In his sermon on the Great Commission from Matthew 28:18-20, Jason Dohm emphasizes the authority and exaltation of Jesus Christ post-resurrection. The speaker highlights the futility of the chief priests and elders attempting to cover up the resurrection, which signifies Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of God. Dohm explains that Jesus' authority is both given and unbounded, as described in Daniel 7 and Colossians 1. He stresses the importance of a God-centered Great Commission, which focuses on the glory of God rather than a man-centered gospel. The sermon outlines the core command of the Great Commission: to make disciples, supported by going, baptizing, and teaching. Dohm emphasizes that discipleship is a lifelong commitment and that the Great Commission applies to all believers across time. The sermon concludes with a call for believers to embody the Great Commission both locally and globally, ensuring that the message of Christ reaches all nations.

We are in the Great Commission text, Matthew 28, verses 18 through 20 this week. And I found out why pastors do sermon series on the Great Commission. Because there's so much to say. You could legitimately do multiple sermons on each one of these three verses. And so We're going to do one sermon on all three verses.

And it's actually very freeing because in the time that's allotted to me, I can't possibly say everything that's even important in this text. So I just get to pick on what I think would be right for us to hear and would be particularly applicable for us today. And then I'm expecting the extended teaching time to be like the wild, wild west. There's going to be so much unsaid that men are going to say, I can't believe you didn't say that in the sermon, that there's probably going to be a scrum for the microphone following the sermon. So I'm looking forward to that.

We're in the last three verses of this gospel that we've come to love. We've been here for two years and three months. And what a blessing it has been to just be in the life of Jesus, hear the sermons that He preached, See the blind people that he gave sight to, the lame people that he caused to rise up and walk, the dead people that he caused to come out of the graves, and how he dealt with his enemies, how he dealt with his friends. I can't bear to leave Matthew, but we're going to leave it anyway. When we left off, the chief priests and the elders were spending money to cover up the resurrection.

Such futility. I mean, this is kind of a crude saying, but you've heard about spitting into the wind. This is like spitting into the wind. It's a great way to get wet, but not much is accomplished. And so is all fighting against God.

And what the elders and chief priests are engaging in is a complete exercise in futility. It's spitting into the wind. God has come out of the grave And it doesn't matter how much money they spend, they're never going to be able to cover up the resurrection. Because the resurrection signals something. It signals that Jesus is who He said He is.

He is the Son of God. He is God. He is the Messiah that was sent to redeem Israel. And so there is not going to be a cover up of the resurrection. So Jesus is alive and His disciples have done what He has instructed them to do, which is to go to a certain mountain that he appointed back in Galilee, far away from the power center of the faith.

And he's going to be teaching them on the mountainside. They see Him, they worship Him, but some doubt it. So you see a mixture even in the disciples, even after the resurrection. You will continue to see the mixture in these men even after the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit has been sent. Now let's read together.

We're just going to be taking this verse by verse. There's no point in really dividing it up very much because it's only three verses. But Let's start by looking at verse 18. Matthew 28, verse 18. And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth." Jesus begins teaching his disciples with a declaration of his own exaltation.

Jesus came in the form of a servant And that's what his incarnation, his taking on flesh, was all about. It was about the humbling of himself, but that's over. He is the resurrected Lord now. And so he begins this instruction session with his disciples by declaring his own exaltation. And we see two things here.

We see the source of his exaltation and we see the scope of his exaltation here in Matthew 28 verse 18. First the scope. The authority that Jesus is laying claim to is a given authority. All authority has been given. In the Old Testament, when Absalom became king, it's because he was grasping.

It's because he was taking something that was not his, and he ran his own father out of town. What Jesus is declaring in Matthew 28, 18 is the polar opposite of that, the exact opposite of that. There was never a grasping fiber in Jesus' body, never one time. In John 4 verse 34 he says, it is my food to do the will of my Father. He was always and only speaking the things that he heard his Father say.

He completed every task the father ever gave him to do. So now that Jesus is laying claim to authority, it's nothing like Absalom laying claim to the kingship of Israel, grasping for something that wasn't his. It's a given authority. It's authority that the Father cannot wait to bestow upon him. Because he's done the will of his Father.

He's humbled himself under the mighty hand of God, the Father, that he would be exalted in due time at just the right moment, at just the moment that had always been planned. God the Father said to God the Son, here's a kingdom. And this is what we've been seeing in Daniel 7. Quarter after quarter after quarter of the year, we've done one thing, recited together one portion of scripture in hopes that we could acquire, memorize, that one portion of scripture. This time, we completely departed from what we always do, and we made it two portions of scripture.

We went to Daniel 7, and we went to Matthew 28. And despite the logistical challenges associated with all the flipping around that happens when you do that, I'm so glad we did it. Daniel 7 and Matthew 28 are one in the same thing. What Daniel saw in his visions in Daniel 7 is what Jesus is declaring in the Great Commission text in Matthew 28 verse 18. And Daniel 7 in the verses leading up to what we've been reciting week after week.

