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Our focus will be on the Great 
Commission in verses 18 to 20. As we are having a baptism this 
morning of Mrs. Wilma Faber, it's a good time 
to remind ourselves concerning the commission that Christ gave 
to the church in terms of disciple-making and baptism and then instruction 
of those baptized disciples. So I'll begin reading in chapter 
28 at verse 1. Now after the Sabbath, as the 
first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the 
other Mary came to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great 
earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and 
came and rolled back the stone from the door and sat on it. 
His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as 
snow. And the guards shook for fear of him and became like dead 
men. But the angel answered and said 
to the women, do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus 
who is crucified. He is not here for he is risen, 
as he said, come see the place where the Lord lay and go quickly 
and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead. And 
indeed, he is going before you into Galilee. There you will 
see him. Behold, I have told you so. I 
have told you. So they went out quickly from 
the tomb with fear and great joy and ran to bring his disciples 
word. And as they went to tell his 
disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, Rejoice! So they 
came and held him by the feet and worshipped him. Then Jesus 
said to them, Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brethren to go 
to Galilee, and there they will see me. Now while they were going, 
behold, some of the guard came into the city and reported to 
the chief priests all the things that had happened. When they 
had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they 
gave a large sum of money to the soldier saying, tell them 
his disciples came at night and stole him away while we slept. 
And if this comes to the governor's ears, we will appease him and 
make you secure. So they took the money and did 
as they were instructed. And this saying is commonly reported 
among the Jews until this day. Then the eleven disciples went 
away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for 
them. When they saw him, they worshipped him, but some doubted. 
And Jesus 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. Let 
us pray. Our Father, thank you for the 
written word. Thank you for the ministry of the Holy Spirit who 
gave us the word. And we pray even now that he 
would guide us as we consider that word. Help us to see the 
importance of the commission for the life of the church. Help 
us to see the blessings of the commission in the life of the 
church. And God, help us as well to appreciate the glorious gospel 
of Jesus Christ our Lord. For God, we know it is not up 
to men. It is ultimately God who is sovereign. 
And we pray that as this word goes forth throughout the earth, 
it would run swiftly and be glorified, that you would be honored and 
praised in the salvation of sinners and in the strengthening of your 
saints. And we ask this through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. Well, as I said, verses 18 to 
20 contain what's called the Great Commission. It's Christ's 
parting words to his church, not that he's absent, not that 
he's vanished, not that he's gone. He is still connected to 
the church from the right hand of the Father. He is enthroned 
on high, and by the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit, 
Christ is in the midst of the lampstand even now, and we rejoice 
in that. But this is a formal command 
to the church to function in a particular way with reference 
to this time until he comes again in glory to judge the living 
and the dead. And I think just by a preliminary 
observation, it is important to understand that this is a 
pretty limited scope. Jesus doesn't say the church 
is to be about everything in the world. Rather, she is to 
focus specifically on the mission at hand. She is to honor and 
obey her head in a way that is consistent with his revealed 
will. It's not the case that she's supposed to figure out 
new ways to serve Jesus. God doesn't want us to be innovative. 
He doesn't want us to be creative. Rather, God wants us to be obedient. And with reference to the commission, 
the church needs to be about what is specified in verses 18 
to 20. So essentially, what we have 
is the Great Commission in verses 18 to 20. The first thing you 
see is the authority behind the Great Commission. We won't spend 
a lot of time there. Secondly, the specific focus 
of the Commission. That's where we will spend our 
time in verses 19 to 20a. And then finally, the assurance 
provided for the Great Commission in verse 20b. So first, look 
at the authority behind the commission in verse 18. What a glorious 
statement. When we obey Christ, we obey the one who has the authority 
to in order compliance. He grants the grace, He grants 
us the strength, He grants us the resources of the Holy Spirit 
and the Word, such that when He calls us into service and 
activity, He is the power behind it. We're not acting in our own 
strength, we're not acting in our own ability, we're not trying 
to conduct things according to our own whims or fancies, but 
rather we are responding to the One who has absolute authority. 
All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. 
