Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / What Now Msg 2121 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living

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What Now Msg 2121 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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  Speaker 1: Please turn in your bibles to the last five verses
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  Speaker 1: in the Gospel by Matthew. We have journeyed through this
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  Speaker 1: a great a gospel account written by the former tax
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  Speaker 1: collector turned disciple who wrote it for the Jews, which
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  Speaker 1: explains the numerous references to the Old Testament, promises given
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  Speaker 1: to the Jews, and references that the jew would understand
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  Speaker 1: much better than any gentile reader. Today marks my eighty
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  Speaker 1: sixth and final message in the book, and it seems
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  Speaker 1: a good time to stop. You have patiently worked with
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  Speaker 1: me through it, and I'm grateful and also reminded of
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  Speaker 1: the words of a mentor of mine who would often say,
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  Speaker 1: it doesn't matter how often you go through a book
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  Speaker 1: in the Bible, the real issue is how much of
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  Speaker 1: it goes through you. Today is as important a message
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  Speaker 1: as anything that has been said in these twenty eight chapters.
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  Speaker 1: It's as if the Lord saved the best for last.
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  Speaker 1: In the next two Sundays, I plan to do a
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  Speaker 1: brief synopsis or survey of what happened to the disciples
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  Speaker 1: as a result of Jesus' words from the Great Commission.
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  Speaker 1: What did they do, where did they go? How did
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  Speaker 1: they handle life without him among them. That will take us,
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  Speaker 1: of course, into the earliest verses of the Book of Acts,
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  Speaker 1: and perhaps other scriptures as well. But today we want
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  Speaker 1: to look at these five verses that appear at the
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  Speaker 1: end of the Book of Matthew. If you have brought
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  Speaker 1: your Bible, I'll be reading from the New Living Translation.
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  Speaker 1: Your version may be a bit different, but similar. Of course,
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  Speaker 1: as we look at these words together, even though they're familiar,
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  Speaker 1: let's follow along as if we're hearing them for the
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  Speaker 1: very first time. I do that every week as begin
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  Speaker 1: my study, and I ask you to do that today.
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  Speaker 1: Listen with fresh ears and an open heart. Let's stand
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  Speaker 1: together for the reading and the hearing of God's Word.
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  Speaker 1: Matthew twenty eight, verse sixteen. Then the eleven disciples left
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  Speaker 1: for Galilee, going to the mountain where Jesus had told
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  Speaker 1: them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him,
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  Speaker 1: but some of them doubted. Jesus came and told his disciples,
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  Speaker 1: I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth.
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  Speaker 1: Therefore go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing
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  Speaker 1: them in the name of the Father and the Son
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  Speaker 1: and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples, to obey
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  Speaker 1: all the commands I have given you, and be sure
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  Speaker 1: of this. I am with you always, even to the
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  Speaker 1: end of the age. That has reference not just to
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  Speaker 1: the end of your life and my life, but to
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  Speaker 1: the end of time on earth. Amazing promise. We hold
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  Speaker 1: in our hands a remarkable book, the only living book
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  Speaker 1: on the planet, the only book that, no matter where
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  Speaker 1: you read it, it is able to examine our motives,
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  Speaker 1: to rebuke us for our sins, and to renew us
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  Speaker 1: with hope, hope of forgiveness, and hope to continue on.
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  Speaker 1: Please remain standing for prayer. There is a bold assurance
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  Speaker 1: that comes at the end of this great book that
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  Speaker 1: reminds us, dear Father, that we will never be abandoned,
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  Speaker 1: We are never on our own, That though we may
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  Speaker 1: live alone, we are not alone. That though we may
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  Speaker 1: feel isolated, we are not isolated. You are with us always,
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  Speaker 1: You stay with us, You minister to us, You touch
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  Speaker 1: our lives in ways that no one else can reach,
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  Speaker 1: and you alone are able to try transform us from
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  Speaker 1: what we are naturally to what you want us to
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  Speaker 1: be supernaturally. Thank you for preserving the writings of Matthew,
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  Speaker 1: for giving us such profound information from a man who
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  Speaker 1: early in his life never gave a second thought to Jesus.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you for transforming his life, and through his transformed life,
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  Speaker 1: for inspiring his pen to write living truth that would
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  Speaker 1: last a lifetime. Open our hearts to realize the Lord
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  Speaker 1: that this commission has no ending, but continues throughout our
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  Speaker 1: work lives on this earth. Motivate us, prompt obedience from us,
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  Speaker 1: reprove us for indifference toward it, and then empower us
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  Speaker 1: with the passion to carry it out. Use our gifts
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  Speaker 1: today for the purpose of sending this message that we
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  Speaker 1: love and teach and obey to places far beyond these walls,
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  Speaker 1: into lives we've never met and perhaps never will, and
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  Speaker 1: to places we'll never go. Give wings to your word
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  Speaker 1: that these truths may fly free and far. We commit
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  Speaker 1: this prayer to you and our offering in the name
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  Speaker 1: of Jesus, our Savior, our Master, our Lord. Everyone said, amen,
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  Speaker 1: please be seated. I am always looking for ways to
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  Speaker 1: make a message stick. By that, I mean to make
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  Speaker 1: something that I'm saying memorable. We hear so much information.
