In his sermon 'Always With You,' Scott Brown expounds on Matthew 28:18-20, highlighting the significance of Jesus Christ's authority as the foundation of the Great Commission. Brown asserts that this commission is not merely a call to evangelize but a mandate for a transformative lifestyle of obedience to Jesus' teachings. He critiques some modern interpretations of the Great Commission that focus solely on conversion without emphasizing discipleship and obedience. According to Brown, a true Great Commission Church calls for obedience to God's word, influences culture, and impacts entire nations. Baptism is described as a symbolic act of new life and a commitment to the teachings of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Brown emphasizes the importance of community in fulfilling the Great Commission, as Jesus promises His continual presence with His followers. The sermon concludes by affirming the ongoing journey with Jesus, underscored by His promise, 'Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.'

Good morning. Today's text is Matthew 28 verses 18 through 20. 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's pray. Lord God, these are perhaps some of the most familiar words in scripture. Lord, let us not just hear them again and not ponder them deeply. Lord, let these resonate within the depths of our soul. That we may indeed take your instructions given at the end of your earthly ministry and incorporate them into our lives that is in a pleasing way to you, Lord, that we may spread your gospel, that we may carry out the great commission to the extent that you've allowed us to do so.

Lord God we thank you for the privilege of having this role in your redemptive plan of history. I pray now that you be with Scott brown as he comes to exposit these scriptures, Lord, fill them with words to teach us and to allow us to better understand this section of your holy scripture. Thank you, Lord God, now for this day. In the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. It's remarkable that we're here at the end of the Gospel of Matthew.

We still have two sermons we're going to preach out of the Gospel of Matthew. One, Dan Horn will deliver about the fulfillment of prophecy theme in the book. And then I will come back and deal with the theme of Jesus Christ being presented as the King of kings and the Lord of lords. So we're not really done with Matthew yet, but we are going to complete the exposition of the book here this morning. Now here in this passage the Lord Jesus Christ, that great shepherd of the sheep, does what he has done so many times in the gospel of Matthew and that is he describes to his disciples the kind of life that he desires that they would live in the world and As it turns out they're sent out really to be social and cultural revolutionaries into the world to teach everything that Jesus Christ has commanded And the world will never be the same.

Their communities will never be the same. Their families will never be the same. Their churches will never be the same. Because they have one great rule of life, and that is the Word of God and the Word of God alone. Now, this passage of scripture explains what it means to be a great commissioned church.

Now there are many churches that claim to be great commissioned churches, but you might wonder if they've even actually read what this text says. Because in so many so-called great commissioned churches, it's actually legalism to call for obedience in the church. How did that happen? Did they not read the words in sequence and dissect them according to their lexical meanings. There are churches who call themselves great commissioned churches, but the idea to call a nation to obey the Word of God is totally noxious to them, And yet they call themselves Great Commission Churches, which is in just absolute contradiction to this passage of scripture here.

They're OK with baptism, but they're not OK with obedience. That's an amazing fact that we face today, as churches claim to be Great Commission churches, but it seems like maybe they haven't even read the words that are here on the page. And what happens so often when we read this passage is that we read something into it that we've heard, rather than what it actually says. And so we'll try to camp on those words. Now, what's critical to understand here is that the Lord Jesus Christ is sending his disciples out to change the world, to change the world that they will engage in.

In Isaiah chapter 40, which is a hinge chapter in the book of Isaiah, speaks of the power of the gospel as it goes into the world. And what Isaiah says is that when the gospel comes, every valley will be exalted, every mountain and hill will be brought low, the crooked places will be made straight, and the rough places will be made smooth. And what Isaiah is saying is that when the Gospel comes, gigantic changes happen to your life. That you actually change. They're almost like geophysical earthquakes that take place in your soul.

And everything about your life changes. You know, I just got back from Australia and New Zealand, and what was amazing to me was to see that there were families all over the world who were living totally differently. They were true Great Commission families, Because in their heart, the DNA of their whole structure of their soul was, we want to obey the Lord. We want to do what God has told us to do. And as a result, they were changing everything about their lives.

And they weren't part of a Great Commission Church that said, it doesn't matter what you do with your life. It doesn't matter what you do with your family. It doesn't matter how you work. It doesn't matter how you dress. It doesn't matter how you talk.

