Introduced to you this morning, Craig Jones. Craig and Mel are here from Zimbabwe. Many of you heard them this morning at nine o'clock in what would typically be our Sunday school hour. And Craig and Mel are very dear friends. Craig is a theological lecturer at the Theological College of Zimbabwe in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. And Craig is deeply involved in the training of men for ordained ministry in the Presbytery in Bulawayo. They are partners with us in the gospel, and I am so glad that we share this faith in Christ together. And they were our hosts two years ago when we were there, when our family was there. And it was a wonderful thing to see the Lord's work in so many powerful ways in Zimbabwe. And I'm glad that Craig is here to share God's word with us now from Matthew 28. That's not in the bulletin, but you can start to turn to Matthew 28 as Craig comes forward. This first water is for you. I've been drinking the second one. Thank you so much, Aaron. Good morning, everybody. I bring you greetings. Just as Aaron has said, we were privileged enough to host the Garber family when they came over to stay in Zimbabwe. I bring you greetings from our local church and our presbytery as well, who have been blessed by you in different ways over the years. And we thank God for brothers and sisters in Christ spread across his world. As we come to think about God's word this morning, some Bible verses, and Aaron has already suggested to you that we are looking from Matthew 28, some Bible verses are so iconic that they make it onto fringes. They make it onto the back of cars. They make it onto posters. And in today's world, they make it onto social media status, or even onto our bodies in the form of tattoos. Bible verses have impacted the church in an amazing way. And some of them are so famous, that all you have to do is mention the first word of that Bible word, and many Christians, that Bible verse, many Christians will know immediately what you are talking about. For instance, if I say to you, go, if you have been in the church for any length of time, you will be familiar with the passage that we are going to look at from Matthew 28. And the church itself was inspired. The initial people who heard this message were so inspired that they went to make disciples of all the nations. The book of Acts, which you are going to be looking at next week, happens because Jesus gave these disciples that were gathered around him the commission to go out and make disciples of that church. Not only did the early church thrive and grow having received these words. In the mid to late 1700s and going forward, people like William Carey have gone from where they were into all the world and the gospel has been spread. And for us in Zimbabwe, the country that we live in, some of you saw me put up the picture of the Victoria Falls, where the missionary who was going, David Livingston, gazed his eyes upon that. David Livingston, who made the statement with regards to understanding the sovereignty of God. I am immortal until God says otherwise. God's hand is so heavy upon each one of us that he is large and in charge in each situation. Now, sometimes the text that we're going to look at today, sometimes people will use it to bash Christians into a sense of guilt and, oh, I'm such a bad Christian, I've got to go because I just haven't done anything. Other times, maybe it's like the church is being rah, rah, rah, and hyped into this go, go, go, go, go by the regimental sergeant major who's getting the church out there to go and tell people about Jesus. But as we look at the text today and look at the way Jesus presents this great commission, I hope that we can see that Jesus intended the church to be strengthened and refreshed in the Great Commission, in what he says. It's not just a go, go, go, go, go verse. It's not just a, oh, you're really bad, and if you really love Jesus, you better get out there and tell people. It's not that way. that Jesus puts himself across. So look with me as we read from Matthew 28. I'm reading from the NIV, which is very similar in this instance to the ESV, if you have that. Matthew 28, I'm going to begin at verse 16. Then the 11 disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshipped him, but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you, and surely I am with you always to the very end of the age." This is the eternal, unfailing Word of God. And may God add His blessing to us as we look at it together. If we start off in looking at this passage at the place where it becomes red letters, I don't have a red letter Bible with me and you may not have one in front of you, but I'm sure you're familiar that there are those versions of the Bible that have understood, okay, here Jesus is speaking and we put those words in red. If we start from our passage with those red letter sections, we will notice that Jesus, in giving the Great Commission, gives three great things with regards to that Great Commission. And the first of them is a great statement, a great declaration. There it is in verse 18. Then Jesus came to them and said, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. If you're familiar with the gospel that Matthew writes, you will know that throughout the gospel there have been some questions with regards to where does Jesus get authority? to cast out demons, to perform these miraculous acts. And then even as he comes into the temple in that final week of his life, where does he get authority to cast out the people who are doing their money changing and to turn things upside down and to teach what he's teaching in the temple courts? Where does he get such authority? The leaders ask him in Matthew 21, and Jesus, here we see gets that authority in that image that was there in the prophecy of Daniel. The prophecy that Daniel makes in chapter 7, let me read it for you. In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. I'm reading from Daniel chapter 13 if you didn't know. He approached the ancient of days and was led into his presence. He was given, verse 14, authority, authority. glory, and sovereign power. All peoples, nations, and men of every language worshipped Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and His kingdom is one that will never be destroyed." And before Jesus tells His disciples what they need to do here in the Great Commission, He tells them who He is. