We'll go ahead and get back started
here. Matthew chapter 28. Matthew chapter
28. The first hour we kind of took
a little grammar lesson. And there's a specific reason
I wanted to do that grammar lesson. For one, we kind of need to know
about the King James Bible and the these and thous and thines.
And if you didn't watch the first The first part of this message today, or series today,
then I encourage you to go back and do that, and I'll be the
first one to admit I'm not the greatest grammar-type teacher. It's not my forte. It's not what
I'm called to do, is to be a grammar teacher. And I'm not saying that
I know it all, either. But I know one thing. It's definitely
helped me in my study of Scripture realize these things and to also
appreciate God's Word as it's preserved in the King James Bible
and those Bibles that preceded the King James and any Bible
that uses that Greek that uses that Greek line of scriptures,
you know, there's a corrupt there's a corrupt manuscript and then
there's a correct manuscript that was used in translations,
and King James we feel is the one that was preserved by God
throughout all the years. Now, we come to the Great Commission,
and I think before we get into actually seeing what the Great
Commission says, we need to find out who the Great Commission
was given to. The title of our message today
is The Church's Commission, the Ecclesiastes Commission, right?
It's the commission to the ecclesiaster, to the church. Jesus give the
commission to the church in its gathered form, not to individuals. And I know that's a misnomer
that a lot of people have. They believe that the Great Commission
is something that's given to every Christian individual and
that that commission is upon them to be carried out,
or they consider the Great Commission to be an evangelical, evangelistic
call that's been called for every Christian. Now, I'll be the first
to say that I do believe that every person that's saved, that
has been baptized, that has the Spirit of God living in them,
are gonna be witnesses for Christ Jesus. They're gonna be witnesses
of the gospel. But we're specifically looking
at who did Jesus grant authority to carry out the commission and to also attend the worship
and ordinances of those people. Now, whenever we come to Matthew
chapter 28, and specifically in verse 19 and 20, we read the
text. Go ye therefore and teach all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son
and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever
I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always,
even unto the end of the world. And we say, well, who is he talking
to whenever he give that commission? Now, again, some people will
say, well, that's to every Christian. Then there's the others that
say, well, no, we need to be particular. We need to look at
the context. Context, context, context, right? And I'm agreeing. We need to keep the context.
Look at verse 16. Then the 11 disciples went away
into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them.
And when they saw him, they worshiped him, but some doubted him. Jesus
came and spake unto them, saying, all power is given unto me in
heaven and on earth. And then it goes on from there,
what we just read, right? So now, there are some that come
and say, well, he's only talking to the disciples, the 11 disciples. So the commission was given to
the 11 disciples, not the whole church, it was given to the 11
disciples, okay? Well, it's not given to every
person because that wasn't who was there, and the context doesn't
bear that out. It wasn't given just to the 11
disciples because the context doesn't bear that either. You say, well, wait a minute,
preacher. It says right there, then the 11 disciples went into
Galilee to a mountain where Jesus had appointed them, and then
he spake unto them, saying, Now, isn't that who it was given to?
Well, there's a couple of things. Number one, context really doesn't
point that out. And I'll show you that in just
a minute. But second of all, think of this. If the commission
was only given to the 11 disciples, then the commission died away
with the 11 disciples. If it was only incumbent upon
the 11 disciples to carry out the commission, then that commission
ceased whenever that last disciple died. But I want you to follow back
with me to verse one of chapter 28, and let's look and see in
context who all is here, because whenever you come in at verse
16, you're coming into the middle of the context. And if you only
read from there down, you will think that the context only bears
out, it was just the 11 that Jesus was talking to. But if
we go back, we'll find out that there was more to the them than
just the 11. Chapter 28, verse 1, it says,
in the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first
day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the
sepulcher. And behold, there was a great
earthquake, for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven
and came and rolled back the stone from the door and set upon.
Now notice in verse 21, who's came? Mary Magdalene and the
other Mary Okay, so there's two Marys here. Verse three, his countenance
was like lightning and his raiment white as snow. And for fear of
him, the keepers did shake and became as dead men. And the angel
answered and said unto the women, plural, right? Said unto the
women, who's the women there? Well, Mary Magdalene and the
other Mary. Fear not ye. Now use the word
ye there. Remember, we just learned that
the word ye is not a singular, it's a plural. So that goes along
with what the scripture just said. There was two women there,
right? And then it used the word women, not woman. Now in our
Easter programs, a lot of times, what do we see? We see Mary Magdalene. And I say Easter program. We
don't, by the way, anybody watching, we do not have Easter programs
here at our church. We do not celebrate Easter here.
