← ArchiveSunday, January 24, 2016DateJanuary 24, 2016Speaker—TextMatthew 28Passages in this sermonMatthew 280:22Psalms 1330:30Matthew 4:235:52Matthew 5:196:09Matthew 76:23Matthew 86:40Matthew 96:48Matthew 26:496:56Romans 109:13Jeremiah 1811:34Hebrews 1020:39Galatians 422:44TranscriptMachine transcribed. Click any line to jump there.0:00Well, if you have your Bibles with you this morning, and I hope that you do, please turn to Matthew chapter 28. Matthew chapter 28, what is known as the Great Commission. This will be our0:22third week in these three verses. Psalm 133 says this, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell together in unity. And that is truly what our worship is about, that we come as one voice with one heart to make great the name of our Savior. So what a wonderful day it is to worship0:47the Lord with you. The Great Commission. Pat Morley said this about the Great Commission. If the Great Commission is true, our plans are not too big, they are too small. If the Great Commission is true, our plans are not too big, they are too small. So I don't know what idea you have1:14for this church and for your life, but if everything that Jesus Christ says is true, whatever vision I have for my life is way too small. Because Christ can do so much more imaginable than we can. Hudson Taylor, the famed missionary to China said this, the Great Commission is not an option to be1:38considered. It is a command to be obeyed. It is not an option to be considered. It is a command to be obeyed. And you say, well, why are we starting this new year here with the last words of Jesus Christ and Matthew? Because Jesus challenges us. So three weeks ago, we spent time looking at verse 18, where Jesus2:01came and he spoke and said, all authority is given to me in heaven and on earth. And we see in God's word that Jesus Christ has authority over us, over me, over you. And we can say, thank God he has authority over us. Last week, we saw that Jesus Christ has a command to you, the command to go and make disciples2:24of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. And today, we're going to see that his grace is now to be lived through us, his grace in you, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And lo, surely I am with you even to the end of the age. So let's read2:48together Matthew chapter 28, beginning in verse 16. Matthew is the first book of the New Testament. So we're going to spend our time at the last words of the first book of the New Testament. Then the 11 disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them.3:14And when they saw him, they worshiped him, but some doubted. Verse 18 of chapter 28, Jesus came and spoke to them saying, all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore, make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have3:43commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen. Let's pray. Father, your word is always faithful. Lord, we thank you for the command, the commission that you give us. Lord, that we are not to just sit4:08and wait around for the return of our Savior. We are to live for him in a world that so desperately needs the gospel. Father, may we be disciple makers as you command us to be. Lord, may we teach everything that you have commanded us, Lord, the whole gospel to the whole world, to the whole person. Lord, may we not be inactive for you, but may we have a heart for the kingdom, a heart that says,4:37where you go, we will go. A heart that says, what you want me to do, I will do. A heart that says, Lord, everything of my life is open to you. Lord, may your grace dwell among us and through us this morning. And I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen and amen. His grace is in us. So the first thing we see5:03here in Matthew's gospel today is verse 20. We're just going to spend our time in this verse. Jesus says this, teach them to obey everything I have commanded you. Everything. So how does he teach us? And by the way, you can't teach others unless you yourself have been taught. So what we see here is5:32that God's grace is constructive. And the life of a Christian is about learning. It is about sitting under the teacher and saying, God, fill me with your knowledge. Fill me with your grace that I may live it out. Listen to these verses in Matthew about Jesus Christ. Matthew chapter 4, verse 23. Jesus went about all Galilee teaching in their synagogues. Teaching in their synagogues. The6:02Sermon on the Mount, Matthew chapter 5, verse 19. Jesus says, whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commands and teaches men so shall be the least of the kingdom of heaven. But whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 7, also the Sermon on the Mount. And so it was when Jesus had ended these sayings that the people were astonished at his teaching.6:31Matthew 8, chapter 19. There a certain scribe came to see Jesus and he said, teacher, I will follow you wherever you go. Matthew 9, verse 11. When the Pharisees saw it, they said to his disciples, why does your teacher eat with tax collectors eat with tax collectors and sinners? Matthew chapter 26, verse 49. Immediately he,6:56this is Judas, went to Jesus and said, greetings, rabbi, and kissed him. Rabbi means teacher. The ministry of our Savior is about teaching. It's about teaching. Over and over again in the book of Matthew. And now Jesus looks at the disciples and by extension us. And he says what? The very last verse in Matthew, teach them to observe.7:22We have to have the heart of someone who wants to be taught by our Savior. And this is not a knowledge. This is not God fill my mind full of stuff because there will not be an entrance exam into heaven. Some of our youth, we might, we have some seniors here