← ArchiveSunday, January 10, 2016DateJanuary 10, 2016Speaker—TextMatthew 28Passages in this sermonMatthew 280:40Matthew 2712:40John 1:315:12Matthew 4:816:32John 1719:08John 3:1719:10TranscriptMachine transcribed. Click any line to jump there.0:00we have a glimpse in revelation have a glimpse in isaiah holy holy holy is the lord god almighty who is who was and who is to come but i've always imagined that we'll be singing a song like that in heaven with a heavenly choir we because we sing for our risen king so choir thank you for that for0:29that reminder of who our savior is if you have your copy of god's word today please turn to matthew chapter 28 matthew chapter 28 and we will be spending the next three weeks together in and on the great commission the great commission you might say well why there i can think of no more0:53appropriate place to begin our service together here at bethel than where jesus christ left off the great commission his last words and we just want to thank you my wife and i and our kids for those of you who have welcomed us who have prayed for us in this transition who have come to our house and unpacked our boxes um who have cooked for us not even knowing what we like um the countless thoughts1:23and prayers that we have we want to say thank you guys we we greatly appreciate that we have been overwhelmed with gratefulness and gratitude from you and and we just felt your welcome and it is not superficial we have felt a true welcome from you so thank you for that on behalf of our family matthew chapter 281:48beginning in verse 16 jesus says this then the eleven disciples went away into galilee to the mountain which jesus had appointed for them when they saw him they worshiped him but some doubted and jesus came and spoke to them saying all authority has been given me in heaven and on earth go therefore and make disciples of all nations2:17baptizing 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 you know final words are important last words are treasure they can bring hope they can bring comfort they can also bring admonition i've had the privilege and the tragedy in2:47my life of being at the the deathbed at several people or several people who have called me in and say pastor just come say goodbye some people i knew some people i didn't some people i love very much just to encourage me and give me their last words i had a lady tell me one time she said josh i want you to know you're my guardian angel and i said what what do you what do you mean by that and then i3:11remember one time this lady pulled up in the parking lot in case you know so i'm referencing she knows this episode and she was low in her blood sugar and was going to go into some type of medical emergency and i happened to drive by and pulled in the church parking lot i was able to help her and get her to where she needed and on her deathbed the one person she called she said i want to talk to josh and tell him how much i'm thankful for him of being there i still remember that conversation 10 years later3:40the last words are important for us here's some famous last words and not all of these can be verified but these are definitely the traditions that come behind them born in 1755 marie antoinette was married at an early age and began really to be the symbol during the french revolution of excess well they pulled her in front of the court tried her executed her4:09her last words were this as she is going to the guillotine she stepped on the executioner's foot and her last words were pardon moi monsieur so what's your excuse for being rude right excuse me sir leonardo da vinci the famed artist of the mona lisa the last supper and numerous other inventions4:34tradition has it that he proclaimed this on his deathbed his last words i have offended god and mankind because my work did not reach the quality it should have brad told us last week that he's still working on a painting you and da vinci are in good company i have offended god and mankind because my work did not reach the quality it should have5:00the famous tv cowboy john wayne said this in his last words he turned to his wife and said of course i know who you are you are my girl i love you and then john knox a famous protestant reformer declared on his deathbed live in christ die in christ and the flesh need not fear death5:27i don't know what my last words will be i pray that they're that impactful but we do know what christ what some of his last words were look again in verse 18 jesus came and spoke to them saying all authority has been given to me in heaven and in earth let's pray father may we be people who recognize your5:48authority or we don't give you authority we don't take away your authority but lord may we recognize it because you have all authority in our lives father if there is anything in us that is preventing me this congregation from serving you6:11but if we have a habit a hurt or a hang-up father we have not given over to the the glorious risen savior father may today be that day that we give you authority we recognize that authority in our life father may we not only recognize your authority but may today be the day that we fully submit6:37to the king of kings and the lord of lords we pray this in jesus name amen and amen if you would leave your bibles open we are going to look together the remainder of our time at verse and the question that really ruminates with us is this why would jesus with everything he could have left us with and left the disciples with remind us of his authority7:00he didn't tell the disciples he loved them they knew that he didn't remind them by the way i'm god they knew that why would jesus remind the disciples and ultimately remind generations of followers that he has all authority7:22the answer probably is he knew that we would have issues with authority and we say you're you're lord your savior but you know what don't mess with this and we all have that it could be your wallet it could be your family it could be substances you struggle7:43with it could be neighbors you don't get along with we all have that thing in our life where we say you're king of kings but you're not king of that and jesus looks at us and says josh don't you know that all authority has been given to me in heaven and in earth so why lord do you remind us of8:06your authority first he reminds us because of this look at verse 18 jesus came and he did what jesus came and he spoke now why is that important for us well what's the context here the context is these believers these disciples who are hearing this the last time they saw jesus was where8:33if you turn your bible to the left like mine on the cross so the last words