Turn back to Matthew chapter
28. We are going to finish up, Lord
willing, this chapter, this book. We've been in this book. I haven't
counted up. This has been a long time. It's
probably been over a year. And boy, does it have a good ending.
Don't you like it when the book has a good ending? It has a good
ending. I titled this message, All Power
Given to Jesus Christ. That ought to thrill our souls
this morning. that all power, all authority
in heaven and earth is given to the Lord Jesus Christ. He
rules and He reigns right now. He has it right now. Not going
to have it. He has it right now. Now, we're going to pick up in
verse 16, but in verse 11 through 15, we have a conspiracy. There has been a conspiracy going
on since the fall. It hasn't changed. It hasn't
changed at all. There's been a conspiracy against
God's glory, against God's son, against God's people since the
fall. But that's not going to keep
the gospel from spreading. And that's not going to keep
God from saving his elect. It's just not going to happen.
He said, the gates of hell shall not prevail against thee. The
gates of hell shall not keep you out. Satan does not have
that kind of power. He does not have that kind of
power. All power is given to the Lord
Jesus Christ. And whatever power men have or
principalities have is given to them by measure by the Lord
Jesus Christ. But none have all power except
Him. Him, our Lord. We serve We serve
Christ who is omnipotent. As I read to you in Revelation
19, Lord God omnipotent reigneth. The one who has all power reigneth. Things are going just as he has
ordered them, just as he has purposed them, just as he has
decreed. That's the way things are going
right now. You say, well, in some areas it looks like chaos. It is orchestrated chaos. It's
under his control. It's under his control. What
looks like chaos to us is absolutely going as he has purposed it. Even the wrath of man shall what?
Praise him. And the rest he will restrain. They'll put a check on it. When
it has accomplished his purpose, he will put a check on it. When
a war or wars has accomplished his purpose, He will make them
to cease. He will put an end to it. Now,
in verse 16. Then the eleven disciples, they
went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed
them. They did as they were instructed,
and they received a great blessing. The Lord showed up. The Lord
showed up. Why did He not appear to them
where they were? Why did He instruct them to go
They were in Jerusalem, but He instructed them to go to Galilee
and into this certain mountain. Well, first of all, because the
place and time was purposed of God before the world began, and
that's not going to change. That's not going to change. He
changes not. He's of one mind, and who can
turn Him? And what His soul desires, even that, He doeth. But secondly,
to prove their faith. To prove their faith. You see,
they took Him at His word when He was physically present with
them. But now his bodily presence is
absent from their sight. They can't see him. Are they
going to believe him now? You can't see him. I've never
seen him. Not physically. Are we going
to believe him? Are they going to believe him? Will they be
obedient now that they cannot see him? He's going to prove
their faith. He tells them where to go. You
know, about 30 years ago, we moved down here. We lived here
about a year. I lost my job. We had to move
back. We moved back to Milton. And
for about a year, we were broke. And I remember asking the question,
Why does the Lord make it so hard to hear the Gospel when
you want to? I can answer that question now.
I can answer it. To prove your faith. To prove the genuineness of your
faith. And that's what He does here.
He tells them to leave Jerusalem, go to Galilee, make that trip
to Galilee, and you go to a mountain, and there, And they went, and
they received a great blessing. We've gathered here this morning.
We've gathered here. I sure pray that He blesses us
with His presence, for this is a useless service. But I believe
He will. Where two or three are gathered
together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. That's
a promise. That is a promise. He said in
another place, blessed are those who believe and have not seen. Oh, how blessed. How blessed
you are to believe even though you don't see. And then when
they saw Him, They worshipped him, for some doubted, some doubted. But they saw him. They saw him
with their own eyes. John said, that which was from
the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with
our eyes, which we have looked upon and our hands have handled
of the word of life. They saw him alive, physically,
in a body. They saw the Lord. We have credible
witnesses here of his resurrection. They saw him. And when they saw
him, they worshipped him. This shows, first of all, that
they recognized Him. This is the Lord. This is the
same One that was nailed to the cross. This is the same One that
died. This is the same One that was
buried. This is the same One that rose. This is Jesus Christ
of Nazareth. And it says they worshipped Him.
They worshipped Him. But some doubted. You wouldn't
think that, would you? You wouldn't think that if you
was with Him for three years, day and night, you saw miracles.