Because the Great Commission actually calls for obedience. Now, just looking at this passage and the way it flows, Jesus says that there are two things you must know and there are four things that you must do. Now, life with God is like that. He both makes you think a certain way, and then He also calls you to action, to do particular things in the world. And it makes it clear again, as has been made clear so many times in the Gospel of Matthew, that Christianity is not only about being, you know, what you must be, but it really is also about what you must do, and we have that here.

And so we're here before such a great commission now as we go through this you know I as I was going through I just had to realize how I often in my reading of the text I had to just throw off my purely theoretical thinking and recognize that that that there are particular requirements of this passage of Scripture that in many ways when you read the Great Commission you have to take His yoke upon you and learn from Him about what He desires in the world. Now, this commission is broader than what most people think, which is why we have so many so-called great commission churches. And the view that you'll hear here today is not one that I think that is often heard, because for some reason it seems that there hasn't been a careful reading of the text of this passage of Scripture. And most people have actually done this very thing with this passage. They have isolated the application of this passage to tell people about the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ, secure a decision, and move on to the next one.

That's how this passage of Scripture is interpreted by most people in the world today. And we've read the text twice here this morning. I think it's very plain. That's actually not what the text is saying. Well, it does include that.

It includes far, far more. So in fact, the Great Commission is a call for a completely reordered lifestyle everywhere you go. So, there you have it. I've ordered my walking through this text under six different headings. You'll see them in the outline that's in front of you.

Let's take the first one. You must know His authority. I said earlier there are two things to know and there are four things to do in this passage of Scripture. And the first thing to know is His authority. All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.

So this is an emphatic declaration of the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is the foundation of everything. Now, we know from other places in Scripture that everything falls apart except that the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ holds all things together. This is one of the the alls of the Great Commission. All authority, all power, all nations, all things, always.

Lo, I am with you always. So here this there's this supreme unquenchable omnipotent authority that Jesus Christ claims to have over everything. And this is the authority that Jesus Christ has intended to subdue all the nations of the earth. And so here we find that God establishes His kingship in the world through the working out of the Great Commission. Now, I want to give you seven facts of His authority here.

First of all, it is supreme authority. Secondly, it is a given authority. In Psalm 10, it is obviously an authority given to Jesus Christ. Here it has been given to me. In other words, the God the Father gave this authority to His Son.

This is one of the great Trinitarian passages of Scripture. If you want to prove the doctrine of the Trinity to someone, go to the Great Commission. Because here you have authority transferred from one personality to another. And this authority has been given by God, the Father, to his son. And this authority is to do whatever he wishes.

It is a rightful and willful and independent power. That's what the word means that the Lord Jesus Christ uses here. So the Great commission doesn't actually begin with a commission, but just with a declaration of the authority, the unlimited, omnipotent authority of Jesus Christ. Matthew chapter 11 verse 27 says, �All things have been delivered to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father." So here we're faced with the unlimited authority of Jesus Christ. This is a disclosure of the place of Jesus in the universe, You know, gentle Jesus, meek and mild.

Well, He's also an unquenchable, unfathomable authority in the world as it exists today. Yes, your Savior who poured out His Spirit upon you to show you that you're a sinner, who loved you with everlasting love. That same gentle shepherd who says, I am gentle among you, my load is easy. That same one has absolute authority in the world. Here's another fact of his authority.

He wants you to know his authority. He's intending that we understand that he has ultimate authority over all things. There are two realms where his authority reigns in heaven, And so that includes the celestial bodies, the galaxies, everything. You know, the space junk flying through space, absolutely everything. Jesus Christ has authority in the heavens.

And then on the earth. That would include all molecules, all DNA, all rocks and rivers and oceans and skies and lakes and winds and tornadoes and hurricanes and 80 mile an hour winds like we had the other day. All animals, all fires, downpours, kings, armies, all industries, all economies, all stock exchanges, all education, all science, all fathers and mothers and brothers and sisters, all pastors and police and politicians. Every nanosecond of every life, everywhere is under His authority. Nothing happens except that the Lord Jesus Christ has ordained it.

Here's another fact of his authority. All awakenings are characterized by a voice of authority. What happens in times of awakening is that people recognize that Jesus Christ is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. At the same time, men lose their fear of man and they turn to Jesus Christ. They turn to a different king and they start living a completely different way.