This is a present situation. It's not like we're waiting for 
Christ to be invested with authority. There's some types of teaching 
out there that seem to indicate that, that we have to wait until 
the return of Jesus before He begins His reign as King. That's 
not what the text says. He possesses presently all authority 
in heaven and on earth. In the book of Revelation, in 
chapter 1, when John greets the seven churches of Asia Minor, 
he does so in terms of the Trinity, from the Father, the Son, and 
the Spirit. And he describes the Son as being ruler over the 
kings of the earth. That's most important for the 
book of Revelation. If you read through the book 
of Revelation, you will know there's a lot of animosity toward 
the church on earth. There's this beast from the sea 
and a beast from the land, and they target the people of God 
with destruction. So John, knowing that, writes 
from the very outset or from the vantage point that Christ 
is King, He is head over all these things. So when it comes 
to the church's mission on the face of the earth, we work according 
to His power and to His authority. Again, it's not up to us, it's 
not how we figure it out, but Christ has the authority and 
Christ gives the commands. Now notice the specific focus 
of the commission. With that authority, He then 
delegates it to His church. Notice in verse 19, go therefore 
and do what I tell you to do. So based on the fact that he 
has all authority, based on the fact that he is the ruler over 
the kings of the earth, he then tells his church to go out in 
his name and to function on his behalf in this world. And with 
reference to the church, there are four things that she must 
be about. In the first place, the disciples 
of the church must go. Secondly, the disciples must 
make disciples. Thirdly, the disciples must baptize 
them. And fourthly, the disciples must 
teach them to observe all things that Christ has commanded. So 
look at those four things in a bit of detail presently. In 
the first place, notice he says, go therefore. Not stay, not sit, 
not just vegetate, not stagnate. That doesn't mean that every 
single member in every single church will go and be about this 
particular task. He's addressing his apostles. 
He is addressing those men that will go out, preach the gospel, 
make disciples, and found local churches. But the church as a 
whole, until Jesus returns, must be about this. Again, it's not 
this comprehensive list of everything the church in a society must 
do, but she must go and obey her master in this particular 
focus. So the going here isn't suggestive. The going here is rather command. 
Some take it as if it's this way. In your going, while you're 
going, do this particular thing. And they argue that it's what's 
called a participle. For most of you adults, you don't 
know what that word means, but for you kids, you've seen that 
in your English grammar lessons. A participle typically isn't 
an imperative or a command, but there are times in the New Testament 
where a participle has imperative function. It functions as a command 
in this setting. Christ says, go. Churches must 
be about disciple-making. Churches may be about a whole 
host of other things, but they must be about disciple-making. That is crucial. One of the most 
exasperating things I've heard as a pastor over the years is 
when persons will say, the gospel wasn't preached in my last church. Why not? That's what's supposed 
to be preached in churches. The gospel of Jesus Christ the 
Lord, the life, the death, the resurrection, the glory of Christ, 
the majesty of Christ, the power of Christ, the person of Christ, 
the work of Christ. What else are we talking about 
if we're not preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord? So 
Christ commands this going. Christ commands the necessity 
of churches to function in this capacity to make known the glorious 
name of Jesus Christ. Now notice secondly, they're 
commanded to go, but then notice what they're commanded to do 
when they go. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations. Make disciples of all the nations. We don't do this with military 
might. Brethren, we are not Muslims. 
We do not convert people with the power of the sword, the physical 
sword. It is the sword of the Spirit. 
It is the word of the living and true God. Disciple-making, 
in the language of the commentator John Broadus, is simple. To disciple 
a person to Christ is to bring him into the relation of pupil 
to teacher, taking his yoke of authoritative instruction. accepting 
what he says as true because he says it, and submitting to 
his requirements as right because he makes them. So that's the 
meaning of discipleship. What's the means? I've already 
mentioned it. The preaching of the gospel. 
How do we make disciples? Again, not with the physical 
sword, not with military might, not under coercion, but through 
the proclamation of the truth, attended by the Holy Spirit, 
such that sinners see themselves rightly before a holy God, and 
then see Christ as altogether lovely and chief among ten thousand." 
Because the Bible tells us very clearly, there is none righteous, 
no not one. The Bible tells us very clearly 
that all we like sheep have gone astray. The Bible tells us very 
clearly that all men everywhere are justly liable to God's wrath 
and curse, both in this life and that which is to come. So 
the means by which we make disciples is to preach that message, that 
blessed message we call the good news. that blessed message concerning 
Jesus Christ. The glory of the gospel isn't 
that men and women make themselves a little better and fit for reception 
into heaven. The glory of the gospel isn't 
even that sinners accept Jesus into their hearts. The glory 
of the gospel is that God Almighty, in His grace and in His mercy, 
reaches down raises up dead men and women, puts new hearts into 
their chests, spiritually speaking, grants them the gifts of faith 
and repentance so that they may see Christ, the way the Bible 
presents him, as the one in whom there is salvation. So the making 
of disciples hinges first and foremost upon the preaching of 
justification by faith alone. The reality is, if you're not 
a believer here this morning, you are under God's wrath and 
curse. both in this life and in that 
which is to come. Think about it for a moment. 
