The Appearance and Commission in Galilee

Introduction: The Conclusion of Mark's Gospel and the Significance of Galilee

0:03 The following message was given on Sunday morning, December 16th, 1990, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. On a warm Lord's Day morning in June of 1983, I began a series of expositions on the Gospel of Mark. My very first effort in all of the years of ministry to take one of the Gospel records and preach through it from the first verse to the last. And after several introductory sermons, seeking to help you as the Lord's people to understand the nature of Gospel literature and principles by which we could responsibly study that particular Gospel teaching, together we then focused upon the opening words of the Gospel of Mark, the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. And from that time onward, for approximately 30 Lord's Days each year for the past seven years,

1:16 we've been privileged to consider the good news concerning Jesus Christ, the Son of God. We beheld the beginning of that good news as He identified Himself with us in that sinner's ordinance of baptism, thereby declaring that He had come to be one with us, that He might deliver us by His saving power. And then we followed Him clean through to the account of the good news of His dying for our sins and rising from the dead. And in that period, we have beheld our Lord in His mighty works.

2:00 We have heard Him in His penetrating words. We have beheld Him in the exquisite majesty of His perfect, holy humanity. And with what results has this lengthy fixation upon our Lord Himself been attended? Well, God alone can fully answer that question.

2:25 But many of you have testified that Christ Himself in His person has never been more precious to you. Others have said that the Gospel records have come alive, and you now find whenever you read in them the benefit that has come from our studying the Gospel of Mark together. And blessed be God, there are others who trace their passage from death, from death to life, to the Word of God coming in the power of the Spirit in the course of these expositions. Now, by completing the exposition of chapter 16, verses 1 to 8, I believe I have completed an exposition of what God has given to us as the Gospel of Mark. And for any who were not with us in the Sunday school hour, I commend to you a tape of the things. That I shared with the congregation in that hour, so that you'll understand why I am convinced that the Gospel of Mark is completed in chapter 16 and verse 8. However, according to Mark's account, the last words spoken by our Lord to the women near to the place of His resurrection were these words recorded in Mark 16 and verse 8.

3:55 Mark 16 and verse 7. But go, tell His disciples and Peter, He goeth before you into Galilee, there shall ye see Him, as He said unto you. Now these words spoken to the women on this occasion as recorded in Mark's Gospel were spoken on at least one or two other occasions as well. Now these words spoken to the women on this occasion as recorded in Mark's Gospel were spoken on at least one or two other occasions as well.

4:25 Now these words spoken to the women on this occasion as recorded in Mark's Gospel were spoken on at least one or two other occasions as well. If you will turn to Matthew 26 and verse 32. We read, beginning with verse 31, Then said Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended in me this night, for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad. But after I am raised up, I will go before you into Galilee.

4:57 And then in Matthew chapter 28 and verse 7, a parallel passage to Mark 16, 7, Quickly, and tell His disciples, He is risen from the dead, and, lo, He goes before you into Galilee, there shall ye see Him, lo, I have told you. And then again in verse 10, with this very significant addition, And then again in verse 10, with this very significant addition, Then said Jesus unto them, Fear not, go tell my brethren that they depart into Galilee, and there they shall see me. So obviously, in the mind of our Lord, this post-resurrection, pre-ascension meeting with His own in Galilee must have had tremendous significance. must have had tremendous significance. must have had tremendous significance.

6:00 must have had tremendous significance. He makes it very plain by this emphasis prior to and subsequent to His death and resurrection, that it is His purpose to meet with His own, not in Jerusalem, but up in Galilee, in order to say some very crucial things to them prior to His return to the right hand of the Father. And so as a capstone to our expositions of the Gospel of Mark, we turn this morning to Matthew's account of that crucial meeting of the risen Lord with His own disciples in Galilee. And I would ask you to turn with me now then to Matthew 28, verses 16 through 20. Matthew 28, verse 16. But the eleven disciples went into Galilee unto the mountain, where Jesus had appointed them. And when they saw Him, they worshipped Him.

The Removal to Galilee: People and Place

7:07 But some doubted. And Jesus came to them and spake unto them, saying, All authority hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth. Go ye therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.

7:47 Now as we think our way through this very crucial portion of the Word of God, I want you to note with me first of all Matthew's account of the removal to Galilee. Verse 16. But the eleven disciples went into Galilee unto the mountain where Jesus had appointed them. And in this record of the removal to Galilee, the focus is first of all upon the people who went to Galilee and the place where they gathered in Galilee.

