← Back to sermon library

Matthew chapter 28, as we come 
to our last sermon in the gospel of Matthew. Matthew chapter 28, 
I basically want to just summarize the Great Commission this morning, 
draw out some practical lessons. There are a couple of observations 
before we do that on verse 20. So I want to read beginning in 
Matthew 28 at verse 16. We'll pray and then we'll look 
at this particular section. 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. Well, let us pray. Father in 
heaven, we thank you for the written word of God. We thank 
you for Matthew's testimony, his declarations, his continual 
emphasis upon the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you for the gospel of 
our salvation. We thank you for what this book 
teaches us and instructs us concerning Christ. We know it is He who 
will save His people from their sins. It is He who did not come 
to be served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for 
many. He is the one that grants rest to all those who are weary 
and heavy laden. Those who come unto Him will 
find blessing and salvation and eternal life. Thank you for our 
Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you for his current session, 
where he sits enthroned at the right hand of the majesty of 
God on high, and he bids his church to conduct this mission. 
We ask that you would help us to be obedient, help us to be 
faithful, help us to be marked by this passage of scripture 
in our local church. We pray now for the ministry 
and the aid of the Holy Spirit. We pray that He would guide us 
and lead us and instruct us in the truth. We pray for the forgiveness 
of all of our sins and our transgressions. Whenever we look at Your holy 
law, we see our waywardness and our proneness to wander. We confess 
those sins against the first table, those things that we have 
done against our holy God. Forgive us as well for our transgressions 
against one another, and help us, Lord, to repent and to forsake 
such things, to find mercy from one eye and mercy from one another, 
and cause us to be a faithful people following the Lord Jesus 
Christ. And it's in his most blessed 
name that we pray, amen. Well, for those of us who have 
been under the gospel of Matthew for quite some time, hopefully 
it has been a blessing to us. We see specifically here in Matthew 
28, verses 18 to 20, what's called the Great Commission. Our Lord 
Jesus is going to ascend back into heaven. And so he tells 
his 11, the disciples, the apostles, and thus the church as a whole, 
what is to mark them until he comes again in glory to judge 
the living and the dead. We have seen the authority behind 
the Great Commission is that of absolute authority. It is 
in the person of our Lord Jesus. Notice in verse 18, he says, 
all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. 
Based on that reality, he then delegates authority to the church 
and gives them a specific focus, a specific mandate or great commission. That is found in verses 19 and 
20. The disciples must go. They're not supposed to sit around, 
but rather they are supposed to go. When they go, they are 
to make disciples. They do that through the preaching 
of the gospel, the setting forth of Christ in Him crucified. Under 
the power of the Holy Spirit, sinners are saved and brought 
into the fold. When that occurs, these newly 
formed disciples are to be baptized. They are to be baptized in the 
name of the triune God, the name singular of the Father and of 
the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Spirit, one God in essence, substance, 
three persons that have that divine essence. Yet not one or 
not three gods, but one. So after they are baptized, then 
they are to be taught. Essentially, this is what happens 
in the church, teaching them to observe all things that I 
have commanded you. So that's the focus of the church 
until Jesus returns again in glory. We are to be about this, 
disciple-making, baptizing those who are made disciples, and then 
teaching those who are made disciples to obey all the things that Jesus 
has commanded. And then we saw at the end of 
verse 20 this assurance provided for the commission. So in verse 
18, Jesus highlights His omnipotence. He has all power, He has all 
authority, He has universal and comprehensive sovereignty, and 
here in verse 20, He highlights His omnipresence. He says, and 
lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. So this 
is the assurance provided for the Great Commission. In other 
words, we do what Christ has called us to do, assured that 
He is with us, that He is present, that we know His nearness as 
our good. So I want to look specifically 
at the end of that clause or the end of verse 20 with reference 
to this, I am with you always, even at the end of the age, before 
we proceed and make some summarizing comments or observations on the 
whole. Notice the promise, I am with 
you always. I showed you hopefully last week 
that this is very, very blessed in light of the rest of the gospel. 
In Matthew 1.23, Christ is identified as Emmanuel, which is translated, 
God with us. So at the beginning of the gospel, 
we learn of God with us. At the end of the gospel narrative, 
we learn of God with us. Christ is with us, even to the 
end of the age. And in that, we ought to be encouraged. 
In good times, it's easy to see Christ's presence in the church. In bad times, it's not as easy 
to see, but we walk by faith. And even in the midst of bad 
times, we trust that Christ is with His people when they are 
obedient and when they are carrying out the commission as He has 
entrusted it to us. This is true in times of peace. 
