Matthew 28:18-20 - Preaching Christ and His Commandments

Matthew 28:18-20 - Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, ... teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

Message: Preaching Christ and His Commandments

Time: Matthew, one of the 12 apostles, is credited with this book, despite the fact that he did not sign it. Dating it's writing is difficult, but most agree it to be AD 60-65 since it does not mention the destruction of the temple in AD 70. A Jew, he includes 50 direct citations and many other indirect citations from the Old Testament. 

What the Lord is Saying: 

In our previous lessons, we have been speaking of how the church is larger than our local body and is made up of all believers throughout history from all nations and tribes. The church continues to grow and we continue to reach the unreached. As I think about this idea that we have a core understanding of what is in scripture, it is important to now further clarify or define what that core understanding is exactly. The key is that churches are Apostolic. We have already determined this. How do we test whether a church is Apostolic? Here is a start on that subject of what churches should do and believe in order to conform to what our Lord teaches. 

It starts with the preaching of the biblical gospel and the teaching of the whole counsel of God. A church needs to be committed to faithfully preaching the Word of God. The Word of God is our only infallible authority and makes preaching of it a priority. As the text today and the words of Jesus states, churches are teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. Thus, the entire word of God needs to be preached. All the texts, not just certain texts, but all of it has riches we need to hear. 

Summary: The Church needs to be committed to preaching the Word of God, all of it. 

Promise: The primary criterion we should have if we need to find a church is faithfulness to the Word of God, otherwise a person is joining a social club. 

Prayer: Thank you God for giving me a love for your Word. I know you gave me a wonderful mother that instilled this love in me and then you brought pastors into my life like Tom Nelson who examined it thoroughly in all its facets. Thank you for giving me this thirst to understand it and hear it preached. Keep me grounded in this and keep drawing people and churches and pastors to the faithful examination of it, so that it is preached and nothing else. 

Note: I follow the readings from the Tabletalk Magazine devotional, though I am now working through 2017 devotionals. 2017 is a study of key biblical doctrines celebrating the 500th year of the Reformation. The month of August is about the Body of the Lord - the Church recovered in the Reformation; July was the right use of God's Law; June was justification by faith alone; May about solus Christus - Christ Alone; April, salvation by grace alone; March, the sovereign providence of God; February, the doctrine of revelation, Scripture that sola Scriptura seeks to preserve; January, the doctrine of God. 

Christ's Body

The Body of Christ - The Church is the Body of Christ and Christ loves the church. We are to imitate Christ and see that the Church is how Christ carries out His purposes in the world. The Head of the Church - Christ is Head of the church and he only has final authority and gives life to the church. Life is found only in Jesus Christ our Lord. - The Church We Can See - Belonging to a church is not optional, for anyone. We are meant to live in a community with other believers, to hear the Word of God preached, and to grow. The Church We Cannot See - What we see is the Visible church, the invisible church only God knows because He is omniscient and that is the Church we cannot see. 

Truths about the Church from the Apostles Creed

Church Unity - The church is bigger than our local assembly; there are core beliefs among the invisible church. One People Throughout History - God has only one people; throughout the world there are people that share doctrines and truths despite their being differences in where we attend or belong. God's Holy People - By being in Christ, though we still have a fallen nature, God has set us apart as holy, as his saints. True Catholocity - God's people includes men and women from every tribe and every tongue that hold to the biblical gospel. The Apostilic Church - we are fellow citizens with all people from all tribes and tongues throughout history, united by being built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets teaching, thus apostolic, with Christ Jesus being our cornerstone.