8:23 Who were the people who went to Galilee? Well according to Matthew, we know it was at least the eleven disciples. They are expressly stated, they are expressly described in verse 16 as going into Galilee. And there were only eleven of course because Judas had taken his life and had gone to his own place.

8:51 But are we warranted to conclude from this that it was only the eleven who went to Galilee? Were there any others who went to Galilee? No. Are there any others on the occasion of this meeting of the risen Christ in Galilee?

9:09 Well there is a very strong suggestion that indeed our Lord not only met with the eleven disciples on this occasion, but that most likely this was the occasion referred to in 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 6. Here the apostle is giving the evidence. Evidence is for the historicity, the factuality of the resurrection of Christ. And he says in verse 5 of 1 Corinthians 15, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve, then he appeared to above five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain until now. They are described as 500 brethren. And it is interesting that in verse 10 of Matthew 28, the message that went forth was this. Then said Jesus unto them.

10:16 Fear not. Go tell not just my disciples, but tell my brethren, all those who constitute my spiritual family. All those who hear my word and my presence. They know the truth.

10:30 I will say this. Those who hear my word and my presence. Hear the word of God and do it. Tell my brethren that they depart into Galilee, and there they shall see me.

10:42 So in addition to the eleven, with reference to the people who removed to Galilee, it could well be that there were these five hundred brethren, and also from the grammar of verse 7 of Matthew 28 and the parallel passage in Luke chapter 16, Mark chapter 16, the women who were witnesses of the resurrection at the tomb were most likely present on that occasion. But the word of God not only points us to the people in conjunction with this removal to Galilee, but there is further. There is great precision with regard to the place. Verse 16 says they went unto the mountain where Jesus had appointed them. Now in none of the passages that I read in your hearing from Mark or from Matthew was any reference made to a specific mountain. The only reference was to Galilee.

11:52 Tell my disciples. Tell my brethren I go before them unto Galilee. But in the actual record of that visit it is said that he went unto a specific mountain and they knew the precise mountain where they ought to meet him in Galilee because he had appointed such a place for them. And so the only conclusion we can come to is that the Holy Spirit has not seen fit, to record the circumstances in which Jesus actually told them the precise mountain there in Galilee where they were to meet with him subsequent to his resurrection. And if we ask the question, why a mountain? Again, we could speculate in many directions, but in my reading of the many commentators I found the thoughts of Lenski, the Lutheran commentator, most refreshing and I believe very plausible, commenting on these words to the mountain where he had appointed them indicates a definite place on a certain or specific mountain. The appointing must have been made at one of the previous appearances.

13:14 The exact site of this mountain cannot be determined. All we can say is that it may have been a mountain on which Jesus had preached, and taught in previous days. It has been well remarked that the very gathering on a mountain already marks an important event, for it was on a mountain that Jesus preached his great sermon, Matthew 5 to 7. It's forever associated with a mountain.

13:46 It is called the Sermon on the Mount. It was on a mountain that he chose the twelve. It was on a mountain that he showed himself in the glory of his transfiguration to Peter, James, and John. On mountain heights, heaven and earth, as it were, meet, and here the glorified Savior spoke of his power in heaven and on the earth.

14:16 With the vast expanse of the sky above him, and the great panorama of the earth, spread beneath him, Jesus stands in his exaltation and his glory, a striking vision indeed. So it could well be that the choice of a mountain was designed by our Lord to provide a physical and visual setting in which the very announcement, the very mandate that he would lay upon them, would make a deep and lasting, lasting impression from the very environment in which he spoke it. And so we have in our text then, first of all, this removal to Galilee. And all I will say by way of application is this, that though under the new covenant according to John chapter 4, the emphasis of communion with God is not to be upon special places. You remember Jesus' words, to the woman at the well? She asked the question, where is the right place to worship?

15:30 Mount Gerizim or Jerusalem? Jesus said, you're asking the wrong question. Under the new covenant, it is not place, but disposition of heart. Neither in this place nor in Jerusalem will true worshipers be found, but true worshipers are those who will worship in spirit and in truth.

15:53 And we're going to talk about that in just a moment. And we're going to talk about that in just a moment. And we're going to talk about that in just a moment. While we would not in any way take away the glory of that reality, yet on this occasion, a place was very significant.

16:04 Had any of the eleven, and if the five hundred and the women were present as well, had they gone to any other place but Galilee, and to any other mountain but the one appointed by Jesus, they would have missed his special visitation. The place was important because it was the place where he had appointed to meet with them. And we are not disembodied spirits. And though under the new covenant we do not have holy places, places where Christ has pledged his holy presence.

