Welcome everyone, and thank you all for being here with us
today. As has already been mentioned,
we have several here that are visiting with us and we want you
to know that you are our honored guest.
We hope you feel that. It's great to see you, it's
great to have you, and it's good to be together.
I've enjoyed worshiping with all of you so far, and as always is
the case, I do consider it an honor to speak concerning the
Word of God. We're considering and continuing
our series that we started a while back on the 40 days from
the time that Jesus rose from the dead until he ascended into
heaven in Acts chapter 1. And of those post resurrection
appearances, we've noticed the following and I'm going to be
very brief. It began in Luke chapter 24 on
the morning of the resurrection where Jesus met with two
disciples on the Emmaus Rd. about 7 miles that travelled
from Jerusalem to that little village so long ago.
Jesus speaks to them, they don't know who he is, He preaches to
them and finally he reveals himself to them in the breaking
of bread back at their house. And then Jesus vanishes from
their sight. Those two disciples, they can't
sit still. The word of God is burning in
their hearts and they can't sit still.
They can't hold it back. They travel 7 miles back to
Jerusalem and they're telling 10 disciples that they just saw the
resurrected Christ. And I say 10 because Judas
Iscariot already hanged himself. And as you can see on the
screen, Thomas was not present. And about that time, Jesus
appears before them and reveals himself to them.
Then a week later, the following Sunday, Jesus appears before the
11 that were behind those locked doors, those closed doors, and
miraculously here he is and he appears there and he shows
Thomas that it's really the Christ.
And Thomas says, my Lord and my God, and therefore Jesus said,
I'm going to get back to this phrase in just a minute.
And Jesus says you have believed because you have seen, but
blessed are those who believe and have not seen.
More on that in just a moment. Then at some unspecified amount
of time, which we don't know, there were 7 disciples including
Peter. He has this great idea, I'm
going to go fishing one night and the other disciples join
him. And there are 7 disciples out on
a boat and they fish all night long.
And all of a sudden from the distance on the shore they see
Jesus, but they don't recognize him.
And Jesus calls out to them and says, have you caught any fish?
And they said, no, we've been out here all night.
We got nothing. And Jesus says, cast the net
onto the other side. They do.
On the right side. They caught 153 fish.
Jesus eats breakfast with them on the shore of the Sea of
Galilee. And then Jesus restores Peter.
You know, Peter denied Jesus. We know the story.
And then Jesus has Peter confess his love for him 3 * 1 for every
time he denied him. And then Jesus gave Peter three
ways to demonstrate that love. All right, that was the 7th
appearance, the 7th post resurrection appearance of
Jesus. Today we come to #8 where Jesus
gave the Great Commission. As an introduction, though,
we're going to go to Matthew chapter 28 and verse 16.
Then the 11 disciples went away into Galilee to a mountain which
Jesus had appointed them. Now, first of all, Matthew
doesn't tell us how soon the disciples go to Galilee, so we
don't know for certain. We also don't know the exact
mountain or the location. What we do know that's clear is
the apostles all were Privy of the exact time and the exact
location. In fact, it actually fulfills
his own prophetic word. Do you remember what Jesus said
while he was still living? He said, I go before you into
Galilee. Fast forward to the resurrection
morning. We talked about this passage
last time. I love this passage.
Those precious women, they just couldn't stay away.
They go to the sepulcher, right? And all of a sudden an Angel
says this a message to give back to his disciples about Galilee.
Mark 16 and seven, but go tell his disciples and Peter that
he's going before you into Galilee.
There you will see him notice as he said to you.
So it fulfilled what Jesus prophetically said,
prophetically stated, I will meet them in Galilee.
I just want to add a little thing here, a little question.
Why does Jesus choose Galilee as the meeting place?
First of all, it really doesn't matter, I guess.
But I did think it was kind of interesting.
Some thoughts that I had and I'm going to present them to you.
Why Galilee? Well, first of all, Galilee
would have been outside the eyesight of Judea, and Judea is
where everything happened. By the way, Judea actually means
city of the Jews. Now, what happened in Judea?
That was very significant. Jesus died, Jesus was buried,
and Jesus rose again on the third day.
That all happened in Judea. So it's entirely possible that
Jesus was choosing a place that was far away from the eyesight
of Judea for a number of reasons #1 Jesus wanted to spend those
days with his disciples and teach his disciples and teach
his disciples about the Kingdom and about their responsibility
moving forward. In other words, he needed an
intimate, private time. And just perhaps that's one of
the reasons that he chose to go to Galilee.
That's number one. Number two, it would limit the
number of people that actually saw the resurrected Christ in
bodily form. Why is that significant?