The ancient of days is seated. As the sovereign over all things, he's served by 10, 000 times 10, 000. That's a billion for those of you who aren't good in math. That's a billion. And it doesn't even mean a billion.

It means more than you can think of. I'm pretty sure that if that's not an exact number, it's just meant to represent a whole, whole, whole lot, are just serving Him. And in verse 14, one like the Son of Man is there before Him. He's come on the clouds of heaven. In Daniel 7, 14, the first part of it says this, then to him, then to one like the Son of Man was given, dominion and glory and a kingdom.

It's a kingdom where every nation, every tribe, every language will come and serve Him. It's Matthew 28 verse 18, all authority in heaven and on earth being given to Jesus Christ. So God the Father is the source. It's a given authority. Now let's look at number two, the scope.

The scope. It's pretty simple. All authority everywhere. All authority everywhere. Every bit in every place.

It's an unbounded all. There are places in the scripture where you go and the word all is used, but the greater context means all within this sphere. In other words, it's not the all all, it's the all within this framework. You can tell that from the context and you have to be careful. This isn't that.

This isn't a bounded all, all within this sphere. This is the all all. The unbounded all, Every bit, everywhere. All authority, everywhere. The Greek word that's translated authority here, the primary meaning for that Greek word is this.

Power of choice. Liberty of doing as one pleases. That's the authority that's given. That's what's given to Jesus. Liberty of choice.

The ability to do whatever he pleases everywhere all the time. It's the same word used in Matthew chapter 9. In Matthew chapter 9, a paralytic is brought to Jesus. And Jesus says, nice to meet you, your sins are forgiven. That's my paraphrase.

Nice to meet you. Your sins are forgiven. And this causes a fire storm because here's a man saying to another man, your sins are forgiven. And The Jewish leaders are thrown into a tizzy. And in Matthew 9, verse 6, Jesus says, but that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins.

Then he said to the paralytic, arise, take your bed, and go to your house. And that's exactly what happens. It's the same word. So that you may know that the Son of Man has power, has authority, has the liberty of doing as one pleases, which is the primary meaning of this, he has this invalid stand up, pick up his bed, and go home. So we can see in the life of Jesus, though he did take on the form of a servant, and though he did lay so much aside to humble himself, that we see glimpses all throughout the life of Jesus, haven't we?

The demons say, have you come to torment us before the time? The dead obey his command to rise up from the dead and come out of the tomb. So he's humbled himself. And he's laid so much of this aside but even in the life of Jesus, even though he's humbled himself, we see glimpses, glimpses, glimpses that Jesus is at liberty to do as he pleases. The resurrected Jesus.

Now we're post resurrection. We were seeing those glimpses even before He died. But now He's not dead. Now He's raised from the dead. And He is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

Verse 18, you can just boil it down to that. It's as simple as that. Jesus Christ is the King of all kings. He's the Lord of all lords And that's how he's introduced twice in the book of Revelation. The first time in Revelation 17 verse 14.

The second time in Revelation 19 verse 16. Listen to that. Revelation 19 verse 16. He has on his robe and on his thigh a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. That is who the resurrected Jesus Christ is.

He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. And so it won't do to say that the President of the United States has any measure of his own authority. Because Jesus is the King of Kings, every king ever, till the end of time, till God brings all of the history of earth to a close. Every king is just a king under King Jesus. Every Lord, every authority of any kind, He is the Lord of those Lords.

He is the Master of those Masters. He is the father of all those fathers of households. He is the chief shepherd of all those under shepherds who serve in churches. All authority in heaven and on earth. Listen to Romans 13 verse 1.

Paul picks up on this in Romans 13 verse 1. It's a chapter about authority. Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. There is no authority except from God And the authorities that exist are appointed by God. You say, I don't understand that.

Then why are wicked men and authority doing things that God doesn't like? Well, I'm not sure I fully understand it either. But don't worry, God is wiser than we are. And He's raising up leaders and He's putting them down for His own glory and for His own reasons. And we can trust Him.

He's all wise. You are not all wise. I am not all wise. I don't understand all the nuances. That is not required.

What is required is that we know that Jesus Christ is the King of kings. He's the Lord of the lords. He's declared the end from the beginning. This is Isaiah 46, verse 10. He declared it.

Everything that's happening, he declared it from the beginning. He declared, he said, that's the end. And he's superintending everything that happens to take us to that end. He still has enemies. He's raising up some of his enemies.

He's using them. They're being made his footstool. This is for his glory. This is in his own wisdom. He thinks it's a good idea and he's almighty God.

He knows everything. So by definition, it is a good idea that Barack Obama is the President of the United States. It's a good idea to God. I'm not saying we should vote for him. I'm saying it is the wisdom of God.

