to be able to worship with you this morning. And the sermon that you will be hearing is, I've entitled, Our Mission. And there will be two passages, one from the Old Testament and one from the New Testament. The Old Testament passage is from Daniel chapter 7. I will read the beginning of verse 13. But I will make mention of the context, the broader context, earlier in the chapter as well. And then after Daniel chapter 7, we'll be looking at Matthew chapter 28. Matthew 28. And I'll be focused on verses 18 through 20. But we will read starting with verse 13. So first of all, Daniel 7. Beginning with verse 13, I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven, one like a son of man was coming. And he came up to the ancient of days and was presented before him. To him was given dominion, glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and men of every language might serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away. And his kingdom is one which will not be destroyed. As for me, Daniel, my spirit was distressed within me. The visions in my mind kept alarming me. I approached one of those who were standing by and began asking him the exact meaning of all this. And so he told me and made known to me the interpretation of these things. These great beasts, which are four in number, are four kings who will arise from the earth. But the saints of the highest one will receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, for all ages to come. Then I desire to know the exact meaning of the fourth beast, which was different from all the others, exceedingly dreadful, with teeth of iron and claws of bronze, and which devoured, crushed, and trampled down the remainder with its feet. and the meaning of the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn which came up before which three of them fell, namely, that horn which had eyes and a mouth uttering great boasts, which was larger in appearance than its associates. I kept looking, and that horn was waging war with the saints and overpowering them. until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was passed in favor of the saints of the Highest One. And the time arrived when the saints took possession of the kingdom. Thus he said, The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth, which will be different from all the other kingdoms, and will devour the whole earth, and tread it down, and crush it. As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings will arise, and another will arise after them. He will be different from the previous ones and will subdue three kings. He will speak out against the most high and wear down the saints of the highest one. And he will intend to make alteration in times and in law, and they will be given into his hand for a time, times, and a halftime. But the court will sit for judgment, and his dominion will be taken away, annihilated, destroyed forever. Then the sovereignty, the dominion, the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the highest one, and his kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all the dominions will serve and obey him. And then turning to Matthew 28, Reading from verse 13. I'll read from verse 11, excuse me. Now, while they were on their way, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all that had happened. When they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave them a large sum of money to the soldiers and said, you are to say his disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep. And if this should come to the governor's ears, we will win him over and keep you out of trouble. And they took the money, and they did as they had been instructed. And this story was widely spread among the Jews and is to this day. But the 11 disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated. When they saw him, they worshiped him, but some were doubtful. And Jesus came up, and he spoke to them, saying, all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. In times past, an army's mission was determined by its king. The king was the commander. Today, it's our president who is the commander-in-chief and determines the mission for our country's armed forces. In Matthew chapter 28, verses 18 through 20, Jesus, our king, decrees the mission of the church, the mission of his army. Specifically, he decrees to the eleven living apostles what their mission is to be, and through them to us. However, to understand Matthew 28 aright, it must be understood in the context of the whole book of Matthew that comes before it. The background for Matthew 28, is found ultimately in the book of Daniel. Over and over again in Matthew, Jesus refers to himself as the Son of Man, far more than in the other Gospels. Now the tendency, when you hear the term Son of Man, is of course to think that what is being emphasized is his humanity, but the answer is really not there. Let us look and see a number of examples in Matthew to see that the term Son of Man appears as an expression not of humanity first of all, though it implies that to be sure, but the nuance, the connotation is one of divine messianic authority. Matthew 9 verse 6. so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins." Then he said to the paralytic, get up, pick up your bed, and go home. 12-8, the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath, clearly created and ordained by God at creation. He is the Lord of the Sabbath. The Son of Man, 1341, the Son of Man will send forth his angels And they will gather out of his kingdom all the stumbling blocks and those