10/28/20
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| In loving memory of my father Robert Louis (Bob) Padgett July 28, 1931-May 22, 2023 |
Most Christians are familiar with what men call "the great commission." Of course, the words, "the great commission," do not occur in the Bible. Some ministers equate the phrase, "the great commission" to Mark 16:15-16; others point to Matthew 28:18-20; and some include Acts 1:8. I suppose many ministers equate "the great commission" to mean, "just go out and get them saved." Let us look at the order of events as given in scripture.
The first thing that must happen to a person is to be born from above. That is what many call being "saved," although that is a misconception because salvation is a process, not a one-time event. Only God can save. Jesus said he did not pray for the world. He said He only prayed for those whom the Father had given to Him (John 17:9).
Let us read 1 Corinthians 1:18 using the actual tense of the verbs. "For the preaching of the cross is to them that are perishing foolishness; but unto us which are being saved it is the power of God."
Obviously, to "call upon the name of the Lord" means something more than simply saying, "Lord, Lord."
In light of Romans 10:13-15, who preached to Paul? Was Paul saved through the ministry of some man? However, when the Lord sovereignly came to Saul in the form of a light so bright that he became blind, Saul said, "Who are thou, Lord?" I have known several other men who had a similar experience to that of Paul.
I also want to emphasize Romans 10:15 ... "How shall they preach, except they be sent?" We will come back to that shortly.
Something else that the Lord Jesus did to His disciples after His resurrection. He stood before them and He breathed upon them.
Another part of "the great commission" is the command given in Mark 16:15-16, also after the resurrection of Jesus.
What I want to emphasize is that no one individual is called to go into all the world and try to "save" everyone. One of the most important verses in the Bible is
The word, "power," in Verse 18 is the Greek word exousia, which means "authority" or "the right to do something." The word "teach" in Verse 19 means "to disciple." Therefore, the order of events in Matthew 28:19 is First, make disciples, not of any man, but disciples of Christ. Obviously, before anyone can become a disciple of Jesus, a person must be born from above. Jesus said that if any man would come after Him or be His disciple, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Him (Matthew 16:24). Secondly, the order is to baptize or immerse the disciples into the nature, the character of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Then the third and last step is to teach them to observe all things that Jesus has commanded. That speaks of obedience. To obey is better than sacrifice and to hearken than the fat of rams (1 Samuel 15:22).
Before the Lord sent out anyone, He told His disciples to "tarry in Jerusalem until ye be endued with power from on high" (Luke 24:49). Then Jesus said, in Acts 1:8, "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth."
Here, the word "power" is the Greek word dunamis, from which we get our word "dynamite."
A witness tells about something he has seen, heard, or experienced, like a news reporter giving an unbiased account of an event. Witnessing has nothing to do with theology or philosophy. It is fairly common knowledge that the word "witness" actually means a "martyr." In other words, we all should be martyrs as unto the Lord, not as unto men.
Stephen is called the first Christian martyr. In the broadest sense, every Christian must exchange our natural life for the life of Christ.
The Apostle John said, in 1 John 1:1-7,
The meaning of the baptism in the Holy Spirit has been diluted by many of God's people today. This is the only time the scripture speaks about the believers receiving that dynamite power. Never before Pentecost has God given power to mankind. Authority, yes, but power is something else ... something quite different. If I have an automobile driver's license, then I have a delegated authority from some state to drive a car. But unless my car is in drivable condition AND has gasoline in the tank, and unless I am physically able, I cannot drive that car.
Power is the regenerating force that works life in us and through us. Indeed, that dynamite power, or dunamis, can be translated as "force." What will happen when your car runs out of gas (the energy, the force, the dunamis)? The car will stop somewhere because it has only consumed. Your authority to drive a car lasts as long as you do not break too many rules of the road or rules of life. Our authority may be consumed because of a lack of obedience, but the Holy Ghost power regenerates us. Jesus said that all power was given to Him in heaven and in earth. Jesus first gave that power to the 11 disciples on the day of Pentecost.
Jesus said, Ye shall receive power after the Holy Ghost is come upon you and ye shall "be." It does not say ye shall "do." There is a big difference between doing and being - and ye shall BE witnesses unto the Lord, not unto Jerusalem, not unto Samaria, not unto the world, but unto ME. The witnessing has not to do with mankind, but it is unto the Lord. Everything we do must be as unto the Lord. It is a service that is to be rendered unto the Lord. Where is it to be rendered? It is rendered in Jerusalem, in Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth; but the emphasis is on "unto ME," unto the Lord Jesus Christ.