Again, it's easy to see Christ with the church when we are not 
being threatened or carted off into prison or having our property 
confiscated by a godless government, but in times of persecution as 
well. Christ is with His suffering 
saints in other parts of the world just as He is with us in 
times of peace, and this is a great encouragement. The church walks 
by faith in the reality that Christ is always with her when 
she's engaged in the activities that he has entrusted to her. It's a most blessed way to end 
this commission. Now in terms of this statement, 
I am with you always, even to the end of the age. I think that 
this ought to promote in the people of God, the presence of 
Christ to the end of the age, ought to promote in the people 
of God an appreciation for Now, why do I say that? Because I'm 
not convinced that every professing Christian in North America appreciates 
the church. And I think that we all ought 
to examine our own hearts and ask the question, do I appreciate 
the church? Just think of how the Lord God 
Most High describes or defines or explains Christ's relationship 
to the church. Christ is the head and the church 
is His body. Christ is the bridegroom and 
the church is His bride. We see this most intimate connection 
between Christ and His people in the church today. And I would 
suggest that this reality, that Christ present with His church, 
ought to promote in all of us a greater appreciation for the 
church. In other words, if Christ sees 
the church as His body, as His head, or as His body and as His 
bride, we ought to value it so. We ought to prize it as well. 
We ought to delight in it, not mistreat it. We ought to cherish 
her the way that Christ cherishes the church. This is something 
that ought to be indicative in the people of God. A love for 
Jesus, but a love for his bride as well. And not only the church 
in the present, but we also ought to appreciate the church of the 
past. Realize that the church of Jesus 
Christ is made up of all of God's elect from every tribe, every 
tongue, every people, and every nation, not just in the 21st 
century. We ought to appreciate the fact 
that the church of our Lord Jesus Christ presently is that place 
wherein He dwells in a particular way. But we ought to appreciate 
the fact that Christ has been with His church in the past. 
I think the presence of Christ with His church should promote 
a concern for the church in the present and for the church in 
the future. You see, we ought to look backwards 
in appreciation for the fact that Christ has been with His 
people from day one. We ought to look to the present 
and appreciate the fact that Christ is with His people as 
He promises here in Matthew 28.20. We also ought to have a concern. We ought to be concerned for 
the church in the present that this is indeed a place where 
Christ wants to dwell, a place where Christ is happy to be. Lo, I am with you always, even 
to the end of the age, predicated on the fact that you are making 
disciples, baptizing disciples, and teaching disciples. not having 
love-ins, not having therapy sessions, not having entertainment, 
not being the best band in the city, but insofar as you are 
obedient to this commission, Christ promises His presence 
among us. Brethren, we ought to be concerned 
that we have an environment or a context that is conducive for 
the presence and the abiding dwelling of Jesus. We ought to 
be concerned about the future. We ought to be concerned about 
what we will leave our children. We ought to be concerned about 
our grandchildren and our great-grandchildren. We ought not to be the sorts 
of people that are fine and content with all things happening for 
us now, but we give no regard to training young men, to seeing 
young men fit and ready for gospel ministry, for praying for the 
IRBS and supporting it, so that men can be equipped to engage 
in what the Commission has for them. We cannot simply be myopic 
and focus upon the church today. We've got to lift up our eyes 
and behold the fields white unto harvest. We've got to be concerned 
with all nations as Christ bids us here. Go therefore and make 
disciples of what? Of all nations. We ought to encourage 
men to pursue gospel ministry on foreign shores. We ought to 
pursue our encouragement that the pursuit of Jesus Christ or 
the service of Jesus Christ is worth leaving everything. It's 
worth abandoning family in the righteous sense. It is worth 
abandoning Costco and Walmart and Superstore and the comforts 
that we enjoy here in Chilliwack, B.C. It's worth going to the 
uttermost parts of the earth because Christ is glorious. Brethren, 
we must be concerned for the church now and for the church 
to come. As well, in terms of this reality, 
we ought to realize that the presence of Christ with His church 
implies His active participation in equipping her for ongoing 
ministry. I mentioned a text, I think it 
was last week, that we ought to investigate a little more 
fully. Turn to the book of Ephesians, chapter 4. Ephesians chapter 
4. This particular implication drawn 
out of the end of verse 20 is simply this, the presence of 
Christ with His church implies His active participation in equipping 
her for ongoing ministry. In other words, if Christ makes 
this command, Christ promises His presence, then Christ will 
supply what is necessary for the church to fulfill it. In 
other words, brethren, Christ knows what's best in terms of 
the accomplishment of the Great Commission. We're not smarter, 
we're not wiser, we're not more effective. We can never conclude 
or argue, well, you know, flannel graphs are the best way to reach 
the nations for Jesus. Movies are the best way to reach 
the nations for Jesus. Poetry is the best way to reach 
the nations for Jesus.