Series:
The Call - Lesson 6[HOME] [UP] [WORLDSCOPE] [FEEDBACK] [POST OFFICE] [THE JESUS FILES] [BOOK EXPRESS] [SEARCH]
Series:
The Call - Lesson 6
"He said to them, 'Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation' " Mark 16:15.
Every believer has received this command from the Lord, a directive that has commonly come to be called "The Great Commission". We are called to share with others the good news of what God has done in our lives.
"...And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us - we implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God" 2 Corinthians 5:19-20.
We are called to be ambassadors to the world. We are "citizens of heaven" (Ephesians 2. 19) sent to a foreign land, the world(Hebrews 11:9-10, 13) with a specific message from our King - the good news that reconciliation has been made possible through the Lord Jesus Christ.
a. Understanding the value of each soul
"...I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents" Luke 15:10.
To Judas, a man's life was worth 30 pieces of silver (Matthew 26:5). A certain man valued his life as being worth many goods (Luke 12:13-20). But God set the greatest value on man, the life of His Son (Matthew 13:44-46; 1 Peter 1:18-19).
b. Understanding the consequences of sin
"For the wages of sin is death..." Romans 6:23.
"Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire" Revelation 20:14-15.
The death spoken of here is not physical death. Death is not annihilation, but separation. Physical death is a mere separation from the body and from the physical world, but man is an eternal being and his soul lives on. The consequences of sin is eternal death. In other words - eternal separation from God. An understanding of this fact gives urgency to our responsibility to spread the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ to everyone.
c. Understanding that we are the channel of reconciliation
God has chosen to work through His Church, the Body of Christ. We have the privilege of being God's fellow-workers in the ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:19-20; 6:1, 1 Corinthians 3:9).
a. Seeing the greatness of the harvest
"Do you not say,'Four months more and then the harvest', I tell you open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest" John 4:35.
b. Seeing the need for harvesters
"Then he said to his disciples, 'The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field' " Matthew 9:37-38 (see also Luke 10:1-2).
God is asking today, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" (Isaiah 6:8).
It was love that motivated God to send His Son for us (John 3:16) and it is love that motivates us to share the good news with others (see John 17:18; 20:21).
"If you love me, you will obey what I command" John 14:15.
We don't have to ask God if He wants us to share the gospel with others. We have already been given the command (Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8).
"And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness to all nations; and then shall the end come" Matthew 24:14.
The Scripture indicates that we can "speed" the return of the Lord (2 Peter 3:12). A desire for Christ's return will motivate us to speak to all about the Lord Jesus.
Unless there is effective prayer, the truth that is presented will be generally ineffective in the hearts of those listening (James 5:16).
The seed we sow is the Word of God (Luke 8:11) and God has promised to watch over His Word to fulfil it (Jeremiah 1:12). We need to know the reality of God's Word in our lives so that we can share it with others (Hebrews 4:12, Colossians 3:16; 2 Timothy 2:7-5; James 1:21; 1 Peter 1:23).
We can have tremendous expectations as we trust God to fulfil His Word (Mark 11:22-23).
It is the Holy Spirit who equips us with power and spiritual weapons to come against the Enemy who has people bound (Acts 1:8; 2 Corinthians 10:3-5; Ephesians 6:11)
"Herald and preach the Word! Keep your sense of urgency...be ready in season and out of season " 2 Timothy 4:2 (Amp; NASB).
A whole-hearted attitude is essential for us to fulfil the call that is upon our lives to reach the world with the good news of salvation and reconciliation through Jesus Christ.
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Copyright © 1981,1996 Paul, Bunty and David Collins. All rights reserved. This study may be freely used and reproduced, wholly or in part, except for profit, provided copyright and contact information is included.
Unless otherwise stated, all scriptures quoted in these studies are from the New International Version of the Bible, © New York International Bible Society, used by permission. Other versions referred to are: KJV (King James Version), NKJB (New King James Bible), TLB (The Living Bible), Amp (The Amplified Bible) and The Message.
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