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  Speaker 1: We are exposed to any number of voices, all of
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  Speaker 1: whom are hoping that you'll remember that message. But when
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  Speaker 1: we come to the scriptures, my desire is that you
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  Speaker 1: not forget what you have heard. This is especially true today.
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  Speaker 1: In order to make this as memorable as possible, you're
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  Speaker 1: going to do something different. I'm going to begin with
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  Speaker 1: a legend and end the message with a story. As
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  Speaker 1: is true of all legends and most stories, they are
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  Speaker 1: fanciful and frequently fictional. Sometimes they are true, but usually
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  Speaker 1: the lesson they teach is timeless. There is a timelessness
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  Speaker 1: in what you will hear in both legend and story today,
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  Speaker 1: So listen well. First the legend, it takes us back
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  Speaker 1: to the day that Jesus returned to Heaven. As he
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  Speaker 1: ascended from Earth back into the Father's presence, his body
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  Speaker 1: bore the marks of suffering, the scars of abuse. His
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  Speaker 1: hands and feet had fresh scars from the rough Roman
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  Speaker 1: spikes that it held him to the cross beams. As
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  Speaker 1: he hung suspended for hours before he died, the years
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  Speaker 1: of mistreatment showed on his face. They had taken their toll.
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  Speaker 1: Before he took his seat by the Father's throne, the
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  Speaker 1: angel Gabriel came near and said, Master, you must have
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  Speaker 1: suffered terribly, to which Jesus responded with gentleness and grace. Yes, yes,
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  Speaker 1: I did so, continued the archangel. Do all the earthlings
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  Speaker 1: now know how much you love them? Do all of
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  Speaker 1: them now understand that you accomplish their salvation by dying
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  Speaker 1: on the cross for them? Oh no, no, not yet,
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  Speaker 1: replied Jesus. Right now, only a very few know my
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  Speaker 1: most loyal followers who are in Galilee, some of them
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  Speaker 1: in Judea. They know. He said that with a heavy sigh.
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  Speaker 1: Gabriel stared at him, perplexed, troubled. Then he asked, what
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  Speaker 1: have you done, Lord to spread your mead, said you
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  Speaker 1: a round. How will all others find out that you
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  Speaker 1: died and rose again for their salvation? How will they
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  Speaker 1: know of your love and your forgiveness, your grace and
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  Speaker 1: your plan for their lives? For the first time, Jesus smiled,
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  Speaker 1: pleased with that insightful question, he answered, I have issued
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  Speaker 1: a command to Peter and James and John and the
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  Speaker 1: rest of my most faithful followers. I've commissioned them to
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  Speaker 1: stay engaged in a great plan. They are to make
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  Speaker 1: disciples of all the nations, going and baptizing and teaching.
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  Speaker 1: Others will hear the message and they will believe it.
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  Speaker 1: And then they, in turn will go and tell it
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  Speaker 1: to others who will believe it, who will in turn
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  Speaker 1: go to others who will broadcast the message, and it
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  Speaker 1: will be believed by more, and they will tell others
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  Speaker 1: they will believe it, and on and on. My message
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  Speaker 1: will travel around the world to all the nations. If
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  Speaker 1: they will do it, the plan will work beautifully. Jesus
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  Speaker 1: then sat down for the first time since he had
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  Speaker 1: left heaven thirty three years earlier. He sat down at
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  Speaker 1: the right hand of the Great Father God, the Father
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  Speaker 1: having finished the mission he had been sent to accomplish,
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  Speaker 1: but Gabriel was still trouble. Turning over in his mind
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  Speaker 1: was one of those what if questions. So we stayed
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  Speaker 1: a bit longer and then lean closer to the Savior
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  Speaker 1: and ask what if Peter and James and John and
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  Speaker 1: those others grow weary, or what if the people they
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  Speaker 1: tell believe but then later start to drift into other pursuits.
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  Speaker 1: What if, way down into the nineteenth and twentieth and
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  Speaker 1: even twenty first century on planet Earth, Man, they just
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  Speaker 1: aren't committed to your great commission and they lose heart
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  Speaker 1: and they drift off to things that occupy their interest,
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  Speaker 1: and spend their money on things that or selfish and
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  Speaker 1: self absorbed, and their witness becomes silent. Have you made
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  Speaker 1: other plans? Lord? A vacuous silence filled the throne room.
