I am Weak But My God Is Strong | Matthew 28:16-20 Sermon by Paul Washer

but the eleven disciples proceeded to galilee to the mountain which jesus had designated when they saw him they worshiped him but some were doubtful and jesus came up and spoke to them saying all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth go therefore make disciples of all the nations baptizing them in the name of the father and the son and the holy spirit teaching them to observe all that i commanded you and lo i am with you always even to the end of the age let's pray father thank you for your word that tells us of your son and the great work of redemption that you have accomplished through him father what can we say the mind cannot comprehend the highest language of men and angels fail your name is truly wonderful and your grace is wonderful and your son lord your son above all else father we're here today to speak to a church but also to those men and women whom you have called into the mission field please lord by grace let what is spoken here be an encouragement in jesus name amen here we have in our text well it is mentioned that the 11 are specifically there but most scholars believe that there was a much larger number gathered the 12 minus judas are there but probably a great number of the believers were also there as witnesses and that would make sense of course since the great commission was not simply given to the apostles but given to the church at large now i want to look for a moment at the characteristics of this group what i want to say primarily is this we do not find an a-team or an elite commando unit what do we find we find a group of men and women who are so much like us they are a strange mixture of faith and doubt of devotion and also of hesitation now i want us to look at something that is very very important and it is the word proceeded look with me it says but the eleven disciples proceeded to galilee now remember what i said at the beginning this morning that um from the empty tomb there went forth women with the testimony of the resurrection and there went forth the guards with a testimony denying the resurrection when we get down later in the text we see that these guards they proceeded to go to the priests the chief priests and other religious authorities to conspire against the message of christ is risen we get to verse 16 but while these evil men were conspiring and plotting against the resurrection and against the early church what do we see the 11 disciples proceeded to galilee now why is this important if you are truly doing the work of a missionary or if you are truly doing the work of a pastor and a preacher there are going to be a great number hordes of men and women and others that will be raised up against you and will constantly be conspiring against you and conspiring against your message and what we learn from this is we should not be overly preoccupied with such things we should not allow those things to steal from us our time and our true ministry while men will proceed from evil to evil we must proceed following christ to make this relevant to our age get off the internet put your hand to the plow and do the work of the ministry there will always be naysayers there will always be those inc and encounter of you and against you do not pay them any mind put your hand to the plow and do the good work of the ministry never forget that jude who writes against false prophets says that what he is intending to do and what his common work was was to speak of our common salvation and only every once in a while did he deviate and deal with evil men don't spend your entire life embroiled in a fight with evil men put your hand to the plow and preach and pray and serve and love i was raised on a horse ranch cattle ranch sometimes when you're using horses for logging or a carriage or something you put blinders on them so that they can only see in front of them put some blinders on and be given to the work of the ministry now i want you to see something here that is very very important they believed the word that was given to them and they proceeded now i want you to notice something that i think is very very important here they continued they continued believing they continued worshiping they continued obeying because they went to the place that he had designated but i also want you to see that all this devotion that we see in front of us by these men and women we also notice that they're like us and it's mixed with imperfection it says that some doubted distassel literally the word kind of means to double step the word is used to peter when he says lord i want to join you out there on the water and he begins to walk but then he sees the waves and he's frightened and he begins to doubt and jesus says this to him you have little faith why did you dispassal why did you doubt why did you two-step now the point here that i want you to see is that they were so much like us they weren't supermen and that should be a great encouragement now one of the things i want you to see is that it never says who doubted and there's a debate among scholars was it among the 11 was it the other group who doubted we're not told we're also not told why they doubted and i think that's very important why well with the matter of who doubted it doesn't matter who you are how great you are how great men think you are who you claim to be you are susceptible to doubt the greatest men and women of god in the history of the church were all susceptible to doubt and so are we now we don't languish in that what do we do we cling to the word of god we go to the very source of faith god's word and if you're going to be a missionary you can not exist with strength you cannot be effective in the ministry by looking around you for proofs and evidences you've got to find that in the word of god no man is ever so spiritual that he can break away from absolute dependence upon god's scriptures another thing not only were he told who who doubted we're not told that we're also not told why and why is that i believe it's because we're susceptible to doubt in almost every area and again what is the cure the word of god the word of god the word of god romans 12 1 and 2 the renewing of the mind which of course the principle way in which the mind is renewed is through the reading and the study and the memorization meditation upon the word of god but it's also how is it renewed with fellowship with communion of the saints there are no great men who launch out on their own god has given us a community and we depend upon that community sometimes people ask me for whatever progress you've made brother paul what would you attribute it to i said well divinely it would only be the grace of god humanly god in his wisdom has known my weakness and always surrounded me with some of the finest people god has given me as a wife the strongest person i've ever met you see we're all susceptible to doubt and we're all susceptible to doubt in so many areas especially on the mission field and that is why again we must cling to him through a clinging to his word now what are some of the things that we learn about this since it wasn't an a team it