GREAT COMMISSION PART ONE

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After Jesus’s resurrection but before He ascended back to heaven, Jesus repeated His Great Commission five times. Christians are to reach cities, nations, and the world! Every Christian, not just church leaders, were tasked with the Great Commission.

“Go and make disciples of all the nations” (Matt.28:19).

  1. “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation” (Mark16:15).
  2. “Repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem” (Luke24:47).
  3. “As the Father has sent Me, so I am sending you” (John20:21).
  4. “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts1:8).

The first Great Commission verse in Matthew in its entirety is foundational and covers the most, so we will look at it.

“Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Therefore, go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey all I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the very end of the age!’” Matthew 28:18-20

Let’s look at each point that Jesus said:

  1. “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.”

“ALL authority… on earth” certainly has to include all civil authority on earth in all nations. If you truly comprehend the first thing Jesus said here, we can stop right here. No one should need any more than this to see Jesus’s Great Commission is a civil mandate for all nations on earth.

The words “all authority” are also translated as “all power.” And you don’t need ALL power or ALL authority on earth to be able to disciple a few Christians! But you definitely do need all power and authority on earth to be able to do what Jesus then commands us.

  1. “Therefore, go and teach all nations.”

“Nations” are by definition: “A group of people led by the same civil government.” Nations are NOT a group of churches or a group of disciples. Nations are civil governments. Therefore, this is Jesus’s civil mandate, to go and teach all nations, exactly as the verse says. The rest of the Great Commission Jesus tells us exactly how to successfully accomplish His civil mandate.

  1. “Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

Contrary to what many assume, this sentence is NOT referring to water baptism for the New Covenant Believers, for a lot of reasons:

  • First, the context of the verse right before has no basis for being that.
  • Second, the pronoun in “baptizing them”, has to refer to a noun in the previous sentence. And in the previous sentence and according to the literal Greek, there is only one noun, and it is the word – “NATIONS”.
  • Third, but how do you baptize nations? In the Greek language, the word “baptize” is more often used in other ways than water baptism. It was used – “to immerse, to wash, to cleanse and even to overwhelm.” In fact, most of the time in the NT this word is NEVER used for water baptism new believers. For example, Matt. 3:11: Baptism of the Holy Spirit, Matt. 3:11: Baptism of fire, Matt. 28:19: Baptism of nations, Mark 7:4: Baptism of food, Mark 7:4: Baptism of cups, Mark 7:4: Baptism of pots, Luke 3:3: Baptism of repentance, Luke 7:29: Baptism of John, Luke 12:50: Baptism of suffering, Rom. 6:3: Baptized into Christ Jesus, 1 Cor. 10:2: Baptized into Moses, 1 Cor. 12:13: Baptized into one body, 1 Cor. 15:29: Baptized for the dead, Gal. 3:27: Baptized into Christ.
  • The ONLY time water baptism for New Covenant Believers was ever referred to in the New Testament was after Pentecost in the book of Acts. Moreover, every time it was used there for new Believers, the phrase – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – was NEVER said. The Book of Acts actually records what was said, and this is what was said every time: Acts 2:38: “baptized in the name of Jesus Christ”, Acts 8:16: “baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus”, Acts 10:48: “baptized in the name of Jesus Christ”, Acts 19:5: “baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus”

Contrary to what some may think, Jesus’s Great Commission was not talking about water baptism of New Covenant Believers, but rather to cleanse and overwhelm “all the nations” with the teaching and authority of the whole God-Head – the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. So how then did Jesus tell them to cleanse and overwhelm all nations?

  1. “Teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”

Jesus did not say, teaching them to “to know all” but “to obey all.” That is exactly what is required for all civil law – “to obey all” that Jesus commanded. One of the first things Jesus commanded was to “do and teach” all God’s Law in His “Sermon on the Mount” (Mat. 5:17-19).

  1. “And behold, I am with you always, to the very end of the age!”

BEHOLD! The end of the age has not yet come — so God’s new Jesus Family today can and is to still carry out Jesus’s Great Commission – His national civil mandate!

BEHOLD! Jesus is with us today — to carry out His national mandate!

“Therefore, go and teach all nations… And behold, I am with you always, to the very end of the age!’”

To practically go and teach any nation, which by definition is civil government, and to obey all that Jesus has commanded may seem impossible. But Jesus said:

“With God all things are possible!” Matthew 19:26

In the next post, we will look at how successful Christians have been with the task they have been given – The Great Commission.

For more information on the Great Commission and the church as God intended, visit Jim McCotter’s website, http://www.jimsbookstore.com.

USE END TIMES BIBLICAL PROPHECY TO COMPLETE THE GREAT COMMISSION

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“And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” 2 Peter 1:19-21

The Bible is full of fulfilled prophecies, which testify to its divine inspiration and inerrancy. It is estimated that as much as 75% of the 2,500 prophecies in the Bible have been already fulfilled, and most of those yet to happen are last-day/end-time events.

Do you realise there are far more prophecies about Jesus second coming than His first coming? The Pharisees and Sadducees did not get it with His first coming, and the church is not getting it with His second coming, maybe in your lifetime.