I'm saying he raises up whoever he wants to raise up. Many times he raises up a wicked man to judge a wicked nation. It's for his own glory. It's for his own purposes. We don't know what's for lunch tomorrow.

God has declared the beginning from the end. Everything in the physical world is under his authority. All authority on earth is his. Everything in the spiritual realm is under his authority. All authority in heaven is his and this is not new.

It's not new with the resurrection of Jesus Christ as the eternal Son, as a co-equal member of the Trinity, as a co-creator of everything you know and everything you've ever seen, Jesus Christ has had a right to this position. So Ben is right all along. Open your Bibles to Colossians 1. How could this be preached on without going to Colossians 1? It's impossible for me.

Maybe you could do it, but I cannot. Colossians 1 Verses 15 through 18 sets Jesus Christ in context. So you're not thrown off by the humbling of himself in the incarnation. Colossians 1 says who he is and who he's always been. Colossians 1, beginning in 15, reading through 18.

He, Christ, is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him All things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through him and for him and he is before all things and in him all things consist and he is the head of the body the church who is the beginning the firstborn from the dead that in all things he may have the preeminence." Wow. In the light of that, Matthew 28, 18 to me sort of becomes ho-hum. In Colossians 1, I'm not demeaning Matthew 20, I'm just saying in Colossians 1, in the light of that it just means He can do whatever he wants with the things that he's created.

He's created all powers and all principalities. He's created everything that was. And now Matthew comes and says he's in charge of that. Well, yes, he made it. He made it.

It's always been his. That in all things he may have the preeminence. God the Father and God the Son had a deal that the son would be humbled for a very specific purpose to redeem a people. But the plan and the joy of the father was always to exalt this son and give him a kingdom. Jesus Christ is the glorious, exalted king above all kings for however long there are other kings.

Jesus Christ is the glorious exalted king of all lords for however long it's good that there be other lords." Now while we're here, turn to Philippians 2. In Philippians 2, Paul helps us understand both the source and the scope of the authority of Jesus just like Matthew 28. So it's Matthew 28, source and scope of the authority but with commentary. Philippians 2 beginning in verse 5, reading through verse 11. How many times have we been here in Matthew?

Probably 20 times. So for good measure, since we're winding down Matthew, we're coming here one more time. Philippians 2, beginning of verse 5. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bond servant and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of a cross.

The death of a cross. Therefore, God also has highly exalted him and given him the name which is above every name. That at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth. And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of the Father. So you see the source of the authority has always been the Father.

Paul speaks of it here in Philippians 2. You see that the scope has always been intended that all those in heaven, all those on earth, and Paul adds one more, all those under the earth, that every knee should bow and every tongue confess that he is the Lord, But don't stop there, that's just a comma, to the glory of the Father. Now why am I dwelling on that phrase? This is so critical. This is the most critical thing I'm going to say in the sermon.

Understanding that the scope of the authority of Jesus serves the glory of the Father keeps us from a man-centered Great Commission. The Great Commission must be God-centered, the glory of God, to the glory of the Father. Because if you have a man-centered Great Commission, then you end up with a man-centered Gospel that is twisted, deformed, and really becomes no Gospel at all. It takes the Great Commission and it just makes it the Commission. It exalts man.

The greatness of the Great Commission comes from the glory of God. It's to the glory of the Father. It's to the glory of God. If you make the Great Commission man-centered, Then everything becomes about the miserable condition of man. Now this is part of the gospel, and it's an essential plank of the gospel, but you can't make the miserable condition of man the centerpiece of the gospel.

Because when you do that, you put God at the beck and call of man. Man ought to be miserable. Man deserves to be miserable. There's not enough there for a great commission. Mankind getting what he deserves is not enough for the Great Commission.

It leaves you with a try Jesus gospel. Please try Jesus. Because if you try Him, you might like Him. He might satisfy this guilty conscience that you have enough that you'll want to continue down that track and then God will be happy. No!

May it never be. May that never be our gospel. That is not the gospel that Jesus preached. That's not the gospel that Peter preached. That is not the gospel that Paul preached.

In Acts 17, Jesus is in Athens. He's in front of the Areopagus. These are the wise men. What does Paul say? Try Jesus.

You might like him. Sample Jesus like he's an ice cream flavor. He might become your favorite flavor of ice cream. Here's what Paul does say in Acts 17 30 truly These times of ignorance God overlooked But now commands all men everywhere to repent Match that up with try Jesus He's in front of the wise men of the world. God commands you to repent.

He commands you to repent. Brothers and sisters, do we have a beggar's gospel? My answer to that is, it depends. It depends. It depends on who you intend to make the beggar.