who commit lawlessness. And they will throw them into the furnace of fire in that place where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Matthew 16, 27, the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of his Father and his angels and will repay every man according to his deeds. Matthew 16, 28, I truly, I truly, I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom. 17, verse 9, Jesus commanded them saying, tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man has risen from the dead. 18, 11, the Son of Man came to save that which was lost. 1928, Jesus said to them, truly I say to you, you who have followed me in the regeneration, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you also shall sit upon 12 thrones, judging the 12 tribes of Israel. Matthew 24, verse 27. Just as lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 2430. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky and all the tribes of earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. 2531, when the Son of Man shall come in his glory and all the angels with him, then he shall sit on the throne of his glory. And 2664, Jesus said to him, you have said, nevertheless I say unto you, henceforth you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven. Over and over and over again, all through the book of Matthew, the term Son of Man does not emphasize the humanity, but rather the messianic authority, the kingship, the rule, the authority to judge, Where does it come from? It comes from our passage in Daniel chapter 7, particularly 13 and 14. Once again, I'll read those two verses. Daniel 7.13, I kept looking in the night visions and behold one with the clouds of heaven One like a son of man was coming and he came up to the ancient of days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion, glory, and a kingdom that all peoples, nations, and men of every language might serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away. And his kingdom is one which will not be destroyed. The first verse of Daniel chapter 7, Daniel 7 verse 1, reveals that Daniel saw this vision when Israel was in dire straits. They were in exile in Babylon. They were enslaved, as it were. Daniel had a vision in which four beasts representing four kingdoms and four kings, the kingdoms of Babylon through Rome, arose. The Lord showed Israel that before the Son of Man would begin to rule the rule of God, first Babylon and then three other great kingdoms must first arise. But they should not lose hope. Accordingly, in history, we read that after Babylon, the Persian or the Medo-Persian Empire arose, then Greece, and then finally, Rome. Finally, last of all, after Rome, God himself, whom Daniel refers to as the Ancient of Days, will appoint his ruler, his king. In verse 13, he came up to the Ancient of Days and he was presented before him. This is the picture of the coronation of another king, God's king. According to verse 14, to him was given dominion, glory, and a kingdom, so that all the peoples, nations, and men of every language might serve him. So his authority is to be not only over Israel, but over all the nations of the world. Verse 14 also says that his dominion is everlasting. It is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away. In other words, His kingdom and His rule, unlike all those that came before Him, is going to be eternal. It will never end. He is to appear, first of all, in God's presence for coronation, to receive that power, that kingdom, and that authority. And although He is ruling from his throne in heaven, according to verse 14, he is to rule all the nations on earth. So we might say from the perspective of earth, it is an invisible rule, since he's ruling from heaven, which we can't see, and yet he's ruling on earth. Nevertheless, all the nations, all the nations on earth are under him. Now some Jewish and liberal students of the Bible have tried to argue that this son of man figure in Daniel chapter 7 really is a corporate expression for all the saints of God who do appear in this passage, but it doesn't really fit the context. In the prior context, you have four beasts. Those four beasts are identified specifically as four kings. Once again, verse 17. These great beasts, which are four in number, are four kings who will arise from the earth. So these four kings of verse 17 are to be followed by another beast, not another beast, but another king, not a corporate body. Thus, although the saints of God join him in rule, the one like the son of man, to whom is given dominion, glory, and a kingdom, so that all the peoples, nations, and languages, men of every language that serve him, is best understood not corporately, but of another king, a fifth king, one who is a divinely appointed king, one who is promised to the saints on earth, but whose rule will be exercised from God's presence in heaven. Furthermore, the saints remain on earth, but the crowned king, the son of man, has his throne in heaven. The coronation of the son of man as king over the earth, please note, it does not bring an end to the opposition. We read in verse 21, I kept looking and the horn was waging war with the saints and was overpowering them. Opposition continues even after God's king has been enthroned and coronated in heaven. However, the end is good. Eventually the saints of God will gain victory Then the sovereignty, the dominion, and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole of heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the highest one. We will not be oppressed forever. His kingdom