wasn't a commando unit since they were men and women like us what do we learn first of all we learn this there has never been and never will be apart from jesus christ a great man or woman of god just little tiny feeble weak men and women of a great and gracious and merciful god another thing i want you to see is that god has orchestrated and contrived the plan of redemption so that every victory is attributed to him this is something i can say with all boldness because it's found throughout all the scriptures god took out goliath with a boy a sling and a stone god humbled nebuchadnezzar possibly the greatest secular king that ever walked on this planet with three hebrew children and a fiery furnace when god wanted to take the task and utterly route every principality power might and dominion he sent his own son in the likeness of weak sinful flesh and when he wanted to kill death he killed death by the death of his own son see you think that god could not use you maybe even think god should not use you that is a common thought but you see you're the very kind of person that god does use you know always one of the things i love about peter is when he saw the great miracle of the fish being gathered a lot of people miss the point of what's going on he says lord depart from me i'm a sinful man and in one way this is a very healthy attitude what is really going on there i feel that way a lot of times when i have the inclination that god has used me for something you see peter saw this miraculous work of god and he basically said this isn't right it's not right that someone like me should be privy to some work so majestic so great by the hand of god it's almost unethical that someone like me be allowed to participate in such an event that's the way every preacher should feel when he comes down out of a pulpit but you see that's just the whole point this is a thing of grace this is a thing of grace and i'm going to turn several pages because i don't have enough time i never have enough time but i want to say this this is not about strength of will but it is about recognition of weakness in a clinging to god god works weakness in our life not because weakness is the goal he works weakness in our life that the weakness might create dependence and on our dependence upon god and his word and his spirit we become strong you see a man who who seems to be used to accomplish things and you admire him you say what a strength of will what a fortitude what a discipline oh so quickly we are to give glory to men and that is why god will work weakness in the life of his instrument even if he has to half kill him three times he will work weakness in his instrument because weakness was never the enemy of a man or woman of god but strength now remember weakness not for weakness sake but weakness as a means to drive us to a tenacious holding on to god in his word and in that we become strong let me say this the useful servant studies the word studies the word not because he is so strong but because he recognizes he has no wisdom whatsoever in himself one of the reasons we do not study the word as we ought is because we think we're smarter than we are the servant of god preaches expository messages not because he is so smart but because he simply has recognized he has nothing to say there is nothing he can do to raise the dead there is nothing he can do to change the heart and so when he opens his mouth he has confined himself to speaking god's word that is alive and powerful and brings about changes of the heart he prays not because he's so pious we always think that don't we such a pious man he prays he prays not because he is so pious but because he knows that if god does not move on his behalf he will be an abject failure he has nothing no intellect nothing to fall back on if god does not help him he is doomed he obeys not because he's so devoted but because he has absolutely no trust in himself and he knows that there is a way that seems right unto man but it leads to death do you see that your problem is not that you're too weak your problem is that you do not recognize how weak you are and that's not just for the missionary that's for all of us now jesus came up and spoke to them saying all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth i want to begin this new section with a singular statement in the midst of our weakness in the midst of the enormity of the task in the midst of our impotence there stands our hero the only hero jesus christ the righteous now i want you to notice something christ's response to his disciples doubt was to do what now think about this his response to their doubt was to draw near to them to come up to them that they might see him more clearly and in the same way he comes to us in our weakness our doubt and our fear and he strengthens us with what the reality of who he is from where does my help come from the mountains from god this is the principle doubt fear feelings of impotence incompetence everything else in the missionary life in the christian life in the pastor life it is dissipated by a greater revelation of the attributes excellencies beauties powers of christ through his word this is what you need this is what you need there are principles in the bible there are commands and there are ethics and they're very very important i will have no lawless christianity but know this christianity is not primarily an ethical religion it's a religion about a person who saves and the greater your vision of that person if you're regenerate the greater your faith the greater your love listen to what daniel says the people who know their god will display strength and take action the people who know their god to have peace i don't need to know what god is doing i just need to know god's character and then i'll know that whatever he's doing is right he's right perfect in all his ways and these are see these are foundational truths that missionaries must grab a hold of it is for this reason that jeremiah says thus says the lord let not the wise men boast of his wisdom and let not the mighty man boast of his might let not a rich man boast of his riches but let him who boasts most of this that he understands and knows me that i am the lord who exercises loving-kindness justice and righteousness on earth for i delight in these things declares lord seminary students be seek to know christ seek to know christ in his pre-incarnate state isaiah saw him you know the great commission before that great commission before isaiah said send me what goes on in the year the king uzziah died i saw also the lord high and lifted up and the train of his robe filled the temple and above him stood the seraph and each having six wings with two they covered their feet with two they covered their face and with two they did fly and one cried unto the other holy holy holy is the lord of hosts the whole earth is full of his glory the post the door moved with the voice of him who cried and the house was filled with smoke then said i woest me for i'm undone from a man of unclean lips and i dwell among the people of unclean lips from my eyes have seen king the lord of hosts send him to me i'll go through it is see