16:48 And to be absent from such places is to miss Christ. And to be absent from such places is to miss Christ. And to be absent from such places is to miss Christ. For earlier in this covenant, gospel he had said where in that where two or three are gathered in my name there that place there in the midst in other words there are places where jesus is more present than at others and if we are not there we miss him that's why he said when you pray enter into your closet that's a place and if you do not frequent a secret place to pray you miss where two or three are gathered in my name there in that place i am to be found and if you do not make conscience of gathering at the stated times where god's people gather you miss christ as surely as the 500 or the 11 or the women those that were appointed to go to that place in galilee would have missed this visitation of the lord jesus well so much then

The Appearance of the Risen Christ in Galilee: Worship and Doubt

18:15 for what our text tells us of the removal to galilee now notice secondly the appearance of the risen christ in galilee the appearance of the risen christ in galilee and when they saw him they worshiped him but some doubted and here we have in this account of the appearance of the risen christ the act of his appearance asserted and the response to his appearance described how is the fact of his appearance asserted very simply verse 17 when they saw him had he not appeared they couldn't see him doesn't say when they had an apparition of him when they mentally conjured up the notion that they saw him no matthew says when they saw actually came and appeared put in his presence at the place of his own appointment furthermore in verse 18 the fact is asserted in these words and jesus came to them it was the place of his own appointment and he came to them and he came to them and he came to the resurrected the once dead but now living lord jesus christ who actually presences himself with them

19:43 how long had they been gathered before he came we do not know had they waited an hour two a day three we do not know but one thing is sure the christ who said go before me into galilee there I will meet you. He kept his word. But now there are two responses to his appearance described. The majority, they worshipped.

20:14 A minority had temporary doubts. Look at the text. And when they saw him, they worshipped him. That's a description of the response of the vast majority.

20:29 When they saw him, they worshipped him. And the use of the word worship here probably demands the full sense of its significance, both in terms of inward religious disposition and outward physical position. They probably prostrated themselves before him, pouring out the homage and the reverence and adoration due only to deity.

21:04 That worship which angels consistently rejected throughout the scriptures except the angel of Jehovah, which apostles and men of God consistently refuse when anyone tried to render it to them. Get up off your face. I'm only a man. We are passions, the apostles said.

21:30 But here, when the majority, prostrate themselves before him, he accepts that outward symbol that the creature is in the presence of the creator. He accepts the outward symbol of the inner homage and reverence and adoration and love due only to the deity. But then there was a minority that doubted. It says, but some doubted.

22:05 And what was that doubting? Well, the text again is not explicit, but by the particular word that is used, found only one other time in the New Testament. And from the analogy of scripture in the subsequent context, probably what it was, was not doubting that Jesus had risen from the dead as Thomas doubted. But as the Lord Jesus first drew near, they were not quite certain if it, indeed, were the Lord Jesus.

22:39 Some more quickly perceived, it is our Lord being fulfilled. And as soon as he is within any reasonable proximity, they fall down in adoration and homage and worship. Others are not quite so certain. It could be, as some commentators suggest, that he had begun to lay aside some of the trappings of a veiled deity, and perhaps in his very physical form, there was something that identified him as Jesus.

23:18 Yet, it was not the Jesus fully aware of his humiliation, but beginning, as it were, to disrobe and to put upon him the insignia of exaltation. But whatever it was, they had this temporary doubt, this temporary reservation of mind and of heart. But apparently, since there was no rebuke, and there is no indication that the Lord pauses to deal with it, it soon merged into a certain confidence that this was indeed their risen and exalted Lord. And again, just briefly by way of application, let me say that as then, so now, the experience of God's people, varies in terms of their quickness both to perceive spiritual realities and to respond in faith to those realities. The vast majority were quick to perceive it is our Lord, and to respond accordingly. Others were a little slower, but blessed be God, all who had the root of the matter in them were finally joined in their heart's adoration

The Mandate of the Risen Christ: Preface of Cosmic Authority

24:42 and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. So we've looked at the removal to Galilee. Secondly, the appearance of the risen Christ in Galilee. And now we come to that which is the soul of our message this morning, the mandate of the risen Christ given at Galilee.

25:05 The mandate of the risen Christ given at Galilee. And it has three basic units. I think, many of the children who've been taught to try to analyze what they read could very quickly see that there are basically three parts to this mandate of the risen Christ. There is first of all a preface, verse 18, Jesus came to them and spake unto them, saying, All authority hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth.

