Title: "The King's Resurrection & Great Commission"
Text: Matthew 28
INTRO:
I. The Dawning of a New Day
Matthew 28:1
*** It was the Dawning of a New Day and a New Week, but It was
Also the Dawning of a New Era of Time .
A. For Mary Magdalene and the Other Mary It was the Dawning
of a Newfound Joy.
Verse 1 c/f Verse 8
*** They Came with Mourning and Left with Great Joy !!!
B. For Peter it was the Dawning of a New Day of Forgiveness &
Restoration.
Verse 1 c/f Matthew 26:74-75 ; Luke 24:12 ; John 21:15-19
Acts 2
C. For the Infidels , who Hated the Truth of God , It was the
Dawning of a New Day of Difficulty.
Verse 1 c/f Verses 11-15
*** They Had the Difficult Task of Trying to Explain Away the
Resurrection.
D. For the Unsaved World It was the Dawning of a New Day of
Opportunity for Salvation & Justification Before God Almighty
By Faith.
Verse 1 c/f Romans 10:9 ; Romans 3:19-28 ; &
Romans 4:25
II. A Heavenly Visitation
Matthew 28:2-7
A. An Unsettling Arrival
Verse 2 -- A Great Earthquake
*** Whenever God Comes on the Scene, It Tends to Shake Up
Man's World.
1. The Angel's Presence
Verse 2 -- Earthquake : FOR the Angel of the Lord
Descended
2. The Angel's Power
Verse 2 -- He Rolled Back the Stone
3. The Angel's Presumption
c/f Matthew 27:66 --
*** He Presumed to Have Greater Authority than the Roman
Government which had Sealed the Stone.
4. The Angel's Posture
Verse 2 -- He Sat On the Stone.
a. He was Totally at Ease and Rest.
b. He was Not at All Concerned with the Soldiers, whose Job it
was to Guard the Tomb and Keep the Roman Seal From
Being Broken.
B. The Visitor's Appearance
Verse 3
1. His Countenance was Like Lightning.
2. His Raiment (Clothing) was as White as Snow.
C. The Keepers' Response
Verse 4
1. They Shook with Fear.
2. They Became as Dead Men.
c/f Revelation 1:7 & Daniel 8:15-18
D. The Visitor's Message to the Women
Verses 5-7
1. Don't Be Afraid.
Verse 5 -- Fear Not Ye.
2. I Know Ye Seek Jesus.
Verse 5 c/f Isaiah 53:6 & Jeremiah 29:13
3. Jesus Was Dead, But Now Is ALIVE !
Verses 5-6
4. Come and See the Empty Tomb.
Verse 6
5. God Has a Job For You.
Verse 7 -- Go Quickly and Tell His Disciples ...
a. Jesus Is Risen from the Dead.
b. He Is Going Before You Into Galilee.
c. We Must Go and Meet Him There.
d. We Got these Directions From an Angel.
III. An Exuberant Departure
Matthew 28:8 c/f I Corinthians 15:14-20 & 50-58 ; &
Romans 8:35-39
A. They Left the Tomb Quickly .
B. They Left with Extreme Emotion : Fear & Great Joy.
C. They No Doubt Came to the Tomb Dragging their Feet with
Mourning , but they Left Running with Their Hearts & Feet
Afire with a Newly Found Energy.
IV. A Sacred Interval
Matthew 28:9-10 -- As they Went ... Jesus Met them.
A. Jesus Met them IN the PATH of OBEDIENCE .
Verse 9 c/f Verse 7
1. He Will Meet US THERE as Well.
2. If We Want Jesus to Meet With Us, We Need to Seek Out the
Path of Obedience in Our Life.
B. They Found Time to Worship the Lord In the Midst of their
Going About their Duty .
Verse 9 -- They ... Held Him ... & Worshipped Him.
1. We Too Will Find Time to Worship the Lord As We Seek to
Do His Will.
2. It is a Vital Priority for the Believer in Jesus Christ to Take Time
to Worship the Lord.
Luke 10:38-42
C. Jesus Presented the Women with a Clearer Revelation of
Himself AS they Walked In Obedience to What they Already
Knew from His Messenger.
Verse 10 c/f John 14:21
1. God Gives Additional Revelation of Himself to Those, who
Have Truly Listened to and Obeyed the Truth He has Already
Conveyed.
Matthew 13:9-16
2. If We Want Our Relationship with the Lord to Always be
Continually Fresh with a Constant Sense of His Person, His
Presence, & His Plan being Revealed to Us, We Must Stay
In the Flow Through Obedience.