that are thinking about going7:47to college, taking ACTs and SATs and other entrance exams. We are not going to have a heavenly ACT. Thank God, right? No application to fill out. God's not going to say, tell me how much you know. And D is for diploma. If you pass with the 65, you'll get into heaven. So if that's not the way the knowledge of our Savior works,8:12why do we act like that sometimes? Why do we say, God, just fill my mind full? And yet Jesus Christ is saying, well, why aren't you living that out, Pastor? You have, your mind is already too full sometimes. Live it out. Now, am I saying that we turn our mind off? By no means. But the grace of God is constructive. It is to be lived out. But here's the beauty of the gospel and the difficulty.8:41You and I cannot be taught by our Savior unless we have experienced the grace of Christ. We cannot be taught by Jesus Christ unless we experience the grace of Christ. So what does teachability require in our life? So, Pastor, I want to learn about our Lord. I want to learn about9:06His grace. How can I do it? Romans 10, 9 tells us what? That if we confess with our mouth and believe in our heart, we will be saved. But we confess what? That Jesus is Lord. Out of everything that we can confess, why Lord? Why not Savior? Why not risen King? Why Lord? Because Lord is a word that requires9:30surrender. So for us to look at Jesus Christ and say, teach me, means that we have to do what? Lord, I'm going to sit at your feet and listen. So if you have not experienced the grace of Christ, you are not yet teachable. You're not, and I'm not. So what does that take? It takes, Lord,9:55I don't know enough. I can't do it on my own. Some of us are I think I can people, right? That's what we grew up believing, right? I think I can. I think I can. I think I can. And we are, we become little blue engines that could. Lord, I think I can. I think I can. But that's complete opposite of10:20what the gospel teaches, isn't it not? The gospel doesn't say, Josh, you think you can. The gospel is, Josh, you can't. So Christ did. So Lord, I don't think I can, but I know he did it. So I just pray if you don't have a teachable heart yet, that you just spend some time and say, Lord, I'm going to turn the pastor off for a second. And if my heart's not ready to learn to10:45be taught by my heavenly rabbi, my savior, my king, Lord, make me ready. God, I know I have sinned. I confess you as savior. Lord, teach me that I may teach others. Are you teachable? God's grace is constructive in our life. So pastor, I'm there. I want to have a teachable heart. Now what? When we surrender to Christ, we find that his grace is constructive. It builds us up. It builds us up.11:13So what does that look like? How do we know that God's grace is constructive in our life? We have a beautiful picture of God's grace in Jeremiah. If you want to turn there, it's actually Jeremiah 18. I'm going to read two, three verses. The Lord calls his prophet Jeremiah down to this village to see this man working. And it's found in Jeremiah 18, verse four.11:42Sometimes it's easier for us to see God's grace than hear it. I'm a visual person. I like to see things. If I can see it, I know. I was telling someone this morning as I was studying for my oral exam several years ago. I made note cards. For those youth that don't know, note cards are these12:09little white pieces of paper. I just wrote things out. And I actually would make charts, visual charts. And when my professors would ask me questions, they drilled me for two hours. Talk about grace. I passed. There's God's grace. And they would ask me a question, and I would visualize that little card, three by five, and I would visualize the exact spot on the card to where the answer was, and I could give12:37them the answer. I think that's what Jesus is doing to Jeremiah. God is doing to Jeremiah right here. 18, verse four. He goes down and sees this man working, and the vessel that this man made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter. It means it had mistakes. It was ugly. So he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make.13:06You see the image there, don't you? That Jeremiah, the prophet, this amazing prophet of the Lord, very powerful, is going down to this place, and he's seeing this man work with clay. And I would imagine that a master artist wouldn't make a mistake. And yet, as he's working with the clay,13:29this, the vessel has, it's marred. It has a mistake. And so what does a potter do? Crushes it. You say, this is not very good, pastor. Where are you going? Verse five. Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying. So I'm having the same question as Jeremiah. Lord, what are you saying here?13:59I see the image. So your grace is constructive, but if God's grace builds us up, then why is this vessel torn down? Verse six. The Lord says, oh, house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter? And I believe in that moment, Jeremiah says, I get it. I get it. And then the Lord says, look, as the clay is in the potter's hands,14:27so are you in my hand, oh, house of Israel. And I know that God looks at us and says, Josh, as this vessel is in my hand, the master potter, so you are. So what does God's grace look like worked in us? How does he teach us? It looks like a master potter working with clay.14:55So how does God work with us? It begins here. When we are marred, and by the way, everyone in here is broken. And marred in some way. We are all ugly, stained by our sin. And the reality is, I probably am stained in a different way than you are, because I have different sins and different struggles and temptations than you do. But we all have something, don't we? That's what God's word says.15:24All have