Sermon Tone Analysis

Follow Me

I can’t wait to study this text together this morning because I hope we are reading it in a whole new light.

This is no longer reading about the Great Commission.

What we are reading is the very mission of our lives and that which should be the very mission of this church.

What does it mean to make disciples?

So, with that understanding, let's dive into and read Matthew 28:16-20.

What I want us to do is look at this text through the lens of a covenant with each other.

What I mean by covenant is a commitment that we make to God, before God and before each other.

I want us to think about this text as it relates to our lives individually and our lives corporately as a faith family called Faith Bible Church and what this text means for us.

I want us to unfold and unpack three facets of that covenant.

We will be a church that trusts in His authority

"All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth."

Matt.

28:18 .

That is the key statement in the Great Commission because it is the foundation upon which everything else that He says is built.

All authority on heaven and on earth has been given to me.

Now this is a theme we have seen throughout the book of Matthew.

This is actually the tenth time that we see Jesus’ authority referenced.

All throughout the Gospels we see His authority emphasized over and over again.

It is not just the power of Jesus—“All ‘power’ has been given to me”—but it is the right to use that power.

You can have power and strength but if you don’t have the authority to use it, then it doesn’t really get you very far.

Jesus comes to His disciples soon before He is about to ascend back into heaven, and He says, “All authority, all power has been given to me to use.”

We are going to get to that in a second.

I want you to think about the authority of Christ on two different levels.

Number one,

His authority is universal

All authority on heaven and on earth.

That pretty much sums it up.

He has got it all.

If He has all authority in heaven and on earth that means there is nothing that is not under His authority.

He has complete and total, universal dominion, right and power to rule.

Here's a list of a few things over which He has authority.

He has authority over disease

You see Jesus when it comes to a blind man and all of a sudden the blind man can see.

When He comes to a lame man, He says, “Get up and walk.”

He has the authority to tell those who had never walked in their life to get up and walk and they do.

He has authority to take the lepers, the outcasts and give them healing.

He has authority over all disease.

Isn’t it good to know that Jesus Christ has authority over cancer, over any disease that anyone of us may ever face around the corner?

He has authority over disease.

He has authority over demons

Over and over again, this is one of the most common usages or references to His authority.

He is casting out demons.

The evil spirits flee from Him.

They run from Him.

He has authority over all demons.

He has authority over sin

You go through the Gospels and you look at how Jesus talks about how He has the authority to judge sin in John 5 and then He talks about how He has the authority not just to judge sin, if His authority stopped there then we would really be in trouble, but He has the authority of forgive sin.

Why?

Because He has authority by conquering sin.

He conquered death.

He conquered the grave.

He is Lord over sin.

He has authority over suffering

“Come to me all you who are weak and heavy laden and I will give you rest.”

When you are burdened with the things of this world and nothing makes sense and you are confused and you are anxious, you have a Savior who has authority over every single burden so that you don’t have to carry them so that He carries them for you.

He says to those who are hungry, who haven’t been satisfied by the things of this world, He says, “I am the bread of life.

I am the living water.”

He has authority over suffering.

He has authority over nature

Jesus is out on a boat with His disciples and a big storm comes and the disciples are panicking.

Jesus wipes the sleep out of His eyes, yawns and then speaks, raises His hand and He has authority to calm the seas.

His buddies another time were out in the middle of the lake and He is on the side and He would like to go see them.

Jesus needs no boat at that point to get out to His disciples.

He just takes a stroll across the water because He has authority over all of nature.

He has authority over all nations

Now, this has been prophesied all the way back in Daniel 7:13 and 14.

You might write that down and go back and look at it sometime.

It is an incredible text that talks about how the Son of Man would come who would have authority and sovereign dominion over every nation and His dominion would last forever.

Now that is the picture of Jesus’ authority.

When He comes to this point, He says, “All authority in heaven and on earth is mine.”

He means it.

He has got it all!

Just get the picture.

Psalm 148 sums it up.

He has authority over the sea creatures and all ocean depths, lightening and hail, stormy winds that do His bidding, mountains and hills, fruit trees, cedars, wild animals, all cattle, small creatures, flying birds, kings of the earth, all nations, princes, rulers on the earth, young men, maidens, old men and children.

They all bow down to the authority of Jesus Christ.

Now that changes the way you look at life.

That changes the way you watch television news when you know that Jesus Christ is in control and has authority over all nations.

It changes the way we approach the things we come into in life when He has authority over sin and suffering.

So, His authority is universal.

But, second,

His authority is purposeful

This is where we see the link between the authority of Christ and the Great Commission.

He is not just bragging here in Matthew 28:18.

“I have got all authority.”

What He is saying is, “I have got all authority in heaven and on earth for a purpose.”

This is what feeds the Great Commission is the claim that is the foundation for what He is about to say.

Because, basically what He is saying is, “I have all things in heaven and on earth at my disposal to accomplish this mission that I am about to give you.”

Let that soak in for a second.

Jesus Christ has said to His church right here, His disciples and to us today, “I have all authority in heaven and on earth, and I put them at your disposal to accomplish the mission that I have given to you.”

That is why He said in John 15, “You ask me for anything you need, anything you want to accomplish this mission and I will give it to you to see my word accomplished.”

His authority is purposeful.

Think about it—the authority of Jesus residing in each and every one of you, His person dwelling in you.

All authority in heaven and on earth given to us.

It is at this point we realize that...

Our success is not based on who we are or what we can do

It is not about how smart we are, how creative we are, how talented we are, how rich we are.

It is not about what we can offer.

Our success is based on who Jesus is and what He is capable of doing in our lives

We will be a church that trusts in His authority, His person, and His Word.