25:45 Then, there are prescribed duties, going therefore, make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them, teaching them. And then it concludes with a marvelous promise. And lo, verse 20b, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. So the mandate of the risen Christ given at Galilee has its preface, it's prescribed duties and its preface.

26:21 Now then, let's look at these elements in this mandate of the risen Christ. It has a preface. The Lord Jesus begins to speak of the duties of his own, whether it was the twelve and their unique responsibilities as foundation stones in the new covenant community, whether it is speaking to the five hundred representatives, representative of the entire community of the people of God for all ages. It is evident that before the Lord Jesus begins to delineate their duties in the light of an accomplished redemption, he first of all focuses all of the attention upon himself. And he makes in the most simple way some of the most staggering, mind-boggling claims that he ever made. He says that all authority has been given unto me in heaven and upon earth.

27:32 In this context, authority is both the right and to act. And Jesus here claims, and I wrestled with words, Lord, what words accurately convey what he claims? And this is the best I could come up with. Jesus, Jesus here claims unlimited, cosmic, unlimited, cosmic.

28:06 It has no limit.

28:14 That is mine. And to what realms does it extend? In heaven and upon earth.

28:24 It's enveloped in the authority of the risen Christ. This is the stupendous claim that he makes in his preface of this mandate that he will lay upon us. This is the claim that he makes in his preface of this mandate that he will lay upon us. It is the claim that he makes in his preface of this mandate that he will lay upon us.

28:40 It is the claim that he makes in his preface of this mandate that he will lay upon us. it is the claim that he makes in his preface of this mandate that he will lay upon us. upon his people. And he says, this authority is not that which he possessed inherently as the second person of the Godhead from all eternity.

28:54 But you'll notice, it is an authority which has been delivered or given or deposited in his hands. And he is therefore speaking of the same truth that is expanded in such pathways As Ephesians chapter 1, Philippians chapter 2, and in one of Peter's epistles, it is speaking of that authority which is given to him as the mediator, in which as the reward of his obedience unto death, even the death of the cross, the Father puts into the hands of the Lord Jesus. The very thing we read of in Revelation 5, he is worthy to take the scroll of decrees, and to break the seals, and to administer all of the will of God, within which God will call to himself the full role of his elect. And he says to these disciples, as the preface of the mandate he is about to lay upon them,

30:08 Focus your attention upon me, who I am, what I possess, and what I possess by way of donation from my Father is unlimited cosmic authority. Now by way of application, my dear brothers and sisters, this preface has tremendous implications. As our Lord is about to issue the standing mandate for his people, that extends to the end of the age, he does not begin by pointing to the vast need of men.

30:50 No one knew the need of men more than our Lord Jesus.

30:55 We have read, have we not, in the Gospel of Mark, how again and again he was moved in the face of human need. Moved with anger when he saw hardness of heart. Moved with compassion, that compound Greek word that is untouchable, translatable into English. The very stirring of the...

31:19 When he looked upon human need. And yet when our Lord is about to give this mandate that extends to the end of the age, he does not point his followers to the vast need of sinful humanity. He does not describe the wretched condition of the world. He does not underscore the frightening power of the devil.

31:45 All of which are grim realities in the fulfilling of the mandate that he is about to give them. But what our Lord does is he places all the floodlights upon his own glorious person. And he says, before I give you the mandate, I want you to gaze at my person. I want you to gaze at who I am.

32:10 And having fixed your eyes upon me as the one who has received, as the reward of his sufferings, unlimited cosmic authority in that vision. And in that vision alone are you to undertake the duties that I now to lay upon you. And as I was wrestling with how to illustrate this for some reason, and I don't know why, my mind thought of the situation that exists in a large concert hall, say Avery Fisher Hall in New York or the Metropolitan Opera House. And before curtains...

32:48 And when the curtain time comes, the house lights are on. And the lights on the stage are on and on the orchestra. And one walks in and takes his place. He can look around and see all the rich folks sitting up there in the reserved boxes.

33:03 And see the poor folks sitting up way, way in the highest tier. And then somebody that's had a generous friend has given them an orchestra seat. And in a sense, everything shares equal billing. The lights is on.

33:19 Illuminate the vast array of humanity sitting there. People in the orchestra a little more light perhaps on their scores as they sit there in the orchestra pit. But then the house lights dim. And if it's a musical piece where the opening part is someone singing a solo, not only will the house lights dim so that you can't see a person three seats away, not only will the lights dim, not only will the lights be dimmed as the orchestra sinks down into the orchestra pit, but then one burning focused spotlight will come down upon the soloist so that every eye is drawn to that one focal point. And that's exactly what the Lord Jesus does here. Here are his disciples about to be sent out on a mission in which there is a plethora of concerns before them. There is a heartache.

