To preach the Gospel
of Salvation through Jesus to the lost and wandering hopeless
To build the
Body of Christ in Love while equipping the Saints for spiritual warfare
Matthew 28: 18 –
20
And Jesus came and spoke to them saying
“All Authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded to you,
and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Mark 16: 15-18
And He said to them “Go into all the
world and preach the gospel to every creature.
He who believes and is baptized will be saved but he who does not
believe will be condemned. And these
signs will follow those who believe, in My name they will cast out demons; they
will speak with new tongues; 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.”
Luke 24: 46-49
Then He said to them, “Thus it was
written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from
the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached
in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things. Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon
you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on
high.”
Acts 1: 8
“But you shall receive power when the
Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem,
and in Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
What we are
supposed to do:
1. Be filled with the Holy Spirit POWER
2. Go into every place that the Spirit leads
us
3. Preach the message of the gospel;
repentance and remission of sins
4. Baptize people
5. Teach the Word of God
6. Cast out demons
7. Speak with new tongues
8. Trust God to protect us from serpents and
poisons
9. Lay hands on the sick and pray so they
recover
Nine directives
from our Lord; nine manifestations of the Holy Spirit our Helper:
ICorinthians 12:
8-11
1. Word of Wisdom
2. Word of knowledge
3. Faith
4. Gifts of healing
5. Working of Miracles
6. Prophecy
7. Discerning of spirits
8. Kinds of tongues
9. Interpretation of tongues
Preaching the
Gospel seems a simple enough dictate but accomplishing it has historically been
anything BUT easy! Preaching has taken
many forms over the many generations since Jesus gave what we call “THE GREAT
COMMISSION”. The disciples obeyed Jesus
and began with a simple message that caused the religious leaders of their day
to run them out of town, jail them or even kill them!
From the
original design of the Tabernacle in the wilderness, to synagogues and to our
modern churches, we who believe have continued the tradition of preaching the
gospel.
There are those
who preach the Word of Truth in the
churches and at Revivals. They preach on
the airwaves, online and to great auditoriums filled with worshipping believers
in the One True God. They preach – even
if sometimes it seems only to the choir - striving because of love of God in
their hearts - to find new ways to present the gospel message of salvation so
perhaps some will hear to the end they will DO what the message clearly tells
us needs to be done.
There are those
who are called, anointed and appointed to preach the Word of Truth as fresh revelation
and amazing transforming power to those who have never heard, who have never understood and have never received as
truth for their lives this same message.
We often separate these two functions, calling one “Pastor” and one
“Evangelist”. In truth, they are both
the same; “Preachers” and “Prophets”, bringing forth a message from God to His
children.
Over 40+ years I
have attempted to follow and obey Jesus, (failing more times than I have room
to write about!) both as the member of
a church and as a Minister to the
church.
There is such
JOY! JOY in my heart when I have the privilege of
sharing the matchless and awe inducing truth of God’s Word, and of experiencing
the Word brought forth from one who truly loves God, loves His people and
allows the Holy Spirit to speak through them!
Whether exhorting and equipping Gods people in a weekly gathering of the
saints (church) or calling the lost (those who have not accepted the atoning
work of Christ done on the cross of crucifixion) to repentance, Gods Word
always has deep and abiding effect on those who hear it. As Paul the Apostle said, how shall they hear
unless someone preach?
In these
perilous times, (and make no mistake, we are always in perilous times, we are
constantly tempted to sin and turn our backs on God! God specifically told us he would make the
time of GREAT TRIBULATION short, as He knew we would perish otherwise!) In these perilous times it isn’t money that
is at stake. It isn’t political power or
moral values or social standing or church size or family values or the sanctity
of marriage between one man and one woman.
It isn’t even the doctrinal differences and minor difference of issues
within or between denominations. These
are all important to us in the span of our lives on this earth, but not in the
eternal scheme of things.
What is truly in
peril, what is being weighed and held in the balance what is really at stake
for His Church is whether or not we are OBEDIENT TO HIS COMMANDS. What is really at stake for those who have not
received His truth is THEIR ETERNAL DESTINATION!
Every created human
being birthed from their mother’s womb has an ETERNAL EXISTENCE. The question is not “Do you have Eternal
life?” The question is: WHERE WILL YOU SPEND ETERNITY?
Jesus presented
two choices. A place of darkness where
there is “gnashing of teeth” or a place of LIGHT PEACE AND JOY through Him in
the Eternal Presence of God. Believe or
not as you choose. Free will was given
as much a gift as Salvation is a gift.
Receive the gift, receive the blessing that comes with it. Reject the gift and the blessing is also
rejected.
Church – YOU
have been tasked by the Lord to “go into all the world and make disciples of
all men.” That charge, that commission
has never been changed or altered. I exhort
and encourage you to answer this call and get involved to MAKE IT COUNT FOR
CHRIST!
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