It's a pagan holiday. But in Easter programs, what
do you see whenever you see people depict this scene? You see Mary,
that one woman, seeing Jesus. And then that one woman running
back to tell the disciples, you know. But it was women, two women. Says, for I know that ye, both
of you, seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here for
he is risen as he said. For Jesus is risen as he said.
Does that mean that somewhere before this time, Jesus had told
them, women, that he had risen or that he was gonna rise? Well, let's look, is that true?
Is this a story that was told to more than just the disciples? Well, let's go back. Go back
to chapter 12, Matthew chapter 12. Matthew chapter 12. starting in verse 38, Matthew chapter 12, verse 38,
says, Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered,
saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. But he answered
and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh
after a sign, and there shall no sign be given to it but the
sign of the prophet Jonas. For as Jonas was three days and
three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the son of man be three
days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Okay, so
there we see that Jesus here is giving a Old Testament
type for his soon-to-be anti-type, right? The type is Jonah in the
belly of the whale. And that was a type of Jesus
being dead and buried for three days, three nights and raised
on the third day, right? So he used Jonah as a type for
his resurrection. So here he sees, you say, well,
who all was there? I mean, you know, well, we know
that there was the Pharisees there, religious leaders. But
look over verse 45. While he yet talked to the people,
behold, his mother and his brethren stood without desiring to speak
with him. OK, so his mother and his brethren
was standing around in this house where Jesus was speaking. And
they desired to speak with Jesus, but they were patiently waiting
outside. Then one said unto him, behold, Thy mother and thy brethren
stand without desire to speak with thee. And he answered and
said unto him that told him, Who is my mother and who are
my brethren? And he stretched forth his hands
towards his disciples and said, Behold, my mother and my brethren. So who was in there along with
the Pharisees, but also the disciples of Jesus? OK, his mother and
brothers was on the outside. Wanted to get in to talk to him.
But yet he also said in here where I'm speaking. Doing the will of my father.
These right here are my disciples. OK, so we see there that Jesus
alluded to his resurrection whenever he talked about Jonah being in
the belly three days and he was there, but his disciples were
there. Look at Chapter 16. Matthew 16. Now this is right after Simon had declared Jesus to be
the Son of the living God, remember? Verse 17, Jesus answered and
said unto him, Simon Bar-Jonah for flesh and blood, hath not
revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And
I say unto thee, that thou art petered upon this rock, I will
build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against
it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven,
and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven,
and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man
that he was Jesus the Christ. And from that time forth began
Jesus to show unto his disciples how that he must go into Jerusalem
and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and
scribes and be killed and be raised again the third day. So
here we see that the scriptures say that Jesus plainly told him,
told his disciples throughout all this time that he was ministering
among them and teaching them his doctrine, but also telling
them things to come. He was telling them that the
chief priests and scribes and the elders were going to kill
him, but he was going to raise again and come back to life. Now this was way back in chapter
16. Okay? Look if you would in chapter
17. Jesus heals the demoniac boy
here. And at the end of this, verse
19, Then came the disciples to Jesus
apart and said, why could not we cast him out? And Jesus said
to them, because of your unbelief. For verily I say unto you, if
ye have faith as a grain of a mustard seed, ye shall say unto this
mountain, remove hence to yonder place and it shall remove and
nothing shall be impossible unto you. How be it this kind goeth
not out but by prayer and fasting? And while they abode in Galilee,
who's they? Well, Jesus and the disciples.
Jesus said unto them, who's them? Again, the disciples. The son
of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men, and they shall
kill him. And the third day he shall be
raised again. And they were exceeding sorry. So here again, we see that there
is the disciples being told that Jesus was going to be killed
and be buried and be resurrected on the third day. Look now, if
you would, at chapter 20 and verse 19. Verse 17, and Jesus going up
to Jerusalem took the 12 disciples apart in the way and said unto
them, okay, the 12 disciples, behold, we go up to Jerusalem
and the Son of Man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto
the scribes and they shall condemn him to death and shall deliver
him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify him
And the third day he shall rise again. So now he's gotten very
specific. He said, we're going to go up
to Jerusalem. It's going to happen in Jerusalem. And he said, the
chief scribes and the Pharisees and the priests are going to
condemn me. Then they're going to give me to the Gentiles. Well,
who were the Gentiles at that time in Jerusalem? It was the
Romans. He said, the Gentiles are going
to mock me. They're going to scourge me. and they're going
to crucify. I mean, he's plainly telling
them what's going to happen. That he's going to be mocked.