And they begin to say, Thus saith the Lord. When men say, Thus saith the Lord, the foundations of the world are shaken. And so many things happen when there's a voice of authority in the world, and when that authority is Jesus Christ, sparks always fly. Somehow it's happened that you can cite the voice of authority of Muhammad, You can cite the voice of authority of Muhammad. You can cite the voice of authority of Buddha.

You can cite the authority of Krishna, whoever he is. And somehow, they have authority. But if you cite the authority of Jesus Christ, you've just moved yourself into illegality. And I think that's because Jesus Christ is who he said he was. And so people bristle at the authority of Jesus Christ while they don't bristle at the authority of Muhammad.

And here this is his authority requires a clear voice from the house of Almighty God. When that happens, churches change and societies change. When there is a voice of authority in the Church. You know, one question we have to ask is, did you come here today to hear a voice of authority? Did you come here to hear something greater than yourself?

Or did you just want you to affirm yourself somehow today? That's the difference between Christianity and something completely different. The voice of authority is the voice of Jesus Christ. That's why people said, he speaks with authority not like the scribes and the Pharisees. Here's another fact of his authority.

Christ's authority secures success in the evangelistic enterprise in the world today. There's no place where you cannot preach the gospel. It opens doors. It softens hearts. It changes minds.

It breaks the heart. It breaks the will. God by His power opens up doors that no one can open. He'll soften hearts that no one can soften. He enlightens minds that no one can enlighten.

He can cleanse what no one else can cleanse because it's so filthy. He can change a direction that seems so hardened because he has authority. And then finally, anyone who defies his authority will be executed for treason. This is disloyalty to your Maker. The lack of care for His commands and your nonchalance toward His renown will bring down the fury of His wrath and the punishment you receive will be reasonable.

So God has established authority in order to separate the sheep and the goats for all eternity. And what do we do in the face of such an authority? An authority where every word of God will never fall to the ground, where everything He has said will be fulfilled. Really the only reasonable response is to repent, to turn to Jesus Christ, to turn away from all other authorities and to say that there's no salvation in any other name but the name of Jesus Christ. There's no life-giving authority like Jesus Christ.

And to say my soul is in danger except under His authority. And so with his authority he says, come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and humble in heart. So such a great shepherd, The Great Shepherd of the sheep calls out to all the unrepentant to come and to repent and to make Him the authority of their lives, to change kingdoms, to cast down idols, to say, Lord Jesus Christ, save my soul. Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David.

That's the call of the authority of God. So the first thing that we encounter is this supreme authority and what we must think. We must think rightly about the universe. And that is, there is one supreme authority, and that authority is Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ alone. And then, Jesus goes into what you must do.

And the first thing that He says you must do is to go. Go therefore. And so in this statement, there's a declaration of, really, the true nature of Christianity. And what is that? Well, The true nature of Christianity is that it's a missionary religion.

And if you get involved with Jesus, the whole course of your life will be shifted. You're not your own. And He ends up delivering you from your own personal journey. And He puts you on His own journey. It's the upward call of God.

And you lose your mission in His mission. And He transforms your heart and then He puts His mantle of authority upon you and He sends you on a mission and He puts upon you a life altering agenda that should change every day of your life. And that life altering agenda is to set yourself to the going and making of disciples, so that everything you do is under that heading, that you're going and making disciples of all the nations. And he gives you a physical sign of it that sums up the center of everything you're living for. And that's baptism that speaks of the death and the resurrection of the believer.

And then he commands you to teach, and then he promises his abiding presence. And so what we find here is that you must go. That God sends His people out. That's why we read in the Gospel of Matthew in Chapter 13, the sower went out to sow. It's about going out to sow.

And so the Lord Jesus Christ calls His disciples to go. And that might mean going across the hall. It might mean picking up your Bible and reading it to your children. It might be going into your living room and speaking of the Gospel there. It might be getting on a ship or boarding a plane or sending a letter or sending a text or something like that.

But God has commanded his people to go. So that we would do what Ephesians 2 says that Jesus did. He came and preached peace to those who were far off and to those who were near. So we must go. Next we must make disciples of all the nations.

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations. Now with this phrase here we come to the command, the imperative that is in the text, go and make disciples. Now, we've probably heard sermons which translate go as the participle, which means after having gone, make disciples. And the sermon goes like this, as you are going, make disciples. Well, that's true that we should do that.