Are God as holy as the Bible tells us? The prophet Habakkuk 
says that God's eye is too pure to approve of any evil. What 
about those of us, which is all of us, those outside of Christ, 
as whom I'm addressing specifically, who are nothing but evil? All 
of us are given over to sin. All of us die in Adam. All of 
us are under that just condemnation of a holy God. So apart from 
the gospel of Jesus Christ, apart from that good news, apart from 
faith in Him and repentance unto life, there is a certainty of 
judgment at the end of our lives. If you're not a believer this 
morning, don't congratulate Mrs. Faber because she made good decisions, 
Praise God that in Him there is forgiveness. Praise God that 
if He were to mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But 
there is forgiveness with Thee that Thou mayest be feared. Understand 
there is hope in the gospel. Understand that Christ is good. Understand the implications of 
John 6, 37, wherein the Lord Christ says, all that the Father 
gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will 
certainly not cast out. If your theology has suggested 
an unwillingness on the part of Jesus to save sinners, may 
I suggest you find a new theology? Because that is faulty. It is 
wrong. It is bad. There's a theology 
out there that teaches that the prodigal, when he was a long 
way off, would hear the insults and the condemnation of his grieved 
father. But the Bible tells us just the 
opposite. The young man, when he's a long 
way off, the father runs to him, the father falls on him, not 
ready to smack him and not ready to beat him up and not ready 
to do despite to him for his having gone into that far country, 
but he falls on him and kisses him. He falls on him to receive 
him. He falls on him and brings him 
into his house and puts a ring on his finger and a robe on his 
back and has the fatted calf slain because this son who was 
dead is now alive. This son who was lost is now 
found. That's what the Bible teaches 
concerning Jesus. He's not an unwilling Savior. He's not one that holds at distance 
sinners who rightly seeing themselves before a holy God come to him 
for salvation. That's the purpose for which 
he came into this world. It's what he says in Luke's gospel 
in Luke 19. After he calls Zacchaeus down 
out of that sycamore tree, everybody there kind of grumbles and whines 
and moans and complains. Why? Because Zacchaeus was a 
wretch. Zacchaeus was a tax collector. 
They didn't like tax collectors in the first century any more 
than we like tax collectors in the 21st century. Even worse 
is that Zacchaeus was likely a Jew working for the Roman government 
collecting taxes from fellow Jews. So when Jesus invites that 
wee little man out of the sycamore tree and says, I'm going to go 
have dinner at your house, everybody whines, everybody grumbles, everybody 
complains. How does Jesus counter that? 
He says, the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which 
was lost. That's not a new theme in scripture. When Adam and Eve sin against 
God, they're not the ones that run after God. They run away 
from God. It's God who comes after them. 
When the tower builders at Babel raise this big piece of construction 
up into the heavens to make a name for themselves, God confounds 
them and then immediately on the heels of that calls Abram 
out of Ur of the Chaldeans Because in Abram, all the nations of 
the earth will be blessed. In other words, the whole Bible 
is about God being glorified in the salvation of sinners by 
Jesus Christ. So if in your head you think, 
well, I could never come to Jesus, the Bible doesn't authorize that. 
The Bible commands you to believe on the name of his son. And that's 
what by grace some in this church have done, or those who are in 
this church have done. It's not owing, again, to our 
works, or our merits, or our obedience, or our goodness. There 
ain't none of that in any of us. It's God's grace that's on 
display, and as our sister goes into that water, that's who we 
praise. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, 
not our sister. So the first aspect or the first 
means by which disciples are made is through the proclamation 
of the cross. Christ and Him crucified. You 
see this in the book of Acts. We're studying the book of Acts 
in our morning worship. Remember Paul and Philippi. He's 
thrown into the slammer. There's this earthquake and all 
the people are going to escape. And this jailer is going to plunge 
a sword into his heart because he has been deficient. He has 
been derelict in his duty. And Paul the Apostle and Silas 
caution him not to do that. And then this man runs to Paul 
and Silas, not the other prisoners, but to them, falls before them 
and says, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? What do they say? 
Don't even ask the question, because our God is so harsh and 
so vicious, He'll never receive one like you. No. They said, 
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. That's 
why it's good news. It's not bad news, it's not mediocre 
news, it's not kind of somewhat okay news, but it's the good 
news of Christ and Him crucified and resurrected for sinners. 
One more text. Romans 4.25, Paul, in summary 
statement, gives us the gist of the gospel. He says that Christ 
was delivered up because of our offenses and he was raised for 
our justification. What a blessed and a beautiful 
statement that does hopefully put everybody's mind to rest 
that God is, in fact, willing to save sinners. Now thirdly, 
notice what the disciples do after they make disciples. So 
the text says, go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, 
not just Jews, but Gentiles. This was prophesied, as I said, 
to Abram in Genesis 12, re-ratified or reiterated in chapter 13, 
chapter 14, chapter 15, chapter 17, chapter 22. I mean, it's 
a recurring theme in those early chapters of Genesis in God's 
dealings with Abraham. that in Abraham all the nations 
of the earth will be blessed. Why? Because Abraham was virtuous? 