sins. I'm in that number. And the beauty of the gospel is this, that when we are marred that Christ says, I'll just kind of crush it. I'll smash you. But don't worry, because what God smashes, he builds up. So if you've come in here today, you say, I'm just broken. I'm marred. I'm ugly. Know that the grace of Christ restores us and builds us up.15:54That's what it means to be taught by the gospel. It also means that he is the good potter. That what he does is good. That God knows what's better for my life than I know for my life. So are you teachable? Maybe you're here and you say, I just don't feel teachable right now. That's okay. Our teachers in this room will tell you,16:24even when my students don't feel like being taught, by golly, I'm going to teach them. I know because I'm married to a teacher. She probably says that about me. But Christ is the same way in our life, that when we walk in and we say, Lord, I just don't feel it today. He says, but Josh, don't you get it? It's not about a feeling. It's about the grace of God. And my grace is constructive. I will tear you down, but I also build you up.16:53If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have gone and behold, new things have come. Are you teachable? His grace is constructive in our lives. His grace is constructive. Let God's grace build you up. Let God's grace construct you. Second thing we see here about God's grace, teaching them. We cannot teach unless we have been taught. We cannot teach unless God's grace is living in us. Be clay.17:25Be clay. Verse 20, teaching them to observe all things. God's grace is not only constructive, but it is cooperative. Cooperative. It's not for me. It's not for you. It's for him. It's for her. It is for, look at verse 20, teaching who? Teaching them. Teaching them. Teaching us. God's grace is for everyone. And so what we see in the scriptures is this.17:55There is no room in God's kingdom for Christian hoarders. I'm not going to, I'm not going to ask for any admissions today, but there's a show on TV, several shows about hoarders, those who just collect stuff. And here's the struggle about collecting. The more we collect, the more sometimes our life gets cluttered. God's grace is not to be hoarded. So pastor,18:27So pastor, what do you mean? God's grace is not for you to hold on to and protect and go to church and say, you know what? God's grace is for me. I'm going to sing. I'm going to go home. I'm going to do it again on Wednesday. I'm going to pray. I'm going to hold God's grace in. I'm going to feel his love. I'm going to go home and I'm going to do it again until next time. God's grace is not about me hoarding it to myself. God's grace is about the son speaking to my heart and then going to someone else. God's grace is cooperative.18:56Look at verse 20. Teaching them to observe all things. So who have you brought with you today to worship? Who have you brought with you today to worship? And you say, well, pastor, you're getting a little messy because this is my seat and Lord, there's only room for one here. Who have you brought with you?19:25And you say, well, I don't like that. Look at verse 20. Jesus says, teaching them. How will people know about our Savior unless we show them? Who is your them? Let me make it easy for you. Parents, if you're a parent here and you have a child, that child is your them. He's not the only one. She's not the only one. But you have an obligation as a parent19:55to pour the grace of Jesus Christ into your children. If you have a neighbor, we have an obligation because of the grace of Jesus Christ in us to teach them about Christ. Who is your them? Who have you invited into the loving arms of Christ? God's grace is to be shared. It is cooperative.20:25Who is your them? It also means this. Jesus commands us, right? My grace is constructive. It builds within us. It teaches us so you can teach others. It is cooperative, but Hebrews 10, 25 says this. Do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together as in the habit of some, but exhort one another and so much more as you see the day approaching. So not only is grace cooperative for others,20:55it also means this, that you can't do it alone. You can't do it alone. Now here's the struggle. We live in a world where we can be in a room full of people and feel alone. We live in a world and we can all have our electronic devices21:20and be alone. We live in a world, I'm not going to pick on our teenagers because I do it too sometimes, where we're at our dinner tables eating and all of us have our devices and we are alone. And if we're not careful, and you say, well, pastor, is our electronics the devil? By no means.21:49But if we're not careful, that will feed into our Christian life and we will try to do things alone so that I sing for God's glory because he saved me. And yet Christ says, teach them. Do not do it alone. Actually, Jesus Christ, when you come to faith in Christ, you become what? We become part of the body of Christ. God does not adopt us into his family to become orphans. God does not have an orphan child.22:20Thank God he does not have any orphan children because I know there are people in this room that grew up without families. And I want you to know if you grew up without a father, you have a heavenly father that loves you or that any earthly father could even imagine. He adopts us into his family to become part of the body of Christ. Galatians 4, 5 says that he adopted us to redeem us that we might receive the adoptions as sons.22:50God's grace in our lives is cooperative. Do not do it alone. Do not. It's commanded. Who is your them? Teach. God instructs us. He teaches us to build us up. God's grace is cooperative. God's grace is for them and us. God's grace is