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  Speaker 1: The Lamb of God looked up deeply into the eyes
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  Speaker 1: of the winged celestial servant, shook his head and said, No,
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  Speaker 1: I have no other plan. The one I said in
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  Speaker 1: motion when I left this earth below is still the
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  Speaker 1: only one I will honor and bless. It is the
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  Speaker 1: only plan I left for them to follow. The legend
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  Speaker 1: ends there, but the timeless and true lesson, as you
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  Speaker 1: can see, lives on the plan Jesus said in motion
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  Speaker 1: before he ascended back into heaven, is the only plan
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  Speaker 1: that will work, the only one he will honor and bless,
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  Speaker 1: because it is the inspired plan. That's why it is
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  Speaker 1: called the Great Commission, the Great Commission. That's why it's great.
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  Speaker 1: When obeyed, it works. To fully appreciate it again, we
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  Speaker 1: return to the scene where it was first given Matthew
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  Speaker 1: twenty eight, beginning at verse sixteen, to the actual setting
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  Speaker 1: right there in the land of Israel, in the region
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  Speaker 1: of Galilee, where Jesus and the disciples had their rendezvous.
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  Speaker 1: The mountain is never revealed specifically, so we don't know
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  Speaker 1: which one of the mountains. But we are told that
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  Speaker 1: the disciples left for Galilee. They were in Judea, down south,
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  Speaker 1: but they left having been told by the women who
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  Speaker 1: had been at the tomb. They set the message to
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  Speaker 1: the disciples, Jesus will meet you in Galilee. So they
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  Speaker 1: are following instructions and they come to this place in
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  Speaker 1: Galilee where he had told him to go. Look closely
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  Speaker 1: look at their response when they saw him. Remember, now
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  Speaker 1: he is in a glorified state. Doesn't mean he's glowing.
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  Speaker 1: It means that the whole molecular structure of his body
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  Speaker 1: has changed. He is able to go around the halfway
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  Speaker 1: around the world in a split second. He's able to
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  Speaker 1: move through rock or any other solid substance with no resistance.
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  Speaker 1: He is in a glorified, resurrected state. But they know him.
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  Speaker 1: He looks as he looked before, and he's able to
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  Speaker 1: speak to them. He has already eaten a meal with
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  Speaker 1: them by the seashore, and now they are listening to
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  Speaker 1: him as he gives them instruction. But we observe the
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  Speaker 1: first thing they do when they see him? Is they
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  Speaker 1: worship him just as you and I will do when
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  Speaker 1: we first lay eyes on Jesus. I would imagine most
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  Speaker 1: of them fell to their knees, some of them on
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  Speaker 1: their faces, as they acknowledged him, because he alone is
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  Speaker 1: worthy of worship. Perhaps they poured out their praises as
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  Speaker 1: they said their words of gratitude and honor to him.
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  Speaker 1: But Matthew adds this comment, because he was there with them,
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  Speaker 1: some of them doubted. How could that be? How can
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  Speaker 1: you worship and doubt? Well? If I may, you and
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  Speaker 1: I do it all the time, even when we gather
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  Speaker 1: to worship. There are those doubts that lie, perhaps unexpressed
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  Speaker 1: at the moment, but there they are. Nevertheless. I wonder
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  Speaker 1: how that situation will go tomorrow when I'm with my doctor.
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  Speaker 1: I wonder if what was earlier diagnosed is true. I
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  Speaker 1: wonder if my son will ever come back to the Lord.
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  Speaker 1: I question, And then on and on the doubts go.
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  Speaker 1: So they doubt it, what would they doubt? Well? Think
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  Speaker 1: about it? Up until now, they've always had him with them.
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  Speaker 1: After a night's sleep, they would wake up and there
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  Speaker 1: he was. During a day when they met up with
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  Speaker 1: a situation where someone was struggling with demons. There he
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  Speaker 1: was to deal with the demons, or there was someone
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  Speaker 1: who was crippled and unable to get around. He was
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  Speaker 1: there to heal them. Or the sea was troubled, he
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  Speaker 1: was there to calm it or to raise the dead.
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  Speaker 1: But he's going to leave them, So they wonder what
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  Speaker 1: will happen then? What will it be like when we
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  Speaker 1: won't have the Master with us? Surely that was one
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  Speaker 1: of their concerns before. You were always there, but now
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  Speaker 1: it feels like you're abandoning us. So they're struggling with
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  Speaker 1: doubts as well as experiencing true worship. There are so
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  Speaker 1: many unanswered questions in their minds. So Jesus speaks. I'm
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  Speaker 1: confident that much of what he said calm their questions
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  Speaker 1: and doubts and settle their hearts. Jesus knows this, and,
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  Speaker 1: realizing this, decides to tell them what will be their
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  Speaker 1: marching orders from here on and by the way, following
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  Speaker 1: verse twenty, will you look in your Bible, It's blank.