But the way that this sentence is actually written in the Greek language, It should be translated, going should be as an imperative that is dependent on the main verb. The main verb is make disciples, and that's the central command. But Then there are these heiress participles, go, baptize, and teach. Whenever there's an heiress participle connected to a main verb, they all take on the meaning of a command. So they really are all commands, functionally.

So it's a command to go, it's a command, of course, to make disciples, which is the main verb, and to baptize and to teach. These are all actually commands that we ought to be involved in. Now, what is a disciple? A disciple is a learner. A disciple is a follower, someone who's not following the world, not following themselves, not following their friends, but they're following Jesus.

That's a disciple. And so what we learn here is that the whole matter of the Great Commission is greater than evangelistic campaigns. It's greater than personal evangelism. It's greater than street preaching. It includes the whole enterprise of making a disciple, of bringing someone to be and then continue to be a learner from the Lord Jesus Christ.

So the Great Commission is greater than sharing the gospel with someone while it must begin there. It never ends there at all. Because it includes the actual making of a disciple, the continuing learning from the Lord Jesus Christ. And that should define the whole culture of a Christian. We make disciples all the time.

You say, well, I'm not really involved in Great Commission work. Well, maybe you actually are. When you conduct family worship, you are making disciples. When you discipline your children and bring them up in the training and the admonition of the Lord, you are fulfilling the Great commission. When our wives are keepers at home, they are fulfilling the Great Commission, because they're doing something that Jesus commanded.

When we provide for our families, we are participating in the Great Commission. When we bring our families to Sunday worship or prayer or the gatherings of the Church, we are participating in the Great Commission. When we have conversations with our friends, if we are bringing the commands of the Lord Jesus Christ to bear. We are part of fulfilling the Great Commission. When we vote, when we write, when we are married, we participate in the Great Commission.

Marriage is one of the great Sanctification institutions, right, that God has given. Where you marry someone and then what happens is that you begin to see your sins. But if you can't see them, your wife or your husband probably will. So sanctification starts happening, right? Everybody knows that.

That's the simplest thing in the whole world to know if you've ever been married. But even being married is part of participating in the Great Commission. So much of what we do can be placed under that great category of the fulfilling of the Great Commission. We just finished conducting a Memorial Day event where we invited the community and our intent is to preach the Gospel and to be a blessing and to practice hospitality. You know, this Memorial Day, I thought the Gospel was preached more clearly than any of the other memorial days.

I was so happy about that. But that was part of fulfilling the Great Commission, was to stand up there and say, here's what Jesus Christ has commanded. This is His kingdom. Take a look at it. That's our whole intent in conducting these Memorial Day events.

It says here that it is to be done in the nations, ponta ta ethne, all the nations. And so the Great Commission is not just a general command to make disciples among individuals, but also among nations. And this means people groups, ethnos, Large groups of people who speak different languages or have various cultural qualities about them. We go into the cultures of the world or even into the national units of the peoples who might speak the same language and we bring the commands of Jesus Christ into those cultures. In Psalm 22 verse 28, the Lord Jesus is called the Governor of the nations, because Jesus Christ does desire to govern the nations.

When you say the nations should obey the law of God, you're not being a legalist. You're really saying the same thing Jesus says in the Great Commission, that these things should be taught in the nations. You know, it was really interesting when I was in New Zealand. I was preaching in a church. And at the end of the service, it was announced that they were going to sing the New Zealand national anthem.

And I sort of gasped. I thought, what? What is happening here? Why are we singing the national anthem at the end of the service? Well, here's how their national anthem starts.

God of nations at thy feet, in the bonds of love we need. And it closes with these words, preaching love and truth to man, working out thy glorious plan, God defend New Zealand. I was totally shocked. It was a fantastic national anthem. Because it really called the nation to the feet of Jesus Christ.

It called the nation to the truth of the Word of God. How novel. Unfortunately, the nation has totally abandoned it. Its national anthem is a joke when compared to what's really going on in that nation. In the country where you get your children taken away from you if you spank them.

The country just recently established what they call anti-smacking laws. They took absolutely the most defiling terms, smacking, in order to represent biblical discipline of children by the using of the rod. The world always wants to dishonor beautiful things. The world doesn't love beautiful things. And so they enacted these anti-smacking laws.

Well, if you want to get your children taken away from you, then you use the rod. If anybody finds out about it, one call, and they're gone immediately. No verification, no proof necessary, one phone call, your children are gone. That's how it works. Well, that's actually a nation that's not keeping with their national anthem, okay?

