Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 2465
“And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, All power is given to Me in Heaven and on earth.” Matthew 28:18.
I INTEND chiefly to call your attention to this verse, but it will also be necessary to refer to the rest of the chapter—“Go, therefore, and teach all 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, I am with you always, even to the end of the world. Amen”
Our Savior was always with His disciples until the time of His death. After His resurrection He was with them often, but not always. He came and He went mysteriously—the doors being shut, He was suddenly there when they least looked for him. Or He appeared to them as they walked by the way, or while they were fishing, or when they came to the mountain in Galilee, the appointed rendezvous. On this particular occasion—I am not quite sure whether it was when only the eleven were gathered together, or that more memorable occasion when He spoke to over 500 brethren at once, which many who have well studied the passage think is more probable—at any rate, on this occasion, the Savior made Himself very much at home with His disciples. According to the most proper translation of the text, “Jesus came and talked to them.” There was a holy familiarity in His communications with His disciples. He spoke to them as a friend. He came into close contact with them in friendliest familiarity. The glory of that time to them was that He was there and that He spoke with them! It does not matter where it was, He was there, and wherever He pleases to be the center of the group, there is sure to be a memorable gathering. Brothers and Sisters, I wish that we were always on the lookout for our Lord. I am afraid that in our assemblies we often think and say, “So-and-So was there, and such-and-such a minister spoke to us.” But the best meeting is when Christ is there and when He, Himself, by His Divine Spirit, speaks familiarly to our souls!
Notice what it was about which our Lord spoke to His disciples. He was going away from them. His bodily Presence would no longer be enjoyed by His followers until He should so come in like manner as they were to see Him go up into Heaven. But His last talk, or one of the last talks He ever had with them before His ascension, was about Himself and His work. It was a time of taking them into His secret, explaining to them the partnership which the Father had established between Him and them, and making them to know the fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ which was now to cover the whole of their lives. You see, He begins by speaking to them about His own power—“All power is given to Me in Heaven and on earth.” We are not fit to go out to work for Christ till we truly know Him, ourselves, and also know something of the Divine power which He is prepared to give to us. It is well for us to learn the lesson, ourselves, before we attempt to teach it to others. Go not out to all nations till you have first gone into your closet and had fellowship with the Master, Himself! You will blunder in your errand unless you go forth fresh from His blessed Presence.
Then, what were they to do but to act for Him? “Go, therefore, and teach all nations.” They were to teach those nations only about Him! He was to be the great Subject of all their teaching. The correct word is, “disciple all nations.” They were to disciple them, not to make them their own disciples, but His disciples. He was to still be the Teacher, the Rabbi, the Master—they were only to go forth to do His work, not their own. Brothers, we must not try to form a party of which we shall be the head. We must abhor the very thought of any such action! We must gather the nations to Him! Otherwise, we are not His servants, we are our own servants, or rather, our own masters. We are renegades and disloyal if we do that. “Go, therefore, and disciple all nations,” was the command of Jesus Christ to His disciples.
And they were to baptize those who were made disciples, but it was to be in His name, in association with that of the Father and of the Holy Spirit. He who is not, as a Believer, baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, is not baptized at all! The name of Christ is inseparably linked with those who are baptized according to the Scriptural fashion. So, you see, whether it is preaching, or whether it is discipling, or whether it is baptizing—we must keep close to Christ. It is all along that line we preach Him, we make disciples for Him, we baptize in His name.
And when those who were made disciples were baptized, what was to be done next? “Teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you.” The shepherding of the sheep must still be in our Lord’s name! We do not found a church in any other name but His. Neither do we know any rule or order or book of discipline but that which He has left us. He, alone, is King in Zion, and only what He teaches is authoritative. The explanations given by His servants we must judge by the tests He has given to us—but the Word of the Master is to be obeyed and accepted in its entirety. “Teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you.” O Brothers and Sisters, there is no true work done for Christ unless we always put Him in His right place and keep ourselves in our right places—Himself the Omnipotent Leader and Commander of His people—and ourselves His servants in all things, seeking even in the smallest matters to be obedient to His revealed will!