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  Speaker 1: There's a blank space. This is it, this is the plan,
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  Speaker 1: this is the Great Commission. There's nothing of a ps
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  Speaker 1: or an addendum or later on, I will give you
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  Speaker 1: this information. No, this is it. Here are the instructions
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  Speaker 1: for the disciples who will follow Jesus after he's left
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  Speaker 1: the earth. I have placed in your worship holder an
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  Speaker 1: outline of today's message. I rarely call attention to that,
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  Speaker 1: but because I've left you spaces to fill in actual
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  Speaker 1: lines to write things on again, this will help the
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  Speaker 1: message stick if you will pull out that outline, open
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  Speaker 1: it up, and let me show you now that we're
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  Speaker 1: at the Great Commission itself in verses eighteen, nineteen and
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  Speaker 1: the early part of twenty, I want to point out
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  Speaker 1: four things I observe about it. I think it will
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  Speaker 1: help make it even clearer than you may already think
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  Speaker 1: you know it. So with your penhandy, let me observe
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  Speaker 1: with you these four things. Each begins with the name
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  Speaker 1: of Jesus. First, we read in verse eighteen Jesus came
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  Speaker 1: and told his disciples stop right there. Here's what I
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  Speaker 1: want you to write down and remember, Jesus spoke to
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  Speaker 1: very ordinary people who knew him personally. He spoke to
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  Speaker 1: very ordinary people who knew him personally. Unfortunately, we have
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  Speaker 1: lived our lives surrounded by those who have wanted to
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  Speaker 1: convey the sincerity and the devotion of the disciples, and
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  Speaker 1: through the artist's brush or perhaps the words of a
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  Speaker 1: very colorful artist or author. We have seen the work
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  Speaker 1: on canvass or we've read in books words that describe
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  Speaker 1: the Disciples in ways that make them a here as
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  Speaker 1: though there are some kind of super spiritual human beings.
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  Speaker 1: They were not. They were ordinary people. When I was
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  Speaker 1: a little boy, it was during World War Two. We
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  Speaker 1: only had one car. My dad used the car to
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  Speaker 1: go to his workplace since he was too old for
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  Speaker 1: the draft, and he worked at an armament place that
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  Speaker 1: was involved in the building of the tanks and the
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  Speaker 1: landing craft of the war. So he took the car
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  Speaker 1: and the only way we could get the church was
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  Speaker 1: to walk, And we walked to the end of the
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  Speaker 1: block on our little street there in East Houston, and
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  Speaker 1: we went to a church named Saint Andrew's Methodist Church.
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  Speaker 1: And as you would imagine, inside the church was a
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  Speaker 1: statue of Saint Andrew, Saint Andrew. So when you walked
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  Speaker 1: in you're a little boy, uh six seven years old,
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  Speaker 1: the first thing you see is this. Of course, there's
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  Speaker 1: a there's a halo, and and and it's white, and
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  Speaker 1: and he's got this robe and it's spotless, and he
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  Speaker 1: has a sandals, and I was just like, wow, Saint Andrew.
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  Speaker 1: My dad would say there are no saints, and I
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  Speaker 1: would go, well, what's he's It's just a statue. See,
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  Speaker 1: but we're taught that there that there's something else that
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  Speaker 1: they're so let me make it. Let me make this
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  Speaker 1: real clear in case you you're missing it. The people
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  Speaker 1: he talked to were folks just like us. They had
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  Speaker 1: no miracle kits that they could reach in and get
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  Speaker 1: the tool and do a miracle. They had no halos.
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  Speaker 1: I wish artists would get rid of halo's, but they
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  Speaker 1: never will and make them look holy. They had no uniforms.
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  Speaker 1: They didn't go to the best school. They didn't go
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  Speaker 1: to any school. They didn't go to seminary. None of
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  Speaker 1: them did not till the Holy Spirit came on them,
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  Speaker 1: did they have any power. You won't know what they
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  Speaker 1: look like. I'm gonna pause for five seconds and give
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  Speaker 1: you an example. Look around. Some of you aren't even
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  Speaker 1: doing that. Look around, Okay, there are the disciples, and
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  Speaker 1: you're thinking they look like that. There they are. That's
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  Speaker 1: what they look like. Just folks, just ben in this case,
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  Speaker 1: all been just guys. He spoke to them, I know
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  Speaker 1: where I'm going with this, and I have a reason
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  Speaker 1: for pausing at this, which may seem ludicrous to some
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  Speaker 1: of you that want to hurry on. Stop thinking of
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  Speaker 1: anyone named in the scriptures as a hano wearing, saintly
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  Speaker 1: looking individual. They weren't. We've already read. They doubted. They're sinful,
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  Speaker 1: they were guilty of coming to wrong conclusions. They were fearful,
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  Speaker 1: they weren't sure what to do next. They did nothing
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  Speaker 1: in their system that made them glow or stand out,
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  Speaker 1: And when you were around them, you wouldn't even know
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  Speaker 1: they were disciples. They didn't have any badge or little flags.
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  Speaker 1: I am a disciple, None of that, none of that.