V. The Hasty Regrouping of Evil
Matthew 28:11-15
A. The Testimony of the Guards
Verse 11
1. They Had Seen and Experienced the Awesome Power of God
In the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
2. They Testified Fully to What they had Seen & Experienced.
Verse 11 -- Shewed ALL Things Done
B. The Hastily Gathered Council
Verses 11-12
C. The Congregation of the Wicked
Verse 12 c/f Psalm 26:4-5 & Romans 1:18-25
1. The Group had Congregated for the Purpose of Doing Evil.
2. They Wanted to Change the Truth of God Into a Lie.
3. We Have Groups of Men and Women Today, who Assemble
Together to Discuss How They Too Might Turn the Truth of
God Into a Lie.
a. Cult Groups
b. Occult Groups
c. Mainline Denominational Leaders
d. Political Activists and Certain Politicians
D. The Tactics Employed
Verses 12-13
1. They Used a Large Amount of Money to Spread their Lies
in an Attempt to Discredit the Lord by Discrediting His
Followers.
2. Why Is it that Hollywood Producers Spend Millions of Dollars
on Movies that Portray the Villain as a Bible Quoting
Lunatic ?
3. Why Did Norman Lear and Carrol O'Conner Conspire to
Create a Character like Archie Bunker, who was a Bigotted
Fool that Often Misquoted the Bible to Justify his Ignorant
Attitudes ?
*** 4. What is the Underlying Purpose for a Show like "My Bush"
that Portrays Our President as an Ignorant Clod ???
5. Notice How QUICKLY they Put Together their Strategy to
Discredit the President.
E. A Security Promised
Verse 14
1. It was an Offense Punishable by Death for a Roman Guard
to Fall Asleep at his Post.
2. The Jewish Leaders Promised the Guards that they would
Persuade the Governor Not to Put them to Death, if he were
to Hear the Rumor that they had been Sleeping on the Job.
a. It is Amazing to See How the Ungodly will Come Together
and Form Reciprocating Alliances for the Purpose of
Opposing God.
Psalm 2:1-3
b. The Jewish Leaders Said to the Guards in Essence :
"You Lie For Us, and We'll Protect You From the
Consequences."
3. They Could Promise Security, Perhaps, from the Conse-
quences of Man's Judgment, But there is a Greater Judge
than the Roman Governor, and They Could NEVER
Secure the Guards From His Judgment.
Revelation 21:8 c/f Revelation 21:27
F. A Deal with the Devil
Verse 15 c/f Verse 12
1. They Sold their Integrity for a Worldly Gain.
a. A Man's Integrity is One Thing which Should NEVER be
For Sale.
b. The Word Integrity Means "Wholeness" and has the
Idea of a Consistency Between the Inner and the Outer
Man.
c. These Men Knew Inside that they were Being Asked to
Lie.
d. They Sold their Integrity Without , Because they Bought
a Lie Within.
e. The Lie they Bought Within was that Gaining Material
Benefit is More Valuable than a Clear Conscience.
f. There is Probably Nothing So Heavy to Carry Around as
a Guilty Conscience : Living a Lie.
2. The Guards Sold themselves Short, When they Sold their
Integrity.
3. They were Foolish Men, and So Are We If we Buy the Lie
that Our Integrity - and thus Our Clear Conscience -
Should Be For Sale at Any Price.
I Timothy 1:18-19
G. The Longevity of Lies and Satanic Deception
Verse 15 -- Saying ... Reported ... Until this Day
*** It is Amazing to Me How the Devil's Lies Persist Long After
the Time they Have Been Exposed and Should Have Been
Put to Rest By the Truth.
1. The Faith Plus Works Gospel Lie
Galatians 1:6-9 ; 2:16 ; 3:1-3 ; & 5:1-8
2. Some of the Lies that Satan has Told About Us as
Fundamentalist Christians
a.) We are Unloving.
b.) We are Bigoted.
c.) We are Homophobic.
d.) We are Lunatic Fringe.
H. A Final Observation
Verses 11-15
1. Every Time Satan's Kingdom is Challenged, his People
Quickly Assemble to Hammer Out a Strategy to Overcome
that Challenge.
2. After the Devil's Crowd has Strategized, they Pay the Price
to Quickly & Persistently Implement their Strategy to Further
their Cause.
3. Christians and Churches Should Do the Same.
4. We SHOULD AT LEAST BE AS DILIGENT AS THE
DEVIL'S CROWD IN PURSUING THE ADVANCEMENT
OF CHRIST'S KINGDOM !!!
5. Why Is it that Most Churches have an Easier Time Getting
a People Together Quickly to Strategize How they Can Go
About Getting Rid of a Soul Winning Pastor than they Do
Getting Those People Together to Go Out Soul Winning
or to Devise a Strategy whereby Every Member Can Per-
sonally Become Involved in Carrying Out the Great Com-
mission ?
6. Most Churches - If the Truth is Told - Have More People
In them that Belong to the Devil's Crowd than they Have
that are Truly the Children of God.