34:24 There is a hostile Roman government or one that will become hostile. There is the blinding power of the devil. There is the prejudice of the Jewish leaders who put their Lord to death. There are all factors that in a sense could fill their vision with equal attention.

34:43 And it's as though the Lord Jesus says, Dim the house lights. Dim the lights in the orchestra pit. I want the floodlight of heaven to fall upon my person. And I want you to see me and to see me only.

34:59 All authority has been given unto me in heaven. And whatever I'm about to tell you to do, never forget who I am and what has been given to me. Then from the preface in which the attention is focused upon our Lord claiming unlimited, universal, cosmic authority. Notice secondly, a prescribed set of duties.

The Mandate of the Risen Christ: Prescribed Duties - Sphere of Activity

35:37 A prescribed set of duties. And in those prescribed duties, we have the assumed sphere of their activity, the specific nature of their activity. Now that shouldn't be too hard to remember. Among the prescribed duties that our Lord is to lay upon his people, there is an assumed sphere in which they will carry out those duties and the specific nature of those duties and activities.

36:12 What is the assumed sphere? Look at the text. Therefore make disciples of all the nations. Whatever he is telling them to do, the sphere in which they are to do it is ta ethne.

36:33 Which would be parallel to their Hebrew thinking of the goyim peoples. The gentile of every. The mandated activity is nothing less than all of the nation. Now we hear that and say big deal.

37:08 I've heard it hundreds of times. Put yourself in their place. Not only did they have the native narrowness of the sinful prejudice of the Jews, against the gentile dogs, but they even had an earlier commission in which they were expressly forbidden, not only to go to the goyim, but not even to the half-breed Samaritans. In this very gospel record, chapter 10 and verse 5, when they were commissioned earlier, Jesus said, Go not into the way of the gentiles or the Samaritans.

37:48 Now he tells them, the sphere of your mandated activities is to be nothing less than all of the nations. The borders of Israel, beyond the half-breed Samaritans, and of all of the goyim, all peoples in all places, of all kinds. This is to be the sphere of your activity. And then what was to be the nature of their activity among the nations?

The Mandate of the Risen Christ: Prescribed Duties - Nature of Activity (Making Disciples)

38:28 Well, you have one imperative, and that puts the spotlight on the central duty, and then it's flanked by two participles, which indicate that these are to tag along the main activity. Wherever they're doing the main activity, these two little things are to tag along the side. Now, they're never to be separated from the main activity, nor is the main activity to be separated from the two tag-alongs. But the emphasis in the way the grammar is structured is that there is a central task, and then two supplemental tasks.

39:07 There is one imperative, followed by two participles. Alright, what is the central task? Look at the text. Going therefore, our English translations read as though that were an imperative, it is not.

39:23 Going therefore, assuming that they are going, here's the imperative, here's the central word. Make disciples. The duty that you are to engage in among all the nations is to be nothing less than that of making disciples. Now, what is a disciple?

39:49 Well, certainly by now they began to understand the answer to that question. A disciple is someone who was bound to the Lord Jesus in an intelligent, believing, loving, submissive relationship. And our Lord says, Your great task is that from among all the nations you are to disciple men. You are to be my instruments to bring men into an intelligent, believing, loving, submissive attachment to my person.

40:27 Yes. As I approached you upon this mountain, you prostrated yourself before me, intelligently recognizing my identity as the God-man. You prostrated yourself before me, intelligently and believingly and lovingly acknowledging me to be your true Messiah, prophet, priest, and king. The object of your supreme religious affection and attachment now.

40:59 My mandate is this. Make such disciples of all the nations. In the sphere of all the nations, I am to have brought to me as you have been brought to me, appearing themselves before me. And gladly own me as their God, their Savior, their Redeemer, their prophet, their priest, their king, their Savior, and their Lord.

41:32 Now, Matthew does not record, that our Lord tells them on this occasion, how they are to do this. How are they to bring men to this? But when we read the other gospel records and read the book of Acts, it's clear they had no doubt as to the means they were to use to make disciples. They didn't do it at the end of a sword.

41:55 They didn't do it at the end of a sprinkling bottle. They didn't do it in the midst of a baptismal tank. They did it by means of that which our Lord outlined in Luke 24, 45 to 48, in concerning Christ, His death, His resurrection, the necessity of repentance and faith unto the remission of sins. And so a standard description of their activity is given in a passage such as Acts 14, where it says, when they had preached the gospel in that city and made many disciples, there's our verb, how did they make disciples?