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  Speaker 1: They just were men. That's what it says, he told
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  Speaker 1: his disciples. Now we're ready for the second Jesus presented
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  Speaker 1: his plan, which was brief, simple and clear. He presented
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  Speaker 1: a plan that was brief, simple and clear. He spoke
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  Speaker 1: calmly and deliberately. No theological jargon, no mumbo jumbo, no
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  Speaker 1: secret code. Language, didn't require an explanation. He doesn't explain
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  Speaker 1: the words, He just gives him, because they are all
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  Speaker 1: self explanatory. And look for yourself. I've been given all
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  Speaker 1: authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make
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  Speaker 1: disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name
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  Speaker 1: of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
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  Speaker 1: Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands. We'll
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  Speaker 1: go on in a minute, but just stop right there.
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  Speaker 1: He had authority over everything on earth and in heaven.
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  Speaker 1: They didn't. He does. We don't. He does, and he
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  Speaker 1: makes that clear. So he has the right to level
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  Speaker 1: a command. He certainly outranks us as the second member
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  Speaker 1: of the Trinity. He has the right to declare a
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  Speaker 1: statement that requires obedience. This is not a suggestion, This
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  Speaker 1: is a command. This would be their marching orders from
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  Speaker 1: now on. Now, let me have you noticed something very important?
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  Speaker 1: The main verb. Yeah, the main verb is make disciples.
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  Speaker 1: Now look again, as the commission, you would think the
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  Speaker 1: main verb would beg but it isn't. You might even
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  Speaker 1: think the main verb would be teach. It isn't. So
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  Speaker 1: let me render it correctly, or render it in a
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: way that underscores the main verb. Therefore, make disciples of
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: all the nations, going baptizing, and teaching. These three other
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: words surround the main word make disciples. It will take going,
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: it will certainly involve baptizing those who believe, and it
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: will definitely include teaching. But the main commission is the
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: making of disciples. When you are involved in making disciples, men,
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: don't limit your involvement to the familiar your own world.
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: Plan to be going beyond the familiar, to people who
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: have a culture that's different from yours, who speak a
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: language unfamiliar to you. Because I want you to go
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: into all all all the nations. In fact, let me
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: have you notice the repeated use of all, look at
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: it all authority verse eighteen, all the nations verse nineteen,
• 33:50
  Speaker 1: all the commands verse twenty. I will be with you
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: always from now on, wherever you go to whatever nation.
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: There are no limitations, There are no reservations. There is
• 34:12
  Speaker 1: no area marked off because it is dirty or dangerous,
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: or because the people are sophisticated or perhaps live in
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: a lower standard than you. Perhaps they are people that
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: are illiterate, or there are those who are highly educated.
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: All the nations. Now, let me give you the third
• 34:45
  Speaker 1: statement that I observe here. Jesus was intense about the mission,
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: but flexible regarding the method. He was intense about the mission,
• 35:05
  Speaker 1: but flexible regarding the method. The words all reveal intensity, all, all, all.
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: This church has on its heart a global outreach of ministry.
• 35:25
  Speaker 1: We reach, as we'll see in our next Sunday or two.
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: We reach where we are, We reach the community where
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: we are located. We reach beyond our community, we reach
• 35:38
  Speaker 1: beyond that, and then beyond the seas to other places.
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: The method we may use is very different from one
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: place to another, because Jesus doesn't spell out how to
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: make disciples. He simply says, make them. I rather like that.
• 36:01
  Speaker 1: I like the idea of flexibility, and we are free
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: to go there. You are certainly free to do that
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: home study group in one way, person a person in another,
• 36:19
  Speaker 1: evangelistic outreach in one way, Bible studies in another, and
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: on and on. I could go. Insight for living ministries
• 36:28
  Speaker 1: has as a part of our marching orders, what we
• 36:33
  Speaker 1: call Vision one nine five. It comes from the fact
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: that our State Department has revealed that there are one
• 36:43
  Speaker 1: hundred and ninety five nations around the world. Some are islands,
• 36:49
  Speaker 1: some are large large nation, some are small nations, some
• 36:54
  Speaker 1: are nearby. Many of them are away beyond the seas
• 36:57
  Speaker 1: from where we live. But there are one hundred and
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: ninety five them. Our vision is to go to all
• 37:02
  Speaker 1: of them ultimately. Now, having said that, we must keep
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: in mind that there are different cultures at every one
• 37:13
  Speaker 1: of those nations. You don't speak to people who are
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: from Australia as you would speak to people who are
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: from America. Australians have a culture that's unique to them.
• 37:27
  Speaker 1: They speak English, but they have a culture that's unique.