We should note several aspects of all of those related sets of verses. It is commonly taught that those sets of verses in Mark 16, Matthew 28, and Acts 1 apply to every Christian. Indeed, I believe that was God's intention. For example, if each Christian were to help two neighbors to come to the knowledge of the saving grace of God and each of those two repeat the process, that would constitute something called a geometric progression. It is amazing how fast the number of Christians would multiply! Three different verses in Acts (Acts 2:41, Acts 2:47, and Acts 5:14) say that believers were added to the church. But then we come to Acts 6:7, "And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith." Multiplication is much faster than addition.
However, to whom were those verses in Mark and Matthew originally addressed? to the remaining 11 disciples, who were then commissioned to be apostles. 1 Corinthians 12:29 asks, "Are all apostles?" The implied answer is "no." Why not? because God sets the members every one of them in the body as it pleases Him.
However, Jesus said, in Matthew 24:14, "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." What is the Gospel? The person of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Has the gospel of the kingdom been preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations? No. What has been preached as the evangelistic message? how to be saved and then one day go to heaven. Everyone wants to go to heaven but no one wants to die ... die unto self.
Matthew 28:18-20 is an expansion of Mark 16:15. Jesus is not going to return to earth for a bunch of immature, baby Christians. Unfortunately, for many long years, too many Christians have equated the Gospel to simply being "saved."
There is much more to the Gospel than being born again or born from above. There must be an expansion of our walk - of our life on earth. Heaven is not simply some far-away land that we hope to go to when we leave this earth. Jesus said that the kingdom of God is within you. Being born from above and baptized with the Holy Spirit only puts us on the race track.
Most evangelistic events and most of the so-called Lord's work in all of our many activities, is usually based on a location and on people. But very little is centered on Him. That is why the outcome is often so disappointing. Today so much of the emphasis in the church is geared towards evangelism. Some evangelists feel that their success depends on how large their next campaign will be, and some pastors measure success by the number of converts who come to the altar or how many he baptizes. If that is the goal, it is but dung. In Philippians, Chapter 3, after Paul talks about all of his past credentials, he says that he counts it all but dung that he may win Christ. Well dung is not useless. It makes excellent fertilizer. Spiritually, dung allows us to see our mistakes so that we can repent and learn more about Jesus and His ways.
We must always remember that the Lord Jesus Christ is our Apostle, our great Prophet, our Evangelist, our Pastor and Teacher. We read in Ephesians 4 about the 5-fold ministries, given by the Lord. One of those ministries is that of an evangelist. Paul said, in
It is important to note that the Lord specifically told Philip, an evangelist, to go from Jerusalem down toward Gaza into the desert.
The Lord never intended that the Gospel, which is Christ, should be limited only to the Jews. They were just the first to have the marvelous opportunity to receive and partake of the life that is in Christ. There must be an expansion of the Gospel to reach every human being.
That verse says that they ALL were scattered abroad except the apostles. What were the apostles left to do? to teach the new converts ... those others which the Lord added daily to the church at Jerusalem. As an interesting side tangent ... there is no record in the scripture that says that any of those early disciples ever needed physical healing or deliverance. Why? because they were still in one accord. In one accord about what? We can all be in one accord that we all like ice cream. Seven times in the Book of Acts we read that those early disciples were in one accord. But the only verse I have found that tells us what they were in one accord about is in Romans 15:5-6,
The first thing that must happen to a person is to be born from above. That is what many call being "saved," although that is a misconception because salvation is a process, not a one-time event. Only God can save. Jesus said he did not pray for the world. He said He only prayed for those whom the Father had given to Him (John 17:9).
Let us read 1 Corinthians 1:18 using the actual tense of the verbs. "For the preaching of the cross is to them that are perishing foolishness; but unto us which are being saved it is the power of God."
Romans 10:13-16,
13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?"
Obviously, to "call upon the name of the Lord" means something more than simply saying, "Lord, Lord."
Matthew 7:22-23, "Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."
In light of Romans 10:13-15, who preached to Paul? Was Paul saved through the ministry of some man? However, when the Lord sovereignly came to Saul in the form of a light so bright that he became blind, Saul said, "Who are thou, Lord?" I have known several other men who had a similar experience to that of Paul.
I also want to emphasize Romans 10:15 ... "How shall they preach, except they be sent?" We will come back to that shortly.