No, because Abraham stands at the head of the line of our Lord 
and Savior Jesus Christ. He is the seed of Abraham in 
whom all the promises of God are yea and amen. And so the 
nations are to be evangelized, the nations are to be preached 
to, the nations are to be told the glorious gospel of Jesus 
Christ. So go therefore, make disciples 
of all the nations, now notice thirdly, baptizing them in the 
name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Now 
the subjects of baptism isn't the nations, it's those disciples 
from the nations. It's those who've heard the gospel 
of Jesus Christ our Lord. Those who by God's grace have 
believed that gospel, they're the subjects of baptism. They're 
the ones that are to be immersed in water as a public declaration 
and identification with this glorious God. It's not the case 
that baptism saves, but baptism is the external demonstration 
of the internal change brought out by God in His grace. It is 
that initiatory rite into the Christian church. It is that 
blessed transaction that God has given to the souls of men, 
such that it ought not to terrify them, but it's embraced happily 
and joyfully, and they go into that water with great thanksgiving 
to their God. It's a beautiful and a wonderful 
thing, but some have described it as baptize the nations. In 
fact, I think it was the papists that would just sprinkle people 
and, you know, welcome them to the church. That's not how the 
text reads. Make disciples, baptize disciples. Listen to John Gill. Not all 
nations, for the antecedent to the relative them cannot be all 
nations. Since the words for all nations 
are of the neuter gender, whereas them is of the masculine. Again, 
this is more for the young people among us, but I think you'll 
get the point. Nor can it be thought that it should be the 
mind of Christ that all the individuals of all nations should be baptized 
as heathens, Turks, and Jews, but disciples supposed and contained 
in the word teach or make disciples. such as are taught and made disciples 
by teaching or under the ministry of the word by the Spirit of 
God." So disciples are disciples by grace. They believe the gospel 
and then they are baptized as, again, an external sign or symbol 
of what has transpired inwardly. It's not the case that baptism 
saves. You don't see that emphasis in this passage and you certainly 
don't see it in the book of Acts, but rather it accompanies it. 
It's not the case that as soon as somebody is born, you simply 
baptize them and receive them into the life of the church. 
I know that may sound offensive, and I don't want to go there 
in terms of offending needlessly, but brethren, the grammar of 
the text does not indicate that's what's in play. It is those who 
believe the gospel, those who understand their sin, those who 
understand the graciousness of the Savior, those who by grace 
come, they're the disciples that are to be baptized in accordance 
with this great commission. And then we ask the question, 
if you haven't, I'm going to ask it for you, what is the significance 
of baptism? Why this? Why this emphasis or 
why this sort of watery grave in which a person goes into, 
you know, death with Christ, burial with Christ, and resurrection 
with Christ? I think that's all typified or 
demonstrated there in Romans chapter 6. But why? Why baptize? I think our confession summarizes 
the question or answers the question well. It says, baptism is an 
ordinance of the New Testament ordained by Jesus Christ to be 
unto the party baptized, a sign of fellowship with him in his 
death and resurrection, the Roman six motif. He dies, buried, resurrected 
again in that watery grave. of His being engrafted unto Him, 
that means union with Christ, it also represents remission 
of sins and of His giving up unto God through Jesus Christ 
to live and walk in newness of life. That's why we baptize. 
Well, we baptize in the first place because Jesus commands 
us to baptize. But when we search the scriptures, 
we see there is a rationale. There is a reason behind it. 
It's not an empty religious rite that we just do because that's 
what people do. No, it's like the Lord's Supper. We don't do 
that just because that's what people do. There is significance 
attaching to it. There is symbolism attaching 
to it. And God, being Creator, knows 
our nature. He made us. We're creature. And 
we tend to resonate with physical things that help us understand 
spiritual truths. That's why baptism, that's why 
supper, for the glory of God and for the health and good of 
His people. Now before we leave this point, look at the name 
into which these persons are to be baptized. It's a beautiful 
statement telling us concerning or teaching us something concerning 
what we call the doctrine of the Trinity. Notice, baptizing 
them in the name singular of the persons plural. 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." 
They're baptized in the name of that God, who is Father, Son, 
and Holy Spirit. Again, it's a public declaration. 
It is to identify with. It is to say, this is my Lord, 
this is my Master, this is my King and Savior, the one who 
has conquered me and brought me out of darkness into marvelous 
light. But what an ascription to the 
Christian doctrine of the Trinity. Name singular, persons plural. That reflects the historic discussion 
concerning the Trinity. God is one in one sense. We call 
that essence or substance. And then he's three in another 
sense. We call that person or subsistence or hypostasis. And so the Christian doctrine 
of the Trinity was not hatched at the Council of Nicaea. It's 
not owing to Constantine, the emperor of the Roman Empire. 
It is what the Bible teaches us. It is what the gifts given 
to the Church have recognized the Bible teaches us and have 
formulated in the ancient creeds and confessions of the Church. 