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me, says Jesus. He is declaring that person that is referred to in Daniel chapter 7, I'm the guy. That's me. I am large and in charge. I have authority, glory, and sovereign power, as it tells us there in Daniel chapter 7. And Jesus makes this statement, an amazing statement, a statement even that Aaron in leading us in prayer this morning has reflected upon and said, we sometimes forget this reality. And that's why I said this morning, I hope that we are refreshed for the Great Commission, because as we look at this text, it's mind-blowing. You look at the mess that you see, and as I've traveled around for the last three weeks in the US, many people are disillusioned. Many people are disheartened and frustrated, and even scared. And that's true in Zimbabwe. It's been true in Zimbabwe for pretty much my whole life. But if we place, if we trust in horses and chariots and human beings, rather than trust in the one who has all authority. It is very scary. But if we can be like David Livingston and say, I'm immortal until God decides otherwise, if we can recognize that this Jesus whom we worship is Lord of all, And our God, no sparrow falls from the sky, no feather drops, no hair falls from the head, or turns a different shade without him knowing. And he starts off with this great statement. I am God. and I have got this. Matthew chapter 16 verse 18, Jesus says after Peter has recognized, you are the Christ, the son of the living God, he says, Peter, I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it because he is the sovereign one. In Africa, one of the things that mothers will often do to calm a child is they will take a wraparound garment, slightly bigger than a big bath towel, and they will wrap the baby on their back, and then they'll, I haven't got the mommy bob, but they'll bob around like this, and the distressed baby will calm down. What Jesus is doing for us in this text is like that baby knows I'm with mom and everything's okay. Doesn't matter what is going on around, I'm with mom and everything is okay. Jesus is doing the same to us. He straps us to himself and he says, I'm large and in charge, I've got this. All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. I am large and in charge. The second part of this great commission is this great command, the part that we probably are most familiar with. And as I said, people will know if you just say the word go, they will know from this text. But you might be surprised to know that that word go is not the main verb of this text. The main verb is actually make disciples. It's not make converts. It's make disciples. And disciple making is a lengthy process. You will see it when you go through the book of Acts shortly. You will see Paul go to a church, proclaim the gospel, or go to an area, proclaim the gospel, a church start up. Paul go back to that area, speak to people there again, raise up leaders, appoint those leaders in that place. Paul communicate with that church through letters. Paul visit that church again. over years and years and send leaders like Timothy or Titus to go and visit those churches over years and years. This command that we are given to go and make disciples is a lengthy one. But it also involves, as we're told there, something not just of this process to go and make disciples, but perhaps even something related to the patent. It tells us there that baptizing with a correct theological understanding and teaching to obey all that Jesus has said, in other words, an understanding for the scriptures as a whole and passing that on, It's important for us to realize, and I've heard as a negative example, I remember talking to someone some years ago who came to Zimbabwe, an American man, and he came in and he said, oh, we flew in, and within a week, we had planted a church a day. And then we flew out. And I'm thinking, I'm not sure that in two months' time those seven churches are going to be there after seven days of somebody just coming in and saying, Jesus loves you and then going away. It takes time. It takes teaching. the Scriptures, teaching a correct understanding of our Trinitarian God as we see that we're called to baptize there in the name of the Father and in the name of the Son and in the name of the Holy Spirit. It takes a teaching to allow people to understand all that Jesus has said and the fact that we need to obey. It takes time and God has shown us some of the way even in this great commandment that he has given us of how we are to make disciples. But not only have we been given this great statement, of Jesus' sovereign authority. Not only have we been given this great command of going and making disciples, but right at the end there we have a great promise, an amazing promise. I don't know if you've seen it there in verse 20, the last part of verse 20. As he finishes the command, teaching them to obey