Something else that the Lord Jesus did to His disciples after His resurrection. He stood before them and He breathed upon them.
John 20:21-22, "Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:"
At that time something very important happened to them. The same is promised to as many as the Lord our God shall call. Whenever the Lord blows upon His disciples, our flesh begins to wither.
Isaiah 40:7 says, "The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass."
Another part of "the great commission" is the command given in Mark 16:15-16, also after the resurrection of Jesus.
15 And He said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
What I want to emphasize is that no one individual is called to go into all the world and try to "save" everyone. One of the most important verses in the Bible is
John 2:5, "Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it."
Further, the "ye" in Mark 16:15 is undoubtedly plural. In other words, not every individual Christian is called to go into all the world. Although the Lord has allowed me to go to many different places, I certainly have not been to all of the world. Moreover, scripture is clear that only the Holy Spirit can and will send out those to preach the Gospel to every creature. Acts 13:4, concerning Paul and Barnabus, says, "So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed unto Seleucia; and from thence they sailed to Cyprus."
No man, no group of men, no church, no "missionary board," no seminary, no Bible school has a right to send forth anyone. Those whom the Holy Spirit sends out must be prepared by the Lord and must have a heavenly vision. They must understand the purpose, plans, perspectives, will, and ways of the Lord. Otherwise they can only preach that "Jesus saves." Before the current coronavirus pandemic, it was fairly common at all large sporting events to see someone holding up a sign that said "John 3:16" or "Jesus saves." I am certainly not opposed to that but if we read Mark 16:15 and Matthew 28:18-20 carefully, we will see that, in a sense, Mark 16:15 is only part of the "great commission." Now let us look at Matthew 28:18-20.
No man, no group of men, no church, no "missionary board," no seminary, no Bible school has a right to send forth anyone. Those whom the Holy Spirit sends out must be prepared by the Lord and must have a heavenly vision. They must understand the purpose, plans, perspectives, will, and ways of the Lord. Otherwise they can only preach that "Jesus saves." Before the current coronavirus pandemic, it was fairly common at all large sporting events to see someone holding up a sign that said "John 3:16" or "Jesus saves." I am certainly not opposed to that but if we read Mark 16:15 and Matthew 28:18-20 carefully, we will see that, in a sense, Mark 16:15 is only part of the "great commission." Now let us look at Matthew 28:18-20.
18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen."
The word, "power," in Verse 18 is the Greek word exousia, which means "authority" or "the right to do something." The word "teach" in Verse 19 means "to disciple." Therefore, the order of events in Matthew 28:19 is First, make disciples, not of any man, but disciples of Christ. Obviously, before anyone can become a disciple of Jesus, a person must be born from above. Jesus said that if any man would come after Him or be His disciple, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Him (Matthew 16:24). Secondly, the order is to baptize or immerse the disciples into the nature, the character of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Then the third and last step is to teach them to observe all things that Jesus has commanded. That speaks of obedience. To obey is better than sacrifice and to hearken than the fat of rams (1 Samuel 15:22).
Before the Lord sent out anyone, He told His disciples to "tarry in Jerusalem until ye be endued with power from on high" (Luke 24:49). Then Jesus said, in Acts 1:8, "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth."
Here, the word "power" is the Greek word dunamis, from which we get our word "dynamite."
A witness tells about something he has seen, heard, or experienced, like a news reporter giving an unbiased account of an event. Witnessing has nothing to do with theology or philosophy. It is fairly common knowledge that the word "witness" actually means a "martyr." In other words, we all should be martyrs as unto the Lord, not as unto men.
Stephen is called the first Christian martyr. In the broadest sense, every Christian must exchange our natural life for the life of Christ.
"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I but Christ liveth in me: and the life that I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me" (Galatians 2:20).
The Apostle John said, in 1 John 1:1-7,
1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;
2 (for the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)
3 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.
4 And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.
5 This then is the message which we have heard of Him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.
6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
7 But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.
The meaning of the baptism in the Holy Spirit has been diluted by many of God's people today. This is the only time the scripture speaks about the believers receiving that dynamite power. Never before Pentecost has God given power to mankind. Authority, yes, but power is something else ... something quite different. If I have an automobile driver's license, then I have a delegated authority from some state to drive a car. But unless my car is in drivable condition AND has gasoline in the tank, and unless I am physically able, I cannot drive that car.