Getting back to that phrase, what I just said that Jesus said
to Thomas, blessed are those who believe and have not seen.
Here's the point. Christianity is all about faith.
It is all about faith. And the more people that would
actually not see the resurrected Christ would be more people that
would come to Jesus by faith, kind of like all of us today.
Maybe that was another reason, by the way, as my good old buddy
Darrell Brewer used to say, that's free.
No charge on that. That's just something I'm going
to throw in, but it kind of makes sense.
But maybe still a third reason, maybe still a third reason that
the Galilean ministry is where it all began.
In fact, if you go to Matthew chapter 4 and verse 12, Now when
Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He departed to
Galilee. It was there that he brought 4
fishermen and called them to be disciples.
Remember what? Remember it was on the Sea of
Galilee, Matthew 418 and 19, And Jesus walking by the Sea of
Galilee saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and Andrew his
brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.
Then he said to them, follow me and I will make you fishers of
men. What did they do?
They immediately left their Nets and followed Jesus.
And may I just slip this in? That's exactly the pattern of
all of us today that we should do.
And sometimes it takes a little longer in the process when we
hear the word of God and we're counting the cost and so forth.
But when you make the decision I'm going to follow Jesus, it
doesn't matter what you have to leave.
You leave. It doesn't mean you can't have
things in life, doesn't mean you can't have a life, doesn't mean
you can't. I'm not talking about that.
You know that. What I mean is you lay aside
anything that's standing in your way to follow Jesus.
These were fishermen. And by the way, they continued
to be fishermen. That was their trade.
But what did they do when it came time to follow Jesus?
Listen, following Jesus was more important than their job.
Remember that? What else?
Then we find others too. In verse 21.
Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James the son of
Zebedee, and John his brother, in a boat with Zebedee their
father, mending their necks. What did Jesus do?
He called them then in verse 23, and Jesus went about all Galilee
teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the
Kingdom and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of
disease among the people. So in summary, perhaps 3 reasons
Galilee was chosen. A private and intimate place
with his disciples, not seen by the masses, so others would come
to Christ by faith. And #3 it's where it all began.
All right, back to our passage in Matthew chapter 28 and we're
going to begin in verse 17. When they saw Him, they
worshipped Him, but some doubted.
Now there are a number of discussions and theories as to
why they doubted. And I do believe in Matthew 28.
It happened after all the other events.
This is the 8th appearance of Jesus.
This would have been the 4th appearance to the disciples, OK,
Because the 7th overall appearance was the 3rd
appearance on the Sea of Galilee to the disciples.
This would have been #4 So I do believe if you look at the
chronological sequence, because we already studied about the
resurrection and we already studied about all that in
Matthew 28, I think Matthew 2819 and 20, the Great Commission or
beginning in verse 17, actually verse 16 actually goes Fast
forward in time to the 8th appearance.
So here's my question. Why did they doubt and what did
it mean? Well, there's a lot of different
discussion about what the phrase actually means.
Doubted. Some say this, they just looked
out and saw Jesus from a distance and they just didn't
necessarily recognize Him. So they kind of doubt.
Is that really Him? I think there's more.
The word doubt according to fair means to doubt or waver.
Now in our English versions or in our English words or English
definitions, that really doesn't sound like it's very clear.
But the phrase here to doubt or waiver, Thayer says it means it
indicates A-frame of mind that might be expressed by a very
familiar saying. It's just too good to be true.
Hear. It felt like that.
I mean, something really happened.
Good to you. You know the phrase pinch me.
Oh, man, pinch me. Did it really happen?
Is it a dream? It's kind of like I heard there
was an old man one time and he was on his deathbed.
OK. He hadn't seen his son in many,
many, many, many years. He was dying.
So his son heard about it and travelled to go see his father.
His father was laying there and he was very weak.
And his father opened his eyes and he looked at his son and his
father said, if I'm dreaming, let me never wake.
If I'm awake, may I never sleep. You know why?
You know what you're saying? It's too good to be true.
I think really, that's really the context.
That's the word doubt here. It's too good to be true, but at
any rate, whatever the case might be, any doubt that they
had was short lived. And then Jesus says this in
Matthew chapter 28 and verse #18 Jesus came and spoke to them,
saying all authority has been given to me in heaven and on
earth. The word authority means this.
It denotes permission, privilege, right, and authority.
It also includes the power to enforce.
That's what Jesus was saying. He was saying I've got
permission from who? From God.
I've got privilege. I've got right, I've got
authority, and I've got the power to enforce it.