“For this reason, you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.” Matthew 24:44

With knowledge of the Bible’s last days’ prophecies, we can use them to evangelize unbelievers, showing them that God controls history. I hope my book, Living Eternal Now – Ready for Jesus Return will assist you in being equipped to complete the Great Commission before Jesus’ second coming. It is available as a paperback and ebook on Amazon.

WHO IS TO COMPLETE THE GREAT COMMISSION?

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Jesus told eleven unremarkable people with no platform of any kind to go find other people in every nation. When they found these people, they were to teach them to be the same kind of disciples they were. He was telling His disciples (then and now) to influence culture, not from the top down, but from the bottom up. Jesus’ plan is to change the culture through you and me – not a professional class of priests, pastors, full-time ministers, or cultural elites.

Paraphrasing Scripture Jesus says to us: “I have all the power and authority in the universe. The master of the universe and beyond is your friend. I picked you to be on my team. Now since I am the master of the universe, I want you to report directly to me. I’m giving you an assignment that is of the utmost importance—to find others just like you in every nation, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you“. Teach them my protocols.

“In the last days perilous times will come … evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse…” (2 Timothy 3:1,13)

The Bible doesn’t say that things will get better in the last days, but “worse and worse.” That tells us that humanity will become more corrupt. Rotten will become putrid. The issue is deeper than what concerned most of us leading up to the US Presidential election—abortion. Christians are the big hindrance to same-sex marriage, the normalization of homosexuality, gender identity, euthanasia, assisted suicide, sex education, and many other issues.

This is why we mustn’t forget our agenda. Jesus said to preach the gospel to every creature. This is because the gospel is the power of God to salvation. It not only saves from wrath, but it can transform sin-loving sinners so that they love righteousness.

WHAT TRUMP’S WIN MEANS FOR CHRISTIANS

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Ray Comfort of Living Waters (http://www.livingwaters.com) makes it clear to Christians that Trump’s win is not going to save anyone only preaching the Gospel, as Jesus commanded us to do, will save people from God’s judgement.

Trump is not going to turn back the clock and restore Judaeo-Christian values. Jesus and in fact even the O.T prophets particularly Daniel make it clear that Jews and Christians are going to experience intense persecution, tribulation, and great tribulation in the time up to Jesus second coming to Earth to defeat the Antichrist army in the battle of Armageddon and usher in His Millennial Kingdom.

“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.” Matthew 24:9-13

GET ANSWERS ON ISSUES FACED BY CHRISTIANS TODAY

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There’s a HUGE problem among evangelical Christians… In this episode of ANSWERS NEWS, our hosts Bryan Osborne, Dr. Tim Chaffey, and Patricia Engler share their perspectives on this and other topics as Bible-believing Christians.

If you want to be kept up to date on current U.S. and world news as it relates to Christians then I do suggest you subscribe to Answers in Genesis, ANSWERS NEWS. One of the issues this video reports on is a recent survey reveals, far too many Christians do not share their faith with nonbelievers. Critical Race Theory, Woke ideology, and transgender issues are also addressed.

THE POWER OF ONE

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Reaching one person with the good news of Jesus Christ seems insignificant compared to the world’s population. Repeatedly, Jesus sought one person, ministered to one person, touched one person, healed one person, and saved one person. When we are the ONE who has been saved, we are the ONE appointed to find ONE more!  

Jesus unlocked the potential of one person over and over again, in this new era of global evangelism, the focus needs to be on each person who needs Jesus.  Together, the impossible task can be achieved, one person at a time.  The Power of One shows how we can see the most significant Great Commission effort in history.  

A new era of global evangelism is dawning in our post-pandemic, fast-moving, 21st-century world. Jesus’ method of reaching one person and thus unlocking their capacity to touch the masses is being reclaimed. The most significant days of the Great Commission effort in human history are before us.  

Reaching every person on Earth will necessitate and demonstrate . . . The Power of ONE!

What people are saying about The Power of One

“One of the biggest reasons most Christian believers never share their faith is they don’t realize how deeply God wants his lost children found. Just as Jesus explained that the Good Shepherd leaves 99 safe sheep to go after the one sheep that is lost, “The Power of One” explains  why and how each of us can do our part in reaching everyONE with the Good News that they matter to God, Christ’s died for them, and that He wants them in his family forever!”

“If our culture has shown us anything in recent years, it presents to us a world in desperate need of the good news of Jesus. In The Power of One, Dr. Billy Wilson offers both the challenge before us and the remarkable opportunity to proclaim the gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit. As president of Oral Roberts University, I particularly appreciate his insight into Gen Z and its potential as a gospel force. We need a fresh burden for the lost and a renewed practice of evangelism that this book details!”  – Ed Stetzer, Dean, Talbot School of Theology 

“The Power of One is a must-read for anyone who desires to make a lasting impact for the cause of Christ. In this book, Dr. Wilson shares his expertise and insight on how to effectively reach people with the gospel of Jesus Christ. His approach is practical, easy to understand, and biblically grounded. “If you are looking for a book that will challenge you to step out of your comfort zone and share the love of Christ with others, The Power of One is the book for you. I highly recommend it!” – Reggie Dabbs, The Youth Alliance
https://youtu.be/OSazMpktoYE?si=k5DCZR9Vdp5udxKi