A Word in Season: With You Always (Matthew 28:20)

At the end of Matthew's gospel, our Lord, having risen from the dead, speaks to the disciples who gathered at the mountain which he had appointed for them.

He spoke to them saying, All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the

Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you, and lo or behold, look,

I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen. That last assurance that the

Lord Jesus gives in Matthew's gospel, look at this, behold this, consider this, I am with you always, even to the end of the age, is very rich, very precious, very sweet to all

God's people, and particularly in the work that we are about as disciples, as churches, in making the

Lord Jesus known, and in calling men and women to bow the knee to the God of heaven and earth.

The assurance comes from the mouth of one to whom all authority in heaven and on earth has been given.

He is now reigning, ruling on behalf of his heavenly Father. He, as the

God -man in his glory, is going to be discharging his government in all things.

He has by right and by purchase this high place. It is his to carry out this great work, and to him belongs an authority by which he can accomplish all his purposes.

And that purpose then is expressed at least in large part in the command that follows. As these disciples go through the earth, they are to do three things.

First of all, they are to make disciples. They are to call other people to follow Jesus Christ as well.

They are to declare the good news concerning him, the wonders of God's salvation accomplished in his son, and that it is the only way by which a sinner can find peace with God.

That they are to then not only call them to come to Christ and then to follow

Christ, but when they do that, they are to baptize them in the triune name, the name of the

Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Those who follow Christ ought publicly to testify that they belong to him.

And that would include not just an initial act of baptism, but an ongoing commitment.

I think the local church is clearly implied here in this commission, because by baptism we are joining ourselves to the body of Jesus Christ.

They are declaring concerning us, we are declaring concerning ourselves. The believers are testifying before all eyes that this one now belongs to the

Lord Jesus. And those who so belong, they are to be instructed, taught all the things that the

Lord Jesus Christ taught his first disciples. So there's this sequence. You're to make disciples, you're to baptize disciples, and then you're to go on teaching, discipling, instructing disciples, so that Christ is formed in them, so that they make their way safely and securely under God toward heaven.

Now that's a beautiful image of the gospel rippling or rolling out through the earth.

It's the marching orders for the church in every generation, because one of the things that Christ has taught his disciples is that they are to make disciples and baptize them and go on instructing them.

So this is a picture of the great work of the gospel that we're still engaged in.

And it's the kind of work that would make anybody who sees anything of it clearly say, who is sufficient for these things?

Whether it's the ordinary labor of all God's people in seeking to engage in this work, or whether it's the distinct responsibility of those who are called to be preachers and teachers of the gospel, this duty with all its demands and difficulties could seem like a hopeless case, could seem like a forlorn hope, and yet here is the assurance of him to whom all authority belongs in heaven and earth, consider this,

I am with you always, even to the end of the age. There is no time, no circumstance, no situation, no challenge, no need in the carrying out of this duty in which the risen

Christ by his spirit is not going to be present in authority with his people.

That doesn't mean everything is seamless, it doesn't mean that there's never any challenge or difficulty, but it does mean this, that as the church of Christ and the individual servants of the

Lord Jesus go about their business, making disciples, baptizing them, and teaching them, that the risen

Lord will be near at hand to smile, to keep, and to bless.