I got all the votes. Like my dad used to say.
Jesus had all the votes do whatever he wanted.
He was totally in charge. Notice this about Jesus with the
apostle Paul said to those Colossians in Colossians chapter
1, beginning in verse 16 and verse 2, verse 18, You see all
this Him, he, he, He, him, him, He.
You could just plug in. By the way, Jesus, you could
just plug Jesus in there. I'm going to read it like that.
For by Jesus all things were created that are in heaven and
that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether Thrones or
dimensions or principalities or powers.
All things were created through Jesus and for Jesus and Jesus is
before all things. And in Jesus all things consist.
And Jesus is the head of the body of the church, who was the
beginning, the first born from the dead, that in all things
Jesus may have the preeminence. It's all about Jesus now.
Jesus had the right to the throne.
By the way, the Bible says that Jesus would be on the throne of
David. Those words are used in the
Bible. Jesus also.
The Bible also says that Jesus would be a king like David.
Jesus had all the authority and every right to be on the throne
for a number of reasons. Let's talk about the obvious
reason. I don't want to sidestep this.
I don't want to take away what Jesus did, because this is
really the number one main reason.
This is really the main reason #1 because Jesus was willing to
come to this world #2 because he was willing to submit to what
the Father wanted him to do #3 because he lived a life that was
perfectly sinless. He became the sacrificial Lamb
of God. He died on the cross for the
sins of the world. He was buried on the third day.
He rose again. He ascended to his Father, and
now he's on the right hand of God, reigning on the throne of
David over the Kingdom, the church.
That's obvious. But you know, if you look at the
Bible on the Old Testament, there are prophecies that have
to be fulfilled. Jesus actually has the right to
be on the throne, reigning over the Kingdom, being King of kings
and Lord of Lords. He has the right to all of that
for three other reasons. Number 1, he has the tribal
right. What does that mean?
Tribal, right? Well, the Bible says that Jesus
came from the tribe of Judah. Now we understand this, and I'm
not going to spend a lot of time on this, but in the Old
Testament, Jacob had twelve sons.
Jacob's name was changed to Israel.
Jacob had twelve sons. Those 12 sons represented the 12
tribes of Israel. We know that OK, in the Old
Testament, the system of authority or the scepter, it
says of authority would be through the tribe of Levi.
But something would change. Notice Jesus would be from the
tribe of Judah. In Hebrews Chapter 7 and verse
14 it says for it is evident that our Lord arose from Judah.
Notice of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning the
priesthood. In other words, in the Old
Testament, the scepter of authority was through the tribe
of Levi. Now you know what's interesting
in Genesis chapter 49? Don't turn there because we
don't have time. But in Genesis chapter 49 and
verse 10, it talks about the very fact that the system of
authority would not be in Judah until when it says until Shiloh
comes. Do you know what the word Shiloh
means? It means Messiah.
In other words, it would be through the tribe of Levi.
Until when? Until the Messiah came, and it
would be through the tribe of Judah.
Incidentally, Jesus would be on the throne of David.
David was from the tribe of Judah.
So all that being said, Jesus not only had the right because
he was God's Son and God's sacrificial lamb and fulfilled
God's purpose, but also he even had the tribal right to be on
the throne, the scepter of authority, the system of
government or the law of government, and it would be
through Judah. It would be Jesus, all right.
Second reason, He had the legal right.
He said, what do you mean the legal right?
He had the legal right. Now remember the connection has
to be to David. So the legal right, Joseph, who
by the way, I'm going to phrase it like this, the foster father
of Jesus. I didn't say the father of
Jesus. The father of Jesus is God, the
only begotten Son of God, and that which was conceived in her
was of the Holy Spirit. OK, so Joseph was not the father
of Jesus. However, being the foster father
of Jesus, he was the descendant of David, as we read in the
lineage in Matthew chapter 1 verses one through 16.
So Jesus has the tribal right to the throne.
He has the legal right to the throne, and #3 he has a blood
connection through Mary to David in the lineage given in Luke
chapter 3, verses 23 through 31. Yeah, he's got all the rights.
So Jesus now is King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
He is now enthroned as King and Savior over the body, over the
Kingdom. He's the head of the church.
Then Jesus says this, I love this.
He said, now I'm going to give you something and I appreciate
it very much. Wade's prayer, because Wade said
about the Great Commission and about we need to be about the
Lord's business in our life. And I really appreciate that
because I want you to notice we're going to read something
that was and study something now that was given by Jesus to the
apostles. That's true.
But did you know that this refers to you too?
Notice he said, go therefore, and make disciples of all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit. Look at the word go.