Power is the regenerating force that works life in us and through us. Indeed, that dynamite power, or dunamis, can be translated as "force." What will happen when your car runs out of gas (the energy, the force, the dunamis)? The car will stop somewhere because it has only consumed. Your authority to drive a car lasts as long as you do not break too many rules of the road or rules of life. Our authority may be consumed because of a lack of obedience, but the Holy Ghost power regenerates us. Jesus said that all power was given to Him in heaven and in earth. Jesus first gave that power to the 11 disciples on the day of Pentecost.
Jesus said, Ye shall receive power after the Holy Ghost is come upon you and ye shall "be." It does not say ye shall "do." There is a big difference between doing and being - and ye shall BE witnesses unto the Lord, not unto Jerusalem, not unto Samaria, not unto the world, but unto ME. The witnessing has not to do with mankind, but it is unto the Lord. Everything we do must be as unto the Lord. It is a service that is to be rendered unto the Lord. Where is it to be rendered? It is rendered in Jerusalem, in Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth; but the emphasis is on "unto ME," unto the Lord Jesus Christ.
We should note several aspects of all of those related sets of verses. It is commonly taught that those sets of verses in Mark 16, Matthew 28, and Acts 1 apply to every Christian. Indeed, I believe that was God's intention. For example, if each Christian were to help two neighbors to come to the knowledge of the saving grace of God and each of those two repeat the process, that would constitute something called a geometric progression. It is amazing how fast the number of Christians would multiply! Three different verses in Acts (Acts 2:41, Acts 2:47, and Acts 5:14) say that believers were added to the church. But then we come to Acts 6:7, "And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith." Multiplication is much faster than addition.
However, to whom were those verses in Mark and Matthew originally addressed? to the remaining 11 disciples, who were then commissioned to be apostles. 1 Corinthians 12:29 asks, "Are all apostles?" The implied answer is "no." Why not? because God sets the members every one of them in the body as it pleases Him.
However, Jesus said, in Matthew 24:14, "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." What is the Gospel? The person of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Has the gospel of the kingdom been preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations? No. What has been preached as the evangelistic message? how to be saved and then one day go to heaven. Everyone wants to go to heaven but no one wants to die ... die unto self.
Romans 1:19-20 says, "Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:"
Matthew 28:18-20 is an expansion of Mark 16:15. Jesus is not going to return to earth for a bunch of immature, baby Christians. Unfortunately, for many long years, too many Christians have equated the Gospel to simply being "saved."
There is much more to the Gospel than being born again or born from above. There must be an expansion of our walk - of our life on earth. Heaven is not simply some far-away land that we hope to go to when we leave this earth. Jesus said that the kingdom of God is within you. Being born from above and baptized with the Holy Spirit only puts us on the race track.
Hebrews 12:1-2, "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."
Most evangelistic events and most of the so-called Lord's work in all of our many activities, is usually based on a location and on people. But very little is centered on Him. That is why the outcome is often so disappointing. Today so much of the emphasis in the church is geared towards evangelism. Some evangelists feel that their success depends on how large their next campaign will be, and some pastors measure success by the number of converts who come to the altar or how many he baptizes. If that is the goal, it is but dung. In Philippians, Chapter 3, after Paul talks about all of his past credentials, he says that he counts it all but dung that he may win Christ. Well dung is not useless. It makes excellent fertilizer. Spiritually, dung allows us to see our mistakes so that we can repent and learn more about Jesus and His ways.
We must always remember that the Lord Jesus Christ is our Apostle, our great Prophet, our Evangelist, our Pastor and Teacher. We read in Ephesians 4 about the 5-fold ministries, given by the Lord. One of those ministries is that of an evangelist. Paul said, in
1 Corinthians 4:1, "Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God."
The word "ministers" means an assistant or a helper. None of those 5-fold ministries are in charge of the ministry. We are simply called to be co-laborers with Christ, no matter what type of ministry we have received. The word "stewards" in that verse means a "house manager." The Lord is the One who owns the house ... the 5-fold ministries are simply house managers who are to "occupy until He comes" (Luke 19:13). I have no ministry and no title. It is the Lord's ministry. People come and go but the ministry of the Lord through the 5-fold ministries continues.
"Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:"
Ephesians 4:13
Again, if Christ within does not minister through us, we only produce wood, hay, and stubble.