42:39 By preaching the gospel. This was their central task. And to that task, they were to give themselves without distraction. Notice Jesus did not say, correct all the ills of ta ethne, sort out the nations.

42:59 He did not say, set up Christianized society in all the nations. This was not their task. This was not their mandate. This was not their mission.

43:11 This was not their vision, nor their labor. Reflecting upon that which God had done in the household of Cornelius when the Holy Ghost came upon the first group of Gentiles after Pentecost, raw Gentiles, and saved them. Reflecting upon it in Acts 15, 14, we find these words. Peter has rehearsed how God did visit the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name.

43:42 He visits in the secret but powerful operations of the Spirit, attending the simple proclamation of the Word, to take out of the nations a people for Himself to make disciples. Preaching of the very gospel that is embodied in the facts of the work we've studied for these years, the gospel of Mark, through that very gospel that proclaims Jesus Christ, Son of God, validated in His identity, willingly submitting to death and to execution upon the cross, rising from the dead. It's by the proclamation of that message that God will visit and take out for His name. And that was their mandated task. Make disciples of all the nations.

44:50 And I could not believe my eyes when I read an article recently in a responsible journal saying here's the problem with today's missionary task. We're not taking Jesus seriously. He says, Disciple the nations, that is, bring whole nations to the Christian faith, to Christian laws, to Christian standards, to a Christian view of everything from cracked nuts at Christmas time to how to plant your beans in the spring in this grandiose concept of converting the world from stem to stern through the gospel. Well, that's a marvelous, grandiose scheme. But the problem is it has no roots in responsible biblical exegesis. When the Lord Jesus returns again, this world's going to be in a mess. Things will be basically what they have always been.

The Mandate of the Risen Christ: Prescribed Duties - Supplemental Tasks (Baptizing)

45:53 Whereas in the days of Noah, they were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were given in marriage and knew not till the flood came. Let it be in the day of the coming of the Son of Man. No, the central task is not nor to focus upon one or two is to make disciples from among all the nations. And then what are the supplemental tasks that are always to attend the work of making disciples? Look at the text, baptizing them and teaching them. Baptizing. Now who are to be baptized?

46:51 Ah, people say the nations. Then what the text says, make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them. What's the immediate antecedent of the pronoun them? Nations.

47:03 So you baptize the nations. So you make disciples two ways, some by baptizing, some by teaching. You say you got to be kidding. No, I'm not kidding.

47:14 I could hold the books before you that I've read this week teaching that. Two ways. You make disciples of little babies by baptizing them, by adults by teaching them. That's what the text says.

47:31 Now I got a little problem. When it says baptizing them, the pronoun them does not agree in gender with nations. But it does agree with an assumed noun, namely disciples is a plural and it agrees then in number and make disciples baptized. You say, well, that's a little bit of a forced Baptist interpretation.

48:02 Well, not hardly. If Calvin was anything, he won the Baptist. And listen to Calvin on the passage. Baptizing them, Christ orders that those who have subscribed to the gospel and profess themselves to be disciples are to be baptized.

48:26 Partly that baptism may be for them a token of their eternal life in God's sight, partly as an outward sign of faith before men. We know that God testifies to the grace of his adoption by this sign for he engrafts us in the body of his son to reckon us among his flock. Thus our spiritual washing in which he reconciles us to himself and our new righteousness are there, that is in baptism, represented. But as God affirms his grace to us with this sealing, so those who offer themselves for baptism in turn ratify their faith as if by appending their signature.

49:10 And as the apostles are explicitly given this role along with the preaching of the gospel, he goes on to say it ought to be duly and orderly administered in the church. And then after he gives that all away with the left hand to the Baptist, he tries to take it back with the right hand and preserve his doctrine of paedobaptism. But it's a futile effort. No, the attendant activity has to do with those who've been made disciples and only those but part of that number are to be baptized and they are to be baptized into the name, singular, of that one God who is the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. In other words, their open identification as disciples in the ordinance of baptism is a declaration that they've come to a saving knowledge and experience of the salvation effected by the triune God. That's it. The salvation is effected by the whole Trinity.