Now I'm going to tell you what we do.
First of all, the Lord is opening up the time.
He's saying, look, the doors of salvation are now open and it
gives the process. The first thing is go.
This is what we do. Sometimes we think, you know
what go means. Go means send the preacher.
And when it says all nations, we think, man, we got to send them
to foreign fields. We got to send Frank to the
Philippines, which you did 15 * 15 different years.
We got to send preachers to Africa.
You live there. Great stuff, by the way.
I'm not saying it's not part of it.
Always part of it. You better believe it's part of
it. What I'm?
Saying is, it's not limited to that.
The Great Commission is not limited to preachers that devote
their life to preaching the Word of God and travelling all over
the world to take the gospel to the all nations of the world.
It's not limited. I'm going to get real.
Personal. Everybody here under.
The sound of my voice. Brother or sister, I'm talking
to you. Go means you, and sometimes that
means in your own backyard. Sometimes that means.
With people that are around you, it applies to every Christian.
I remember Reuben Creek Mall. Reuben Kriegbaum.
Led to his upper 90s. Reuben Kriegbaum.
Was instrumental in taking the gospel to I don't know how many
people in his life. And after he would.
Study the word of God with them. He would baptize them for the
remission of sins. And you know what he would say?
He would say this. He would say, OK, now you go do
the same thing. You know why?
Because Jesus said go. That's every.
Responsibility of every Christian.
OK, so maybe you're doing this. Maybe you're saying, look,
preacher, I don't have the ability to do that.
I don't have the ability to preach.
I don't have the ability, I don't know God's word like that.
I'm not a good speaker. Well, I'm going to talk to you
about something that actually works for all of us, OK?
It works for all of us. You know, it's called
relationship evangelism. It is a real thing and it does
work. And I'm going to give specifics,
specifics on how it does work. What is relationship evangelism?
Relationship evangelism is a Christian approach to sharing
faith by building genuine relationships with people and
demonstrating Christ's love through actions and words within
those connections. You might say, well, I can't.
Preach. You can do that.
Can you do that? Come on now.
What else? It emphasizes being present in
others lives. Oh, you mean I got to actually
be involved in people's lives? Yeah, I mean, I got you have to.
You mean I got to like people? Yeah.
Yeah, you do. Here we go.
Listening to their struggles, sharing the gospel naturally
within the context of a developing friendship rather
than through the pressure or predefined programs.
I'm going to tell you something. I'm not.
Well, I got, let me just say. It like this, anything that you
do to further the gospel within the realms of within the realm
of what the word of God says is a wonderful thing.
There are times. When people have sent out direct
mailers to communities and mass mailed TV programs, podcasts,
radio programs, all of these things are tools to reach
people. But I'm here to tell.
You right now. The greatest?
Form of evangelism on a personal level.
Is people that you? Know or people you've come in
contact with. Don't answer out loud, but you
might ask yourself the question, why am I here?
Who did I know? Who did I know that brought me
to worship one day? Very.
Few are people that just walk in, although we've had those.
Most of the time. It's because somebody cared
enough about them to invite them, or somebody had a
relationship or a connection to them.
And you know what? That's better than any program
in the world. What else?
Here's some key aspects, though. It includes being authentic,
showing care, finding common ground, and being patient,
allowing for organic conversations about spiritual
matters and a shared journey with God.
By the way. Before we go any further.
Are you kind of getting the? Gist of what I'm saying that
when it comes to evangelism. Get it out of your.
Mind that we're just going to go preach 1 sermon.
Hey, I did it. I'm done.
I'm good. I'm that's it.
They didn't accept it. They didn't accept it.
I'm moving on. They weren't interested.
Come on now. This is work, and it's a
lifetime of it. OK.
All right. How does it work?
How am I going to do all that? I'm going to give you some
specifics #1 you got to be present.
What's? That mean?
Invest time and understanding and engaging with people's
lives, not just surface level interactions.
That's number one. Got to be deeper than that.
I love this one. Be genuine or build genuine
connections. Cultivate real friendships by
caring for others, sharing milestones, and offering
support. Number three, share
authentically. In other words, be yourself,
live out your faith in a way that reflects Christ's love,
allowing your life to speak. And I'm going to tell you, you
may not know much about the Bible, but you, if you're a
Christian and a follower of Jesus Christ, your life can
demonstrate what you believe. And you know what?
People can see it, It's authentic and people will
respond to it. That's what gets results.
What else? Here's something else too.