We know that Paul told Timothy to "do the work of an evangelist" (2 Timothy 4:5). What is the "work of an evangelist"? The answer is found in
We know that Paul told Timothy to "do the work of an evangelist" (2 Timothy 4:5). What is the "work of an evangelist"? The answer is found in
Ephesians 4:12, "For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:"
So an evangelist, like the rest of the 5-fold ministries, is given for the church, not to the world. When the evangelist tries to go out to the dead, to the world, the dead cannot hear. They first must be saved if that ministry is to function properly within the church as God intends.
Other than those two references, the word "evangelist" or "evangelism" only occurs one more time ... in Acts, Chapter 8.
Other than those two references, the word "evangelist" or "evangelism" only occurs one more time ... in Acts, Chapter 8.
Acts 8:26-40,26 And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert.27 And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship,28 Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet.29 Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot.30 And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest?31 And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him.32 The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened He not his mouth:33 In His humiliation His judgment was taken away: and who shall declare His generation? for His life is taken from the earth.34 And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man?35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.36 And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?37 And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.38 And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.39 And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing.40 But Philip was found at Azotus: and passing through he preached in all the cities, till he came to Caesarea.
It is important to note that the Lord specifically told Philip, an evangelist, to go from Jerusalem down toward Gaza into the desert.
The Lord never intended that the Gospel, which is Christ, should be limited only to the Jews. They were just the first to have the marvelous opportunity to receive and partake of the life that is in Christ. There must be an expansion of the Gospel to reach every human being.
2 Peter 3:9, "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."
Of course, that does not mean that all of mankind will be "saved." Man still has free will. We must choose.
A Choice Between Expansion or Division
Now we need to be careful. There are two ways to generate expansion ... man's way and God's way. Man's way includes a number of approaches to expand, and by "expand" I mean increase the numbers of people in "our" church. We can advertise in a newspaper. We can put signs in the church yard which say, "All are welcome" or "Come join us." We can use the best ways of the world to try to get more people to join "our" church. We can have sports teams, sell Christmas trees, have bingo nights, sell our books and tapes, have coffee and doughnuts before our church services, anything that will appeal to the natural senses of mankind at all ages. And our Sunday sermons can emphasize all of the "goodies" that we get if we are a Christian. Keep smiling, keep feeding milk to the people. Just be careful never to talk about anything from scripture that sounds "negative." Of course, nothing about the scripture is negative. Do good works. Knock on doors and ask people, "Are you saved?" There may be a thousand and one different ways that our logical reasoning can come up with things that will appeal to the natural man. But unless the Lord gives the increase (1 Corinthians 3;6-7) then all of our "work" amounts to wood, hay, and stubble. The first principle of the doctrine of Christ (Hebrews 6:1) is repentance from dead works. How do we discern between dead works and the works of God that we are to walk in? The first step is to receive that heavenly vision.
What is the result of walking in man's ways to generate expansion? First, we have a mixed multitude. Then several things can happen. One potential result is that those few who want more meat will depart and go elsewhere - a division is the result. Historically, this has happened over the past 150 years or longer. That has produced hundreds or thousands of different denominations, non-denominations, and even house churches.
Now, what about God's way of expansion? First, the Lord adds to the church daily such as should be saved (Acts 2:47). Did you notice that word "daily"? Man can add to man's church but only the Lord can add to His church.
Now consider the church at Jerusalem shortly after the day of Pentecost, as recorded in Acts, Chapter 2. Scripture tells us that 3,000 men came to a knowledge of the saving grace of the Lord on that day of Pentecost. Not long after, 5,000 men (males) were added to the church after Peter's second "sermon." That does not include their families. Therefore, in a very short period of time there must have been close to 10,000 souls in the church at Jerusalem. I am sure that they all loved hearing the apostles preach and teach. And they were receiving the true Gospel, not some watered-down version. BUT ... the Lord never worked with a multitude. He never promoted one large "mega-church" where the believers could just relax and be spectators. Therefore ... the love of God went into action to bring persecution against the church at Jerusalem ... to scatter His people ... to get the believers back on track to fulfill His way of bringing the Gospel to all of the earth.
