught, children, when you're doing family worship and family devotions, the Lord God is there. Is there teaching you? Do you hate it? Is it boring? I guess the same question could be asked for all of those who lead family worship. Is it laborious? Is it boring? This then brings us to the third point. The third main point of the Great Commission, and that is Jesus assures the church with his covenantal presence. Oftentimes the church fears, doesn't it? Look at verse 16 and 17. Now the 11 disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him, they worshiped him, but some doubted. Jesus' own apostles doubted? The church doubts often, often. But allow me to tell you that Jesus grounds the mission and the work, the daily sanctification, the daily purification, the daily expanse of the church, not in our own power. Why? Because that would be horrible. Not in our own power, but in his own omnipotent power. His, we are extensions of Him. And by this, He assuages all our fears. All our fears, He wipes them away by assuring us of His covenantal presence with His church. Look at verse 20. And also behold, I myself am with you always to the consummation of the age." The Lord Jesus Christ covenantally binds himself to be ever present with his people. Not just individuals, not just particular churches, but the entire universal church. All of it. That is amazing. That is absolutely remarkable. He promises to be with us, to protect us, as King to fight for us, to bestow his beneficence and his love and his goodness to us. It is a promise that is not only given to the apostles. It's a promise that is not only given to the church, but every single believer through the succeeding generations. Children, this is a promise made to you if you take hold of Christ as your own. This is a promise made to us as believers. And many of you know what it's like to have your souls soothed by the power of the Holy Spirit, to have your fears quelled when life all around you is imploding. You know what it's like. You know what it's like to experience that. Younger people have a harder time, sure. But many of you know what it's like. He has promised this by a power that cannot be broken. It is unassailable. It is unimpeachable. It cannot be thwarted. And that's a promise to us. As Emmanuel. So as Emmanuel, he promises to never leave us nor forsake us, to be with us day in and day out, moment by moment, as we do kingdom work, as we preach the gospel, as we see ourselves as grounded in the power of Jesus Christ, as we baptize, as we seek to baptize, as we grow the kingdom. Every aspect, everything that we do, It is accompanied with the assurance that Jesus Christ is there with you doing it. He is fighting your battles on your behalf that you might have victory. He is fighting our battles as a church that we too might be able to have freedom to preach the gospel still in this land. that we, by the ordinary means of grace ministry, might see the kingdom expand, that see the bride beautified, made holy. Beloved, find here in the Great Commission the comfort, the courage, and the strength to faithfully be ambassadors of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Let's pray. Father, we thank you. We thank you that we can come together, that it is a privilege for us to come together and worship you, the living and true God All other false gods are dumb. You speak. You create. You do. And we thank you. And for all of us who have been enabled by your Holy Spirit to believe in you, that you work for our good, and that you glorify yourself in us. We would pray one thing tonight, that in mercy and in strength, your Holy Spirit would hide your word into our hearts, that it might grow up in faith and obedience to be fruit that is 30, 60, and 100 times made fruitful. Be with us, O Emmanuel. We do all of these things to see you glorified and honored and lifted up. Be with us, we pray in Christ's name. Amen.