In other words, I got to be present, absolutely build
genuine connections. Yes, you bet I got to be
authentic, but what else? Find common ground, discovered
shared interest to build rapport and create natural opportunities
for deeper conversations. Do you see all the work that's
involved before you ever get into the deep conversation?
You got to I, I. Call it like this this This is
my phrase I guess, but or. Else maybe I got it from.
Somebody else, I don't know, but you got to build up some equity.
You got to build up. Some equity with people.
That takes time. And then you find common ground,
you have deeper conversations. Then what?
Then share the gospel. Naturally, as trust and
understanding grows, share the message of Christ in a way that
feels organic to the relationship, whether through
personal testimony, inviting them to services, or discussing
spiritual topics. And I want to make a point here
about personal testimony, please.
OK. When?
I say personal testimony. I'm not doing this.
I'm not saying I want to give my testimony all.
Although that's not. Bad.
Let me explain the negative side of what I mean.
This is what I don't think we're to do.
When I. Give a testimonial about my
life. For example, I used to be this,
I used to be that, I used to be that, I used to be that.
And I changed and I am different now.
That's all about me. Who cares?
But when I reach out to somebody and I say, you know what?
I used to struggle to. But the Lord.
Changed my life let. Me show you how you can change.
Yours. That gives the Lord the.
Credit. That's what.
Gets results when people know that the reason that you're not
the same that you used to be is because of the Lord.
What the apostle Paul said, he listed all those sins terrible
name. You're not going to hurt the
Kingdom of God, but then always says and such were some of you.
In other words, you used to be that, but you ain't that
anymore. What are you?
Washed. Sanctified.
Justified. Beautiful.
See the point? And the next one, and the final
10. This is very, very, very, very
important. Here.
It is be patient and persistent and understand that sharing the
gospel can and will be a continuous process.
Wow, that takes time. You.
Know what I learned as an? Evangelist.
I learned as an evangelist a long, long, long, long time ago.
Yeah, I know. I'm getting older.
I learned a long time ago. When I was younger, I saw it
differently. I was a little more impatient.
But the older that I got. I realized, you know what the.
Result has. Nothing to do with me at all.
There are three things involved. I got to spread the gospel.
There's the heart of. The recipient has to be
receptive to receiving the gospel.
I got nothing to do with that. And then God gives the increase,
and I certainly have nothing to do with that.
I only got 1. Out of three.
So I learned. Frank, just do your part.
And then work with. People and work with them and
try to work on that heart with the word of God and maybe the
Lord can change their heart. See.
And you know what else I learned too?
If I'm still living, I'm not judged by the outcome or the
result. I'm judged on my activity and my
efforts. I'm just going to do my part.
That's my job. That's my job.
I came to preach the gospel. OK, going back to our passage,
Jesus says go. And then Jesus says do what or
what? What?
Jesus, what are you talking about?
He said make disciples. I want you to get that please.
Jesus is. Talking about converting people,
get this to Jesus, converting people to the Lord.
What does the word disciples mean?
Or make disciples? It actually means to lead a
person to become a student and ardent follower of Jesus and
including a desire to heed his instructions.
That's what we need to do. That's our job.
And again, this responsibility is not just for the preacher,
it's for every Christian. Then he says this and when you
make disciples of all nations, then baptizing them in the name
of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit.
This phrase baptizing them is part of the conversion process.
Please get that. You know the command is in.
An active voice. You know what that means with
regards to baptism. The administrator is active.
The subject. Is passive or submissive?
Wade talked about that last week.
He talked about when we baptized Ray Creek Bomb.
Ray Creek Bomb last week. We can have to go however long
it's been. We baptized.
Ray Creek Bomb and it took three of us.
Not because Ray Creek Bomb was so big.
It took three of us guys to get it done.
Because Ray Creek bomb. Is a little guy.
But because of his. Physical condition, so we didn't
hurt him. It took me, Wade and Chris, and
I'm telling you it took all three of us so we wouldn't hurt
him. Baptizing is active on the part
of the administrator. The other.
Person is submitting to the act of baptism.
I had somebody say one time I was getting ready to baptize
somebody in a river. He said, well, couldn't if it's
cold. He said, I got an idea.
Couldn't you just kind of just, it's hard to get in and out?
Couldn't you just both kind of just jump in and and as you're
in the air when you get in the water, just kind of no, you
baptize me. Who's baptizing who then?
There's always. An administrator, a baptizer,
and there's always a recipient the baptize E OK, so how about
the Ethiopian in that case, the Ethiopian man said, what's
keeping me from being baptized? Here's water.
Philip said, if you believe with all your heart, you may.
He said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
Upon making that statement of fact, they stopped the chariot.