Because their national anthem calls them to the feet of Jesus to submit to his word, and yet they've abandoned that. I want to go back to a time where nations say this. They've overthrown the laws of God. Everywhere we went, we found people in these nations in fear of the government because the government has thrown off the law of God and wants to prosecute people who obey it. And so they're wondering what they should do and how they ought to operate.

John Calvin said the goal of the Great Commission was to, quote unquote, reduce the nations of the world to obedience to Jesus Christ. Now this is not the common pillar of the modern Great Commission Church, but it is a pillar of the true Great Commission Church, where the laws of Jesus Christ actually apply to the nations. And you disciple the nations. In other words, you go to the nations and you say, follow Jesus. Become a follower, become a disciple of Jesus Christ.

That's what the Lord Jesus Christ is calling for here. That means that his commands should be interwoven into the national identities and the practices of the nations of the world. In Psalm chapter 2, in the very context of worldwide rebellion against the Lord, it records some of the most remarkable words. Here they are. Ask of me, the Father, says to the Son, and I will surely give the nations as your inheritance and the very ends of the earth as your possessions.

So what we're to do in the nations is to cry out, cry out for obedience, cry out for discipleship. It's right to do that. And a true Great Commission Church will be bold to proclaim the commands of God in the nations, in the cultures that they live. Because God actually desires to change culture. And then you baptize.

You baptize. Baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." So this is a physical sign of new life, a physical, representative, symbolic, instructive, graphic ordinance that shows what salvation is. Now, the only way you can really see salvation is in its results, in its fruits. But God has given an ordinance called baptism so that you can see sort of the nuts and bolts of salvation. That it's death and resurrection.

Death to self and a raising up to new life. So baptism communicates that. And we baptize in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. And this term, to baptize, has to do with immersing. The primary meaning of the word baptizo is to immerse in water, and it bears witness to the cleansing that happens at salvation.

The Pato Baptists want to take a secondary meaning of this word and try to make it fit the purpose of the whole imagery of salvation. But this disciples making process includes baptism. And we often take this lightly. You know, most people, you know, think very lightly about baptism. And you have to ask, have you been baptized?

It is a picture of resurrection, and it's a sign of ownership. It's a sign of new life, of friendship with God, of a resurrected life, of sonship. It really bears witness to a defining moment where a person is born again. And it's a symbol of entry into the love and the submission of God the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. And it says here that you're baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

That means that you're baptized into something. Jesus uses the word into. So something outside goes into. You're baptized into the name. Now how do you get baptized in the name?

What is that supposed to mean? Well, you're being baptized into everything that the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit represent. That's the name, the names of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. They have content and meaning for who they are. So the name of the Father is representative of everything that is the Father.

The name of the Son is everything that represents the Son. The name of the Spirit, everything that represents the Spirit. So if you're baptized into the name, you are actually inserted into the very life of everything that the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit represent. So you're baptized into that name, into this fellowship, into this community. We're baptized into His world of truth and love and submission and delight because the Father loves the Son and the Son delights to do the will of the Father.

And the Spirit glorifies the Father, and the Spirit glorifies the Son, And the Father loves the Son and commands the Son. So it's a relationship, first of all, of humility, second of all, of love, third of service, of service, fourth of communication, fifth of presence. And all these personalities in the Godhead summarize the name, being baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. It means that you have been brought into a world of love. It means that you've been brought into this perfect relationship of mercy and compassion and truth.

What a wonderful thing it is to be baptized into that name. You take your profane life and you are you are baptized into the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. And you're surrounded by that name. And you don't pollute that name. It purifies you.

And it comforts you. And it cares for you. And it speaks to you. And it changes you. And it carries you.

And it walks with you. This is the love that is unleashed when a person turns to Jesus. They are baptized into that name. And then you must teach them to obey. Not only do you baptize, you teach them to obey.

Verse 20, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you. Now this is this transforming influence where the Lord Jesus Christ actually commands his children to teach other people to obey his commands. We have it as a calling to obey Him as sons and daughters, but also we are given a role in the world to teach others to obey as well. And this is sort of like off limits in most quote-unquote great commission churches. You don't want to be involved in this kind of a ministry here.

And what this means is that when you're justified by faith, God doesn't want to leave you alone to stay as you are. We're saved progressively from our sinful lifestyles. Now, in saying that, I just want to tell you, I wish that the sanctification process was faster for me. It seems so slow. And this is why we probably read of the patience of the Lord, of His mercy toward those who are so slowly being sanctified.

