The Great Commission (2)
Christ’s first Command was: “FOLLOW Me, and I will make you FISHERS of MEN” (Mark 1:17). His Final Command was the Great Commission: “Go in the Power of My Spirit and Preach the Gospel to every creature and make disciples of all nations.”
*Therefore every Christian is commanded to be a WITNESS to Christ in both our LIPS and our LIFE.
Some say: “I don’t need to say anything with my LIPS,
I witness by the LIFE I live and all the good-works I do.”
Others speak freely, but their LIFE contradicts their words.
Both kinds of people are wrong, and their witness is inadequate.
Is is essential that we witness with both the quality of our LIFE and by our LIPS. Both are needed. Asking which is more important in our witness: LIFE or LIPS? - is like asking which is the most important wing of a airoplane, the left wing or the right!
We need both or we will crash! Thus, we must not just WITNESS, but BE HIS WITNESSES, as He said in Acts 1:8: “You shall receive POWER when the HOLY SPIRIT has come upon you; and you shall BE My WITNESSES.” Thus, our life must embody and be a demonstration of the Message we bring.
If our LIFE shows little evidence of being changed and graced by God. If it is much like that of an unsaved sinner, then what we say with our LIPS will lack credibility. Our Life must confirm what our Lips proclaim. We don’t have to be perfect of course, they must see somthing of the reality of Christ in us: the presence of genuine faith and love, the joy of salvation and hope of eternal life.
But on the other hand a good life of good works alone is not enough, for then we will get the glory, rather than Christ. They will see our good works and glorify us, saying: “what a great guy he is”, not knowing that it is by the Grace of God working within us that we are who we are, because we have not told them. If we say nothing about the Lord, they will look at our good works and just glorify us; but if we are faithful to give a witness to the Lord Jesus (glorifying Him with our lips), they will then be inspired to love and trust God themselves, and so as a result, they will glorify God.
That is why Jesus said:
Matthew 5:14-15: “You are the LIGHT of the world.
A City (Church) that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.
Nor do they Light a Lamp and put it under a basket, but on a Lampstand, and it gives Light to all who are in the house.”
Your light is your witness! This is a command to witness, to let your light shine upon the world, rather than hide it from them!
In Matthew 5:16, Jesus concludes: “Let your LIGHT (your witness to Christ) so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and (as a result) glorify your Father in Heaven.”
The LIGHT, to which Jesus is referring is not our good works, for then He would be telling us to do our good works for men to see. We do good-works unto God, not man (for God’s approval and praise, not man’s). However, it is our WITNESS (WORDS) to the Lord, that is unto man, that is meant to shine before men.
In these verses, Jesus takes it for granted that as true believers,
we will do good works. The issue for Him here is men see our works in the right light. His desire is that as well as doing good works, we also let: “our Light (our witness) shine before men”, so that then, when they look at our Life (our good works) for confirmation of what we are saying, they will SEE our good works (the fruit of our faith in our lifestyle) and glorify God, that is,
they will be inspired to follow us in trusting and loving Christ.
This is a great challenge, because the moment we start to speak, we put ourselves on the line, we open ourselves up to inspection! The moment they know we are a Christian, they will be watching us to see if our faith is real, if it really affects the way we live. Jesus said we must live in such a way, that when we let our Light (Witness) shine, they will see in our lives the reality of Christ, and glorify God (by believing in Christ, turning to Him and receiving His Salvation that we have been telling them about).
Jesus said it must be LIPS (Light) + LIFE! We must let our LIGHT SHINE, but they must also be able to SEE our GOOD-WORKS. It is the COMBINATION that will be effective in leading them to God. We must WITNESS and LIVE in such a way, that they will both HEAR our WORDS, and SEE our WORKS,
and so believe that the Message is true, and that God is Real.
Jesus is our perfect example in this, being full of Grace and Truth:
John 1:14: “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of Grace and Truth.”
John 1:17: “Grace and Truth came through Jesus Christ.”
Jesus was full of both GRACE and TRUTH. Grace speaks of a holy and wholesome LIFE filled with love, joy and peace. Truth speaks of His words, that He always spoke the Truth of the Word. Likewise, we need to boldly speak the truth of God’s Word, backed up by a LIFE that demonstrates God’s Love and Grace.