that some of the disciples have heard have been what or my god my god why have you forsaken me that is not a cry of power is it we worship jesus and his last words are my god my god why8:58and jesus comes in verse 18 and he speaks to them he says all authority and maybe you're here today and you struggle with the exact same thing that disciples struggle with you say i know that that he is lord but i struggle with doubt i want to tell you that you're in good company and that jesus christ can change that doubt look at verse 17 when he saw him they worshiped him9:28but some doubted and you might say well i struggle with doubt sometimes even the disciples struggled at sometimes with doubt look at chapter 27 why would jesus remind them that the cross is power is power is victory and dominion because here's what happened on the cross verse 29 chapter 279:50because some people look at the cross and say this the cross is not powerful as weak the cross is foolishness the cross is not victory it's foolishness verse 29 of chapter 27 when they had twisted the crown of thorns on his head10:20and they put a reed in his right hand they bowed the knee before him and they mocked him saying hail king of the jews why would they do that because they were mocking his authority jesus if you're going to the cross then show us what power you have show us this authority king10:46look at verse 39 same chapter those who passed by the cross blasphemed him and they wagged their heads as if they were saying what authority do you really have now why would they choose the words save yourself we might ask what does jesus mean you remember when11:16the heavenly host came and said you will name him jesus because he will save the people from their sins the world was saying jesus right the one who saves show us save yourself if you're powerful verse 42 he saved others11:42himself he cannot save if he is king if he is king verse 44 even the robbers who were crucified with him reviled him with the same thing now think about that on the cross we know how difficult it would have been to even breathe and these robbers were using their breath to mock the power and the authority of jesus christ12:10unless we say well i would never do that look at your life look at my life why would jesus remind us of his authority because if we're not careful we look at the cross and say victory i don't see it power i don't see it lord where is it but let me remind you of this matthew 27 again that after jesus died on the cross and people wag their heads people wag their tongues12:40robbers wag their tongues people mocked him with the crown of thorns people we don't get it sometimes right but creation gets it i love god's word what it says verse 51 when jesus died in weakness and in struggle and mockery behold the veil of the temple was torn from top to bottom13:02the earth quake rocks were split graves were opened bodies of the saints had fallen asleep or raised they came out of the graves after his resurrection they went into jerusalem the holy city and appeared to many and these seasoned military professional centurions said truly this was the son of god13:28why would jesus tell us all authority has been given to me because in the cross we have victory power and dominion all authority has been given we need that reminder sometimes don't we because today sundays we get charged up jesus jesus jesus and then the alarm hits tomorrow and we say13:54jesus where are you where's your power where's your victory he also reminds us he has power because of this look at verse 18 not just why he has power where that comes from but verse 18 jesus came and spoke saying all power he shows us the extent of his authority the extent of his authority14:21how powerful is our savior verse 18 all all just one word and that hits home to us because our son started cubbies this week and the letter is a and the word for the week is all as in all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of god sometimes it only takes one word to change our lives and jesus comes and says by the14:50way in case you wonder you know how much power the extent of my power disciples use you you who are doubting right now all all power has been given this is one of the scriptures can say all things were created through him and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created john 1 3 this is why we can sing that the old hymn some of you might know this15:20all creatures of our god and king lift up your voices with the scene all creatures why because our savior has all power this is what jesus leaves us with all authority has been given he shows us this very clearly in his word his power is in the cross15:44to those who are perishing it is foolishness but to those who are being saved it is glorious the extent of his power is everything it is all all authority has been given to me now jesus doesn't exactly tell us where16:03but matthew does so where does jesus christ get his authority i know several places where it is not one he does not get his authority from satan you say well why why did you say that pastor why would you say he doesn't give it get it from satan because in matthew 4 816:32satan takes who is very real by the way if you say well satan's just some literary creation he's some guy a pitchfork that comes out on halloween you are fooling yourself and he has you right where he wants you satan is as real as you and i are real satan brings christ to a very high mountain in matthew 4 8 and he shows him all the kingdoms of the world in verse 9 he says to him i will give you all these things if you will bow down and worship me17:01now hold that thought because we're going to end today on how do we exercise god's authority how do we respond to god's authority satan gets it satan says jesus give me authority and worship and you know what jesus says for those of you here on wednesday night a very simple phrase go away17:30away some of our parents here know that phrase right you get so frustrated go away but here's the power of our savior he can look at satan and go away you know what satan has to do go away and so if you're being bothered say satan get just satan will not leave me alone have you just looked at him and said because of the power of christ living in me not my authority go away satan you did it then and you have to do it now17:59satan does not give christ his authority saint augustine says this the cross is the devil's mousetrap and he took the bait he took the bait not only does satan not give christ his authority verse 18 you do not give jesus his authority you do not give christ authority you might say well this is my life18:28i'm gonna do with it what i want