If God is to be the beggar, then no, we don't have a beggar's gospel. But if we are to be the beggars, who were stripped of everything, who were naked and blind and wretched. And then God had mercy on us. And now we've been set free from our sins and we can come to another man and say, Man, you don't know it, but you're poor and blind. You're wretched.

You're naked. Then yes, we have a beggar's gospel. God can never be the beggar of a beggar's gospel, but we can be. It's right for us to be. Let's look at verses 19 and 20.

Verses 19 and 20. Go Therefore, we're back in Matthew 28. 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." We begin with therefore. Therefore.

Everything in verses 19 and 20 flow from verse 18. Because verse 18 is true, therefore we obey 19 and 20. Everything in 19 and 20 is grounded and set upon the foundation of verse 18. What's verse 18? That all authority has been given to the exalted, glorious Son of God, Jesus Christ.

All authority is His. He's the King of kings. He's the Lord of lords. Therefore, go do these things. This should give us irrepressible holy boldness.

It must. It must. This is the fuel of the Great Commission. Irrepressible holy boldness knowing that Jesus is a glorious, exalted king, a king over all kings, a Lord over all lords. Here's what Paul says.

Paul picks right up on this in 2 Corinthians 5 verse 20. 2 Corinthians 5 verse 20 Paul writes, Now then we are ambassadors for Christ. As though God were pleading through us, we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God. This is exactly what Jesus is teaching in the Great Commission. He is the King of kings and now as the king of kings he sends out heralds, he sends out ambassadors, he sends out representatives to announce terms of peace.

You're at war with God. Here are his terms of peace. He's commanding all men everywhere to repent. There's good news. He will make peace with you.

Be reconciled to God. Listen again to 2 Corinthians 5 verse 20. It's worth repeating. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ as though God were pleading through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God.

Be reconciled. You're at war with him. He wants to make peace. Here are his terms. The terms of the King of Kings and the terms of the Lord of Lords.

Now we have here in verses 19 and 20 one forceful command and Three things that must and do accompany the forceful command One forceful command and three things that must and do accompany this forceful command. So we have a planet, Make disciples, that's the planet. Make disciples. It's the imperative. It's the forceful command.

It's The thing that has all the mass, the planet, make disciples, and then we have three moons. They don't have as much mass. They are not the forceful command, but they are the things that do and must accompany this. They revolve around it. The going, the baptizing, and the teaching.

That's grammatically what you have. I'm not making this up. This is Greek grammar. One forceful imperative, make disciples, the planet, and then the moons that revolve around it, the things that must and do accompany the forceful command. Going, baptizing, teaching.

So let's talk about the planet, the thing with all the mass, the forceful command. Make disciples. You can't miss this. Jesus is commanding disciples to make disciples. Okay.

That's all he's talking to is just disciples. Disciples, Here's your forceful command. Make disciples. In this world, you will never graduate. You will never be promoted from this.

I won't. You won't. No one else will. You'll only and ever in this life be a disciple. If you graduate, you will no longer be here.

You are a disciple for life. So am I. So fundamentally, we're all the same thing. We're disciples for life if you've trusted in Christ. In Greek, disciple is just a learner, a pupil.

But it's not a classroom student. OK, you can't see learner and pupil and think of desk chair teacher like we all went through for so many years, where you sit and you can kind of take or leave. You can pass the test or not pass the test. You can believe the teacher or not believe the teacher. It's a very different kind of relationship.

A disciple is a learner and a pupil, but it's deep. There's much more depth to it. It's a person who has put himself or herself under the authority of the teacher. Hasn't just come to learn facts and figures, but has said, I am under your authority. It's a person who's decided that the teacher knows truth and they don't know truth.

So they're going to be under the authority of that teacher because the teacher has things that they can't get anywhere else. Where else will we go, Lord? You have the words of eternal life. That is a disciple. John 6, and we were singing it.

And so it's not just a learner, but it's a follower. It's a person who has placed themselves implicitly, unbreakably under the authority of this master. It's less teacher, student, and more master follower. Much more master follower. So you're a disciple for life.

How did that happen? Well, God worked in my heart. True, but so incomplete, So incomplete. That's your story, God worked in my heart? True, but you better make that a comma and keep talking about what happened.

A disciple had an active part in that. A follower of Jesus Christ had an active part of that. Unless you have a testimony, unlike any testimony I've ever heard from anyone at any time. God showed mercy to a person through another disciple, and then he put mercy into the heart of that follower for you. And that person pitied you, your unbelieving, wicked, self-deceived, self-righteous self.

God made one of his followers pity you enough that they would come out of their comfort zone and speak words of life to you. That's how you became a disciple for life. And yes, God did it all, absolutely, but He sent an ambassador. As King of Kings and Lord of Lords, He sent a follower with terms of peace for you. And the Holy Spirit is working, Opening your eyes, giving you ears to hear.