him in his pre-incarnate state this jesus christ is no upstart god he's been god throughout all eternity see him and know him in his incarnation when he did not consider equality with god a thing to be grasped but took upon himself the likeness of sinful flesh and walked among men remember his perfect life i agree with many scholars who say this probably the most miraculous thing about jesus christ was his perfect life i have many sleepless nights and dark moments and i have learned that there is only one cure get up open the word and look for a clearer picture of christ cry out to god for a clearer picture of god in christ and it is enough it is more than enough now he says here he jesus came up in verse 18 and spoke to them saying all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth a greater than joseph is here you say what do you mean there's a passage there's so much about the life of joseph joseph and the life of christ that parallel one another but when joseph is locked away in that dungeon a prison or whatever then all of a sudden in just a matter of a second everything changes pharaoh's calling you his clothes are changed he's shaved he's clean and he's brought before the mightiest man in the world and that man says to him this though i am pharaoh yet without your permission no one shall raise his hand or foot in all the land of egypt christ died on calvary vindicating the justice of god he was placed in a tomb and it was sealed and then up from the grave he arose and then he ascended and daniel says this i kept looking in the night vision and behold with the clouds of heaven one like a son of man was coming and he came up to the ancient of days and was presented before him and to him was given dominion glory and a kingdom that all the people's nations and men of every language might serve him his dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away his kingdom is one which will not be destroyed it is though god looked at his only son and said without your permission no one shall raise his hand or his foot in all the cosmos heaven earth or hell that's your elder brother that is flesh of your flesh and bone of your bone that is the one who died for you who called you who contrived to plan for your own life before the foundations of the world was laid the one who makes the week strong the fearful praise how many times do not fear the angel said and jesus said do not be afraid why i'm here i'm here revelation 5 5 tells us that the line of the tribe of judah and the root of david has overcome to open the book and its seven seals this not only means that he is the revelator of god's eternal plan of redemption but also he is the administrator of it he will see to it that it is completed that every aspect of the administration is carried out and everything goes according to the plan of god isaiah 53 10 agrees with this the good pleasure of the lord will prosper in his hand he will bring this about he's powerful enough to bring this about in fact he is so powerful as i said this morning he can bring it about using you and me as i said the proverbial hand behind his back but then we realize we have standing over us a shepherd who rules the nations with a rod of iron and breaks them like earth and where this this has the power to change our hearts and to change our proclamation so that we no longer fear the lowliest subjects in the kingdom of this world we no longer beg them to hurt not to hurt us but we face off with their kings and tell them to repent when a man has a right vision of god the weakest saint becomes a john knox and cause kings calls kings to bow their knee to christ when you have a right vision of christ as a missionary you do not feel fear rulers you pity them and you exhort them with the following words now therefore o kings show discernment take warning o judges of the earth worship the lord with reverence and rejoice with trembling do homage to the son that he not become angry and you perish in the way for his wrath may soon be kindled how blessed are those who take refuge in him lastly i want to talk for a moment about his enduring faithfulness and that's all the time we have he says in the last part i am with you always even to the end of the age this is an old philosophical argument that his sovereignty wouldn't really mean that much if it was not coupled with enduring faithfulness for it to really be relevant in our lives he must not only be sovereign he must be faithful he must be all wise to know the right thing he must be all good to be inclined to the right thing he must be all powerful to carry out the right thing and he must be all faithful to his promises even the midst in the midst of a faithless people and that's exactly what he is he's faithful he is so faithful i have given him countless reasons not to love me i have given him too many reasons not to reject me and replace me with a better man but his love is is stronger than death his love is stronger than my sin the blood of calvary is greater than any trespass he is so faithful and i know i know the way you think yes he's so faithful to guys like that he's so faithful to those who are disciplined and strong and this and that no no he's just faithful he's faithful because he is faithful it's not something that he simply practices it's like love is not a mere work of god it is an attribute of god he can no more stop being loved and he can stop being holy and his love is committed to you perfectly in christ his faithfulness paul was convinced of it should we not be convinced of it that he who began a good work and us will finish it get up again missionary listen to me every time you look in the mirror and you see a reason to stop every time you fail every time get up keep getting up keep getting up why he is faithful he is faithful he says behold behold the the idea here is look look at me pay attention take note some have it remember i love it translated as look at me look at me everything christ said is important like alexander mclaren once said the dust of this book is gold everything christ said is important but whenever you hear something like behold or verily verily or truly truly you need to pay a special attention he says i am with you this is a declaration of his deity not merely because he's talking about omnipresence it's a declaration of his deity that traces back to isaiah isaiah 7 14 matthew begins his gospel with this statement in matthew 1 23 and they shall call his name emmanuel which translates means god with us so at the beginning of matthew he is god with us and at the end of matthew he is god with us you look to yourself and you see your weakness and you become confused and full of doubt but he calls you he commands you to look at him to look at him for every inward glance itself you should have at least 10 long gazes at christ and his redemptive work on your behalf lord i can't do this anymore i'm taught look at me lord i'm afraid look at me lord i fail look at me look at me and it's enough you

Channel: Biblical Christianity with Alice A.

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Length: 32min 2sec (1922 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 12 2021