will be an everlasting one, and all the dominions will serve and obey him. Jesus's declaration in Matthew chapter 28, verse 18 through 20 must be understood as a declaration of the fulfillment of the vision which God gave through Daniel to encourage not only the Jews who were under the Babylonians at that time, but ultimately to us. Ultimately to us who continue to be oppressed, who continue to be attacked on every side. God's King has been installed. All authority has been given to him and with that assurance we can make disciples of the nations. Jesus, as he spoke to them before his ascension into heaven, returned to the right hand of God. Jesus had already appeared in the heavenly throne room. He had already been coronated. He had already been granted by the Ancient of Days, quote, all authority in heaven and on earth, as Matthew records. Jesus has announced the final phase in the plan of God has begun. The Son of Man, the King of heaven and earth, has taken his throne. He has begun to rule, even when we don't see it. Heretofore, Satan had ruled mankind ever since the time of Adam's fall, to be sure, but particularly since the time of Babel. The nations had remained under his thumb, primarily through idolatry and polytheism, which arose after the Tower of Babel with the scattering of the wicked. We can see that Jesus himself recognizes the authority of the devil in his temptation. I read from Luke 4, verses 5 through 7. The devil led him, that is Jesus, up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. The devil said to him, I will give you all this, all this domain and its glory, for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if you worship me, if you worship before me, if you bow down before me, it shall all be yours. No need to go to the cross. By dying on the cross in the place of his people, the Son of Man destroyed the rule of Satan. He paid the ransom for his people, the ransom for our sins. And he purchased for himself a people, saints, not only from Israel but from every tribe and tongue and nation. Just as Jesus had begun to reveal to his disciples in the several months before the Passover, before his coming in glory as King over heaven and earth, he must first die. Matthew 16, 21, from that time, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed and raised up on the third day. Although Jesus told Pilate that his kingdom was not of this world, he tells us to pray that God's kingdom, as we just did a few minutes ago, that God's kingdom would come to and in this world. Its otherworldly character, its otherworldly nature, does not make it somehow unreal or nebulous. That kingdom is something which comes. It is something into which one must enter by the narrow gate. Something for which the apostles were granted keys, authority to open and to shut the door. It is something from which they were commanded to put out unrepentant sinners. Thus the kingdom, though heavenly, is very real. It's visible on earth and distinguishable from the world. That is, from those who have not entered or those who have been put out. Jesus has, in fact, begun to reign. He's begun to reign from his throne in heaven, both on earth and in heaven. His resurrection and his ascension mark the beginning of this reign, just as was predicted close to 600 years earlier in Daniel 7. His authority is absolute, and yet not all submit to it. Many remain a part of the nations of this world outside the kingdom of Christ. Yet Christ is, as he tells us here in Matthew 28, he is present on earth invisibly and is making the nations, those rebellious nations, his own disciples. He's delivering those who along with their forefathers had been deceived by the devil for millennia. Our passage in Matthew 28, in 18 through 20 is the commissioning of the first evangelists, the apostles, empowering them and giving them the authority to call men, both Jews and pagans, out of the kingdom of darkness and into the discipleship of King Jesus. Those who receive baptism, as one is about to receive here shortly, and are trained to obey, become and are the saints of God, as predicted in Daniel 7. Of course, the main thing about being a subject of King Jesus is to obey him. But that obedience begins by receiving baptism. In our work in Japan, it's no coincidence that many want the blessings of salvation without baptism. That may sound strange to American ears, but there are dangers associated with openly displaying heavenly citizenship by allegiance with Christ through baptism. But, in fact, there's nothing to fear. There's nothing to fear in the kingdom. The real dangers are to those who are outside of the kingdom, not in it. Those who are outside of the kingdom do not serve Christ, and they are already serving a far more onerous master, the devil himself. There's no middle ground. There's no third alternative. You will serve Christ, or you will serve the devil. And the end of those in Christ is wonderful. The end of those who serve the devil is to join him in eternal punishment. In Daniel's vision, the saints of God were overpowered for a time. And we see that, do we not, all around us. We see that in our own nation as the devil's attitudes, destructive lawlessness pervades our society. But eventually, eventually we read in chapter 7 verse 27, then the sovereignty, the dominion, and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole of heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the highest one. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom. and all the dominions will serve and obey him. Or to express it as Jesus echoes in Matthew chapter 19. Truly I say to you that you who have followed me, that's the saints, in the regeneration when the son of man will sit on his glorious throne, You also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. That day is coming. We are not going to be oppressed forever. Take your stand with Christ. Submit to Him. Obey Him. Submit to Him in baptism, but it doesn't stop there. Baptism is the right of admission into the visible Church, into the Kingdom of Christ. Baptism is, as it were, the ceremony for citizenship, heavenly citizenship. where you come out of the world and into Christ. It doesn't make you a disciple of Jesus, but it is indeed the right that Jesus has decreed for that purpose. So take your stand with Christ, submit to him, receive his baptism if you have not. The Apostle Paul reminds Timothy of his duty to keep the commandment, that is, to keep this great commission. The Apostle Paul writes to Timothy, I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep the commandment. without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will bring about at the proper time. He who is the blessed and only sovereign, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen. At his ordination, The commandment from Christ to his apostles became Timothy's duty as well. The vision of Daniel chapter 7 of Christ and his saints doing battle, suffering, and ultimately overcoming the demonic opposition is fulfilled by those who likewise are charged to keep what the Apostle Peter in 2 Peter 3 verse 2 calls the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles. A few verses earlier, it is clear that the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles becomes the personal duty of each of the teachers of the word, ministers if you will, upon their ordination. This is true even for those teachers who later apostatize, which was already obviously happening in Peter's day and Jesus had predicted would happen. 2 Peter 2 verse 1, and then jumping ahead to 21, I read as Peter speaks about those false apostate teachers. There will also be false teachers among you who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. Then he goes on to refer to those false teachers' ordination, by which they were bound to the Great Commission, which he labels as the Holy Commandment, 2 Peter 2.21. It would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after having known it to turn back from the Holy Commandment delivered to them. The heinousness of their sin is not only their personal apostasy, but also in their using their commission from Christ to seek rather to destroy the saints by gross deception. The Great Commission. making the nations into disciples for Jesus, was to the apostles and must be for us as well the heart of our calling and resurrection as the summary of the teaching of the Old Testament. Luke chapter 24. All things written about me, that is in the Old Testament, in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the Psalms must be fulfilled. Then Jesus opened their minds to understand the scriptures. He said to them, thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead on the third day. Two points so far, and then a third. And that repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in his name to all the nations beginning from Jerusalem. The Old Testament predicted three things about the work of Christ. The first was his death, the second was his resurrection, and the third was the preaching by which the nations would become his disciples. While it is ordained ministers whose duty it is, just like it was for Timothy, it is their duty directly to keep the commandment. The Apostle Peter goes on to command the entire church, all of us, remember the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles. Don't just memorize the words, but write it on your hearts so that it's your joy. It's your privilege to be a part of keeping the commandment to the ends of the earth, here in your community and all the way to the ends of the earth. We must pray for it. Pray not only for our work in Japan, but for all of our church's missionaries at home and abroad, and give generously to the work. Above all, consider serving yourselves, sending your sons to the mission field. Furthermore, the Apostle Paul, as the Apostle Paul prepared to go first to Rome and then to Spain, leaving behind Asia Minor and the Grecian Peninsula where he had been laboring up till that point, the Apostle Paul could say this in all honesty as he wrote to the Roman church where he hoped to come. I no longer have any room for work in these regions. And since I have longed for many years to come to you, I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain, and to be helped on my journey there by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a while." The Apostle Paul says his work there is finished. If he hadn't preached the gospel to a people, to a nation, to a city. If he had not done it himself, one of his coworkers or one of the other apostles surely had. As long as there are some here in your community have not heard the gospel, you don't have to make them believe, but we do have a duty to bring that gospel to them. The work continues. Remember the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles. And in the case of your preachers, not only remember it, not only have it on your heart and pray for it and give to it, but in the case of your preachers, keep that commandment. Disciple the nations, baptize them, and teach them to observe all that Christ has commanded.