You saw things you'd never seen before, but it was through a disciple, it was through a follower, who God had planted some mercy into their heart for a poor, despicable sinner, known as you. So one plants and one waters, but God brings the increase and he's responsible for all of it. He's responsible for the planting. He did that. He's responsible for the watering.

He did that. He's responsible for the increase. He did that. That's 1 Corinthians 3, verses 6 and 7. So that is the planet.

Make disciples. Let's talk about the first moon that is revolving around this mass, this critical mass, this forceful command to make disciples. The first moon is go. Go. It reads like an imperative in English.

So it reads just like make disciples. Go, make disciples. It reads like a forceful command, but that doesn't match the Greek. In the Greek, it's a participle. Just like baptizing and teaching, it might be better as going.

It's a participle. It's the ing version of the word. So it is go and make disciples, but it's not the forceful command that make disciples is. It's something that is happening. So you might have been commanded to do it, But it's not necessary for the meaning of the word.

But these participles, these ing versions of the word, still have imperative force when they're tied to an imperative. When it's a moon revolving around a planet, it takes on the imperative force of the planet. But it's not as strong. So the NASB, the New American Standard, has this note, Having gone, having gone. So they add the ing version in there.

So going make disciples or having gone make disciples or as you go make disciples. Now when you make that distinction, there's a part of Christendom that freaks out. Because they think you're taking the teeth out of God's command to go. And you're making it so nobody has to go anymore. And they're saying, no, no, no, you're saying as you go, just as you encounter things in life, then make disciples.

But they're protecting turf. And the turf that they're protecting is, Jesus says go, not stay here, go there. And then there's the other group that says no, no, no, that's not faithful to the Greek. It's a participle. It's the ing.

So I don't have to go to the ends of the earth. I can stay here and still obey the Great Commission. These are not things that we should be choosing between. And so most of Christendom says yes and yes, Yes and yes. There's no good reason to choose between those things.

And there's every good reason to take both. The object is all the nations. All the nations. That only happens if someone goes. Can we agree with that?

If all the nations is the object for making disciples, That's only going to happen if someone goes, we can't all stay at home and the Great Commission be fulfilled. But your nation counts. Your nation is part of all the nations. And the final step to the Great Commission is teaching to observe all things. This is a lifetime occupation, isn't it?

I'm not going to go to you and just say, be reconciled to God. I'm an ambassador from Jesus Christ. Be reconciled to God. Have a nice day. Hi.

I'm an ambassador from God. Be reconciled to God. Hi. This is not the Great Commission. In other words, evangelism does not equal the Great Commission.

Evangelism is a subset of the Great Commission. And this is a huge problem in the modern church. Evangelism now equals the Great Commission. So if we've done evangelism, we've done the Great Commission. No.

There are multiple moons. There are multiple moons revolving around this planet. Not just one, multiple. When evangelism becomes the only thing revolving around making disciples, then nobody sticks around to teach them to obey all things that He has commanded. Turn in your Bibles to Romans 10 verses 14 through 17.

Romans 10 verses 14 through 17. Now, Paul's going to help us. Paul's going to help us. Paul usually helps us. Romans 10 beginning in verse 14.

How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things.

But they have not all obeyed the gospel, for Isaiah says, Lord who has believed our report. So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Paul in Romans 10 assumes senders and assumes those who are sent. You don't have sent people unless there are senders. It's impossible.

I sent myself, I guess. I mean, is that what that would be? It assumes that there are senders, those who send, that we're not all just going all the time. And this is what we see in the New Testament, in Acts 13 verses 1 through 3, you have a church, you have Antioch, and the elders of Antioch are fasting and praying. It says actually that they're fasting and ministering to the Lord.

And God says, set aside that man, Paul, set aside that man, Barnabas, for me and send them. And they lay their hands on them and they send them out of there. They send Paul and Barnabas on the first missionary journey. You have a sending church. You have godly men and women in that church who are fasting, ministering to the Lord, and here to send.

And they send out. Meanwhile, they stay. Now, why is this important? Because evangelism doesn't equal the Great Commission. The Great Commission doesn't equal evangelism.

It's a subset. It's a slice. And so somebody's got to stay in Antioch, because it's a pagan city, and they haven't been taught to observe all things that Christ commanded. Have you been? I haven't been.

Some things I don't understand and some things I'm not very obedient in. I'm still being discipled. So you can't all go to the nations because I need people to disciple me. It's a vital part of the Great Commission. So there are senders who send with all their heart and mobilize their resources to send, but they have to stay behind because there are still pagans around here.

And our nation counts in the phrase all the nations. And we're not done discipling the United States of America. In fact, I think we're going to have to retrench a little bit and go back and start over in some critical areas. There's a lot of work left to do in the United States, so we can't all just say, oh, Well, God's done here. We're going to the nations.