Would that it would be faster, but yet it seems slow. The Lord Jesus said that whoever keeps and teaches His commandments shall be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. And the ones who do not keep and do not teach will be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven. I ran into so many people in Australia and New Zealand and Tasmania who have been belittled in their churches because they believe that we're supposed to be obedient. And they've been told by their pastors that it's sinful to even call the church to obedience.

But here Jesus says it's not sinful to call the church to obedience It's commanded by Jesus in the Great Commission Whenever you find someone who says that it's wrong to call the church to obedience just turn to the Great Commission. It might be one of the simplest arguments against that whole proposition. Now there are three things that are here. First there's the activity and it's teaching. Secondly, it's the requirement to obey.

And thirdly, it's the content of the teaching. All things that I have commanded you." So first of all, the activity, teaching. Teaching of course was the central activity of the Lord Jesus Christ. And Jesus is telling his disciples to do the same thing that he did. You know, this is the heart of a Christian that says, I want to do the same stuff that Jesus did.

We understand their limits to that. But the heart of a Christian is this, Lord, I delight to do thy will. I want to follow you. I want to do the stuff that you did." That's what disciples do. And Jesus was, of course, the teacher, and He taught them having authority, not as the scribes.

That's why in Matthew 27 we read, the people were astonished at his teaching, because he was, first of all, a teacher. And it's amazing that it would be this way, because we also know that God has also called parents to be teachers, That they should teach their children when they sit in the house, when they walk by the way, when they lie down and when they rise up. You are being like Jesus when you teach your little flock in your house. You are fulfilling part of this command. And then the requirement is to obey, or the word that's translated here, to observe.

It just means to obey. So it's more than just information. The Lord Jesus Christ is not saying just pour information into their heads. It's not enough for them to know the facts. They need to know the facts, but it doesn't stop with the facts.

The facts should change your life. And so you teach them to observe, which means that Jesus desires an obedient church. And you have to ask, is calling for obedience legalism? Is it that? If it is, then Jesus is the great legalist, because He not only called to obey, called us to obey, but He also called His disciples to teach one another to obey.

I mean, every husband is designed by God to teach his wife how to obey. And I dare say, as a help me, she is also designed by God to help her husband to obey. We teach one another to obey the Lord. That doesn't erase the authority that is in the marriage or in the church. The authority exists with the responsibilities that are there.

You know, people might ask, you know, what is the vision of the elders for Hope Baptist Church? Well, one of the visions is that we would have an obedient church, A church that's obedient to Jesus. This is Jesus' vision for the church. I don't know if you've ever been on a committee to establish a vision for a church. You probably have never been on a committee that establishes a vision for the church where they say, the vision of this church is to establish obedience to the people in the church.

If Kevin Swanson were here, he would say, welcome to obedience Baptist church. Or how about repentance Baptist church? Well nobody ever names their churches like that. I'm not suggesting they should, necessarily. But we do know that Jesus wants an obedient church so much that he actually asks all of his disciples to teach one another to obey.

Did you realize that that was part of your responsibility with one other? To teach one another to obey. You maybe just thought it was the elders you're supposed to teach people to obey. Well that's not true. It is their responsibility to do that, but It's not only their responsibility to do that.

The Bible actually has it so that any believer can go up to another believer and say, hey, is that disobedience? And I'm not suggesting that this is what we're all supposed to do. Whenever we see anybody disobey, we go up to them. I'm not suggesting that that's necessarily what we ought to do every time we see somebody disobey. But it is a role that God has designed for us to play.

It's a good role. And there are particular ways that we're supposed to do it, like for example in humility. Like for example looking unto yourself, that you might not be tempted to be such a proud, you know, perfect person in the equation. Well, the Bible says that obedience means something. In John 14, 15 it shows that you love Him.

If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. In Hebrews 5, verse 9 it shows that you're saved. That He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him. In John 14 it shows that you love Him. He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is He who loves Me.

In John 14, 14 it shows that you're His friend, you are My friends, if you do whatever I command you. In John 8 verse 51 it shows that you will never see death. I say to you if anyone keeps my word he shall never see death. In Revelation 12 it makes you an enemy of the devil, because the dragon is enraged with the woman and he begins to make war with her offspring. And what is it about her offspring that makes that devil so revolted?