sorry to break that to you you did nothing to bring yourself into the world you will do nothing to bring yourself out of the world jesus christ verse 18 has all authority in heaven and on earth and by the way that means of me and you guys you and i do not give christ his authority18:54thankfully the world does not give jesus christ his authority this is why john 17 john 3 17 tells us god did not send his son into the world that he might condemn the world that the world might be saved through him you say well that sounds familiar well you probably know verse 16 right for god so loved the world but the world does not give jesus his authority19:24he already has it the question is have you recognized it have we recognized the authority of jesus christ in our life he also reminds us of his authority for this reason verse 18 all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth no one can make that claim unless they are god only god himself can say i have all authority19:46and jesus christ is reminding us that he is god and if you if you struggle with that just turn to the book of john the gospel of john and begin reading in verse 1 and in the beginning was the word the word was with god and the word was with god and the word john is very clear the word was and is god who's the word jesus christ is god20:00he was not created by god he was not created by god he was not created by god he is not a lesser god jesus christ is god and to make him anything else is to devalue the power of his resurrection20:20all authority only god only god can say that and lastly jesus reminds us of his authority in this way all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth that's where we are20:48he is king of kings he is king of kings i love the song it's an older song now but it says he is lord of heaven and lord of earth he is lord of all who live he is lord above the universe all praise to him we give the refrain in that song is we will glorify the king of kings we will glorify the lamb21:12we will glorify the lord of lords who is the great i am jesus christ is reminding us that he is king but here's the beauty of our savior he is not a king that died on the cross ascended into heaven and said good luck21:38youth peace out and that's probably even outdated now right but that's not how our savior works he is not an absent king he is king and sometimes we say well well lord i just look around and there's we prayed over those who have cancer in our in our body of faith this week who are struggling with with alzheimer's with early dementia and22:07just personally that is one of the most devastating diseases we have on the planet right now of aos and we we look at some that they're in war right now fighting for our freedoms we look at families torn apart and we say if jesus is king how can he let this happen he's on his throne he loves you he cares for you22:36he is not an absent king he is not slow as some think of slowness but he is patient wanting none to perish none he is king of kings and if you are struggling with your life and you say i believe that jesus is who he says he is but i just struggle with parts of my life i don't see his power it is there trust him he is the great king why would jesus23:06leave us and remind us of his authority because he is god he is king he shows us that he has all power all dominion on heaven and on earth so how do we live that out you might say well that's awesome he is king he has power how do we live that out i'm glad you asked verse 16 and 17 the eleven disciples went away into galilee23:35to the mountain which jesus had appointed for them and when they saw him this is how they respond they worshipped and you might say that's awesome because i have i have worshipped this morning i am doing what i should be doing i have fulfilled that requirement not exactly not exactly the greek word worship here proskuneo means this24:04means this especially in the persian society it is signified by one falling on their knees hope i can get back up after i do this and bowing their head to the and touching the ground with their forehead that's what the word means proskuneo it didn't say sing tithe be friendly put on your sunday best24:33the persian understanding of worship in this cultural context would have been i'm going to bow my face to the ground in the new testament times it also represented kneeling or prostration as an expression or respect of supplication so how do we respond to the authority of god by worship how do we worship our worship25:03our worship is more posture than events right worship then by the definition of the word is more about your posture than an event it's hard to schedule worship we do that because we live in a western society where we have to schedule things because if we don't schedule worship we're not going to do it we're not going to join together but if i am not worshiping on monday25:30and tuesday and wednesday and thursday and friday and saturday with my face before my creator i haven't done much today and you might say well that's a horrible message pastor you made me feel bad the hope is that that can change because christ has the power to change us how do we respond to the authority of christ it is by our worship how do we respond in worship by bowing our face26:00our face to the ground you might say well i don't know if i can bow and get back up like you did symbolically are we bowing our lives is there something in your life where you said i don't know yet if i am going to give that in worship i just don't know finances are a little tight i just don't know i love my kids i just don't know i don't want them26:28to be missionaries i don't want them to go here i love the life i have i'm comfortable kind of sitting and watching lord i just don't know maybe god is not asking us to sacrifice that but maybe god wants to know if you're willing to sacrifice go back and read the sacrifice of abraham and isaac abraham would you sacrifice the son of promise lord i will and before i raise my hand and say lord i'm going to do that with my firstborn son26:58son maybe we need to have a gut check and abraham spent days orchestrating this preparing this walking his son up to the mountain and saying lord are you sure about this i know you're not a god of of death of destruction but lord if you've called me to this lord i will sacrifice and the lord said that's it that's enough but abraham i needed to know if you were willing and abraham27:26and abraham more than god knowing if you're willing abraham i want you to know if you're willing are you willing to worship him in 1992 a man named peter watling called a friend together to look for a lost hammer in