Again, I'll turn us to our confession when it describes the persons 
of the Trinity. In this divine and infinite being, 
the oneness of God, there are three subsistences, or persons, 
the Father, the Word, or Son, and the Holy Spirit, of one substance, 
power, and eternity, each having the whole divine essence, yet 
the essence undivided, distinguished by several peculiar relative 
properties and personal relations. The Bible does that. Again, it 
wasn't Constantine, it wasn't the creed at Chalcedon, it wasn't 
Nicaea that established this. Those men recognized this. Those men discussed this. Those 
men battled for this. Those men articulated it in the 
creeds and confessions, but not without biblical warrant. Baptized 
in the name singular of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And think 
about the claim that Jesus is making precisely here. This Galilean 
preacher, this man that had been brutalized publicly, this man 
who had been crucified, this man who had been hung, not on 
a throne, but on a cross, now equates himself to Father and 
Spirit? It is an amazing claim on the 
part of one who is able to make the claim because he's the second 
person of the glorious Trinity who came down for us men and 
for our salvation, who assumed our humanity with all the essential 
properties and common infirmities thereof and yet without sin. 
Christ can say this because He's the real deal. He's equating 
Himself with Father and with Spirit and saying that in terms 
of baptism, persons that are saved by grace identify with 
the one God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Not three gods, 
not part of God. not 33% God, Father, Son, Spirit, 
but one glorious God existing eternally as Father, Son, and 
Holy Spirit. Now incidentally, this isn't 
the only place in the Bible that teaches this. The Old Testament 
teaches it. The Bible, in the Old Testament, 
highlights the three persons of the triune God. It may not 
be as clear as it is in the New Covenant, but it's certainly 
there. The psalmist, reflecting upon the creation account, gives 
us a Trinitarian reference in Psalm 33.6 as he muses on Genesis 
1. In the beginning, God created 
the heavens and the earth. How does he do that? By His Word, 
Christ is the Word, the Son of God. And the Spirit is brooding 
over the waters at that time of creation. So the Trinity is 
present in the book of Genesis. The Trinity is present throughout 
the Old Testament. The Trinity comes to full light 
in the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the outpouring 
of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. Not that they weren't 
present, but they come in blazing glory in this new covenant setting 
to show us who our God is. And Jesus tells us that baptism 
is to be done in the name of the Father and of the Son and 
of the Holy Spirit. John Gill says, hence a confirmation 
of the doctrine of the Trinity. There are three persons, but 
one name, but one God, into which believers are baptized, and a 
proof of the true deity both of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, 
and that Christ as the Son of God is God, since baptism is 
administered equally in the name of all three, as a religious 
ordinance, a part of divine instituted worship, which would never be 
in the name of a creature. Christ would never have us be 
baptized in the name of a creature. We're baptized in the name of 
the living and true God, whose Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. So when we baptize, brethren, 
that is a confession of our faith in our triune God. We're not 
modalists. Those who teach that God was 
the Father, became the Son, and now is the Spirit. That is connected 
with a heretic by the name of Sibelius, and it's wrong. It 
is outside the confines of Christian orthodoxy. We're not tritheists. It's not the case that there's 
three gods. Remember, one God, Father, Son, 
and Holy Spirit. As well, there's no subordination 
within the persons of the Godhead. It's not that the Father is the 
big G God and Jesus is the little G God. No, there's no gradation 
among the persons of the Trinity. They're all God. They have that 
common undivided essence. And so this passage is a blessed 
statement concerning what Christians have confessed from the very 
beginning, that our God is but one only, the true and living 
God. And then we ask, how many persons 
are there in the Godhead? There are three persons in the 
Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These three 
are one God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory. It's 
a blessed, blessed thing when we consider who our God is. And then the fourth aspect, with 
reference to the focus of the commission, is that the disciples 
must teach them to observe all things that Jesus had commanded. 
Notice, we have the statement, go therefore, make disciples 
of all the nations, baptize the disciples that were made from 
the nations in the name of the triune God, Father, and of the 
Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Now notice the emphasis in verse 
20, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded 
you. We're sort of back to that whole aspect of disciple making. 
So in the first place, we preach the gospel for justification 
by faith alone. Tell needy, desperate, degenerate 
sinners that there's hope in the Lord Christ, that all those 
who look to Christ in faith will have everlasting life. When a 
sinner believes the gospel of Jesus Christ, that sinner amazingly 
is forgiven of his sin and receives the righteousness of Christ that 
he will be able to stand before God with. It's a beautiful thing. 
But then once that person is justified, what should they do? 
Go back and lay on their couch and just wait till Jesus returns? 
Eat Cheetos and, you know, wipe your hands on your shirt? No! 
