We want to turn our attention today to the Word of God. Once again, we have seen the Word in drama, and we've heard the Word in song. Now we want to see it with our eyes and hear it from the Gospel of Matthew. I would invite your attention there. Matthew chapter 28. We have read the first 17 verses, and I would like to pick up with verse 16 and read through verse 20. Matthew 28, verses 16 through 20. Then the 11 disciples went away into Galilee to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. And when they saw him, they worshiped him, but some doubted. Then Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, mind you, this is the resurrected Jesus. He came and 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 of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you, And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen. I had told folks before that after the drama and the cantata, there would be a shorter message. I'll try to keep my promise. But I didn't define what shorter was. My wife asked me the other day, so shorter message, what is that? I said, well, what would you think? And neither of us ever answered that. So you can decide. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for the resurrected Christ. And we thank you for this wonderful day. Lord, you've brought us all here in this time, in this place. not by chance, but by your sovereign plan. And we pray, Lord, that the power of your word will reach our hearts today. I pray, Father, that if there's anyone here who's not yet believed the gospel, that Christ died, that he was buried, that he rose again, that today they would believe in the Lord Jesus and be saved. And I pray, Lord, for every believer that you would motivate us to be faithful disciples, and witnesses of this great news that Jesus is alive. Speak to our hearts through your word, we pray now in Jesus' wonderful and powerful name. Amen. I invite your attention also to the note sheet that's in your bullets and encourage you to follow along as we study the Word of God together. The title today, Every Believer, Witnesses of Truth. Every Believer. For the Sundays of April, we've been having a mini-series called, Jesus' Assistance to the Cross. And today we add to it, After the Cross. So far this month, we have studied these assistants. There was Mary, who anointed Jesus' feet and then wiped his feet with her hair. She was an assistant, a preparation for burial. And then last Sunday was Palm Sunday, and it wasn't a person that was the assistant, it was the Palm Sunday donkey. What an amazing creature. All four Gospels mention this donkey. He must be important in God's plan. And that donkey was the transport to suffering. Took Jesus into the city of Jerusalem where on Friday he would die. That donkey was very important in the plan of God. Fulfilled prophecy. The donkey even, Jesus' assistant to the cross. And then Friday night, good Friday night, we looked at another person, Simon of Cyrene. We don't know a whole lot about him, but we know this, Simon carried the cross beam for Jesus. He was the bearer of shame, taking the cross piece to Golgotha, to Mount Calvary. where Jesus would then be nailed on it and hung up on the pole, completing the cross. So Mary, who anointed Jesus' feet in advance for His burial, the Palm Sunday donkey, and Simon of Cyrene all had their role in getting Jesus to Mount Calvary. to die for our sins. And Mary, even to the tomb, she anointed Him beforehand for His burial. But now, today, we're on the other side of the cross. We're on the other side of the tomb. Jesus is alive. The gospel is settled, never to be improved. Think of this, the gospel that Christ died, that he was buried, that he rose again is settled. We don't add to it, we don't take away from it or we make a heresy. No, we simply believe the good news of the gospel. And I have this question for you today on Easter Sunday, 2022. Have you believed the gospel, the good news? Christ died for our sins. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. He was buried, he was placed in a tomb to show that he actually died. The third day, he was raised by the glory of the Father. That's the good news of the gospel, 1 Corinthians 15, one through three. Have you believed the gospel? You say, well, I'm waiting on it, I'm gonna get there, but I gotta clean my act up, I gotta get some things, no. You don't have to do a thing. You come to Jesus just as you are. You say, Lord Jesus, I know I have a need. I'm asking you to save me. I'm putting trust in the gospel good news that Christ died for sinners. Just believe what Jesus has accomplished. don't add to anything that he has already done. So if we have believed the gospel message, and perhaps that's all of you or most of you, if we have believed the gospel message, how can believers be Jesus' assistants after the cross and the tomb? And are there any exceptions? If I say that I'm a Christian, can I say, well, I don't need to do anything for the Lord. He doesn't want me to do anything for him. I'm the exception. No, every Christian should be engaged in Jesus. resurrection plan and we will see that today. So notice these words in Matthew chapter 28 verse 16. Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them and when they saw him they worshipped him but some doubted. We're going to see in these verses how we can be Jesus' useful assistants after the cross and the empty tomb. So, personalize it. How can I be Jesus' useful assistant after the cross and the empty tomb? First of all, in verses 16 and 17, grasp Christ's resurrection and notice verse 17 the 11 disciples when they saw him they worshiped him but some doubted they had questions They doubted. They weren't sure about this. But some disciples worshipped him. Perhaps they all did at first, but some were doubting. Be like the disciples that worshipped the resurrected Christ. That's what he wants of us. To bow at his feet, to love him, to adore him. And don't be like those who doubt, who question, who say, I'm not sure this has really happened. But let's just say today that you're here and you're a skeptic. Let's just say that for a moment. The drama shows a very important point. The lie that was propagated for almost 2,000 years is right here in Matthew 28, 11 to 15. And you may have a similar lie that you're holding to. Wait a minute, I'm not sure. They probably took the body away. Maybe he revived, as some liberal theologians have said over the years. He got into that cool, damp tomb and he was revived. He really didn't die. Think of what a ridiculous theory that is. in the light of what crucifixion really was involved. But let's just say you have some questions. Let's say even as a believer, if you have some doubts, God is not afraid of my doubts or yours. Go to his word. In fact, if you haven't trusted in Jesus as your savior, I challenge you to go to the Gospel of John and say, God, I want to know what's real. and begin to read. God, if this is true about Jesus, show me and read the Gospel of John. God will reveal himself to you from the pages of Scripture. Some doubted, but may we be like those who worshiped. And there's a very important truth here that I want to add. take hold of the context to grasp the resurrection. We read the whole chapter starting with verse 1 through verse 17. Notice this, verses 1 through 3, I won't reread the whole thing, but did you get a hold of that dramatic verse, verse 2? There was a great earthquake on resurrection morning. An angel came down from heaven and rolled back the stone from the door and sat on it. Can you imagine? What an amazing sight. No wonder the guards shook for fear. There was a demonstration of power. Grasp hold of the resurrection. Here is the power of God on display. Verses 5 through 8, there were the declarations of angels. Don't you just love this? Verse 5, the angel said, don't be afraid. You ladies, don't be afraid. I know what you're about. You're seeking Jesus. And Jesus was crucified. He's not here. He's not here, you're looking in the wrong place. He's risen, just like he said. And look at this gracious invitation from the angel. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And the gospel writers tell us that the clothes of Jesus were there. He made his bed when he got up, there they were. His headpiece was at the head and the other part of the garment folded, there it was. Come see the place where the Lord lay. And then verse seven, the angel said, go quickly, tell his disciples. This is amazing. The ladies understood this first, they saw this first, and then they departed quickly with fear and great joy to bring the disciples' word. Take hold of the context and grasp the resurrection, demonstrations of power, declarations of angels. But verses nine and 10, displays of life, and as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them. Jesus' first word after his resurrection, rejoice. We've been doing that today, haven't we? We're rejoicing. Rejoice. And they came, and they held him by the feet, and they worshiped him. And Jesus said to them, do not be afraid, go and tell. Now he says it, the angel said it, now Jesus says it. Go and tell my brethren to go to Galilee, go from Jerusalem up to the north to Galilee, and there they will see me. They will see me in my resurrection power. So we need to grasp the power of the resurrection and take hold of this context. There's something else we need to do if we're going to be Jesus' assistants, and it's this. We need to understand Jesus' authority. Understand Jesus' authority. Look at verse 18. Then Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Have you ever gone to a situation, might be in your workplace and there's confusion and people don't seem to know what to do and they're sort of milling about or they're in a frenzy and someone then asks, who's in charge here? Who's in charge? Jesus is here saying, I'm in charge. After his death, After his resurrection, he says, I'm in charge. All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. I'm in charge. Praise the Lord. The Lord Jesus Christ is sovereign, and we need to understand Jesus' authority. If we will be his useful assistants, we need to know that Jesus has authority, complete authority, all authority. And notice the passive voice here. All authority has been given to me. By whom? By the Father. All authority has been given to me. It was delegated to him from the Father, and he has the right by his death and by his life for all authority. And notice this, his authority has no limits. heaven and earth, two parts to make the whole. I'm in charge everywhere. So let me ask you, in the hospital room, does Jesus have authority? At the cancer treatment center, does Jesus have authority? At the funeral home, does Jesus have authority? In heaven, does Jesus have authority? In his church, does he have authority? In your problems, does Jesus have authority? All authority has been given to me in heaven and earth. If I would be a faithful representative of Jesus, I would understand his authority. And you know what this does to what we're going to see here in the next couple of verses? It gives us confidence. Should believers in Jesus Christ witness the gospel message? Absolutely. Do we get intimidated sometimes? Yes. Can we be afraid? Do we like boldness sometimes? Perhaps. But we need to understand, wait a minute, the resurrected Christ has all authority and he's the one who told me to do this so I can go in his strength. I will go in the strength of the Lord God. There's a verse in the Psalms that's a blessing to me, especially when you go down the street in evangelism. I will go in the strength of the Lord God. I will make mention of your righteousness, even of yours alone. Lord, I can't do this, but you can. and you have all authority, so I'm going in your name for your cause to make known the gospel message." It gives us confidence. So then the third way that we can be Jesus' useful assistant, every believer, a witness to his truth, is to obey Jesus' command. So based on Jesus' death, his resurrection, he has all authority, and then we find verse 19. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations. This is one of these core passages that a local church continually has to come back to. Why does East End Baptist Church exist? Are we here to be a social club? Are we here to just run activities? Are we here to just feed people and to be comfortable like that? No, we are here to make disciples. And we continually have to come back to this because the devil would always get us off track and distracted by something else. The core command here in verse 19 is make disciples. It's an imperative. It's a command given by the resurrected Jesus to his disciples and to every believer by extension. And we need to obey that command. Make disciples. Well, how do you do that? You declare the gospel. You point sinners to the saving grace of Jesus. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. There's hope in Jesus. Our world, our culture celebrates more and more sin and that which is shameful and sinful. And then they accuse us Bible believers of hating people. No, we don't hate anybody. The fact is we love people. And we offer hope because we say you can be freed of that sin. You can be forgiven of that guilt. It can be taken away because of the Lord Jesus Christ. By the gospel, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you'll be saved, you'll be delivered. And I just love this, make disciples of all the nations. Can I say this bluntly? If you hate someone because of their skin color or because of their language, or because of their economic status, is just flat, outright sin. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. And he calls upon us to make disciples of all the nations. I just love that. And it's one of the things I absolutely love. about East End Baptist Church and all the countries that are represented right here. Nations represented here, the only thing that would be better if we had about 14 more represented. Obey Jesus' command. And what an exciting thing. If you were here at our annual meeting, to the glory of God and by the grace of God, we raised our missions budget. What a blessing. And I can tell you, have seen a little bit behind the scenes. We made that decision and God began to send special gifts to us as a church. It's amazing. It's just amazing. God is all about missions. And what a blessing to know that we have a part in missions endeavor in Togo, in India, the Philippines, Jamaica, what a blessing. It just excites me to think of that. And it's right here, of all the nations. And right here in East New York. Go and make disciples of all the nations. Now, that's the cork of this command in verse 19, make disciples. But you say, what about the first word, go? Notice this, go and baptizing and teaching in verse 20. They're all I-N-G words. The go gets its imperatival force from the make disciples. Literally, it's going. Going, baptizing, and teaching. It's not wrong that it's here as an imperative. Go and make disciples. I see that as the extent of the command. We are to be going. So let's get this straight. Tomorrow morning, maybe even today, you're going to get on the train. You're going to go. You get to get on the bus or in your car, you're gonna go somewhere. What's your number one obligation if you know Jesus is your savior? Make disciples. And God is sending you to these different places, sending me so that we would carry the name of Jesus. It's amazing how God can be very creative in getting us in places we would never be in before. I found that in doctor's offices and places. It's amazing. The other day, we were at the cancer center, and this nurse, who is a believer, and she brought up the Bible one day, said, you know, I've been reading Revelation. Do you know something about that? And we had a conversation about that. So she's over, you know how they invite you to the back? And we're over here in the waiting room, and it wasn't right in front of the door. And she comes out, and she says, Revelation. It's awesome. She says that across the other people. in the waiting room. What a blessing to be able to share the word of God or share a testimony of Christ or the gospel in the different places. Listen, each one of you, you know people that your neighbor doesn't know, that I don't know, that I'll never meet. Why are you in that place? Why do you know those people? If you know Jesus, you're to be a disciple maker. You're to announce the gospel to them. Jesus is alive. And notice, the method of this command, baptizing them. Believers' baptism, when someone is saved, they need to be baptized. And notice the Trinity here, the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. That is the method, baptizing them. We're not saved by baptism. We're saved by believing in Jesus. Baptism is like putting on a uniform. We had no questions where Sergeant Patronus, who he was, he was in the Roman army. And we saw that, what his uniform gave it away. Baptism is like putting on a uniform and you're telling people, I'm not ashamed of Jesus. I believed in him as my savior. I am his disciple. I want to be his useful assistant to make his gospel message known. And then there's the strength of the command. The teaching. What should a local church do that's biblically oriented? Teach, teach, teach, and shall I say it