They both went down into the water, both Philip and the
eunuch. And what he Philip baptized him
the administrator, right? Well, the point being is.
This dear friend, there comes a time in everyone's life when
somebody realizes I'm not saved, I need to be baptized for their
mission to my sins. And that person asks what must I
do to be saved? Or that person asks what's
keeping me from being baptized. Then an administrator gets that
done. OK, Sadly today I know there's a
lot of folks and I want you to really stay close to me on this,
please. There's a lot of folks.
That think that you can have a relationship with Jesus without
baptism and I'm just going to say Jesus said otherwise.
OK, my question is this though. Is.
This verse teaching the absolute necessity of baptism.
In order to be. Saved.
That's the big question, That's the big debate with people all
over the world, all over the Christian professing world.
A lot of people. Believe this, make disciples is
when you're saved and then over here you're baptized as an
outward sign of an inward faith. But is that exactly?
What Jesus was talking about, what was He referring to?
And by the way, when people look at this passage or any other
passage and try to discredit or try to say that or deny the
necessity of baptism, they do it with three statements.
And by the way, the three statements by themselves I agree
with 100%. And you know what, you will too.
Here they are. Some people say that the
necessity to be baptized is insignificant or it doesn't
matter because number one, no man can merit his own salvation.
You know what I say to that? Amen and Amen.
Nobody. Can merit his own salvation,
that is true. I can't do.
It on my own, that's what Jesus, when Jesus gave those
beatitudes, he said you got to be poor in spirit.
Blessed are those that are poor in spirit.
In other words, I realize I'm nothing without God.
I'm nothing without Jesus Christ.
I got a sin problem in my life. I need to do something about it.
And when I fulfill it or fill God's righteousness with my
emptiness, that's what God wants.
That's what God blesses, right? So it's true no man can merit
his own salvation. True statement #1 OK, here's
true statement #2. Man is saved by.
God's mercy. Is that true?
Absolutely true. God's mercy is God not giving us
what we do deserve. Then people say this.
Wait a minute. Mankind is.
Saved by God's grace, Is that true?
Yes, that is true. What is grace?
It is the unmerited salvation. So is the unmerited favor of
God, which is salvation. So I can't merit my own
salvation. I am saved by God's mercy and I
am saved by God's grace. All of that is true.
But Please remember. This OK?
Grace in. Every dispensation of time.
Has. Never erased the necessity of
obedience. Ever, Ever read the Word of God.
Folks, let me give you several things here.
How does it all work? It's really simple.
Number one, God in His grace provides a plan of salvation as
His gift. That's true. #2.
Man in response to that gift. Reaches.
Out and accepts the gift by obedience #3 Salvation in every
age though, has been by grace through faith.
In other words, grace is unmerited favor of God.
It's a gift, but faith is my part.
I got to do something, faith being the same thing of
obedience. So about that grace.
Salvation in every age is by grace.
I get it. But please notice baptism is
man's way of receiving that grace.
I didn't take away from anything.
I didn't take away from God at all.
I didn't take away from the blood of Christ.
That's how you contact the blood of Christ when you're baptized
for the remission of your sins. Then he says this and baptize
them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit. Bull said it this way.
The combined authority of the Godhead.
That's what we're doing. When somebody's baptized into
the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, it is
baptized into the combined authority of the Godhead.
To be baptized into this is to be brought in subjection to the
combined authority of heaven in a covenant relationship with the
Godhead. Have you ever stopped to?
Consider that when we baptize somebody in the name of the
Father, Son and the Holy Spirit, that's just not a formula of
what we say. I say that, I do say that.
Absolutely, I've always. Said that.
But it's more than. Just a formula of what you have
to say. What is it?
Bull said it this way. It's not only a command, it's a
sacred act whereby we receive the fullness of the blessings of
the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Wow. JW Mcgarvey said it like this.
He that is. Baptized is brought in
subjection by that act to the Father, to the Son, to the Holy
Spirit, and in consequence, with this subjection he receives the
remission of sins. Your sins are.
Washed away. But get this, you also have a
relationship with the Father, the Son, Yeah, and the Holy
Spirit. At baptism.
You know what the flip side is? If you haven't been baptized,
you don't have a relationship with the Father, the Son, and
the Holy Spirit. If one act is what you how you
get it, then the lack of that act means you don't have it.
Fair enough. OK after a person.
Comes to Jesus is baptized for the mission of sins.
Guess what, we ain't none. I'm sorry for the word ate he
said. I talk verse 20, he said.
Teaching them. What does teaching?
Them mean. Teaching them simply.