They should be in churches like this so that they can engage 
discipleship in the sense of sanctification, growing in the 
grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, 
learning, understanding, receiving truth, being conformed more and 
more unto His image. Brethren, this is a very high 
church emphasis in this particular passage. Jesus is not envisioning 
that mavericks, these men, will just go out and do their own 
thing and be sectarians. No, this is corporate exercise 
of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Timothy 3 identifies 
the church as the house of God, the pillar and ground of the 
truth. And it is the church which engages in this particular activity, 
such that when disciples are made, those disciples enter into 
the life of the church, so that those disciples can learn more 
about their Savior. They can learn more about the 
Redeemer. In fact, turn to Matthew 11, where you see both these 
aspects in sharp display. Matthew chapter 11, one of those 
passages in the gospel narrative. that hopefully warms our hearts 
every time we read it. Matthew 11 at verse 25, at that 
time, Jesus answered and said, I thank you, Father, Lord of 
heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the 
wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes. I want to make 
sure that we're all singing off the same page here. I think at 
times we dealt with this a bit on Wednesday night in our Bible 
studies in Exodus, because you find these statements along the 
way in God's dealings with Pharaoh, where God hardens Pharaoh's heart. And some modern readers and probably 
ancient readers didn't like that. They didn't like the thought 
that God would harden Pharaoh's heart. That seems contradictory 
to his purposes relative to Pharaoh. Well, we need to remind ourselves 
that Pharaoh was a sinner. Pharaoh was a wretch. Pharaoh 
was benefiting from the slave labor of the Jews. Pharaoh was 
a totally depraved man who already had a bad heart. For God to harden 
his heart is an act of justice and righteousness and judgment 
on the part of our God. The same is true here. I thank 
you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these 
things from the wise and prudent. Perhaps it will arise in the 
soul of men to say, well, that doesn't seem fair. You would 
think that he wants to show it to every man everywhere. It's 
judgment, it's righteousness, it's justice. The Lord Christ 
in doing this is not not being merciful, rather He is being 
just. But it's not the case that these 
things, gospel truths, are just hidden from the wise and prudent, 
but they are revealed to babes. That's the beautiful thing. Why 
do we never celebrate that part? We whine and grumble about the 
justice of God and then in the same sentence there is a great 
display of the mercy of God that goes unnoticed for the most part. He does reveal these things. 
He is in the business of saving sinners. He is about redemption 
through the blood of Jesus. So then notice in verse 26, even 
so, Father, for so it seemed good in your sight. In other 
words, it's God's sovereignty that is primary in the salvation 
of sinners. That's a humbling truth that 
the creature needs to get his mind wrapped around, but that's 
the way it is. Even so, Father, for so it seemed 
good in your sight, or thus it was well-pleasing in your sight. 
Verse 27, all things have been delivered to me by my Father, 
and no one knows the Son except the Father, nor does anyone know 
the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills 
to reveal Him. Now notice, verse 28, come to 
me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give 
you rest. I've heard a presentation of 
this text recently and the person that presented the text makes 
it sound like this labor and this heavy ladenness are the 
anxieties of the world that we live in. They're the pressures, 
they're the struggles, which we all have, right? If you haven't 
recognized the world's kind of a mess right now, I don't know 
if you need me to sort of remind you of that, but this person 
takes this text and preaches it that way. That, you know, 
if you've got anxiety, if you've got restlessness, if you're confused 
about the days in which you live, then this text is for you. I'm 
not suggesting that peace with God doesn't produce or bring 
cessation of anxiety. Not completely. cessation of 
some degree of depression. I mean, we still got our issues. 
We still got our challenges. But the gospel of Jesus Christ 
brings that kind of peace to the conscience of people who've 
been conquered by it. But that's not Jesus' point here. 