You saw these miracles, profound miracles. Miracles which no one
ever did before. He spake, this man spake with
authority. No man spake like this man. They
heard him. They saw him crucified, buried. And now he's standing in front
of them. And some doubted. Some doubted. Look over in Mark
chapter 16. I'm sure glad he has all power
to save and keep us saved even though we doubt. Even when we
doubt. It says in verse 12, after that
he appeared in verse 16 of Mark, chapter 16, verse 12. After that
he appeared in another form unto two of them, as they walked and
went into the country. And they went and told it unto
the residue, the rest of them, neither believed they them. Afterward
he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraved
them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they
believed not them which had seen him after he was risen. Listen,
some doubt it. However, I thought about this
yesterday. Great faith and weak faith are
both saved. There are no degrees of saved. You're either saved or you're
lost. Now, weak faith is not to be commended. It's not to
be commended, but it's still saved. Great faith enjoys more
salvation. It enjoys more inner peace. It enjoys more joy, more rest,
more assurance. But thank God, saved is saved. Saved is saved. And you'll notice,
you'll notice here in the next verse, in verse 18, he gives
them words that are so encouraging and that should cause us great
joy. And Jesus came, verse 18, and Jesus came And he spake unto
them, and here's his word of encouragement, here's his word
of power. He said, all power is given unto
me in heaven and in earth. There is no place where his power
is in check. There is no place that he does
not have all power over. There is no person, there is
no principality that he has not all power over. All power. He has it. Now it says here in
verse 18, Jesus came to them. Oh, that He would come to us
this morning. He came to them. He gave them a place to meet.
And there He met with them. He's given us a place to meet.
And I believe the Lord is meeting with them. The Bible class this
morning. How rich was that? It's only rich if Christ is with
us. Only if He's with us. And He met with them. And He
spake unto them. How many are gathered this morning?
And they will not hear from Him. They will hear a lot of foolishness. But not from Him. But He spake
to them. What would it mean to us this morning for the Lord
to truly speak to our hearts? Empower. I mean empower. To speak
to us. But I want you to notice something
here. that before He spoke to them, before He said a word to
them, you notice what took place? Worship. Worship. They, when
they saw Him, they worshiped Him. And I'm confident that if
we worship Him this morning first and foremost, He will speak to
us. And He will speak to us in mercy.
I believe He will. And what a message He gave them.
What a word He gave them. He said all power is given unto
me in heaven and in earth." This is a real fact. This is a reality. And I'm telling you, we need
to live upon this. We need to get up every day and
live upon this truth. All power is given into the hands
of our Master, our Lord. Now let come what may. Let come
what may. It'll only come as He allows
it to come. It will only be as severe as
He allows it to be. All power is given to Him. And it's given to Him for us. For us. It says in John 5, 22,
For the Father judges no man, but hath committed all judgment
to the Son. Turn over to 1 Corinthians chapter
15. 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verse 24. Then cometh the end,
and He promised Lo, I am with you even to the end of the world.
Then cometh the end when he shall have delivered up the kingdom
to God, even the Father, when he shall have put down all rule
and all authority and power. For he must reign till he hath
put all enemies under His feet. He's not going to be crowned.
He's already wearing the crown. He's not trying to get the kingdom.
The kingdom is His. The kingdoms of this world, it
says in Revelation, belong unto our Lord. He owns them, lock,
stock, and barrel. He owns everyone, everything
in this world. It belongs to Him. And He has
all power and all authority over it. He said all flesh in John
17. He said He was given all power over all flesh. And He's
not begging anyone. He's not begging anyone to accept
Him. He has all power over all flesh
that He may give eternal life to as many as the Father gave
Him. All power. That word all, well
that encompasses all doesn't it? That encompasses everything.
As God, listen, as God he already possessed all power. That wasn't
given to him. Because as God he possessed it
all. But here he's speaking as the mediator. You know you can't
really effectively mediate unless you have all power. You can't
get the job done unless you have all power. All authority has
been placed in the hands of the man who is the only mediator
between God and men, Christ Jesus. All power has been placed into
the hands of that man, the second Adam. And that man right now
is seated at God's right hand, reposed at God's right hand,
ruling over all things. He's not walking back and forth
wondering how he's going to get the job done. He's reposed, seated. at rest, and just by the word
of His mouth, things happen. The decrees of God are fulfilled. He has all power over providence. Things are not just happening.