the backyard so he bought a metal detector and he as he was looking for his hammer he found a treasure chest27:56chest and began to look through that treasure chest and they found spoons and knives and other valuables well they called the british museum of art in and when they appraised that treasure the british museum of art actually had to call external donors to raise enough funds to buy the treasure from peter if you wondered they also bought the hammer the hammer in the museum today but peter28:23but peter didn't really know what he was looking for he was looking for the hammer but the treasure was there all along and i have to believe there's someone here that's that's come in to worship and you didn't know what worship might be or you struggling you've come in here for the hammer say i want something to use lord use me i want the power and god has said but you missed the treasure but fear not the treasures here is jesus christ are you28:51are you willing to bow your life and worship this is how we respond to the king of kings we cannot worship what we do not know maybe you've come in here verse 17 and when you saw christ when you heard about jesus because of the struggles of the world you doubted and maybe you brought those doubts in here today i just want to calm those fears because if jesus christ29:20jesus christ is who he says he is and i believe he is and he has all authority over heaven and earth if we bring our doubts to him like the disciples jesus says by the way i have authority over those doubts be gone so if you have come in here broken i'm going to ask that you submit that to jesus christ how do i respond to his authority by worship and by29:50and by submission what is submission it is the action or fact of accepting or yielding to someone and wielding our will to another person jesus christ will not force his authority upon you but before you think that's a a blank check to do what you want god's word also reminds us that there will be a day where every knee in this place and every30:20and every knee outside of this room will bow mine yours the greatest saint and the greatest sinner and by the way most of us are in that sinner category actually the bible says we all are and every tongue will confess that jesus christ is lord why lord because that is the name of authority have you submitted30:48to that authority well pastor i want to but how can i the bible says that jesus christ died on the cross and let people mock him he let people wag their head he let robbers mock him curse him and yet he still looked at one of those robbers and thieves and said today you will be with me in paradise surrender to my authority31:18my authority if you have brought sin in here know that the only place of forgiveness is the cross of jesus christ if you have not surrendered to christ if you have not looked at him and said behold the lamb who takes away the sins of the world maybe you came in here and said jesus you saved others save yourself i want you to know he can save you won't you let him won't you submit to31:48submit to that today he can look at your fears if you submit and replace your fears with peace the bible actually calls that the peace that transcends all understanding which means this physically that jesus can give us peace and we can say where does that come from and jesus looks at us and says i have the authority i have the authority will you let him acknowledge that authority in your life jesus has32:17jesus has the power and the authority to look at death and say death where is your sting hell where is your victory literally our savior can look at hell and say i've been there i've done that i took away your power and by the way as satan is a real thing person hell is a real place and i really don't want you to go there jesus christ32:46jesus christ doesn't want you to go there he actually died on the cross that you have to cross over his dead body on the way to hell because he laid it down for us won't you submit to him jesus says this all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth do you believe today we're going to have a time of invitation know that whether you acknowledge his authority or33:15authority or not he has it but if you give him your fears and your struggles he can replace that with power and strength if you give him your sin and your death and your destruction he can replace it with eternal life maybe you're here and you just have bad relationships in your life and you say god i struggle with that relationship i have a horrible job and jesus says i'll carry you through that don't you think i33:44have power in that don't you think i have authority he does thank the lord he does let's pray together father our savior jesus christ died on the cross for sinners such as me lord the apostle paul says that he is the chief of sinners lord we can echo that we are the chief of34:14chief of sinners but our savior died to forgive us of our sins and purify us from for all unrighteousness lord i thank you that your word promises us that whoever calls upon the name of the lord will shall be saved lord if there is someone here that is struggling with their sin that they are living in sin father may today be the day that you break that that they find forgiveness in the cross of34:43jesus christ lord if there is a believer here a follower that is struggling with giving you full control lord may today be that day where they bow their head and worship they open their life up and say lord it is yours father we acknowledge your authority we proclaim the power of christ over sin and death lord use35:11lord use us for your name sake and i pray this in jesus name amen and amen i'll be down front to counsel with you to pray with you we're gonna have a time to respond to the lord maybe you've been here and waiting in the shadows said who is this i'm waiting for the new pastor before i serve here time's up maybe today is the day where god35:41where god is calling you to finally join this church and say i want to plug in here to reach this community for jesus christ because we are going to carry the whole gospel to the whole person to the whole world won't you be a part of that maybe you're here today you need to actually worship for the first time you need to come to this altar and you need to bow your forehead to the ground and say lord symbolically it's yours i'm tired i make a horrible king but thank god36:09i know who the king is the true king lord is yours won't you respond to our savior today i'll be down front to pray with you we have counselors that will come forward to pray with you but do not miss a chance to respond to our savior todayMore sermons on Matthew →