What about this nation? We've not been discipled yet. So there are senders, and there are those who are sent. One last word on Evangelism does not equal the Great Commission. It's a subset.

Conversion is the starting line, not the finish line. Conversion is the starting line. The Great Commission is just starting to happen when you're born again. It's not that if you cannot move on to the next person to say, hi, I'm an ambassador, be reconciled. You can keep adding to the people you start with, you just can't think you've finished when someone has converted.

Conversion is the starting line, not the ending line. I want to camp for just a minute on the phrase, the nations, all the nations. As a gentile, these are precious words. So we're on a plot of ground. We're actually standing in a GPS location.

There's a latitude and longitude assigned to this spot where you are. If you were on this spot, this spot, this GPS location, when Jesus was teaching this to his disciples in Galilee, God would have passed over you. God would have passed over you. And you would have been left without God and without hope in the world. This is Ephesians 1.

It's what it says of all unbelievers. One time you were without God, you were without hope in the world and God didn't know you a thing. You could be justly condemned because you did the crimes, zuh, did the crimes, many crimes against Almighty God. So he could be completely just and just pass over you. But now, in the fullness of time, Jesus Christ has come, He's died, He's been buried, He was raised from the dead, He's the King of Kings, He's the Lord of Lords, and it's all nations.

And he's not passing over Gentiles like he used to pass over Gentiles. Now I'm not saying that all Gentiles were outside the plan of God in the Old Testament times, but most were When Jesus condemns the cities where he did his ministries, he did his miracles, he preached his sermons, he said, woe to you! If I had done these things and said these things, entire in Sidon, they would have repented. They'll rise up and judge you. But he didn't do those things entire inside him.

He passed over them and let them just remain in their condemnation. And no one will ever be able to accuse him of having done wrong because they all did the crimes. They all trampled over their consciences for a lifetime. And they will not be offering a defense about how unjust God is when they stand before Him and see Him in His holiness and in His beauty. All the nations.

In chapter 10, Jesus sends out his disciples to preach and he says, don't you dare go outside of Israel. Don't you dare go into Samaria. You go to the lost sheep of Israel. Now in chapter 28, all that's gone. The world.

All the nations. All the restrictions are removed. In Psalm 2, in Psalm 2 verse 8, God the Father is speaking to his Son in Psalm 2 verse 8. And he says, ask of me and I will give you the nations for your inheritance. Just ask me, I'll give you all the nations for your inheritance and the ends of the earth for your possession.

The Great Commission is that. Jesus has said, okay, I want the nations for my inheritance. I want the ends of the earth for my possession." The Father says, happily, happily. Have all the nations. Have the ends of the earth for your inheritance.

In Genesis, God makes promises to Abraham. In Genesis 18 verse 18, God is speaking of Abraham and he says, all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him. And you can trace redemptive history back to here, God's promises to Abraham in Genesis. All the nations of the earth will be blessed in Abraham. So God had a special people, but the plan was always the nations.

The plan was always the ends of the earth. Later in Genesis, in Genesis 28, 18, God is reiterating his promise to Abraham and He says, in you and in your seed, all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Paul picks up on that and says, when God says that, seed singular is Jesus. The promise to Abraham is fulfilled in his seed singular and it's Christ. What we're seeing in Matthew 28 is just the fulfillment of a promise that God made to a man.

He raised him up. And so when Matthew starts in Matthew chapter 1 verse 1, the very first verse in Matthew, it says the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. And all these promises made to Abraham are going to be fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ. In Mark 16 verse 15, it might be a parallel text to the Great Commission from Matthew 28. I'm not completely positive that it is, but I think that it is.

So in Mark 16 verse 15, which seems to me like a parallel text, but it doesn't really matter for our purposes today, Jesus says this to his disciples, go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. There's your scope of the Great Commission. Every creature. All the nations, all the families of the earth from Genesis 28. All the nations from Genesis 18.

All the nations from Psalm 2. The ends of the earth from Psalm 2. Every creature from Matthew 16. Every creature. Down to the last creature, preach the good news, the gospel.

One last thing ongoing. One last thing ongoing. God does this in different ways. God is sending his people to the ends of the earth, to all the nations, to all the families of the earth. And he's not just doing it in one way.

Sometimes he puts it on the heart of his people. He's just making their hearts burn for the nations. And they have to go. They're looking for someone to send them. Sometimes he puts a burning fire in the hearts of senders and they are looking for people who will go, who they can lay their hands on and send out to the nations.

Sometimes God makes his enemies serve him for his own glory. Listen to Acts 8 verse 1. Now, Saul was consenting to his death. This is the stoning of Stephen. And the man who will be Paul is standing there, watching the garments and consenting, rejoicing in the death of Stephen.