The weariness and the heavy ladenness is because of sin. It's because 
of rebellion against the living God. It's akin to David in Psalm 
130. Out of the depths, I have cried 
to thee, O Lord. That's what Jesus is addressing 
here. The reality that there is a thrice 
holy God and that we have offended him at every step of the way. That's the burden, that's the 
heavy ladenness that Jesus bids us come. Come to me, he says, 
all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. He does that when we believe 
the gospel. He does that when we look to 
him, we live. But then notice he doesn't stop 
there. He continues in this same sort 
of two-fold emphasis. It's not just justification, 
but it's also sanctification or growth in grace. He says, 
take my yoke upon you and learn from me. For I am gentle and 
lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For 
my yoke is easy and my burden is light. It's not the case that 
we just come to Jesus, get our forgiveness, get our righteousness, 
and go back to living the way that we always had. No, when 
he changes our hearts, when he gives us that view of Christ, 
he gives us a new disposition, new desires. 2 Corinthians 5.17 
is a reality. All things are new to that new 
creature in him. Again, not perfectly. not sinlessly, 
not spotlessly, there is still remaining corruption, but there 
is the reality that there's a new disposition, a new wherewithal, 
a new desire for those things that at one time we despised 
and disdained. So back to our text, the emphasis 
is not only on get them saved, but get them taught, get them 
grounded. get them stabilized, get them 
secure, get them mature, get them to that place where they're 
able to deal with the various onslaughts against their faith 
that comes from the devil, that comes from the world, that comes 
from their own remaining corruption. And notice that Jesus wants comprehensiveness. Not just teach them the things 
that they like, not just teach them the things that you have 
a brain to teach them about, but teach them to observe all 
things that I have commanded you. The Bible's a big book. 31,000 verses, I think. We ought 
to be about teaching those things to the disciples of Jesus Christ 
so that we all find ourselves engaged with 2 Peter 3.18 where 
he says, So the commission is about disciple making. The commission 
is as well about disciple grounding and building and maturation and 
growth such that churches will be places where God is glorified, 
where God and Christ are exalted, and where the people of God are 
what they ought to be. This is what we ought to look 
for in terms of church life with reference to the mission of the 
church. So that's the focus. Let's look 
quickly at the assurance provided for the commission. Notice what 
Jesus says at the end of verse 20, and lo, I am with you always, 
even to the end of the age. What a beautiful thing. So when 
we engage in this, we're not alone. When we engage in this, 
we're not just individuals, but rather Christ enthroned at the 
right hand of the Father, where He is ruler over the kings of 
the earth, is head over all things for the church, according to 
Paul. in Ephesians 1, 20 to 23. So when we go about this task, 
we're not in our own strength. There's a Holy Spirit that Jesus 
sends to aid, to assist, and to bring success. Not success 
the way we think of success, but success the way God defines 
it, that His Word is preached, the means are employed, such 
that sinners are saved, and such that saints are made more holy 
and grow. Again, John Gill says, and that 
he would be with them in a spiritual sense, to assist them in their 
work, to comfort them under all discouragement, to supply them 
with his grace, and to protect them from all enemies and preserve 
from all evils, which is a great encouragement both to administer 
the word and ordinances and attend on them. And I think this summarizes, 
well, kind of an emphasis in Matthew's gospel. It's a lot 
of emphases, or a lot of themes, or a lot of subjects that Matthew 
covers in the space of 28 chapters. But chapter 28 ends where chapter 
1 begins. Remember, concerning the birth 
narrative of our Lord, what was the name to be given to him? 
Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. But in accordance 
with the prophet Isaiah, you'll call him Emmanuel. What does 
Immanuel mean? It's translated for us by Matthew. God with us. In Matthew chapter 
18, when Jesus teaches the church concerning the necessity and 
the importance of church discipline, he talks about where two or three 
are gathered together. There am I in the midst of them. Now, I think we take that verse 
into our living room and say, oh, our brothers are here, so 
Christ is with us. I think that's true, but not 
from that text. I think that text indicates that 
when the church is obeying her head, carrying out church discipline, 
Christ's in it. It's not a group of, you know, 
salty elders trying to force people out of the church. No, 
Christ is about the purity of his church. So at the beginning 
of Matthew's gospel, we have Emmanuel. In the middle of Matthew's 
gospel, we have Christ with us in the church when we engage 
in discipline. And at the end of Matthew's gospel, what do 
we have? Christ with us when we're undergoing the commission, 
the going therefore, the making disciples, the baptizing those 
disciples that are made, and the teaching of those disciples. 
We have the assurance that our Lord Jesus is present with us. 
And in this brief context, notice at least two perfections of our 
blessed Lord Jesus. We have his omnipotence in verse 
18. He has all authority. And we 
have his omnipresence in verse 20. He is ever with his bride 
while they are undergoing the task that he has called them 
unto. Well, in conclusion, just a few 
thoughts, and that really is the case in conclusion. You've 
heard about the man and his son that were at the service, and 
the preacher said, finally, and the boy leans over to his dad 
and says, what's finally mean? And the dad says, nothing. It's just preacher talk, doesn't 
mean anything. But I really am coming to a head, coming to a 
close. This really is a conclusion. First of all, we ought to appreciate 
the four alls of the Great Commission. The word all comes out four times 
in the span of these few verses. Four alls. In the first place, 
the commission is grounded in the all-authority of Jesus Christ. Secondly, the commission is directed 
to all the nations of the earth. In accordance with the Psalter, 
Psalm 2.8, ask of me and I will give you the nations for your 
inheritance and the ends of the earth for your possession. It's 
no accident that Christ as Messiah, Christ as mediator, tells His 
disciples to go to all the nations. Because according to Psalm 2.8, 
the Father has given Him all nations. Thirdly, the commission 
is tasked with teaching all the things that Jesus commanded. 