Well, they keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. So obedience, of course, is followed on to hard times. If you're going to call yourself a Great Commissioned Church, then it really requires that you become a people who obey Jesus. And there's the content of the instruction of the teaching, all things that I have commanded you. So this refutes this limited, you know, reductionistic view of evangelism that says you're fulfilling the Great Commission if you deliver the gospel message and wait for the rapture.

Because yes, you are to deliver the gospel message. If you want to wait for the rapture, that's okay with me. But actually, in the meantime, you're to teach all things that Jesus commanded. That's our responsibility. It's interesting, the atonement is never mentioned in the Great Commission.

The atonement is just assumed in the Great Commission. Have you ever talked to somebody who says, you know, how can we never talk about the Gospel? Well, you're just assuming the Gospel. Is it legitimate to assume the Gospel from time to time? Well, I mean, Jesus assumed the atonement in the Great Commission.

He assumes that you know that you're saved by grace through faith alone and not by any works of yourselves. He's just assuming that. But then He says that you ought to, as a result of that, go teach all things that I have commanded you. And that means that in the Great Commission it's so comprehensive that we we ought to teach everything that he said about everything. Everything that he said about sin and salvation and judgment.

Everything that he said about marriage. Everything that He said about work and taking dominion, everything that He said about the family. Part of the fulfillment of the Great Commission means that you teach men to work, you teach women how to be wives, you teach fathers how to be fathers, you teach children how to be children. These are all Great Commission works. The Great Commission works.

Now, the Great Commission is not going to foreign countries and refusing to confront idolatry. That's not the Great Commission. The Great Commission is not consistent with putting your children in government schools so they can teach them paganism. Because you have an obligation to teach them to obey everything that Jesus Christ says. The Great Commission is not the same thing as sending teenagers to foreign countries to build houses.

Now, it might include that, but The heart of the Great Commission is to teach them to obey all things that Jesus Christ has commanded. So, we have to think clearly about the Great Commission because there's so much confusion about it today. So the goal of the Great Commission is not to secure a profession of faith, but a submission that is consistent with true faith. I'm going to say that one more time. The goal of the Great Commission is not to secure a profession of faith, but a submission that is consistent with true faith.

Anybody can make a profession. You can get any four-year-old to make a profession of faith. Which means I could get your children saved in a heartbeat. Well actually that's not true. Because we're talking about more than a profession of faith.

We're talking about a submission of the heart that says, Oh Lord, I desire to do Your will. I want to obey You. There are many people today who contend that we should, that the fulfillment of the Great Commission is to get decisions, to have people ask Jesus into their heart. But there are so many mission organizations and churches who contend that it's not appropriate to challenge that culture. It is appropriate to challenge the culture.

You know, I've visited a number of cultures to preach the Word of God. Here's what I've discovered. This Word of truth offends every culture I've ever been to. It has things that run so crosswise with every culture I've ever been to. And all you really need to do, you don't, I'm not even sure you need all that much to know what's going on in a culture, but you need to know what's going on in this book.

Because it's designed to correct culture. It's designed for everything pertaining to life and godliness in order to correct the death and the ungodliness that's engripped cultures. You know, this just brings up the whole matter of decisional regeneration and even the social gospel and even a radical individualistic view of salvation. Most of the thinking about the Great Commission has its focus on individuals, what you think about it, what do you say to individuals? But this has actually to say about nations, cultures, large groups of people.

And then finally Jesus shifts from what you must do, and what you must do is to go and to make disciples and baptize and teach them to obey. That's what you're supposed to do. Remember, he starts by saying he wants you to know of his authority. All authority has been given to me in heaven and earth. Then He tells you what to do, and then He comes back to what you must know.

And He says, Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen. So this first statement, lobe, it just means behold. It's like saying, let this get your attention. I'm trying to get your attention.

Lo, lo, I am with you always. Now, he also says, lo, I am with you in the plural. In other words, this isn't just about you. This is about the whole church. Lo, I am with you, my disciples.

Jesus Christ has created a community. We often just read this personally. Well, we should read it personally, But it's actually written in the plural. So there should be whole communities of people who recognize this. This should be the underpinning of our fellowship and the culture of our church, that we recognize the presence of Jesus Christ.