I see our deacons are bowing up here. They're not liking where I'm headed with this. Now, Saul was consenting to his death. At that time a persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria except the apostles. So in Acts chapter 1, right before the ascension, Jesus says, wait for the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is going to give you power to be witnesses and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Now how does that happen? Acts 1-8 happens because of Acts 8-1. Then being witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, to the ends of the earth happens because God makes his enemies serve him and he brings a persecution on his people. And it's not strategic thinking, it is persecution that scatters them out all through Judea and Samaria.

God is doing this in different ways. Here's the second moon. So we have the planet make disciples. We have the first moon go, or going. Here's the second moon, baptizing.

If you profess Christ, If you confess that Jesus is Lord and you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, Romans 10, 9 and 10, you must do this. The New Testament knows nothing of secret Christians. Neither does the Old Testament, by the way. But we're talking New Covenant. The New Testament knows nothing of secret Christians.

There is a line to be crossed, and you cross it or you don't cross it. And baptism is the symbol of that line. And you're always supposed to have the symbol of that line. If you have saving faith, you are in rank disobedience to God if you refuse baptism. And disciples who make disciples see to it.

That's why it's in the Great Commission. Sorry, the Great Commission is the disciples. He says, go make disciples and see to it That when you have converts that they cross this line, that there are no secret Christians, that they identify with the death and burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is how you bring people into the professing people of God. This is how you bring them in.

This is what we see on the day of Pentecost. Massive outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. Acts 2 verse 41, then Those who gladly received his word were baptized. And that day about 3, 000 souls were added to them. They believed, they were baptized, they were added to them.

You crossed over the line of baptism, you're one of us. Who do you baptize? Disciples. Those who believe. We're Baptists.

We think this should rule the day. And by the way, it's very clear in the Greek that those you baptize are disciples. So in English you can't tell. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations baptizing them. In English, you can't tell whether the them of baptizing them is disciples or nations.

In the Greek, it can only be one thing, and it's disciples. You baptize disciples. You don't baptize babies who are learners. You don't. You baptize those who have believed like in Acts 2.

And you baptize in the name of the triune God, in the name of the Father, in the name of the Son, in the name of the Holy Spirit. The Three in one, the God of the Bible who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who is three persons but only one God, a mystery and I'm not unpacking it here and I'm not sure I could if I had the time. The three in one God cooperated to make you. Did you know that? They cooperated to make you.

Genesis 1. Let us make man in our image. The three in one cooperated. It's the plural who made man in his image. The triune God cooperated in your creation and they cooperated in your salvation.

God the Father gave the elect to his Son. Son, here are the elect. God the Son went to the cross, died, was buried, was raised again to redeem them. God the Spirit comes and stirs up the hearts of the elect and applies the work of Jesus Christ. The will of the Father and the work of the Son are applied by the Spirit.

They are cooperating. The triune God is cooperating in your creation and in your redemption. So nothing could be more appropriate than baptizing in the name of the Father, in the name of the Son, in the name of the Holy Spirit, the triune God. Okay. The planet, make disciples.

Triune God. The planet, make disciples. Moon number one, go, going. Moon number two, baptizing. Moon number three, teaching.

Teaching to observe all things that Christ has commanded. Remember to the glory of the Father, to the glory of the Father from Philippians 2, a God-centered great commission. And so the glory of God is at the center of the great commission, And God is not just glorified in justification. He is glorified in justification. The angels party when someone is converted.

The angels rejoice and glorify God. Actually, party is not the right term. The angels glorify God. I don't want to make light of what happens in heaven when a sinner repents. They rejoice in the goodness and mercy of God when someone repents.

But do you know that God is glorified so massively in sanctification? He's glorified in justification, but He is glorified and glorified and glorified and glorified for years on end in sanctification. When a sinner who was so self-absorbed they could not see more than an inch in front of their eyes, who only were focused on themselves and what they thought and they were self-righteous and now the work of the Holy Spirit is beginning to bear fruit. And now they look like this, love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and goodness and gentleness and self-control. They're nothing like they were when all they loved was themselves.

And it's happening little by little by little and God is being glorified. So we can't stop just at conversion. The glorification of God in justification has happened, but the glorification of God in sanctification is just barely getting started. And it will not do to make a break between Old Testament and New Testament here and make ourselves red letter Christians who think that the red letters, the things explicitly spoken by Jesus while he was on this earth is the only thing that applies. Every single word of the Old Testament is a word of Christ.

Everyone. Every every every every single word of the Old Testament is a word of Christ. He is the word, John 1. He is the word. It's so wrong, it's so offensive to say that's not the commands that are talked about.

Absolutely the red letters are in there, but to restrict it to that has no basis in the Word of God. Jesus is the Word of God. And you should resist a reductionist view of this to the last drop of blood in your body. Jesus is the Word. Every word of the Old Testament, every jot, every tittle, every mark on those Hebrew letters came from Jesus.