And fourthly, the commission is conducted by the church who 
has the presence of Christ with her for all the days. So it's 
a comprehensive emphasis by our Savior on the mission of the 
church. Secondly, we ought to appreciate 
in this brief text the Christian doctrine of the Trinity. The 
doctrine of the Trinity must be known and believed because 
that is who God is. Sometimes you meet people that 
will say, oh, you know, that's so confusing. That's so hard. I 
just can't get my mind wrapped around it. Well, you need to 
try harder. It's an amazing thing to me how 
lazy we become when it comes to God's Word, when it comes 
to Christian doctrine. The psalmist says, great are 
the works of the Lord, they are studied by all who delight in 
them. You see that in the world sometimes. 
You see bird watchers. That's not my thing, but hey, 
hats off to you. They're appreciating God's creation. You've got people that like to 
look at the stars. You've got people that enjoy 
botany. You've got people that enjoy a whole host of things. 
Great are the works of the Lord. They're studied by all who delight 
in them. We see that. It's pretty commonplace, except 
for in the church with blood-bought children of God that don't study 
the bestest of all works, which is the redemption of their hell-deserving 
souls. Certainly that demands our careful 
attention, and who our God is is most excellent for our instruction. Listen to the Athanasian Creed, 
that we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in unity, neither 
confounding the persons nor dividing the substance. Calvin says, thus 
we perceive that God cannot be truly known unless our faith 
distinctly conceive of the three persons in one essence. And then 
a successor to Calvin by the name of Francis Turretin says, 
for it is not sufficient to know that God is as to existence or 
what he is as to his attributes, but we must know also who he 
is as to the persons as he presents himself to be known by us in 
his word. He goes on to say, hence, whosoever 
denies the Son, the same has not the Father. That's 1 John 
2.23. And he that honoreth not the 
Son honoreth not the Father which hath sent him. John 5.23. Now 
listen to Turretin's application. Therefore, God has revealed himself 
as one in essence, three in persons, vis identification, Father, Son, 
and Holy Spirit. And then he says this, thus, 
he who does not acknowledge and believe the Trinity has not the 
true God, but has erected for himself an idol in the place 
of God. Brethren, this is important. 
This isn't sort of a corollary that someday we might get to. 
How does Jesus define, describe, or indicate the essence of eternal 
life in John 17, 3? And this is eternal life, that 
they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom 
Thou hast sent. If the very essence itself of 
eternal life is that knowledge of God intimately, experientially, 
then what want we to be about on this side of heaven? Studying 
God, learning who He is, understanding the doctrine of the Trinity, 
blessing Father, Son, and Spirit for the salvation of our guilty 
souls. I love that our confession, after 
highlighting the doctrine of the Trinity, gives this practical 
statement. It says, the doctrine of the 
Trinity must be known and believed. That doesn't say that. But then 
it says, because, quote, it is the foundation of all our communion 
with God and comfortable dependence on Him. That's how we relate 
to Him, Father, Son, and Spirit. We come to the Father through 
the mediation of the Son and the power of the Holy Spirit, 
such that God is all in all. It's most glorious and most excellent 
and not obscure the way that some persons would have you to 
believe. The Bible is Trinitarian to the 
core, and that is our God, and He is to be believed, trusted, 
and worshipped accordingly. And then with reference to baptism, 
I don't want to forget our dear sister. Baptism is important. It is a commanded activity. If 
you're kind of, I don't know about baptism. If you're a believer 
in Jesus, you need to be baptized. That's what the New Testament 
pattern is. They believed and were baptized. 
They believed and were baptized. Our brother is going to laugh 
if I say it's a conspicuous pattern. But it's a conspicuous pattern. 
All throughout the book of Acts, they preach the gospel, sinners 
believe the gospel, and those believers of the gospel are baptized 
in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. And then four, Wilma, I want 
to exhort you the way that our confession does. This is going 
to be a sign of your fellowship with Christ, a most glorious 
testimony and external confession. It is a sign of being in union 
with him. He is yours and you are his. 
It is a sign of remission of sins, which I think we all agree 
who have been forgiven of our sins. That is one of the chief 
boons of the gospel of free grace. As well, it is a sign of your 
giving up unto God through Jesus Christ to live and walk in newness 
of life. That's what the tank preaches. That's what the act preaches. 
And that, I hope, is a great encouragement to our sister. 
It will be a great encouragement to all of us and a great provocation 
for those who are still in their sins to look unto the Lord Jesus 
Christ, to believe on Him and to be saved. Let us pray. Our Father, we thank you for 
your word, we thank you for the clarity of the Great Commission, 
and we pray, God, that the church would be about this task, preaching 
the gospel for the making of disciples, the planting of other 
churches, and the teaching of people to observe all that Christ 
has commanded. And we thank you for this sure 
promise that Christ is with us even to the end of the days. 
God, I pray that as the word goes forth throughout the earth 
today, it would run swiftly and be glorified. and that you would 
be magnified in the salvation of sinners and in the strengthening 
of your people. And we ask this through Christ 
our Lord.