Now we need to be careful. There are two ways to generate expansion ... man's way and God's way. Man's way includes a number of approaches to expand, and by "expand" I mean increase the numbers of people in "our" church. We can advertise in a newspaper. We can put signs in the church yard which say, "All are welcome" or "Come join us." We can use the best ways of the world to try to get more people to join "our" church. We can have sports teams, sell Christmas trees, have bingo nights, sell our books and tapes, have coffee and doughnuts before our church services, anything that will appeal to the natural senses of mankind at all ages. And our Sunday sermons can emphasize all of the "goodies" that we get if we are a Christian. Keep smiling, keep feeding milk to the people. Just be careful never to talk about anything from scripture that sounds "negative." Of course, nothing about the scripture is negative. Do good works. Knock on doors and ask people, "Are you saved?" There may be a thousand and one different ways that our logical reasoning can come up with things that will appeal to the natural man. But unless the Lord gives the increase (1 Corinthians 3;6-7) then all of our "work" amounts to wood, hay, and stubble. The first principle of the doctrine of Christ (Hebrews 6:1) is repentance from dead works. How do we discern between dead works and the works of God that we are to walk in? The first step is to receive that heavenly vision.
What is the result of walking in man's ways to generate expansion? First, we have a mixed multitude. Then several things can happen. One potential result is that those few who want more meat will depart and go elsewhere - a division is the result. Historically, this has happened over the past 150 years or longer. That has produced hundreds or thousands of different denominations, non-denominations, and even house churches.
Now, what about God's way of expansion? First, the Lord adds to the church daily such as should be saved (Acts 2:47). Did you notice that word "daily"? Man can add to man's church but only the Lord can add to His church.
Now consider the church at Jerusalem shortly after the day of Pentecost, as recorded in Acts, Chapter 2. Scripture tells us that 3,000 men came to a knowledge of the saving grace of the Lord on that day of Pentecost. Not long after, 5,000 men (males) were added to the church after Peter's second "sermon." That does not include their families. Therefore, in a very short period of time there must have been close to 10,000 souls in the church at Jerusalem. I am sure that they all loved hearing the apostles preach and teach. And they were receiving the true Gospel, not some watered-down version. BUT ... the Lord never worked with a multitude. He never promoted one large "mega-church" where the believers could just relax and be spectators. Therefore ... the love of God went into action to bring persecution against the church at Jerusalem ... to scatter His people ... to get the believers back on track to fulfill His way of bringing the Gospel to all of the earth.
Acts 8:1, "And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles."
That verse says that they ALL were scattered abroad except the apostles. What were the apostles left to do? to teach the new converts ... those others which the Lord added daily to the church at Jerusalem. As an interesting side tangent ... there is no record in the scripture that says that any of those early disciples ever needed physical healing or deliverance. Why? because they were still in one accord. In one accord about what? We can all be in one accord that we all like ice cream. Seven times in the Book of Acts we read that those early disciples were in one accord. But the only verse I have found that tells us what they were in one accord about is in Romans 15:5-6,
5 Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus:6 That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The phrase "with one mind" is the same Greek word translated in Acts as "in one accord." To me, that implies that if we all have the same purpose to glorify God with one mind and one mouth, then there would never be any division, no denominations. The Body of Christ is one body. But because the true Gospel has rarely been preached in our modern-day churches and because that heavenly vision is somewhat lacking in too many members of the body, we see division, strife, gossip, backbiting, etc. Paul told the church at Corinth,
1 Corinthians 3:3, "For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?"
Is the modern-day church like the church at Corinth?
Now let us return to
Now let us return to
Mark 16:15, "And He said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature."
Remember from Acts 8:1 that the apostles remained in Jerusalem but the believers were the ones who were scattered everywhere. What is the best way for those who were scattered abroad to "preach the Gospel"? First of all by our example. Words today mean very little to non-believers. But people in the world are hungry. They want to see something to give them hope. Actions speak louder than words. A picture is worth a thousand words. Unfortunately, too many Christians today act very much like those in the world. Are we living out our faith, our walk with the Lord? The second thing that we can do is to intercede for those whom the Lord lays on our hearts. Lord, by Your great mercy you opened my eyes to see who You are. By Your grace I have been born again. Lord, now I ask You to extend that same mercy and grace to those You have put on my heart. Then we will find that one day some of those you intercede for will come to you because they see something different in your life. One brother shared that a man came to him and said, "Why are you being so nice to me?" A medical doctor asked that same brother, "To what do you attribute your good health after all of these years?" That opens the door to let people know how lost you were at one time, but that Jesus came to save that which is lost. You can then "preach" Christ. We are talking about God's better plan for evangelism. The Lord's method of evangelism is perfect, converting the soul.
Psalm 19:7, "The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony [or witness] of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple."
There is a simplicity in Christ ... trust and obey. And may the Lord give us understanding in all things. Amen.
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