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: You don't go to a country in Africa and communicate
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: to them or expect from them the kind of things
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: you would as if you were going to minister in
• 37:42
  Speaker 1: New Zealand or Japan or Indonesia. So there's a flexibility
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: that must be built into the method. Let me give
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: you some examples, and I've written them in a number
• 37:57
  Speaker 1: of areas so you'll remember them. It'll hit one spot
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: or two that you'll be familiar with. Your method may
• 38:04
  Speaker 1: be large arenas, or it may be small groups. Your
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: method of reaching out maybe to sophisticated intellectuals they're reached
• 38:17
  Speaker 1: one way, or it may be to students on a
• 38:20
  Speaker 1: campus another way. Your target may be athletes. You reach
• 38:28
  Speaker 1: athletes a certain way, not like you reach artists in
• 38:32
  Speaker 1: studios doing their unique work, workers on construction sites. Laborers
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: are reached one way. Entertainers are reached another in the
• 38:45
  Speaker 1: film industry or the television industry. Millennials who live in
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: the urban sprawl are reached one way. Teenagers who live
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: in the country smaller villages are reached another. And then
• 39:00
  Speaker 1: there are entrepreneurs. There are people in the military, There
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: are professionals and politicians. There are prisoners living behind bars.
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: There are Islanders, There are New Yorkers. There are people
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: from the metropolises around the country of Chicago, Miami, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Boston, Dallas,
• 39:31
  Speaker 1: Los Angeles, Seattle, you can name them. That's just here
• 39:35
  Speaker 1: in America. But reaching them in Saint Paulo is not
• 39:39
  Speaker 1: like reaching them in New York, or reaching them in
• 39:42
  Speaker 1: Tokyo is not like reaching them in the heart of China.
• 39:49
  Speaker 1: The point is you're to reach all the nations, keeping
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: in mind that there are cultural uniquenesses that need to
• 40:01
  Speaker 1: be honored, observed, cooperated with. That is why so often
• 40:11
  Speaker 1: before an individual can really minister in a nation, you
• 40:15
  Speaker 1: must learn the language of that nation, because the language
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: is the green light to the lives of people who
• 40:24
  Speaker 1: live there. If you don't know their language, you are
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: as if you are living back in these United States
• 40:31
  Speaker 1: trying to reach them in their country. So you've got
• 40:36
  Speaker 1: the point flexible regarding method. Here's the fourth. Jesus expected
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: obedient action from all of his followers. How do I
• 40:49
  Speaker 1: know that? Teach these new disciples to obey all the
• 40:54
  Speaker 1: commands I've given you? You know what that says to me.
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: I'm gonna level with you. Nobody gets off light. I
• 41:09
  Speaker 1: have no business preaching a watered down message that makes
• 41:14
  Speaker 1: you feel good or helps you leave thinking. Man, I
• 41:20
  Speaker 1: pretty well have life wired unless you are engaged in
• 41:24
  Speaker 1: what God would want you to do, and then you
• 41:27
  Speaker 1: won't have that attitude. My responsibility is to put the
• 41:33
  Speaker 1: cookies on the lower shelf and not back off from
• 41:36
  Speaker 1: anything Christ has said. And he says we're to obey
• 41:41
  Speaker 1: all the things he has commanded. You don't want to
• 41:44
  Speaker 1: know something, and I testify only because I know me
• 41:47
  Speaker 1: better than anybody else. It's the driving force of my life.
• 41:53
  Speaker 1: Every day of my week I think of it. I'm
• 41:57
  Speaker 1: driven by it day and night, and I was before
• 42:03
  Speaker 1: I went into ministry. I love the Lord that deeply.
• 42:07
  Speaker 1: I just got training so I could do it better.
• 42:11
  Speaker 1: But the point is it is the driving force of
• 42:14
  Speaker 1: my life into doing what I do. It's what takes
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: the word retirement out of my vocabulary. It's what says
• 42:23
  Speaker 1: to me, you need to be doing this as long
• 42:25
  Speaker 1: as you can do it effectively and stay at it
• 42:31
  Speaker 1: because Christ expects you to fulfill what he has commissioned
• 42:38
  Speaker 1: you to do. Let me give you some examples. Why
• 42:41
  Speaker 1: do you buy a car to drive it to use it.
• 42:47
  Speaker 1: Why do you purchase fishing equipment to fish, skiing equipment
• 42:52
  Speaker 1: to ski? Why do you get a home to live
• 42:56
  Speaker 1: in it. Why do you fix a meal to eat it?
• 43:02
  Speaker 1: Why do you build a swimming pool to swim in it?
• 43:06
  Speaker 1: Why do you pull a book off the shelf to
• 43:08
  Speaker 1: read it? Why do you follow Christ if you don't
• 43:15
  Speaker 1: have plans to doing what he says? We're not building
• 43:19
  Speaker 1: a club here. We're engaged in what is called the
• 43:24
  Speaker 1: Christian way of life, where we trust Him, follow his teaching,
• 43:29
  Speaker 1: and do it to the last day of our life regardless.