cooperative. Verse 20. Jesus says, teach them to observe all things that I have commanded you.23:19Easy enough, right? Teach them to observe all things. Who in here can remember everything that Jesus Christ taught us? Anyone feeling brave? Say, I'll do it. Pastor, I know everything that Jesus Christ teaches us. Let's just talk about Matthew. Who in here knows everything that Jesus Christ teaches in Matthew? I'm not that.23:50So how can we teach everything? The Greek word here is panta, which means every. It could mean all or it could mean the whole. So I think what Christ reminds us of is that his grace is complete. His grace is complete. Look at verse 20. Teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you. His grace in our life is complete. Peter says it this way.24:19Now think about Peter. Peter was a man that he was a disciple. Peter was a man that when God called him out and said, hey, dudes, come walk on the water with me, Peter said, okay, let's go, right? Peter walked on the water until he realized I'm walking on the water. This is not normal. So he began to sink. Peter was the one that when the soldiers came to get Christ, he said, you know what? If they're going to get my Savior, we're going down fighting24:48and he chopped off the ear of one of the servants. Peter was also the one that when they said, do you know Christ? He said, no, I don't know what you're talking about. And when they asked him a little more, he said, Peter, your accent gives you away. You're from that Galilean region, right? Same place where Jesus spoke the Sermon on the Mount. He said, I don't know Christ. And when they pushed him again, they said, I'm sure we've seen you with Jesus. He cursed them and said, I do not know that man.25:17That's the Peter that writes 2 Peter. And he says this. He says that Jesus has, in his divine power, has given us everything required for life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and his goodness. We are reminded here that Jesus Christ is death on the cross gives us everything we need.25:47Everything we need for salvation. And that we are to teach people that it's not you, but it's that Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins. Now, youth, you guys are kind of right here. That's convenient for me. I want you to know that you're younger than a lot of people here. I'm not going to point to them. But there's some people here that are a lot older than you are. I want you to know in your lives, God's grace is complete. Everything that you need26:18for salvation and righteousness and redemption is found in the blood of Jesus Christ. Now, let me talk to the people who can't remember their youth years. If that's you, I want you to know that everything that you need for godliness is found in Jesus Christ. His grace is complete. And how dare us tell people that they need to do anything else but trust Jesus Christ completely. So if we tell people,26:49you know what? Follow Christ, but you have to do this too. You got to be a good church member and God will accept you. No, he doesn't accept you because of anything you do. He accepts you. He accepts me because of what his son did. It's by his grace. His grace is complete. His grace is complete. I think we have some pictures to demonstrate what incomplete grace might look like. We need to be very careful.27:19We need to be very careful about painting an incomplete picture of the gospel. He says, well, pastor, why does it matter? Why does it matter if we don't give them the whole gospel? Well, sometimes we make mistakes.27:44God's grace is complete. Be very careful when someone paints a picture of the gospel that is not complete. Be careful when anyone on this stage paints a gospel that is not complete because Jesus Christ says, teach him to observe all things. Everything from beginning to end is true. Everything from beginning28:13from beginning to end we must believe. Everything from beginning to end we must teach because our Savior commands us to. God's grace in us is complete. Do not try to do it on your own. His grace is complete. Verse 20. Teaching them. God's grace is constructive. It builds us up. God's grace28:44God's grace commands us to teach them. God's grace is cooperative. It's not a solo effort. He died to make us the body of Christ to tell others that our Savior makes us worthy. God's grace is complete. Teaching them to observe all things that I have taught. And the New King James says it like this. Lo, some of your versions say surely I am with you even to the end of the age. Amen. God's grace29:14God's grace brings us comfort. God's grace brings us comfort. Let's look at that. What is God's comfort? But we know that it's not just this metaphysical thing that well maybe one day our spirit will feel all warm and fuzzy. God's grace is real. How do I know that? Who is Jesus speaking to here? He's speaking to a real people who really29:43who really knew him who really needed comfort. Jesus is speaking to the disciples who would one day give their lives for the sake of the gospel. And may we not think we're exempt because we have brothers and sisters around the world today that they know if we worship and we are caught worshiping we could give our life for Christ. And may we not think that that day can't be here one day. I pray30:14I pray I am thankful that we live in a country where we have religious freedom. But I know this that if one day if my religious freedom is taken away I pray that I will have the faith to still be here worshiping my Savior. we don't worship because we can we worship because we get to. He loves us we get to worship and his grace is really really comforting to us. His grace can look at someone who's dying and say30:43and say but Josh don't worry because when