Things are falling out, unfolding according to God's purpose. And
you and I know it as providence. You know, what we see happen
every day is the unfolding of the decrees of God. We should
not stand there and wring our hands. We shouldn't be worried. We should be in awe that we're
watching the decrees of God unfold right before our eyes. Instead,
we get all excited, worried the economy's going to go bust, this
is going to happen. No, we're watching the purpose
and the decrees of God unfold right before our very eyes. We
ought to be a people that's just like it did in 19. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! The Lord God Omnipotent
reigneth! Listen to Philippians 2, chapter
2, verse 5-11. Let this mind be in you, which
was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, thought
it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation,
and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the
likeness of men, and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled
himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the
cross. Wherefore, God also hath, past tense, hath highly exalted
him, and given him a name which is above every name, no name
equal to that name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should
bow." of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under
the earth. And that every tongue should
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, He has all power, all authority,
to the glory of God the Father. And that's what the word all
power means. It means more than just having the ability to make
something happen. It means He has the authority.
It means He has the right. He has the right to save or to
damn. He has that right. He has the
right to do whatsoever He will. He has the right, the privilege.
It means the same as over in 1 John 12. To them gave He the
power, to as many as received Him, to them gave He the power,
the right, the privilege to become the sons of God. And this ought
to cause us great, great joy. Because the one who has all power
is holy. Just, good, meek, and lowly in
heart, and easy to approach. You ever been around people who
had power? Had a lot of power, a lot of
influence, a lot of money? They're not easily approached.
Not easily approached. You know, you can approach this
one whenever you feel like it. More often than you feel like
it. You and I are bidden to cast
all our cares upon him, for he cares for us. And he has the
power to take care of our cares. He has the power. And listen,
because of who he is, he will use his power for our good. He never, never abuses his power. There is not a king. who's ever
lived on this earth except for the Lord Jesus Christ that has
not abused his power. David, a man after God's own
heart, abused his power with Bathsheba and had her husband
killed. He abused his power. You can go back to any of them.
At one time or another, they have abused their powers. At
one time or another, we have abused what powers we have. But
the Lord Jesus Christ, this man, has never abused his power. He's always used it for good. When he walked on this earth
in the flesh, he healed the blind, the lame, the deaf, the dumb,
fed the hungry, raised the dead. But not one time did he ever
relieve himself of any suffering. When he was in the wilderness,
Satan said, turn these stones into bread. Did he? He was there
40 days and 40 nights, and he says he was hungry. Not one time
did he ever use his power to relieve his sufferings. He always
used it to relieve ours. Always. Now, if he had all power, that
means no one could put him in check. Which means nothing or
no one can have dominion over us. Nothing outside of me can
have dominion over me. Not the sin that still dwells
in me can have dominion over me. Sin shall not have dominion
over you. You see, all power is given to
him and he won't allow it. Is there any besetting sin that
you have? We all have it. We all have a
besetting sin. He will not allow that to reign
over us. He has all power. All power to
put it in check. Put it in check. Listen, he has
all power, it says, in heaven. What does that mean? Now listen. It means this man, this mediator,
has absolutely all power with God. When he intercedes, he's always
heard. He said, I know, Father, you
always hear me. Elijah prayed. We've read that
prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Elijah prayed that it rain
not. Elijah, a sinful man like me
and you, he prayed and it did not rain for three years. And
then he prayed again and it rained. How much more Christ who has
all power. Who knew no sin? How much more
Him? Doesn't that make you want to
run to Him? Doesn't that make you want to rest under the shadow
of His wing? He has all power. And listen,
I want and you want, every believer now, believers, every believer
wants Christ to have all power without restraint. I want Him
to have it all. Have it all without limits. I can't say that about anybody
else, but I can sure say that about Him. I'm glad the Lord
limits my power and your power, but He doesn't limit His. And then this gives us a good
reason to go to Him. Who better to go to than the
One who has all power? Who better? That leper knew something, didn't
he? Lord, if you will, you can make me whole. It was never a
question of his power. He just said, Lord, if you will,
you can save me. You've got the power and the
right, the authority to do it. You can save me. And he has, listen, he has all
power over all things, over all demons, over all sinners, over
the universe, over the stars. I mean, there is nothing that's
not under his power. But I'm thankful for this. He
has all power to convert sinners. I can't save anybody. I cannot
save anyone. I can't do it. But the one I'm
preaching can. He has the power to take the
hardest heart and break it. He has the power, listen, He
has the power to command life. He has the power to forgive.
He has the power to cleanse. He has the power. All powers
His. After telling them that he has
all power in heaven and earth, nothing's not under his power.
