2024 THE GREAT COMMISSION
So what is THE GREAT COMMISSION? The Great Commission is based on a number of commands which Jesus Christ gave before He ascended into Heaven. These commands serve as the exact instructions of what His Church is to be carrying out on the earth. ACTS 1:1-2 LIVING BIBLE In my first letter I told you about Jesus’ life and teachings and how he returned to heaven after giving his chosen apostles further instructions from the Holy Spirit. CEV He gave orders to the apostles.
MATTHEW 28:18-20 NKJ 18 And Jesus came and spoke to them saying All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you and lo I am with you always even to the end of the age. Amen.
MARK 16:15-18 NKJ 15 And He said to them Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He who believes and is baptised will be saved but he who does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons they will speak with new tongues. 18 they will take up serpents and if they drink anything deadly it will by no means hurt them they will lay hands on the sick and they will recover. Now notice what verse MARK 16:19-20 NKJ says…19 So then after the Lord had spoken to them He was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. 20 And they went out and preached everywhere the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen. I’M HOLDING GOD ACCOUNT TO THIS
LUKE 24:46-48 NKJ 46 Then He said to them ‘Thus it is written and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day 47 and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations beginning at Jerusalem. 48 And you are witnesses of these things.’
The Great Enabler of the Great Commission is the Holy Spirit Jesus said in ACTS 1:8 NKJ ‘But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.’
And that’s exactly what happened. The Book of Acts records this. ACTS 1 to 7 Jerusalem is evangelised. ACTS 8 to 12 Judea and Samaria is evangelised and finally ACTS 13 to 28 the world is evangelised and continues to be.
Clearly we see Jesus instructing His disciples to be primarily focused on the following which I call the SACRED SIX.
- PREACHING THE GOSPEL
- BAPTISING IN WATER
- CASTING OUT DEMONS
- BAPTISING IN THE HOLY SPIRIT
- LAYING HANDS ON THE SICK
- MAKING DISCIPLES
The disciples continued with the same ministry that Jesus did and this made them Apostolic. In other words in Christ absence on the earth as the Head of the Church the Body of Christ the Church will continue the work Jesus started.
The Book of Acts testifies to the continuation of this ministry focus. A careful study of early Church history will also reveal that this was the emphasis of the Church.
And all of this continued until the Church of Jesus Christ became a world wide phenomena. However over the years people have began to have their own opinions on what the Church should be doing and much of it is not accurate to the Great Commission.
Now you might think well doesn’t every Church champion these ideals? Well the simple answer is NO they don’t. The emphasis to the Great Commission is slipping away and it’s beginning in the Sunday public meetings and rapidly drying up behind the scenes.
There is a desperate need for the Gospel as demonstrated by Jesus Christ and the Apostles to be made manifest. That’s what Awesome Church is all about and that’s the kind of emphasis we need to have as Christians. Probably the arch enemies of any Gospel Church is TRADITION and the spirit of UNBELIEF. Both are insidious to the power of God being demonstrated.
One is corrupted by the cultural opinions of men and the other is the demonisation of leadership. In both cases they nullify the power of God in much the same way the Jewish establishment in Israel did during Jesus day only now it’s not Jewish corruption but Christian corruption.
But there’s another enemy at play that is really emerging and that is a COMPROMISING spirit to worldliness and political correctness.
Over the years Churches have become more BENEVOLENT orientated at the expense of being SPIRITUALLY orientated believing that by being benevolent they will gain more acceptance.
Now there is nothing wrong with being benevolent and we should be. Being benevolent means being community orientated like feeding the poor, helping the homeless or providing clothing etc. I am all for being benevolent but we must never forget the primary commands that Jesus gave.
It’s time to come back to the Gospel of Jesus Christ to The Sacred Six…
- PREACHING THE GOSPEL
- BAPTISING IN WATER
- CASTING OUT DEMONS
- BAPTISING IN THE HOLY SPIRIT
- LAYING HANDS ON THE SICK
- MAKING DISCIPLES
Let me say a few things about each of these because I believe it’s important that you study these areas in more detail according to scripture. Remember this is what Jesus commanded His disciples to carry out so it should be our focus.
1. PREACHING THE GOSPEL is much more than telling nice stories or providing a motivational message to win people’s approval. Preaching the Gospel is confrontative and clear cut. The Gospel demands a response. It’s a get in your face message because your eternal life is at stake.
If you don’t even know what the Gospel is then you won’t be able to preach it. The Gospel is not the Ten Commandments, feeding the poor, loving people or the Sermon on the Mount. When the Gospel is preached..the power of God will come.
ROMANS 1:16 NKJ For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes
The power of God is evident with Salvation, Healing and Deliverance. S.H.D is not the Gospel but the fruit of the Gospel because the Gospel is all about the death, burial and resurrection of Christ defeating sin and the Satan.
This is what the Apostle Paul said: 1 CORINTHIANS 15:1-4 NKJ 1 Moreover brethren I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you which also you received and in which you stand 2 by which also you are saved if you hold fast that word which I preached to you unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures 4 and that He was buried and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.