• 43:33
  Speaker 1: Now hopefully we do it tactfully, graciously, but consistently, and
• 43:39
  Speaker 1: the more we do it the better we get at it,
• 43:41
  Speaker 1: because that's why we've trusted in Jesus. We didn't trust
• 43:45
  Speaker 1: Jesus just to miss Hell. We trust it in Jesus
• 43:50
  Speaker 1: to become like him so that the Lord could turn
• 43:53
  Speaker 1: our lives around and make us like Christ. In fact,
• 44:00
  Speaker 1: his last words in this gospel are so comforting. Look
• 44:04
  Speaker 1: at the assurance. Be sure of this. I'm with you always,
• 44:09
  Speaker 1: even to the end of time. That great He was
• 44:15
  Speaker 1: not with me more when I was a younger man
• 44:17
  Speaker 1: than he is now. He is not with me now
• 44:20
  Speaker 1: more than he will be ten years from now. If
• 44:22
  Speaker 1: I'm still alive, still doing what I'm doing, he is
• 44:26
  Speaker 1: still engaged, still making himself available, still empowering us to
• 44:31
  Speaker 1: do what we're meant to do. The implication is I
• 44:35
  Speaker 1: will give all the strength you need, provide all of
• 44:41
  Speaker 1: the energy necessary, open all the doors that need to
• 44:46
  Speaker 1: be opened, and when I do, walk through them, speak
• 44:55
  Speaker 1: to those people. Open your heart, open your doors, open
• 45:00
  Speaker 1: your life. The question is are we doing it? Which
• 45:06
  Speaker 1: brings me to the story. Remember the legend. Now listen
• 45:12
  Speaker 1: to the story. On a dangerous sea coasts notorious for shipwrecks,
• 45:24
  Speaker 1: there was once a crude, little life saving station. Actually,
• 45:30
  Speaker 1: the station was more like a hut, with only one
• 45:35
  Speaker 1: boat for saving lives. But the few devoted members of
• 45:43
  Speaker 1: that hut kept a constant watch over the turbulent sea,
• 45:50
  Speaker 1: with little thought for themselves. They would go out day
• 45:54
  Speaker 1: and night, tirelessly searching for those in danger. As is
• 46:00
  Speaker 1: the lost. Many many laves were saved by this brave
• 46:06
  Speaker 1: those small band of men and women who faithfully worked
• 46:10
  Speaker 1: as a team in and out of the life saving
• 46:15
  Speaker 1: hut bye and bye. It became a very famous place.
• 46:23
  Speaker 1: Some of those who had been saved, as well as
• 46:26
  Speaker 1: others along the seacoast, wanted to become associated with this
• 46:32
  Speaker 1: little station. They were willing to give their time and
• 46:37
  Speaker 1: energy and money in support of its objectives. New votes
• 46:42
  Speaker 1: were purchased, new crews were trained. The station that was
• 46:48
  Speaker 1: once obscure and crude and virtually insignificant, began to grow.
• 46:58
  Speaker 1: Some of its members were unhappy that the hut was
• 47:02
  Speaker 1: so unattractive and poorly equipped. They felt a more comfortable
• 47:09
  Speaker 1: and attractive place should be provided. Emergency cuts were replaced
• 47:17
  Speaker 1: with lovely furniture. Rough handmade equipment was soon discarded, and sophisticated,
• 47:25
  Speaker 1: classy systems were installed. The hut, of course, had to
• 47:31
  Speaker 1: be torn down to make room for all the additional equipment,
• 47:37
  Speaker 1: new furniture, the systems, and appointments. By its completion, the
• 47:44
  Speaker 1: Life Saving Station had become a very popular gathering place
• 47:51
  Speaker 1: and its objectives had begun to shift. It was now
• 47:56
  Speaker 1: used as a sort of clubhouse, an attractive building for
• 48:03
  Speaker 1: public gatherings. Saving lives, feeding the hungry, strengthening the fearful,
• 48:10
  Speaker 1: and calming the disturbed. Rarely occurred by now, and fewer
• 48:18
  Speaker 1: members were now interested in braving the sea on life
• 48:22
  Speaker 1: saving missions, so they hired professionals to man the lifeboats
• 48:32
  Speaker 1: and to serve as the crew to do this work.
• 48:37
  Speaker 1: The original goal of the station wasn't altogether forgotten, however,
• 48:43
  Speaker 1: the life saving motifs still prevailed in the club's decorations.
• 48:50
  Speaker 1: In fact, there was a liturgical lifeboat preserved in the
• 48:56
  Speaker 1: Room of Sweet Memories, with soft indirect lighting which helped
• 49:03
  Speaker 1: hide the layer of dust on the once used vessel.
• 49:12
  Speaker 1: About this time, a large ship was wrecked off the
• 49:16
  Speaker 1: coast near this place, and the boat crews brought in
• 49:21
  Speaker 1: loads of cold, wet, half drowned people. They were dirty,
• 49:30
  Speaker 1: some terribly sick, all of them lonely, frightened. Others were
• 49:38
  Speaker 1: black and brown and different from the majority of the
• 49:47
  Speaker 1: club members. The beautiful new club suddenly became messy and cluttered.