Expresses the ongoing and continual process whereby those
who are saved remain saved. Now let me just say this please.
It does teach. In the Bible.
That you can. Fall from grace, it does say
that. We are taught in the new.
Testament that we are. We are.
Even if you're justified by the old law, if you become a Creek,
you fall from grace. You can fall from grace.
He that goes and. Tries to get A1, who's gone back
and turned a Sinner back to the heir of his way.
Has caused great things. Has caused that person to be
saved and not lost. It is true.
That sometimes we could turn our back on the Lord for a while.
What we have need to do is come back to the Lord.
So sometimes teaching is the process whereby that happens.
But please let me tell you this, it is not about perfection.
You will never achieve it and you will never arrive.
And if you are a Christian, I'm saying this to all the older
folks that I hear that I dearly love here.
I'm telling you right now, if you think you've arrived, you're
mistaken. I'll tell you when you arrive,
when you're done, you've arrived.
And I mean, when you're not here, that's all you can do.
Does that mean, older person, that you have to keep growing in
Christ even though you've been a Christian for 70 years?
Yeah, that's exactly what that means.
Exactly what that? Means.
It's about not. About perfection.
It's a dominant direction. And you know what that calls
for? That calls for teaching.
OK, so here's my question. Teach what?
What's that mean? Teach what?
Here's the problem. Far too often souls come to
Jesus, they obey the gospel, they become a child of God, and
then they're left on their own. And you know what happens then?
They start struggling spiritually.
I've even heard people say, well, they weren't convert.
Well, you didn't. What'd you do to help them?
Conversion's a process, too. You don't get it overnight.
That's why the apostle Paul said those very words.
He said, I labor with you again. He's talking to Christians like
a woman travails in birth. By the way, my daughter-in-law
and my son, they just had a little boy.
Yeah, there was some travailing in birth.
Taylor just has that. I'm telling.
You know what I mean, ladies. That's what.
Paul said he does by way of a struggle.
Labouring with them. Until when?
Until Christ is formed in you, wow you.
Know what I find? In that God gives time for
growth, and I also find there's a necessity for growth.
OK. It's a dominant direction.
A new Christian. Needs constant edification,
attention, attention and encouragement.
It all begins with the milk of the word when you're a baby in
Christ. First Peter two and two as
newborn babes desire the pure milk of the word.
The King James says sincere. You know what that word means?
It means without wax. But really the point being is
this, it is without flaw. The Word of God is without flaw,
and a baby in Christ, excuse me, needs milk, needs the perfect
milk of the word that you may grow thereby.
But you know what? At some point, milk's not
enough, and at some point you're going to need the meat.
Hebrews 6 and. One, therefore, leading the
discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go
on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of
repentance from dead works and of faith toward God.
In other words, as the Bible says, there's a time that's now
come that you ought to be teachers, but now you need the
basic stuff again, all over and over again.
I'm going to tell you at some point you got to grow.
That takes teaching and that takes the meat of the Word of
God, OK? Well, there.
Comes time in every baptized believer's life that he has to
stand on his own 2 feet. I get it.
There never comes a point when further edification is not
necessary. All right, my question is this.
Teach. Them what?
This is very important. We're almost finished, but
TuneIn teach them what Jesus said to observe all things that
I have commanded you. I'm going to give you several
things that all things does not mean OK all.
Things does not mean. Binding with the Lord is not
bound. And.
I'm not plugging in examples here.
You do that at the general statement.
That's a statement of fact. It does not mean binding things
on new Christians that the Lord has not bound.
OK. I heard somebody.
Say one time I don't know the Bible, but I know what's right.
That's kind of the way we always used to do it.
OK, that's binding with the Lord has not bound.
It is just as dangerous to bind what the Lord is not bound as it
is to loose what the Lord is not loose.
So that's number one. What it doesn't mean, it doesn't
mean binding. What the Lord is not bound #2 it
doesn't mean any tradition or custom that's not bound by
Scripture. There's a difference.
Between a custom, a tradition and things that by the way,
there are liberties and we're allowed to do OK, here's a
difference between that and what is given us by law in the
scriptures. So just because it's a liberty
and we're allowed to do it doesn't mean we can bind it on
somebody else. Again, I'm not talking about
law. I'm not talking about the word
of God teaches us to do. I'm talking about things that
the word of God is not authorized or is not regulated.
Either way, I'm talking about traditions and customs not bound
by Scripture. One example I might say we
always in our in our brotherhood, I guess we meet at
10:00 or 10:30. Tradition, custom, we got to
meet at 10:00 or 10:30. Absolutely not.