*Why Witness?: People are saved through hearing and believing the Gospel, so we must proclaim it with confidence: "I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ for it is the POWER OF GOD unto SALVATION for everyone who believes" (Romans 1:16).
To be ‘ashamed’ of something does not mean we reject it, but that it is something in our life that we don’t want to speak about, out of fear of man’s disapproval. ‘To be ashamed of the Gospel’ means we don’t speak about it. We must not be ashamed, for then we are witholding from them, the Power of God for their salvation, for God’s Saving Power works through the Gospel that we are sent to Preach. God has ordained that in this Dispensation, He will save men through the WORDS of the Gospel, spoken by MEN:
Acts 11:13,14: “He told us how he had seen an ANGEL standing in his house, who said to him, ‘Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon whose surname is Peter, who will tell you WORDS, by which (WORDS) you and all your household will be SAVED.”
Notice, that in order to be saved they had to hear the WORDS of the GOSPEL from a man (Peter). Why did the angel send them to Peter to get saved? Couldn’t the angel get them saved?
No, angels have not been sent to preach the Gospel, at this time, (but we have!). They had to hear the Gospel WORDS from a man in order to be saved and receive the Holy-Spirit! So, it’s up to us!
*The Early Church obeyed the Great Commission with success:
* Mark 16:19-20: “So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into Heaven, and sat down at the Right Hand of God. And they went out and PREACHED everywhere,
the Lord WORKING WITH them and confirming the Word (of the Gospel) through the Signs following (the Word).”
* Acts 8:4: “They went everywhere PREACHING the WORD.”
*BUT the Modern Church is not doing so well.
Sadly, 95% of Christians have never led anyone to the Lord.
The Reasons are usually: Fear of rejection and lack of confidence,
not knowing what to say, or how to answer their hard questions.
*Remember you are not alone. The Holy-Spirit will be working with you, speaking through you as you speak, convincing them that what you are saying is true. You are not called to answer every objection and win every argument, but to faithfully present Christ!
John 16:7: “Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the HELPER will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him TO YOU.”
The Holy-Spirit is sent TO US, to the CHURCH, because the world cannot receive Him. However, He then reaches out to the world THROUGH us, especially as we preach the Gospel. He is sent to us, to HELP, empower, anoint us to preach the Gospel effectively.
John 16:8a: “And when He has come (TO YOU, and IS WITHIN YOU), He will (then) CONVICT the world (THROUGH YOU).” He does not do this independantly from us, but He does it through us as we witness to Christ, see v7). This truth is confirmed in John 15:26,27: “When the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me. And you also will bear witness.”
To CONVICT the world, means that as we share the Gospel, He will CONVINCE unbelievers that their own thinking is wrong and that the Gospel we preach is true, so they can repent and receive the Grace of God in Christ.
John 16:8: “He will CONVICT the world (of 3 things)
(1) of Sin, and (2) of Righteousness, and (3) of Judgement”
John 16:9: “of Sin, because they do not believe (trust) in Me; * He will convince them they are wrong about SIN, that they not good enough to go to Heaven. Until they believe in Jesus, they are lost Sinners going to Hell. They are Sinners in need of Salvation, and they cannot save themselves. This is true of all mankind.
John 16:11: “of Judgement, because the ruler of this world is judged.” He will convince them that they are also wrong about JUDGEMENT, that as the holy and righteous Judge of the Universe, God must and will judge all sin. Just because God is longsuffering, and delays His Judgement in order to give us a chance to repent and be saved, this does not mean He is soft. When the time comes, He will judge all sin. Now Jesus took all our sins on the Cross and was judged in our place, but if we don’t accept what He has done for us, then we must suffer the Judgement for our sin ourselves and pay the price, which means eternal Hell! Jesus said that the Cross was a proof of God’s Judgement, for on the Cross God judged sin and satan. The Cross demonstrates the terribleness of man’s sin, and that God cannot just overlook it, but must judge it, for He did not even spare His Son from Judgement:
Isaiah 53:6: “All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way; and
the LORD has laid on Him (Jesus) the iniquity of us all.”