And we've seen that that happened, right? Remember, they threw that
robe around Jesus, gave him a scepter and hit him with it, beat him
with it, and blindfolded him and said, prophesy unto us, tell
us who it is that's hitting you. Then they put that robe on him
and started bowing down to him. Hail King of the Jews, you know. And then they scourged him, they
beat him with a cat of nine tails, up to the point where they believed
one more strike would kill a person. And so they give him the full
amount of lashes, that cat of nine tails made of nine little
pieces of rope, and at the end of it had pieces of glass or
bone that was tied into it. that whenever they would whip
you with it, it would grab into your flesh and rip the flesh
open, basically leaving your meat, your muscles exposed, your
guts ripped out. Well, that's what they did to
him. And he's telling them that. But
he says after that, and the third day shall rise again. Very clear that he would do that.
So we've seen here that he's talked to his disciples and specifically
the 12, right? But yet whenever the angel says,
and the angel answered and said unto the women, fear not for
I know that you seek Jesus which was crucified. He is not here
for he is risen as he said, come see the place where the Lord
lay and go quickly and tell his disciples that he is risen from
the dead. And so now we see that the women
are told to go and to tell His disciples, that He is risen
from the dead. And behold, He goeth before you
into Galilee. There ye, as the group, the women
and the disciples, see Him. Lo, I have told you. Okay, so
now this angel is saying, all right, you're being told to go
into Galilee. And there you shall see Him.
Lo, I have told you. So now we have the women, We
have the disciples. Verse eight. And they, the women,
departed quickly from the sepulcher with fear and great joy and did
run to bring his disciples word. And as they went to tell his
disciples, behold, Jesus met them saying, all hail. And they
came and held him by the feet and worshiped him. Then said
Jesus unto them, again, the women, be not afraid, go tell my brethren. Okay, so now we have the women,
we have the disciples, we have the brethren, that they go into
Galilee and there they shall see me. Who is they? The brethren
that the women are gonna go tell. So they're gonna go tell the
disciples and the brethren. Now, when they were going, behold,
some of the watch came into the city and showed him, the chief
priest, all the things that were done. And when they were assembled
with the elders and had taken counsel, they gave large money
unto the soldiers saying, ye, his disciples, say ye, his disciples
came by night and stole him away while he slept. And if this come
to the governor's ears, we will persuade him and secure you.
So they took the money and did as they were taught. And this
saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day. Then
the 11 disciples went away into Galilee, into the mountain where
Jesus had appointed them. And when they saw him, they worshiped
him, but some doubted. Okay, so prior to verse 16, where
it says the 11 disciples, specifically 11, We're told that Jesus also
told the women and the brethren to go into Galilee, and that's
where he was going to meet them. Now, verse 16 says, into Galilee,
into a mountain where Jesus had appointed him. So at that point,
we obviously know that the other times that Jesus or the angel
talked to them, they was given a specific place to go and to
meet. If you notice in, The other verses,
it didn't mention anything about going into a mountain, it just
said, go into Galilee. But here in verse 16, it says,
into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. So obviously,
part of the instruction that wasn't all given to us in that
first part is finally given to us here. It was appointed unto
them to go into a mountain in Galilee, and Jesus was gonna
meet them at the mountain in Galilee, okay? There is some stuff revealed
here that wasn't revealed in the other part of the story.
But there's some stuff revealed in the other part of the story
that's not revealed here either. There is 11 disciples, yes, but
there is 11 disciples also with the women and brethren. So who is here to receive this
instruction from Jesus? The church. It was the church
that was here. And so we see Jesus now is speaking
to the then already gathered church. They have been gathered
throughout his ministry. And now, after his death and
resurrection, and soon to be ascension back to the Father,
Jesus is about to give them their final instructions before he
goes. And so he's talking to the local
church there, in local church capacity. And Jesus came and spake unto
them saying, all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Why did Jesus say that before
he started the commission in verse 19? Well, I believe that one of the
reasons he said that is because he needed to make sure that we
all are aware that Christ is the head of the church. All power
is given unto Christ. Just because I'm giving you this
authority, church, doesn't mean you're the ones in charge of
it all. The authority still rests with
me. The power, whenever it speaks of power, it speaks of authority,
but it also speaks of actual power. Remember, everything that you
do in here will be empowered by me. You will only be able to succeed
in doing the things I've commanded because I have all power. The
power is in me. The authority is me. It's not the preacher. It's not
the deacons. It's not an elder board. It's
not the whole entire collective of members. The authority rests
with Christ. And we can't forget that, church.