• 49:55
  Speaker 1: A special committee saw to it that a shower house
• 49:59
  Speaker 1: was immediate be built outside and down the road from
• 50:04
  Speaker 1: the club, so victims of shipwreck could get cleaned up
• 50:11
  Speaker 1: before coming inside the mice building. At the next meeting,
• 50:18
  Speaker 1: there were strong words and angry feelings, which resulted in
• 50:24
  Speaker 1: a division among the members. Most of the people wanted
• 50:30
  Speaker 1: to stop the club's life saving activities and all involvements
• 50:35
  Speaker 1: with shipwreck victims. As they put it, it's just it's
• 50:39
  Speaker 1: just too unpleasant. It's a hindrance to our social life.
• 50:46
  Speaker 1: It's really opening doors to folks who are not our
• 50:50
  Speaker 1: kind as you would expect. Some still insisted on saving lives,
• 51:01
  Speaker 1: that this was their primary objective, that their only reason
• 51:06
  Speaker 1: for existence was ministering to anyone needing help, regardless of
• 51:12
  Speaker 1: the club's beauty or size or decorations. They were voted down,
• 51:19
  Speaker 1: and they were told they wanted to save the lives
• 51:23
  Speaker 1: of various kinds of people who were shipwrecked in those waters,
• 51:26
  Speaker 1: they could begin their own life saving station down the coast,
• 51:33
  Speaker 1: which they did. As years passed, the new station experienced
• 51:43
  Speaker 1: the same old changes. It evolved into yet another club,
• 51:51
  Speaker 1: and yet another life saving station was begun elsewhere. History
• 52:01
  Speaker 1: continue to repeat itself, and if you visit the coastline today,
• 52:06
  Speaker 1: you'll find a large number of exclusive, impressive clubs along there,
• 52:12
  Speaker 1: owned and operated by slick professionals who have lost all
• 52:17
  Speaker 1: involvement with the saving and rescuing of lives. Shipwrecks still
• 52:26
  Speaker 1: occur in those waters, but now most of the victims
• 52:34
  Speaker 1: are not saved. Every day they drown at sea, and
• 52:45
  Speaker 1: so few seem to care, So very few remember Gabriel's question.
• 52:58
  Speaker 1: You remember it, don't you? Have you made other plans?
• 53:07
  Speaker 1: If those twenty first century people grow weary of obeying
• 53:12
  Speaker 1: your commission, remember the answer, no, I have no other
• 53:20
  Speaker 1: plan the Great Commission, or there is no other plan.
• 53:33
  Speaker 1: Now I close with a question, are you engaged in
• 53:39
  Speaker 1: your life in obeying the Great Commission? In case you
• 53:48
  Speaker 1: wonder about how you could answer, can you name a
• 53:52
  Speaker 1: disciple as a result of your influencing their life, reaching out, speaking, caring, rescuing,
• 54:10
  Speaker 1: loving those who were lost? Please bow with me, Sit
• 54:23
  Speaker 1: very quietly right there and think about what you have
• 54:28
  Speaker 1: just heard. The question is really not how much of
• 54:38
  Speaker 1: Matthew have we gone through, but rather how much of
• 54:44
  Speaker 1: Matthew has gone through us. Jesus really meant it when
• 54:55
  Speaker 1: he said, go make disciples, baptize and teach, and do
• 55:07
  Speaker 1: it from now on. I am with you all the
• 55:14
  Speaker 1: way to the end. If we can help you get
• 55:19
  Speaker 1: engaged in this vision, nothing would thrill us more. But
• 55:28
  Speaker 1: we're really not here just to study. We're here to obey.
• 55:36
  Speaker 1: As we make Christ known in this desperate, hostile, lost world.
• 55:48
  Speaker 1: Be our vision, O Lord, we pray break us free
• 55:53
  Speaker 1: from habits of indifference and self satisfying objectives for living.
• 56:04
  Speaker 1: Free us in our givings, so that we release rather
• 56:08
  Speaker 1: than withhold. Give us eyes to see beyond the obvious,
• 56:16
  Speaker 1: and to hear the hurts along the ragged edges of
• 56:20
  Speaker 1: people's lives behind, the tears in their eyes, and the
• 56:27
  Speaker 1: brokenness and their voices cultivate within us as a church
• 56:34
  Speaker 1: a continued heart of compassion. Is we do what you
• 56:41
  Speaker 1: have commanded us to do, to go and to make
• 56:50
  Speaker 1: disciples of all nations. I pray this Father, believingly in
• 57:02
  Speaker 1: the name of Jesus, our Savior and all God's people said, Amen. Amen.
• 57:13
  Speaker 2: The preceding message what Now, and the sound recording were
• 57:17
  Speaker 2: copyrighted in twenty eighteen by Charles R. Swindall. In all
• 57:22
  Speaker 2: rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial
• 57:26
  Speaker 2: use is strictly prohibited