again, teach. Some years ago, we had, one of our children was about three, and we went to this fine church on this particular day and on the way home or over Sunday dinner. I said, so what did you do in your class to the three-year-old? He said, oh, we watched Barney. I said, you watched Barney? The Bible's the most dramatic book in the whole world. Reenact the walls of Jericho with three-year-olds and go around a little table and have the chairs fall down. The kids will love it. Barney? No. Teach the Word of God from the two-year-olds, the three-year-olds, to the 88-year-olds. And that's what we want to do, to teach the Word of God. Unfold the... Well, that's boring. No, it's not. The entrance of your words gives light. It gives understanding to the simple. Your words were found and I did eat them, Jeremiah said, and your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart. It's vivifying to a child, to a teenager, to a young adult, to a senior. The word of God gives life. We are to teach. That's the strength of this command. And notice, all that I have commanded you. Well, there's one other that we can be Jesus' useful assistants on this side of the cross and the tomb. It's this, to rest in Jesus' promise. The last part of verse 20, isn't this powerful? And behold, look, I am with you always. Now who said this? That's right, the resurrected Jesus who has all authority in heaven and in earth. I am with you always, even to the end of the age. He will be with us to the end. Now some of you like crowds and some of you do not like crowds. I think it's amazing whenever here in New York City, when I'm involved in a crowd of people, It often stirs my heart. I think about Jesus' words about sheep without a shepherd and how people need the Lord. But you may be in a crowd of a million people and feel all alone. Nobody cares. I'm here all alone. Great news. If you know Jesus, he's with you. I'm with you always, even to the end of the age. You may be in a hostile environment where you feel like people are against you. You're not alone. And don't you love Paul's words in Romans chapter eight? If God be for us, who can be against us? Now let me see if I can figure that math. God, one, plus me, one, And we're the majority? Oh, praise the Lord! The resurrected Jesus! If God be for us, who can be against us? He will be with us to the end, and so He has the power to empower us to be His useful assistance. Jesus' assistance to the cross? Yes. But now on the other side of the cross, in the tomb, the resurrected Christ, will you be his assistant? Will you be his faithful servant? He gave us a command here to go and make disciples. Do you know what our broken world needs? It needs Christians who are doing their job and obeying the command of disciple making. You say, but no, No buts, for you or for me. This broken world will change from the inside out when people's hearts are changed by the Lord Jesus Christ. And that happens when the gospel is announced and people believe the truth of the gospel. Perhaps someone says when we're witnessing to someone something like this, they may chide us and say, why don't you mind your own business? You may have a family member who says that to you when you start to witness to them, or a work associate. Here's what we can say kindly when they say, why don't you just mind your own business? Based on Matthew 28, 16 through 20, I can say when I'm announcing the gospel, I am minding my business. I'm doing what Jesus has told me to do. It should give us confidence. So let me close with these questions. Who are Jesus' assistants after the cross and the tomb? All those who have believed and are saved. All God's children who are born-again believers in Jesus, you've believed the Gospel message. He wants you to serve Him. Let me ask this question again. Have you believed the Gospel message? If not, why not today? You see your need. You know you violated God's righteous standards, His holy laws. And you know you've sinned. You say, God, I know I've sinned, but I believe when Jesus died on the cross, he took my sin there. And I'm asking you, Lord Jesus, to save me. The Bible promises whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. If you've not done that, would you do that today? And believer in Jesus Christ, I ask myself this as I ask you, Will you actively engage people with the gospel? Let's bow our heads together. Dear Father, we thank you so much for your word. Thank you for the power of the resurrected Christ. Thank you for the amazing purpose that he gives that we would go and make disciples Lord, I pray that you would minister to our hearts according to our need. I'd just like to ask two questions once again. With our heads bowed in this quiet moment, is there anyone who would say, I know that I need Jesus as my savior? I'm asking him to save me today. Please pray for me. I'll not embarrass you, but I will ask you to just lift your hand up that I can see it and you can put it back down. Is there one or two who would say yes today? I'm asking Jesus to forgive my sins. I'm believing that Jesus died and was buried and rose again. I want to be saved. Will you just lift your hand up? Amen. Anyone else? I want to be saved. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Will you write there in your heart, ask the Lord Jesus to come into your life to save you? Will you tell him, I'm trusting in Jesus today. Tell him that. I have one other question for every believer. Are you willing to be Jesus' useful assistant based on the cross and the tomb, the empty tomb? And you would tell the Lord right now, Lord Jesus, I know I'm weak, but will you please use me for your honor and glory to make the gospel known? Will you just raise your hand? Amen. Yes, amen. Amen. Amen. I want to be Jesus' useful assistant. Amen.