you die I'm with you. This is not the end. His grace his comfort is real. Verse 20 he says surely I am with you. And Jesus was saying that as someone that was speaking face to face to the disciples surely I stand here as Jesus stood there as real to them as it is today to say his grace is surely31:13is surely comforting to our souls. it brings comfort to our souls. That when we go to the doctor and they use that cancer word and my heart breaks because we have many people in our church right now that have cancer that are going through that that we can look at the doctor and say you know what I wasn't really expecting that today but he was and his grace brings comfort and even though the outward man is wasting away31:42I know that God is renewing the inward person every day because his grace brings me comfort. His grace is real. It is comforting to our souls. It restores our hearts. It's not only real look at verse 20 he says lo I am with you always.32:09always. Now think about that. Why did the disciples need to hear that? Because Jesus Christ had just died on the cross and for three days where was he? Now let's not get into some theological argument and say well we don't really know where he was. Where was he not? We know he was not with the disciples and so the disciples are looking at Christ32:38thinking Jesus you say you're going to be with us but you just left us and he's saying guys don't worry I am real and I will not leave you I will send you the spirit to comfort you. His grace his comfort is permanent and if we're honest there are days where we wake up and we wonder God I know you bring me comfort but I just don't know today and he speaks to our hearts and he says Josh I want you to know that surely I am with you always. Can you think33:10of a time that's not always? If you can see me after church and we'll give you a prize. Not only is his grace permanent his comfort is permanent his grace his comfort will carry us to the end. Verse 20 he says I am with you always even to the end. We don't know33:40when our end is do we? It could be tomorrow it could be today Christ could return today but even when the end comes what does Jesus remind us of? He says pastor my grace disciples my grace church my comfort is with you always even to the end. Then Matthew says if you didn't get it34:10get it he says amen which means true sure we are we are we are to teach them everything our savior has commanded everything and surely he is with us even to the end God's grace transforms our lives and because God's grace transforms us we can live a life where his grace is lived out through us so I34:39so I ask you this morning are you living the life that his grace has lived through you you know I don't want my neighbors to say what a great church member I don't want my son to say you know what my dad is a great pastor not a bad thing I want my neighbors and my family and my church to say you know what I see God's grace lived out and you know35:09know what when when Josh when the days he's marred I see the potter just remaking him because God's grace is constructive so if you walked in here today and you just feel like you're a little blemished not enough makeup to cover the blemishes today know that God's grace covers our blemishes God's grace makes us worthy so if you're here and you say I just don't know I'm35:38I'm not worthy I want to say you're not worthy God's word says you are not worthy of salvation I am not worthy of heaven I'm not worthy of eternity but because I'm not worthy while I was still sinning while I am still a sinner Jesus Christ died for me and that fact brings joy to my soul and if you're there and you've never confessed Christ as36:08Christ as Lord if you've never been convicted of your sin and surrendered that to Christ know that he died for your sin just just accept the free gift of salvation that he gives we're going to have a time of invitation shortly where you can respond if God has moved in your heart and you say I need this grace I've been trying to do it on my own and my works are not complete only his death and resurrection is won't you respond today what are you waiting for maybe today will be the day of your salvation a day that you will36:38will never forget maybe you're like the disciples and Jesus has to remind us and says Josh teach them don't just come sit and listen and listen and listen and listen but teach the grace of Christ to others and you say well I don't know enough I don't have any degrees I've only been in church for a day God's Spirit can teach more through you and teach37:07teach them who is your them because God has put them in your life that he might see his grace through you his grace is cooperative maybe you're here and you just say well I'm just worn out I'm tired I'm sick pastor I just need I need encouragement I'm here to tell you today that God's grace builds us up he builds us up and maybe you need to be the person37:37person that builds someone else up but maybe you're here and you say God I need to be built up today because I am I am just in a dark place the hope is that our son his son Jesus Christ is the light of the world and that if you have come in here in darkness I pray that you will leave with the light of Christ shining in your life in38:07you if God has worked in your life if God has stirred your heart once you respond you say pastor that's a little uncomfortable I don't know if I want to come up here we are here to support you to encourage you may God do mighty works in our life and may we be bold in our faith and say God use us God even to the end no matter what day that might be Lord use us in a mighty way38:37way because you are with us even to the end of the age Amen let's pray Father FatherMore sermons on Matthew →