50:34 As dear Pastor Blaise was wont to say, we sinners are so bad that it takes the whole Trinity to save us. And in baptism we declare that we have been brought into union with and into a faith relationship with the one true and living God who through the Gospel is now clearly displayed as the Father who sent the Son, the Son who willingly took our place and died and rose and the Holy Spirit who was sent from the exalted Son to transform us and come to indwell us and thereby unite us to Christ. And in baptism then there is this confession of the most rudimentary elements of Gospel faith that I should help and deliver me. But blessed be God, I have been brought to experience that activity and I call God my Father because Jesus Christ is my Savior and because the Holy Spirit has been given to me enabling me savingly to know the Son and freely to approach and therefore I gladly own

52:03 the Son and Holy Ghost. That supplemental task then of baptizing disciples is no empty ritual nor is it an optional ritual. None should be baptized but those who have been made disciples. All who have been made disciples should be baptized.

52:33 And I'll go further and say there is no record in the New Testament subsequent to Pentecost where there's any details given where anyone is reckoned a disciple who refuses to be baptized. You find the instance. No, the badge of discipleship is baptism. And the true validation of our baptism is an inward relationship of attachment to Christ.

53:10 So we should never have the anomaly of people who are strangers to hard attachment to Christ being baptized or people who say they have hard attachment to Christ who remain unbaptized. The mandate demands that those who are made disciples and who in the judgment of charity make a credible profession of faith the attachment to Jesus Christ which constitutes discipleship that they are to be baptized. Baptism is not optional. And then he says teaching them.

The Mandate of the Risen Christ: Prescribed Duties - Supplemental Tasks (Teaching)

53:48 Teaching whom? Those who have been made disciples having declared their discipleship in baptism. They are to be taught. Now notice carefully what he says they are to be taught.

53:59 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you. The activity? They are to be taught. The extent of it?

54:15 All things whatsoever Christ commanded. There's the extensiveness and the intensiveness. Nothing considered? Inconsequential.

54:26 Nothing considered? Oh, who cares about that? We're just going to be occupied with the broad strokes of Christianity. Christian living and the broad strokes of Christian doctrine.

54:36 No! He says you are to teach them all things whatsoever I commanded you. And notice he says you're to teach them not merely to absorb but observe. And the Greek word means to keep, to cherish up in the heart with a view to obedience, with a view to being molded.

55:01 In other words, it's assumed that when a man's a real disciple he wants to know the will of God and once he knows it he wants to do it. This idea that people are disciples and then you've got to spend half your life persuading them they ought to get surrendered and start doing what the Lord says is nonsense. Damning nonsense. Delusional nonsense.

55:25 Jesus assumes that when they've been made disciples and have gladly declared their identification with him in baptism they now sit in his school ready to be taught not just to get A's on their report card but that their lives may run in the way of his commandments. Teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you. And I say briefly by way of application in the interest of time you see the great task of the church with respect to those who've been made disciples is not to activate them and get them busy. It's not to entertain them and keep them happy. It's not to stroke them and keep them all placid. God have mercy on what goes on in the name of the church and in the name of Christ. Someone handed me an article printed in this week's Wall Street Journal.

56:29 One of the largest if not the largest growing denomination in the US the Assemblies of God and it was like reading a horror story. One Assemblies of God church with an auditorium seating some 10,000 I believe it said in which they have a half a million dollars worth of special props for special effects. And when the reporter was present in order to illustrate the rapture suddenly the lights dimmed and the focus was on the preacher and Peter Pan like he was whisked out of his pulpit out of sight. I didn't make this up.

57:07 30 piece bands everything under the sun. To have a Lawrence Welk show for nothing. Wisdom to observe. That's the great task.

57:41 It's the unchanging task. That means the word of God must be central in the totality of the life of that community. Men competent to open up the word of God with clarity and accuracy but hear me with the ability to screw up and to motivate them by fresh sights of Christ in a sense of indebtedness to Christ and every partation. These are the kind of men that must be secured to carry out the task teaching them to observe whatsoever I've commanded. Then in the few moments that remain notice there is not only that wonderful prelude in which all the attention is focused upon Christ then the delineation of the task the main task with the two attendant but then it closes with a promise. You see how much affinity there is between the promise and the prelude. All the attention comes back on the Lord now again.

The Mandate of the Risen Christ: The Marvelous Promise

58:56 And lo! That word means stop! As you commit yourself to the task may I say it reverently here's the one holy carrot I hold out before you to keep you motivated. Here it is.

59:24 I am with you always. Weak translation. The Greek construction means I am with you each of the days. All of the days.

59:37 You'll carry out the task in twenty-four hours with time for sleep and time for meeting bodily needs and family needs and recreation and all the rest. It'll be eased when your efforts seem to be in vain facing a broken heart or a pounding head. But remember I am with you. I am with you.