He's the lawgiver in the Old Testament, he's the lawgiver in the New Testament. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. Finally, it ends with a promise. I am with you always. I am with you always.

Matthew begins and ends exactly the same way. Here it is. Matthew 1, verse 23, an angel comes to Joseph and says, Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel, which is translated God with us. We're right back, full circle. Matthew 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and on and on, 28.

All the way around. Beginning with Emmanuel, an angel coming to this man, who would have Jesus Christ grow up in his household and say, Joseph, it's time for Isaiah 7, verse 14, to be fulfilled. That's what the angel does. He's quoting Isaiah 7, 14. The virgin's going to be with child.

She's going to bear a son. He's going to be God with us. He's going to be Immanuel. Now Matthew closes, lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. The Great Commission is rooted in the exaltation and authority of Jesus Christ, and it is not carried out independently.

In other words, we're not deists here either. A deist believes that God set the world spinning and then he'll come back after a certain period of time and just tidy things up at the end. In the meantime, it's all us. That's not what Jesus did when he ascended. In no way, shape or form.

The Great Commission is rooted in his exultation, and it is not carried out independently. He is with us. He has said he would be with us. He never lies, ever, ever, ever. He's seated at the right hand of the Father interceding for us.

This is Romans 8, 34. There He sits, right next to the Father. Father, help them. Father, forgive them. Father, have mercy on them.

He's sitting there right now interceding for us, His people. And He sent His Spirit. That's just what Jesus says before the ascension in Acts 1. You're going to be my witnesses. Wait here for power.

I'm going to send the Holy Spirit to give you power to fulfill this great commission. Listen to John 16 verse 7. In John 16 verse 7, Jesus says to his disciples, Nevertheless, I tell you the truth, It is to your advantage that I go away. For if I do not go away, the helper will not come to you. But if I depart, I will send him to you.

Mind blowing words. It's better for you if I go away. What? Jesus, no. Please don't say that.

Your presence is so sweet. You're right here. We can touch you. We can listen to you auditorily. Please don't go.

It's to your advantage. It's better if I go away because I'll send the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit will indwell all of you and I don't have to be limited to time and space like this. I can carry out my ministry to the four corners of the earth all at once by indwelling my people. Amazing, amazing. He has promised never to leave us or forsake us.

Never, ever, ever. He'll be with us to the end of the age. By the way, that's Hebrews 13 verse 5. I will never leave nor forsake you. He always keeps his promises.

I'm way over time. I'm not sorry. I'm not apologizing. And I have one concluding remark. This is the great frontier for us.

The Great Commission applies to all of his people from all times. So children, I mean this applies to you. He was speaking to his disciples on that mountain. It may have been a much wider, there may have been 500 people, more than 500 people there. If 1 Corinthians 15 verse 6 is speaking of this time, then there were more than 500 people there.

There's no way to prove or disprove. But anyway, even if it was just the 11 disciples there, They were physically unable to take the gospel to all the nations in all time. These are finite men. They're going to die. They did die.

The gospel has to keep going to the nations. It's for us. It's for all of us. It's for us as much as it was for those 11 men. Every bit as much as for those 11 men.

But especially for us, this is the great frontier. We've recaptured this largely at home. We've got little microcosms of the Great Commission happening under our roofs, starting with evangelism, but not ending with evangelism. We're baptizing. We're teaching to observe all that he has commanded.

And it's a long-term process. So we've got a pretty full-orbed great commission going on under our roofs. But the intent was always and forever that this would just be the first, the home would be just the first pop of the stone and the ripples would keep going out. It's Jerusalem. It does start there, right where you're standing, that GPS location, but it was never supposed to stop there.

The ripples were supposed to go all the way to the shore, all the way to the ends of the earth. Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, the ends of the earth. God has given us time to recapture something so precious and something essential that has been lost, which is the Great Commission at home. Praise God how much energy and time and preaching and failure And progress has been spent on recapturing the microcosm, the little world, the little example of the Great Commission in our home. But God forbid that there be no ripples.

God forbid that there be no ripples from this. I'll be sorry that we ever spent time recapturing it if there are no ripples and you should be sorry too. Let's pray. Oh God, we're praying for ripples. We thank you for your work in our lives that you've sovereignly made us recapture, something that was lost that never should have been lost, family discipleship.

Thank you, thank you, thank you God that you have had mercy on us and our families. God, now may there be ripples, Mighty splashes, oh God. I pray that you would cause your fire to burn in our hearts for this. I pray that this would be the great frontier for our personal lives, for our home lives, for our church life. Help us to be such an encouragement to our brothers and sisters who are outside this as they see us burning with passion for the Great Commission.

May it be so, may it be so, to the glory of the Father. May we call every knee to bow and every tongue to confess to the glory of the Father. May we call every knee to bow and every tongue to confess to the glory of the Father. In Jesus' name, Amen.