VI. A Mixed Reception
Matthew 28:16-17
A. An Obedient Journey
Verse 16 c/f Verse 10
B. A Journey Into the Past
Verse 16 c/f Matthew 4:23 - 5:2
1. Possibly the Sermon on the Mount Mountain
Matthew 4:23 - 5:2
2. Possibly the Mount of Transfiguration Mountain
Matthew 17:1-13 & 22-23 -- Very Likely
3. Before Beginning this New Phase of their Ministry, the Lord
would Return them to their Roots so to speak and Use this
Event to Build a Bridge to the Future for His Disciples.
C. The Worshipping Witnesses
Verse 17
1. By Worshipping Jesus they were Acknowledging His Deity -
that He was God.
Exodus 34:14 c/f Matthew 4:10
2. By Accepting their Worship Jesus was Declaring His Deity.
Exodus 34:14 c/f Matthew 4:10
3. Some Groups - like the Jehovah's Witnesses - Claim that
Jesus Never Claimed to be God, but the Facts Speak
Otherwise.
Matthew 4:10 c/f Matthew 28:17 & John 20:27-28
D. The Doubting Disciples
Verse 17
1. These Uncertain Disciples May have been in a Kind of Shock
Over All of the Recent Traumatic Events and Just May Not
have Had Enough Time to Feel like they Really Knew Much
of Anything For Sure Any More.
Luke 24:13-24
2. It May be that these were like the Many Uncommitted People
that Assemble Together with the Committed Believers in
Local Churches Every Week in Our Day or Like the Mixed
Multitude that Came Out of Egypt with Moses.
Exodus 12:37-38 & Numbers 11:4
3. It Certainly is a Testimony of an Obvious Difficulty that Man
may have in Simply Believing what God is Doing in Plain
Sight Before his Eyes.
VII. The Christian and Church's Great Commission
Matthew 28:18-20
A. The King Declares His Sovereignty
Verse 18
1. His Sovereignty is SUPREME : ALL Power.
a. Supreme By His Nature as the Omnipotent God
Romans 13:1 c/f Philippians 2:5-8
*** Power Originates with & Flows From God - All Power.
b. Supreme By His Father's Ordained Plan as a Reward For
His Work of Redemption For the World.
Philippians 2:9-11 c/f Isaiah 53:12
2. His Sovereignty is SURRENDERED : GIVEN Unto Me.
a. Surrendered First BY Him INTO His Father's Hands
For the Purpose of Dying For Our Sins.
Philippians 2:5-8 & Luke 23:46
b. Surrendered Secondly BACK TO HIM BY the Father
After the Work of Atonement had been Completed.
Ephesians 1:18-22
3. His Sovereignty is UNIVERSAL : In Heaven & In Earth.
a. In Earth - like a Human King
b. In Heaven - as God is the King of ALL Kings & Lord
Isaiah 9:6-7 c/f Revelation 19:11:16 -- of ALL Lords
B. The King's Marching Orders to His Troops
Verses 19-20
1. He Commands them to GO YE !!!
a. This is the One of the Primary Areas of Failure for Most
Christians and Churches.
b. If We as Christians Individually and We as Churches
Corporately are Not Personally Actively Involved in the
Business of GOING to Our World with the Gospel of
Jesus Christ, We are Failing to Fulfill the Most Important
Reason for Our Existence.
c. This is a PERSONAL Command and Cannot be
Delegated Away to Others ; He Says : "Go YE ."
d. This is a PARTNERSHIP Command , because the
Individual Can Only Be in One Place at a Time Fulfilling
the Great Commission.
2. The Boundaries of the Mission
Verse 19 -- ALL Nations
c/f Mark 16:15 -- ALL the World
Acts 1:8 -- UTTERMOST PART of the Earth
a. Jerusalem -- Local Town
b. Judea -- Local County
c. Samaria -- Adjacent Communities
d. Uttermost Part of the Earth -- In Every Place On Earth & To Every Human Being
3. The King's Three Part Instructions
Verses 19-20
a. Teach -- Preach the Gospel
Mark 16:15 c/f Romans 10:13-14
b. Baptize -- Identification , Separation , & Unification
of the Believers
c. Teach them to Observe (Recognize and Submit to)
ALL of the King's Commandments -- Discipling the
Converts.
1.) This Includes the Whole Bible.
2.) This Requires a Lifetime Commitment on the Part
of the Church and the Convert.
a.) The Church to Carry Out the Discipling Process
b.) The Convert to Submit to the Discipling
Process
c.) The Convert to Carry On with the Commission
and Become a Partner in the Program of His
Local Church
C. The King's Promise of His Presence
Verse 20
1. The CONSISTENCY of His Presence
Verse 20 -- " ... I am With You ALWAY ... "
2. The DURATION of His Presence
V-20 -- " ... Unto the END OF THE WORLD ... "