60:09 And the emphasis again is strong in the original I am with you. And who is the I? The one who has universal cosmic authority. The one who breaks your heart today.

60:23 I may break his heart to make your heart glad tomorrow. She's uncertain. There is a consummation of this age. It's marked out in God's calendar.

60:46 In the days of his flesh it had not yet been revealed to Jesus. I believe he knows it now. And there's a point in God's role of the elect where there's a last name on the list. And when the Lord Jesus gets that last one he's going to turn to his Father and say I've done what you deposited in my hands to do, Father.

61:14 And he's going to come forth the voice of the Archangel and the Trump of God and in clouds of glory in the heaven and the Lord Jesus will come and take to himself all of us. He's going to take to himself all those disciples living in debt who've been gathered from out of taethne some from every kindred every tribe every tongue every nation of those whom he purchased with his blood. I, the risen, exalted Lord am with you with all of my authority. I'm with you each and every one of the days. And I'm with you and with all who succeed you in spiritual generation after generation until that point in time when the age is consummated in the divine purpose. And then I will come and take you to myself. Oh, dear people in my final word of application I say to you who do not know the Lord Jesus don't you see how impoverished you are?

Pastoral Application: Call to Discipleship and Missions

62:30 What a wonderful thing to be where those disciples were prostrate before our rightful God our only Savior and Redeemer and to have a heart attached to him the one who loved sinners died for sinners nurtures sinners carries them in his bosom the one who is committed even now interceding at the right hand of the Father to make sure we all make it home safe at last. My unconverted friend if you ask me the question Pastor Martin what do you want above all else as the fruit of your labors today? I answer very simply I want you to become a disciple of my Savior. I don't want a dime from you. I don't want a nickel from you. I don't want a penny from you.

63:22 I don't want a compliment. I want you to become a disciple of so gracious a Savior as is Jesus. And dear people of God this is the task of the church. The moment we begin to start spiritual naval watching and we become smug and content that we've got a nice building fairly filled and business as usual and the bills are paid and we lose sight of our exalted Lord who has yet many more to take for himself from among the nations and we cease with one heart to beat with a passion as a church to know how according to the will and providence and deposit of gift that God gives us we can fulfill the mission of the disciples and reach them and go forth in confidence knowing he is with us unto the end of the age. How long will it be that are if labors alone the burden of loneliness in Pakistan before there's someone who will say Oh Lord Jesus send me send me send me to go into the midst of all the darkness and the blindness and the prejudice of those committed

64:52 to the house of Islam and there to labor and pray and weep and preach and witness until the Lord Jesus receives the reward of his sufferings in Pakistan. You mothers and dads what are your ambitions for your kids? Probably a mirror image of your own for yourself. And if your ambition is just to be a nice polite middle class reformed Christian it's most likely your kids won't even come up that high.

65:29 They'll turn out little Pharisees. You let them know that nothing would make your heart more sad but more glad. And to see them give themselves to serve Christ even though it might mean the pain of separation of miles for months and years at a time. The Lord Jesus has not rescinded this mandate.

65:56 And when we open up the Gospel of Mark and we read the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God what is the end of the Gospel? The end is the consummation of the age when all for whom he lived and died have been made disciples incorporated into the community of his people brought to varying levels of maturity through the ministry of the Word of God. And that's why the Lord Jesus will come and take us to himself. Let us pray.

Prayer of Consecration

66:30 Our Father we thank you for your Holy Word. We thank you for your beloved Son. We thank you for the privilege oh the unspeakable privilege of being his disciples. We love you Lord Jesus.

66:57 We thank you for living the life we did not live nor could have ever lived. We thank you for dying the death we deserve to die but dare not die. Thank you for sending the Spirit to open our eyes and subdue our wills to give us new hearts. And oh we thank you for at least in some miniscule way giving us a heart to obey this mandate.

67:30 But Lord Jesus will you not speak it to us afresh as you've drawn near to us not on a mountain in Galilee but here on an old grazing field in Montville. Oh Lord Jesus we pray for the unconverted for boys and girls and men and women who are not your disciples Lord show them the folly of their unbelief the danger of their rebellion. We pray oh God that in days to come everything that even approaches the Laodicean spirit of smugness and self-satisfaction will be excised from our hearts by the mighty work of the Holy Ghost and that this church will indeed become one body passionately consumed with love and attachment to our glorious Lord and filled with determination to be obedient to this mandate with utter confidence that he is with us and able to do all that must be done to gather his elect to himself. Seal then your word to our hearts we plead in his dear name Amen.