Autonomous congregations get to regulate that and decide what
they want to do, what's best for them.
What did God say? Worship.
OK, so we wouldn't take a tradition or a custom.
Here's nothing. How about order of worship?
By tradition. And custom we do a certain
thing. Do we have to do that?
No, and we can't bind that either.
Not bound by scripture. #3. All things does not.
Mean our opinions that are not biblically based or those things
that are not based on God's word.
OK, So what do all things mean? And I'm going to use the
Scriptures 2 passages in Acts chapter 20 and verse 20 and how
I kept back nothing that was helpful.
Just keep that phrase in mind. The first thing Paul says.
I didn't keep anything back that was helpful OK, but proclaimed
it to you and taught you publicly and from house to
house. Drop down 7 verses for I have
not shunned to declare to you the whole council of God.
So he said one verse I didn't keep anything back that was
helpful and another verse he said I did.
I have not shunned to declare to you the whole council of God.
What is the whole Council of God?
The whole Council. Of God, according to bulls,
means everything that God revealed to Paul concerning
Christ, salvation, the Kingdom of God, which is the church and
its relations to men. Isn't that the Christian life?
All things that. Were helpful is the whole
council of God. So what are we to teach them?
What Jesus had. Commanded.
What do we teach them? Everything concerning Christ,
salvation, the Kingdom of God, which is the church and its
relationship to men. Our relationships too.
And you know what? I got news for you.
That is a lifelong process. OK, that's the teachers
responsible. Excuse me, responsibility.
Now what about the student? The student must be.
Willing to obey Jesus's words, even if it means changing his
preconceived notions and even if it's considered radical or even
quote UN quote legalistic by the world.
One thing about legalism, it's used in a very negative context
today. But you know, the word
legalistic or legalist is somebody that keeps or upholds
the law. What's wrong with that We?
Are under the law of Christ. So somebody that?
Keeps the law of Christ is somebody that's being legalistic
about that very thing. What's wrong with that?
Legalistic. Keeps the law, but the world
looks at it like a very negative thing.
I'm just saying this. The student must be willing to
obey the words of Jesus, even if it means changing your
preconceived notions, even if it's considered radical or
legalistic by the world. And finally, Jesus said this.
And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.
Amen. You know this is one of the
most. Beautiful statements in all the
Bible. Matthew's Gospel account now
comes to an end. He had lived the perfect life.
He died for the sins of the world.
His victory over. Death has vindicated that
authority. He's the head of the body, the
Church, the Kingdom of God, and for those that are in Christ,
Jesus gives the sweet assurance. Get this, I will never leave you
nor forsake you. And that gives us.
Peace, and that's the peace that surpasses all understanding that
our guard our hearts and guard our troubled minds.
Philippians 4 and verse 7, great blessings.
See, the Lord doesn't leave us, folks, We leave the Lord.
But let me just leave you. With one final quote and I am
finished. For those who dare to launch out
on the sea of life with Christ as their captain, there's peace,
there's joy, there's serenity. The storms of life matter, the
waves of persecution role. Jesus will not abandoned ship.
With him at the helm. We are assured safe passage from
this world to the. Shining.
Portals of heaven, are you here this morning?
And you're not a child of God. We never close.
A time when we teach from the Word of God without extending an
invitation. It's the greatest invitation all
the world. It's the invitation to become
saved, to become a child of God. The Bible says first.
Of all, in Romans 10/17 you got to hear the Word.
So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
After. You hear the word of God, you've
got a choice. Believe with all your heart.
Hebrews 11 and 6. Without faith, it's impossible
to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is,
and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Then what? I got to change.
I got to repent of my sins. Acts 17 and 30.
Truly these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands
all men everywhere to repent. In other words, I'm born in this
direction. I want to do an about face and I
want to follow Jesus. What else?
I need to be willing to confess Jesus as the Son of God.
Acts 837. Then Philip said if you believe
with all your heart, you may. And he answered and said.
I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
Upon taking these steps, you're a fit candidate to go to the
point of salvation that we studied this morning in the
Great Commission and be baptized for the remission of sins.
Mark 1616. He who believes and is baptized
will be saved, but he who does not believe will be condemned.
And one final passage isn't necessary.
First Peter 321. The like figure where to even
baptism does also now save us. Not the putting away.
The filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience
toward God by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
If you've never taken those steps of obedience, we would
love to assist you in that, if you will.
Maybe you have, but you've drifted.
You've been away from the Lord. Just come back.
Repent of those things, confess those things.
We'll pray with you and for you, and God will forgive and
restore. If you want to be in a class,
come forward while we stand while we see.