Lo, I am with you always. Most people are just thinking about this about them personally. And usually that's because we are so selfish. We just like to think about ourselves. It's just, how does this affect me, my heart, my happiness?

We think like that. But Jesus isn't speaking that way at all. He's talking to the whole church. Lo, I am with you, all of you, you and you and you, all of you together. It's this reality of the gathered church where Jesus is among his church.

In Revelation, he's walking among the lampstands of the church. Jesus Christ is walking among his people. And so he says, lo, I am with you, saying, I am with my people. There's sort of an edge meaning of this in the passage about church discipline, where he says, we're two or three are gathered. There I am in their midst.

Well, it's that principle that when the people of God are gathered together, something supernatural happens, something beautiful. God is among his people in some unique kind of a way, beyond just his being with you personally, but he's with his people corporately. When I think about our gatherings, we should think about our gatherings like this, where we consider the presence of Jesus Christ among us together. That when we gather, there is something about that that has a supernatural quality about it. The Lord Jesus is with His people.

And what we find is that He is identifying with His people. Lo, I am with you. He comes and walks among and identifies with his people, and he promises his presence. That means that when the Church gathers, the Church is not alone. It is possible where a Church can be so worldly that the Holy Spirit somehow is so quenched that He's hardly even felt or known.

But this passage ends in such a wonderful way. You know, it was probably last week sometime, I was at the grave of John G. Peyton in Melbourne, Australia. It was such a remarkable moment to be there. John G.

Peyton was one of the truly great missionaries of all time. And it's a wonderful story because what happened with John G. Payton is that he had such a life in his father's house that was so nourishing. It was so spiritually juvenating. It was so good.

The love of his father, the prayers of his father, the fellowship of the family was so sweet to him. If you get his biography, the first five pages are worth the price of the whole book. We read this together. It wasn't like about five years ago or something. We bought copies for everybody and we read this biography.

It was so beautiful. But what you see is out of the soil of genuine worship in a family and genuine love of a father to a son, and teaching. A father who brought his children to church every Sunday without fail, maybe once or twice their whole lives they missed the meetings of the church. They had a father, they had a head that so desired the family to be there, they were there. And that father brought them up in the training and the admonition of the Lord.

He was one of those fathers who taught his children when he sat in the house, when he walked by the way, when he was lying down, when he was rising up. He was that kind of father. And this phrase became one of the iconic phrases on the lips of John G. Paton. And his children often spoke of how often he quoted this verse, Lo, I am with you always.

Lo, I am with you always. And on his grave is this inscription, Lo, I am with you always. All the way, even to the end of the age." So there he was standing at his grave, looking at it with this inscription, the final words in the Gospel of Matthew. Here's what he wrote, lo, I am with you always, the secret of a quiet heart, the secret of a gallant spirit, the secret of a sunny faith, the text so often on the tongue, the text upon the tomb, Lo, I am with you always, even until the end." And so here you have this final statement in the Gospel of Matthew, such a beautiful statement. Doesn't it sum up so much of what we've encountered so far.

The Lord Jesus Christ has been with His disciples now for three years, and He's been walking with them. He's been calming the storms. He's been casting out the demons. He's been feeding them food when they didn't have any. He's been correcting them when they were ridiculous.

He's been teaching them things that they didn't understand. He's been opening their eyes to things that they were completely blind to. He was opening up their hearts. He was teaching them the way in which they should go. And His final words, being so consistent with everything that He's said in the entire gospel, summing it up with, Lo, I am with you always, as if to say, I've walked with you these three years, but I'm not done with you.

I'm going to walk with you, and I'm going to carry you as a father carries his son. Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." What a blessing. It's been such a great journey, hasn't it? To walk through the Gospel of Matthew, to see Jesus, to see what a good shepherd he is. You know, you can see why the writer of Hebrews would pray about that great shepherd of the sheep who guides his flock.

Would you pray with me? Lord, Lord we thank you for these words. We thank you for your devotion to us. We thank you for calling us to live a certain way in the world. Lord, I pray that you would make us a distinctive people, but distinctive only by your ways, not our own.

O Lord, that you would conform us into your image, that you would help us to walk the way we have just been taught to walk, that we would be a great commissioned church. O Lord, that Your Gospel would be in our tongues, that Your justification would be so burning in our souls to speak of it, and that You would help us, Lord, to unmask the idols of the day in our own hearts, in those around us, and that we would teach all things that you have commanded. Oh Lord, would you