We are not the authority. Christ is. we have been delegated
limited authority to do things as Christ gives us power to do. So don't ever think the church
is the be all end all. Now it's important. Church is
extremely important. We are commanded to not forsake
the assembling of ourselves together, assembling. That means coming together physically
into one place to worship, to encourage one another, to serve
one another, to love one another, right? And to worship God. So don't forget, that's why Jesus
began, he said, all power, not just some power, all power is
given unto me in heaven and on earth. But the second reason
I think that Jesus says this is so that we and everybody else
might know and understand that Jesus has commissioned his New
Testament church with the things of the gospel. It's the gathered
assembly who has the commission. I'm a pastor. I've been ordained
as the pastor here. This church has recognized that
God has given me a gift as pastor and a preacher. And then they have laid hands
upon me and prayed. I personally have been called
by God and gifted with a gift to preach and to teach and to
pastor. Not perfectly. None of us are. But to do that, But I do not
have power and authority in the church. I have a role, I have a position
in the church, different than everybody else has. But you have
a position different than other people have, different than I
have. And all roles are equally important in the body. All roles
are equally part of the body but specifically the authority
is in Christ Jesus and he has given to the church not to the
individual to the church the commission to carry out the workings
of the gospel the worship and the ordinances of Christ and
so it is there that these things must be done. It is through that
that these things must be done. And so Jesus begins with all
power is given unto me in heaven and on earth. Just in case you
were not understanding, Christ is the head of the church. And
he has decided that it is the church who is going to be the
ones who carries these next few things out that he's gonna commission. Now, the commission itself, the one
who has power and authority is now delegating to a specific
group of people three things. You say, wait, three things?
Wait a minute, I thought we were just to preach the gospel. That's
one thing, right? Thought we were supposed to just
do one thing, ain't that the gospel? The commission is comprised of
three things. Three things. If a church is
not doing these three things, it is not doing the commission. Go, baptize, teach. Look at what it says there. Jesus
is commissioning with all power. Go ye therefore and teach all
nations. baptizing them in the name of
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them
to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and lo,
I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Now remember, the word ye is
plural. You is plural. He's telling a
plurality to teach all nations. He's telling a plurality to baptize. He's telling a plurality to teach. He's telling a plurality that
he will be with them. Not the individual, but the collective. the plural. Now, if you remember,
in Mark chapter 16, if you hold your hand there in Matthew and
turn over to Mark chapter 16, the commission was also given
or recorded here, Mark chapter 16, Verse 15, we kind of get a little
more of the record here. It says, Go ye, there he's using
the word ye again, the collective. Go ye into all the world and
preach the Gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be condemned. Notice he didn't say he that
is not baptized shall be condemned, shall be damned. Said he that
doesn't believe shall be damned. Those who believe on Jesus Christ,
those who are believing in Christ for their salvation, you know
what they do? They get baptized. Jesus commanded
that we be baptized. If you're a Christian, if you
believe that Christ has saved you, you are commanded to be
baptized. That's the only way you can become
a member of the church is to believe and be baptized. That was the requirements. And
that in the commission, Jesus says, go ye therefore and teach
or preach the gospel, making disciples teach all nations. Of course, remember, he's talking
to Jews here. And he's talking to the first
church, which was a Jewish church. They were made up of Hebrews. It was a Hebrew church. There
was no Gentiles in this New Testament church at the time. It was just
Those who were brought out of the Jewish religion. He's saying not just to your
nation, but to all nations. You're going to take this. We're
not to be discriminatory in who this goes to. This message is
to go out to all people of every nation because Christ has people
in every nation, tribe, tongue, language. But he says, go ye
therefore, teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, teaching them to
observe all things whatsoever. So we have to go with the gospel. We have to baptize those who
become disciples or followers through the preaching of the
gospel. And to teach them. All these are interconnected
is one commission. Now we're going to stop right
there and we're going to pick up the Lord's Will next week and we'll
pick up with these three things and we're going to look at who
it was told to, again, the church, but specifically the distinction
between the church and those being brought into the church,
okay, and how this commission works and how it works in every
generation with every New Testament church. And we'll look at that
Lord's Will in the next Lord's Talk. Anybody have any questions?