Jesus prayed to the Father that if there was any other way to save us, apart from Him drinking the bitter cup of God’s wrath upon our sin, then let that be. But there was no Plan B, there was no other way, our sin had to be judged, judgement was necessary and unavoidable, and if Jesus did not take our judgement for us (as our substitute), then we would have to bear that terrible Judgement ourselves, which would mean everlasting punishment in Hell! If there was any way God could spare His beloved Son from such a terrible Judgement for our sin, then surely He would have done so!
This proves that the world is wrong about Judgement - that God sees all sin and certainly will judge all sinners (unless they repent and turn to Christ). If He did not spare His own Son, Jesus Christ (when He judged Him for our sins), then He certainly will not spare those who reject Christ and His Salvation from the just Judgement that is due for their sins: “Although the Bible says that God is Loving and Merciful, and so does not want to punish us, the very same Bible also says that God is Just, and so must punish sin.”
John 16:10: “of Righteousness, because I go to My Father”
This is the positive part to our Message. He will also convince them that they are wrong about RIGHTEOUSNESS, that it is now possible through Christ for a man to be made right with God (Justified) - not by his own works, but through faith in Christ.
The fact that Jesus has risen from the dead and ascended to the Father proves that His sacrifice for our sins has been accepted by God and now He stands before God as our Righteous Representative Man. Therefore, if we receive and submit to Him as our Lord and Saviour (our Representative before God) and accept what He has done for us on the Cross, we are fully forgiven and in Christ, we stand righteous (justified) before God.
So as we share these things the Holy-Spirit will be also be speaking to their heart, convincing them that what we are saying is true.
*We can and should appeal to their Mind, Emotions and Will:
1. Mind: We need to give enough information, in a clear way, so that they can understand the Gospel. This is necessary before we can expect them to respond intelligently.
2. Emotions: We should awaken their Desire, by sharing the Benefits of the Gospel to their life. One way is by using Testimony.
3. Will: Finally, we must challenge them to respond, to make a commitment to Christ, and put their trust in Him alone.
If they are willing we should lead them in a Sinners Prayer.
*My Friend, I stand in the Judgement now,
And feel you're to blame somehow;
On earth I walked with you day by day,
And never did you point the way.
You knew the Lord in Truth and Glory,
But never did you tell the story.
My knowledge then was very dim,
You could have led me safe to Him.
Though we lived together on the earth,
You never told me of the Second Birth.
And now I stand this day condemned,
Because you failed to mention Him.
You taught me many things, that's true.
I called you 'friend' and trusted you.
But I learn, now that it's too late,
You could have kept me from this fate.
We walked by day and talked by night,
And yet you showed me not the light.
You let me live, and love, and die,
You knew I'd never live on High.
Yes, I called you 'friend' in life,
And trusted you through joy and strife,
And yet, on coming to this end,
I cannot now call you 'MY FRIEND!
*ALEXANDER the Great, was a great fearless, courageous leader. None could stand before him.
The one thing he could not abide was cowardice. In court he was exacting and merciless, none could deliver out of his hand.
One day, a 17 year old handsome youth was brought before him. Alexander the Great looked at him. 'What is his crime?', he asked.
'He was caught running from the enemy, hiding in a cave.
He is a coward!' - the official answered.
Alexander the Great's face hardened, but he looked at the boy again and it softened again. Then he said kindly: 'what's your name?'
The people knew that the boy had won his heart.
With a sigh of relief he answered, 'Alexander, sir.'
Suddenly Alexander the Great's face hardened: 'W H A T!'
'Alexander, s....ir' - the boy said again.
Growing red with anger Alexander the Great repeated his question in disbelief: 'Soldier, WHAT IS YOUR NAME?'
'Alexander, sir' came the reply.
Grabbing him by the throat, Alexander the Great threw him to the ground and shouted:
'SOLDIER, change your conduct, or change your name!'
God asks us: 'What is your name?'
'Christian, sir'
'What is your name?'
'Christian, my Lord'
'WHAT IS YOUR NAME?'
'Christian, my God'
Dare you who have maintained a craven silence
when commanded to proclaim the Gospel to every creature.
Dare you who through all these years have refused to bear witness to the Name of Him who set his face as flint toward Jerusalem. Dare you take upon your lips that sacred Name?
Change your conduct or change your name!