English
๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ ๐ ๐๐ฆ๐ฆ๐๐ข๐ก ๐ง๐ข ๐๐ข
The Great Commission is the Churchโs primary mandate from Christโas urgent today as when He first gave it.
๐ฅ๐๐๐
๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ด ๐ค๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ, โ๐๐ญ๐ญ ๐ข๐ถ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐จ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ฆ. ๐๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ด๐ค๐ช๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด, ๐ฃ๐ข๐ฑ๐ต๐ช๐ป๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐บ ๐๐ฑ๐ช๐ณ๐ช๐ต, ๐ต๐ฆ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ. ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ, ๐ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข๐ญ๐ธ๐ข๐บ๐ด, ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ข๐จ๐ฆ.โย ๐ ๐๐ง๐ง๐๐๐ช ๐ฎ๐ด:๐ญ๐ดโ๐ฎ๐ฌ
The Church began with fire, sending men and women to carry theย gospel across the world. But over the centuries, that fire cooled. Many believers grew passive. They thought living on mission was unnecessary. If God meant to save the lost, He would do it His way, without the aid of a missionary.ย
Justinian von Welz (1621โ1688) battled that false theology. He believed that Protestant churches had neglected Jesusโ command to evangelize the world. In A Sincere Call for the Establishment of Missionary Societies, he argued that Jesusโ commission applied to all Christians throughout history.ย
More than a century later, William Carey pressed the case again.ย Standing before a gathering of ministers, he declared, โThe command given to the apostles to teach all nations was binding on all succeeding ministers to the end of the world.โ Their response was swift and sharp: โYoung man, sit down! When God pleases to convert the heathen, Heโll do it without consulting you or me.โย
But God was not converting the lost alone. Instead, He was callingย men and women to go and preach the good news. Carey heard the call, obeyed, and launched the modern missions movement.ย ย
The Great Commission is still binding, and God is still calling. We find it in all four Gospels and again in Acts. But Matthewโs text stands out, and one reason is his comprehensive use of โall.โ
๐๐น๐น ๐ฎ๐๐๐ต๐ผ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐: Jesus, the risen Lord, head of all principalities andย possessor of all things, commands us to go. He has the authority toย give orders, make decisions, and enforce obedience. Because of who He is, we leave all other allegiances and follow Him. We canโt call Him Lord and ignore His word.ย
๐๐น๐น ๐ป๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐: Jesus set the extent of the Great Commission when Heย said, โall nations.โ Godโs love knows no ethnic or national boundary.ย All peoples, tongues, and tribes are welcome in His kingdom. He doesย not send us to gather converts but to make disciples. Baptizing and teaching are part of the work, but the heart is discipleship.ย
๐๐น๐น ๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐: The Great Commission does not allow us to be selective about what commands we obey. We cannot pick only the ones we like. Discipleship aims to develop people who keep all His commands (because they love Him).ย
๐๐น๐๐ฎ๐๐: His promise stands as firm as His command: โI am with youย always.โ Not sometimes. Not only when the road is smooth. Always. In trouble, danger, or doubt. His presence is our confidence and strength as we go and fulfill our part of the Great Commission.
๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ: ๐ ๐๐ง๐ง๐๐๐ช ๐ต:๐ฏ๐ณโ๐ฏ๐ด; ๐๐ข๐๐ก ๐ฎ๐ฌ:๐ฎ๐ญโ๐ฎ๐ฎ; ๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐๐ก๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฌ:๐ญ๐ฏโ๐ญ๐ฑ; ๐ฎ ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ก๐ง๐๐๐๐ก๐ฆย ๐ฑ:๐ญ๐ดโ๐ฎ๐ฌ; ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐๐ก๐ฆ ๐ฎ:๐ญ๐ฌโ๐ญ๐ญย
๐ฅ๐๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก
Many throughout history became passive and resisted the call toย missions. How can you keep the urgency of the Great Commission alive in your heart?
๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก
Consider the four โallsโ in Matthew 28:18โ20. Are you fully submittedย to His authority? Do you have a heart for all nations? Are you obeyingย all His commands? Do you trust His promise to be with you always? Which one of these four do you need to grow in?
๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐๐ฅ
You are the risen King, possessing all authority in heaven and earth. You have called us to goโto make disciples, toย baptize, and to teach. Your command isย clear; it is our primary mandate, as urgentย today as when You first spoke it. Forgive us if we grow idle when we assume thatย You will work without us.ย ย
Set a fire in our hearts like the one thatย sent the first disciples to the ends of theย earth. Let their passion stir ours. We reject the notion that the mission belongsย to someone else. Give us eyes to see theย lost, hearts to love them, and voices to proclaim Your truth.ย
We acknowledge that You go before us and Your presence sustains us. We will notย delay or hesitate.
Keep us urgent, keep us moving, keep us trusting. Amen.