Matthew 28:16-20
16 Then the eleven disciples left for Galilee, going to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him—but some of them doubted! 18 Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
First they went to the mountain second they:
2. Worshipped the Messiah
Church it’s not about the mountain it’s about the Messiah. Today the world is busy worshipping creation instead of the Creator. We have become a culture consumed with protecting and preserving nature and persecuting Christ. Its here on the mountain that we come face to face with a monumental question, what are we worshipping? Christ or Creation, self or the Savior? We have created a culture of creation worshippers not Christ worshippers because we have become focused on the majesty of the mountains instead of the Messiah. When did the disciples worship Jesus, when they saw Him. One of the reasons that we don’t worship Him is because we are not looking to the Lord. Just like the disciples we need to see the Savior, to catch a glimpse of His greatness and glory, to catch a vision of His victory, to see the Risen Lord of Life. The One who conquered the humanly unconquerable, who satisfied the demands of sin through His own death yet rose to defeat the devil and triumphed over the grave. There He stood before them the Master of the mountain, victorious over death and the devil. Have you caught the vison of His victory. It speaks volumes to me to know that these men the ones who knew Jesus best would worship Him. Those who know me best are certainly in no danger of worshiping me. These were Jewish men, for whom the First and Second Commandments forbid giving worship to any but the One True God, yet they fell down and worshiped Jesus why because Jesus isn’t just good He is God. So let me ask you what are you worshipping today? Are you worshipping the Savior or the secular? Many of us are worshipping secondary things instead of the Savior and the scary thing is that we will become witnesses to what we worship. Why are our kids walking away from Christ because as parents we are pointing them to worship the mountain of money instead of the Messiah. Because we are worshipping our jobs not Jesus. But true worship is reserved for the Lord God alone. Notice that witnessing starts with worship. Ministry and missions starts not with work but with worship. Missions begins and ends with adoration. One of my favorite quotes is from John Piper book, “The Supremacy of God in Missions.” Listen carefully to what he says: “Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exist because worship doesn’t. Worship is the ultimate, not missions, because God is the ultimate, not man. When this age is over, and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more. It is a temporary necessity. But worship abides forever. Worship, therefore, is the fuel and goal in missions. It’s the goal of missions because in missions we simply aim to bring the nations into the white-hot enjoyment of God’s glory. The goal of missions is the gladness of the peoples in the greatness of God.” Why don’t we witness because we are not living a life of worship. When we miss the worship witnessing becomes work, it become a job not a joy. What we desperately need is more than just a moment on the mountain, we need a glimpse of God, more of His majesty and might. Why is the church not changing the culture because the church is busy caught up worshipping the world. If we want to change the world we need to start worshipping the One who created it. Now notice that while a number of the disciples prostrated themselves in praise, there were some disciples who doubted. This is hard to believe, or is it? Despite all that these disciples had seen some of them still doubted. This reminds me of four things:
• We will continually have to deal with our own doubts. We are not the first to doubt the Deity and we won’t be the last.

• Doubts don’t disqualify us from ministry, acting on them and being driven by them does. Thomas was not the only doubting disciple, all of the disciples had moments of doubt. But that’s just it they were moments of doubt not lifestyles of doubt. Are you being driven by doubt or devotion?

• Within every group, there will be those who worship and those who waffle. Just make sure you don’t let other peoples waffling cause your worship to wane.

• The mission of the church is advanced despite the doubters. God’s plan is not limited by our lives. While there will always be wafflers there will also be workers, the question becomes which group will I be in? So what about you are you devoted disciple or doubting disciple?

Matthew 28:16-20

¹⁶ Then the eleven disciples left for Galilee, going to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. ¹⁷ When they saw him, they worshiped him—but some of them doubted! ¹⁸ Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. ¹⁹ Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. ²⁰ Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

As we continue in our series, “Living in the Reality of the Resurrection” we come to the great commission, that moment when Christ called and commissioned His disciples to go into all the world and share the good News of Jesus Christ. It’s here that we not only see God’s plan but also His power and provision to carry it out. This is a tough passage because most of us have already heard it and yet only a few of us are heeding it. Which means many of us have already dismissed it.

1. Went to the Mountain

“Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.”What is significant to note is that this is not the first time that Jesus had disclosed His plan to meet on the mountain with His disciples. He had actually told them about this mountaintop meeting before He was crucified in Matthew 26:32: “But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.”Then, after He was raised from the dead, an angel gave the women this message to give to the disciples: “He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him”(Matthew 28:7). As the women were going to give the message to the disciples to go to Galilee Jesus met them and gave them the same directions: “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me” (Matthew 28:10). Jesus made His plan to meet on the mountain perfectly clear. His plan involved leaving Jerusalem, getting away from the noise of the capital city, and wait for Him on a mountain. Notice that the disciples didn’t just hear Jesus they heeded Him. They went to the mountain, not because it was what they wanted but because it was His Will. Their movement was based on the Messiah not on the mountain. So often we make our decisions based on our wants not God’s Will. We let our circumstances dictate our decisions instead of Christ. Today Christ’s call to leave the city and go to the mountains sounds appealing. But in order for the disciples to obey and go from Jerusalem to Galilee they had to travel about 70 miles, several days on foot. In order to obey Christ they had to leave the comfort and convenience of the city, step out of their comfort zone. You can’t play it safety and serve the Savior. Jesus was calling them to leave the distractions behind, so they could get alone with God. Today we say we want the mountaintop time but in reality, we don’t have time for God. We are so tethered to technology that we don’t have time to get alone with God. We are so busy clinging to our worldly comfort that we don’t come and obey Christ.  The truth is that we are more connected to our smart phones than we are to the Savior. We spend more time in technology than we do in truth. What is dictating and driving your life, is it the voice of the Christ and His conviction or the voice of the city and its comfort and convenience?  Are you going to listen the voice of the Master or the voice of the masses? The mountain represented more than just a majestic place, they were the site of so many miracles and ministry, it would have brought back memories of the time when Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount and when Peter, James and John went up on a mountain and saw Jesus transfigured before their eyes. It would have been a reminder of the many times when Jesus withdrew to the mountains to spend time with His Father in prayer (John 6:15). If we want to hear God’s Will we have to come and spent time in His presence. If we want further revelation, then we have to respond to His already revealed Will. Are you being obedient to what God has already revealed? Many of us say we want to know more of God’s Will yet we are unwilling to be obedient to what He has already revealed. This call to come to the mountain was a step of faith. Jesus told them to step out in faith and travel out of their comfort zone to an inconvenient place where He would meet them on the mountain. They chose to obey what was revealed to them and they were rewarded with time with the Redeemer. Many of us are missing the Messiah, we are missing what is most important because we are not being obedient to the bible. Are you obeying God’s already revealed revelation? Getting alone with God requires giving up other things. What is it that you need to leave in order to spend time with the Lord? What is it that is crowding out Christ in your life? It’s not easy to get alone with God, it requires both faith in His Word and forsaking the world. But we desperately need to come away to the mountain and meet with the Messiah. To get away from hustle and bustle and busyness of life so that we can hear God’s business. We need that moment on the mountain with the Master where we trade our busyness for His business.