Now he says to the church, go. Go. Oh, we can't do that. We're
Calvinists. We can't do that. What we'll
be, we'll be. Well, we're not that kind of
Calvinist. We're not that kind. He says, go. What's the therefore? Seeing
I have all power. You're my disciples. There's
a work to be done. We're not just sitting around
idle, waiting on Him. There is a work to be done. There's
a vineyard to work in. It's our Lord's vineyard. And
everybody has to work in it. Every one of His people did like
to work in it. It's a labor of love. But go,
we are not to stand idle in the marketplace, but go out into
the highways and hedges and compel them, constrain them with fervency. Listen to me. I'd like to get a hold of people.
Listen to me. Listen to God. Listen to the
Word of God. There's an end to this. Judgment's
coming. It's coming. Compel them! Constrain them! That's what it
means. Constrain them! Listen! That's the way we're to go out.
We don't go out where, well, what shall be, shall be. We go
out knowing that the one we're preaching has all power to convert
the ones to whom we preach. He has it. That's what he says there in
Luke 14, 23. And the Lord said unto the servant, Go out into
the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that
my house may be full. We have a tendency, we do have
a tendency to want to kind of stay in a circle, don't we? That's
why he had the persecutions over in the book of Acts that came
on the church after the Holy Spirit had fallen on them and
they were scattered abroad. If not, they would have stayed
right there. They would have been content to stay right there
in that little circle. But the Lord sent persecutions
to scatter them. And it says in the book of Acts,
as they went, they preached the gospel. They preached Christ. They preached Christ. Now, listen,
we go, but we don't go in our own strength. We go in the strength
of the one who has all power. We go in His strength. Paul said,
I can do all things through Christ. Christ who strengthens me. I
can do it all. And listen, as you go and listen
and teach, and a better rendering is this, disciples of all nations.
You know, before it was confined to Jerusalem, it was confined
to Jerusalem. But after His resurrection, my,
my, my, He said, you go into all the world. And you preach
the gospel to every creature, to everyone. We are to teach
them. What are we to teach them? What
to do, what not to do? Christ. We are to teach them
Christ. I'm not going to go out and teach
about Armageddon. I'm not going to go out and teach
about the Mark of the Beast. I'm not going to go out and teach
about these mysterious things. People call them the deep things
of God. You know what the deep things of God are? Christ. The things that concern Him.
That's the deep things of God. The things that concern His Son,
Jesus Christ. Take my yoke upon you and learn
of Me, He said. Learn of Me. And listen, teach
all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Ghost. This teaches us the Trinity.
And it shows that all three are equally involved in our salvation. All three. Not baptized just
in the name of one of them, but baptized in the name of the Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit. Because all three are involved
in the saving of a sinner. And then baptism also shows our
identification with Christ. It shows our oneness with Him
in His death, burial, and resurrection. It shows our walk with Him in
newness of life. We're not our own. We're bought
with the price. Baptism does not add one thing to my salvation. It does not make me saved or
more saved. But I have absolutely no confidence
in a person who does not submit to the Lord's baptism. I have
no confidence. Because that's His command. And
His disciples are going to submit to His commands. Because notice,
you'll notice here what I, in verse 20, we'll get to that.
We'll hear verse 20. Teaching them to observe all
things whatsoever I have commanded you. What did he just command?
That you baptize those who believe. Those who believe. That's his
command. That's the command of our Lord.
It doesn't add anything to us. It doesn't save at all. It is
a confession of Christ. It is the way that God has given
to his church to confess him. This is our experience every
day. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have
commanded you. We live every day on his word. Every day. As James said, faith
without works is dead. Our daily walk is an expression
of our faith or lack thereof. That's what it is. It's an expression
of faith or the lack thereof. We look into God's word for instruction
and wisdom and righteousness. Lord, teach me. When he opened
his book, teach me. He said, I command you to love
one another. Love your enemies. There's a deep thing of God.
Love your enemies. Every one of the deep things
of God. Pray for those who despitefully use you. Well, it takes His grace
to do all that. And then here's His promise,
and I close. And lo, here's a promise. Lo,
I am with you always, even until the end. There is an end. The end of the ages. End of the
world, end of the ages. There cannot be a more comforting
word given than this. I will never leave you nor forsake
you. Now, you go. You go into the enemy's territory
and I'll be there with you every step of the way. I'll never leave
you. I'm with you even to the end
of the world. I am so glad that I could stand
here this morning and preach to you one who has all authority
in heaven with God and on earth. Not with men, over men. He has
all authority over men. Over all things.