2. BAPTISING IN WATER It amazes me just how many Christian’s have not been water baptised but it also amazes me how water baptism is not taught much either. How it is critical to a person conversion.
Jesus said in MARK 16:16 NKJ ‘He who believes and is baptised will be saved’.
The Apostle Peter under clear instructions from Jesus was very direct when asked what a person must do to be saved.
ACTS 2:38 NKJ Then Peter said to them Repent and let every one of you be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Repentance means the person must be aware of what they need to repent of. Therefore they must know what SIN is. 1 JOHN 3:4 NKJ Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness and sin is lawlessness.
I’m all for preaching what we are FOR but equally we must know what we are AGAINST and be fearless to the world in declaring it.
The Law of Moses teaches us what SIN in the light of God’s Holiness and this is the Glory of the Old Covenant but the Glory of the New Covenant is that our sins are forgiven because of the shed Blood of Jesus Christ on the Cross.
3. CASTING OUT DEMONS is perhaps the one command that is most commonly excluded or reserved only for mission trips to third world countries as if living in a prosperous nation excludes a person from being demonised. Quite the contrary actually for lawlessness affects both rich and poor.
And the major stumbling block to deliverance in Churches today is the misguided argument that some minister’s make and that is that a Christian cannot have a demon.
One only needs to look at any Church congregation and the behaviour and condition of many Church members and leadership to know that demonisation is everywhere among the Body of Christ. And it is like this because it’s not addressed. Demons are simply not being resisted or cast out. In some cases they are running rampart and in control.
Jesus made a very powerful statement about casting demons out in LUKE 11:20 NKJ But if I cast out demons with the finger of God surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. Jesus also gave a very strict command to His disciples in…
MATTHEW 10:5-8 NKJ 5 These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: Do not go into the way of the Gentiles and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. 6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 And as you go preach saying ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ 8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.
Notice Jesus said ‘Go to the lost sheep of the House of Israel’ these are the God fearing people not pagan worshippers. It’s little wonder that most of Jesus deliverance ministry took place in the Synagogues. MARK 1:39 NKJ And He was preaching in their synagogues throughout all Galilee and casting out demons.
A Christian and by that I mean person who is truly Born Again, water baptised and filled with the Holy Spirit and living for Jesus can not be possessed by a demon spirit because they are owned by Jesus and their spirit belongs to God.
However the soul (mind, will & emotions) and body can be demonised not possessed. The correct English word from the Greek word daimoniziomai means to be demonised or afflicted and harassed NOT possessed which implies ownership. It’s in the soul and body where Christian’s suffer with demonisation either externally or internally.
4. BAPTISING IN THE HOLY SPIRIT Once again it’s amazing just how many Christians are not speaking in tongues. Why? Because it’s not taught much anymore nor demonstrated in Church and in some places forbidden to take place in a public meeting for fear of unbelievers being present. Yet the Bible say’s in 1 CORINTHIANS 14:22 NKJ Therefore tongues are for a sign not to those who believe but to unbelievers. 1 CORINTHIANS 14:2 NKJ For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God.
5. LAYING HANDS ON THE SICK Another command which is seldom practiced in Churches anymore. The Bible is clear about this command. Jesus said to His disciples in MARK 16:18 NKJ lay hands on the sick and they will recover. The Apostle James also taught in JAMES 5:14-15 NKJ 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. We should always be quick to pray for the sick. Jesus was specific He said ‘the sick’ saved or unsaved but James was more specific to ‘Anyone among you’ meaning in the Church. COVENANT RIGHT
6. MAKE DISCIPLES Not just believers but followers of Jesus Christ and this requires the most consistent work. All the other commands can be done in an instant but discipleship takes time, effort, patience, persistence, long suffering and a lot of love.
The best way to carry this out is through encouraging a person to be planted in a Church where they can be discipled with other believer’s and find their place in serving the Lord. At Awesome Church I am committed to demonstrating the Gospel every Sunday by focusing primarily on the exact commands of Jesus Christ.
Now when it comes to MAKING DISCIPLES…ARE YOU MAKING DISCIPLES of ANYONE? Even one person?Christians are disciple makers first and foremost because this is our clear mandate from the Lord. Not just Pastors but all followers of Christ. We can do this at large but it must also been done individually as well taking an interest in another person’s spirituality and teaching them the Gospel.
And remember always stay…True to the FAITH, True to the COMMANDS, True to the SPIRIT. True to the FAITH means we remain fixed, focus and faithful to Jesus Christ and the Word of God. True to the SPIRIT means we are Holy Spirit empowered to undertake the Gifts of the Holy Spirit and the ministry of signs, wonders and miracles. True to the COMMANDS means we take hold of the Great Commission and live it out wholeheartedly.
As Christians we have to go beyond the Great Commandment of MATTHEW 22:37-39 to love God and love one another to the Great Commission of carrying out His commands and vision for the Gospel to ends of the earth.
So I officially declare that for Awesome Church it’s going to be 2024 THE GREAT COMMISSION!