everything I've commanded you, he says, and surely I am with you always to the very end of the age. I'm always surprised, maybe I'm not surprised now, I've seen it often enough, but I'm intrigued at the very least by how if you go to a social event, And it's not only true of young teenage girls, but they would probably be the best example of this. You go to an event and everyone's feeling a little bit awkward, we don't really know each other and whatever, and the teenage friends, the girls kind of get together, and then suddenly the whole bunch of them needs to go to the bathroom. You know, they can't just do it alone. They've got to have company, that reassurance of my friends with me. It's not quite the same thing when Jesus says, surely I'm with you to the very end of the age, but we understand the idea that the reassuring presence of someone we know and love and trust is a very, very comforting thing. And in fact, Jesus emphasizes this great promise of his presence in three ways. He says there, behold, as some of the translations say, or lo, as some of the translations say, or as I read in the NIV, surely, And it's a way that Matthew kind of takes a highlighter, and he underlines it. And he says, guys, this is important. Behold, yes, I've given you this commandment. But I'm not leaving you alone. I am with you. And he emphasizes not with you some of the time. I am with you. all of the time, always. And he emphasizes that this isn't just always for the next three weeks, always until our contract expires. It's always until the very end of the age. It's beyond the lifetime of the very people who were given this command and extends into our lifetimes, because the end of the age has not yet fully come. And so this great commission, with its great statement, and its great command, and this great promise, is not just for those 11 who are on that hill. great promise by Jesus. I mentioned there were three things in the red text, the things that Jesus said, but I've actually skipped the very first part. And it's equally as important because it's about who this great commission was given to. Who received it? Well, let's look again in verse 16. Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshipped him, but some doubted. That verse constantly makes me go, what? Did I hear that correctly? These people who for three years had seen Jesus do miracle after miracle after miracle, who had recently seen Him having predicted His death and resurrection, actually it came to pass just as He said it would. These people have seen Jesus walk on water, Peter's walked on water. They've seen demons cast out. They've seen blind receiving their sight, deaf receiving their hearing. They've seen people raised from the dead. They've been amazed at his teaching. And as with Peter, they have come to understand you are the Christ, the son of the living God. They've seen all that. And here they go to the mountain that he tells them to go to, and they see him, and yes, they worship, but even in the midst of that worship, there are doubters. It's kind of like that guy in Mark's gospel where Jesus speaks to him and he says, I believe, Lord, but help my unbelief. I believe you, but I'm struggling to believe you fully. I think sometimes we have the impression that people who have been obedient to the Great Commission, people who are living their lives in seeking to bring the gospel to others are people who have it all together. So let me work and then once I'm a perfect Christian, then I'll be ready to go. Well, Jesus sends these imperfect guys just as they are to go. I find that very refreshing. that God will use me in spite of, in fact, maybe even because of my many frailties so that He can be glorified. So it is Him that builds His church, not me. And he does it through clowns, frail people like myself. People who need the reality of a Christ who died for us. That's who Jesus uses to build his kingdom. I don't know if you noticed, we had this incredible rousing call to worship. This morning, Revelation chapter five, the whole of creation going, hallelujah, Jesus is the risen king. Everybody, everything on the earth, in the heavens, on the earth, and under the earth, bowing down and recognizing him for who he is. Well, the Great Commission starts with 11, and amongst them are a bunch of doubters. And here we go from the Great Commission in Matthew 28 to this great thing that we see here in Revelation chapter 5. How do we get from just 11 to all of creation recognizing Jesus for who He is? We get there by being refreshed in the gospel, understanding who Jesus is even in our frailties, being obedient to his great command even in our frailties, and going out knowing that he is with us even in our frailties because of his great presence. There's a Baptist preacher that many of you may know, John Piper, who says that mission exists because worship doesn't. And right here at the Great Commission, they started with faulty worship. But by the end of the age, once Jesus has finished building his church, there will be no faulty worship. It will be full worship. And God calls us, comes alongside us, commands us, equips us, goes with us, uses us, to achieve that great picture that we will see in Revelation chapter five. Let's pray to our God. Father God, thank you for this great commission. And thank you, Lord, for the great understanding of who Jesus is for this great command that takes frail, fallible worshipers and uses them to Your glory, uses us to Your glory. With Your ever-present help, O Lord, be glorified in and through Your work, in and through us, as we seek to make disciples of all nations. To the glory of Your name we pray. Amen.