The Lord Jesus perfectly accomplished His mission. At the end of His time on this earth He said, "I have _________________________ the ________________ which Thou gavest Me to do" (John 17:4). He was God’s perfect witness on the earth.
In John
In this chapter we want to think about the
Before Jesus Christ went back to heaven He told His disciples exactly what their assignment was. Before He sent His soldiers into the world He gave them very clear "marching orders." These important commands that the risen Lord gave to His believers are mentioned in Acts 1:2—"until the day in which He was taken up, after that He through the Holy Spirit had given _____________________________ unto the ______________________ whom He had chosen."
These commandments were given to His disciples (apostles) after the
resurrection and before the Lord returned to heaven. These commands are
sometimes referred to as "THE GREAT COMMISSION." All members of
Christ’s Church need to understand the Great Commission because only then will
we understand what our Lord has told us to do and what our
This is found in Matthew 28:19 –"_______ ye therefore and TEACH (make disciples of) all _____________ __________ baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." You will notice that Christ wanted His Church to be a WITNESS throughout the world ("ALL NATIONS"). God told His disciples to go and make other disciples!
In Matthew 28:18 we learn the reason why this is called "the GREAT
Commission." It is GREAT because the One who gave it has "all
__________________" and all authority! If your friend told you to do
something, you may or may not want to carry out his order. If the President of
the
This is found in Mark 16:15. Where were they to go? _________________________ What were they to do? _________________________________Who were they to preach to? __________________________ _____ God has GOOD NEWS for every person on the face of this earth., and the CHURCH has been given the responsibility of making this good news known.
This is found in Luke 24:47. What are the two "R’s" that Christ told his disciples to preach?
R___________________________________
R___________________________________
The first of these two "R’s" is something that man must do.
Man must repent (change his mind about sin, self and the Saviour). True repentance
is when a person discovers and acknowledges his utter ruin and guilt and
sinfulness before a holy God. "I’m guilty before God and deserving of hell
and I’m unable to save myself!" The second of these two "R’s"
is something that God must do. This word means "FORGIVENESS" (see
Acts
Notice also the words of Jesus found in Luke 24:48 and Acts 1:8 (Acts was also written by Dr. Luke). Jesus wanted His disciples to be HIS W_____________________. The Church was to be God’s witness on the earth, pointing clearly to the living God.
This is found in John
God has not sent us into the world EMPTY HANDED! God has equipped us and put
something into our hands which is very precious and very valuable: "I have
_______________ them Thy _______________" (John
As we have already seen, God has sent us into the world with a GOSPEL (a
message of GOOD NEWS). In Mark
In the days when the Bible was written people did not have radios or televisions or newspapers. Suppose a King had an important message for his subjects to hear. What would he do? Often he would send out a messenger called a HERALD. A HERALD was a person who would carry the message of the King. He was the man who would give the NEWS and make important ANNOUNCEMENTS. When this man would enter a town all the people would gather together to hear his message. He might begin, "HEAR YE, HEAR YE ..." and then he would give his message. God has given His Word and His message to His believers. We are HERALDS for the KING OF KINGS! It is our responsibility and privilege to deliver to men a message of good news from God Himself.
What is the GOOD NEWS that we preach (1 Cor. 15:3-4; John
In Hebrews
The Word of God is "sharper than any two-edged ___________________
(Hebrews
Jesus Himself said, "Thy Word is __________________" (John
When God sends the snow or rain He does so for a PURPOSE. The ground is
watered and eventually brings forth fruit (see Isaiah 55:10). The same is true
when God’s Word goes forth: "So shall my _______________ be that goeth forth
out of my _______________: it shall not return unto me void., but it shall
_____________ __________ that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing
whereto I sent it" (see Isaiah 55:11). When God’s Word goes forth it will
accomplish God’s purpose. Jesus taught this truth in the parable of the sower
(Matthew
Are you sowing the seed? Are you spreading the Word of God? Are you getting the message out to those who need to hear? How are you doing this? How can you do this better?
God’s Word is extremely important, but God’s Word by itself is not enough. The Word of God is powerless and will accomplish nothing unless the Spirit of God takes it and uses it. Think of a battle and a sword. The best sword in the world would be of no use if no one picked it up and used it. If it were just lying on the ground it would not kill any of the enemy soldiers. It would not pierce anyone. A sword is completely useless and powerless unless there is someone to wield it and use it.
The Spirit of God is the One who takes the Word of God and uses it! He is the One who convinces men and convicts men by the Word (compare John 16:8-11 where the word "reprove" means "convict"). If the Spirit of God were suddenly to leave the world, there could be millions of Bibles and tracts all over the earth, but not one person would ever be saved. The best preachers in the world could preach again and again, but no one would ever get saved. The Spirit of God must do that work in the heart that only He can do. It is the Spirit of God that takes the Word of God and makes it living and real. It is the Spirit of God who is able to convince men that they have a problem (SIN) and to convince men that God has the only solution to their problem (THE SAVIOUR, the Lord Jesus Christ).
In Luke 24:49 the early disciples were told to wait in
God has not only given the Church a GREAT COMMISSION but He has also given the
Church GREAT POWER to obey this commission. Where does the believer’s POWER
come from (Acts 1:8)? ___________________ _____________________ The Spirit of
God enables the believer and empowers the believer so that he (or she) can
properly and rightly represent Christ in this world. Does the Holy Spirit live
in your heart (Romans 8:9; 1 Cor.
Jesus Christ is no more in the world. The Church (made up of believers) is
in the world, and it is the responsibility of the Church to present Jesus
Christ to the world. God wants His believers to be more and more
CHRIST-LIKE (Gal.
The Lord never asked His believers to do His work by themselves and on their own. What great promise did Jesus give to His disciples in Matthew 28:20? _____________________ ______________________________________________________________________________
Consider Mark 16:19-
Acts 1:1 speaks of the ministry of Jesus Christ when He was on earth up to the time of His ascension back to heaven: "of all that Jesus ____________________ both to do and teach." This ministry of Jesus Christ was CONTINUED by the church! He began it; the Church continues it. This chart might help you to understand this:
The beginning of the doing and teaching ministry of Jesus
|
The continuation of the doing and teaching ministry of Jesus |
The Lord working on earth |
The Lord working through His church on the
earth |
Described in the Gospels |
Described in the Book of Acts
|
THE LORD JESUS
|
THE CHURCH
|
Jesus Christ wants to minister to this world through us! He wants to do certain things through you and He wants to teach people through you. He wants you to be HIS INSTRUMENT! Just as the surgeon fills and works through his surgeon’s gloves, so the Lord Jesus wants to fill and use us as His gloves, as it were. Are you letting Him do this?
Consider the passage found in Ephesians 6:10-18. What kind of armour and
equipment has God provided for His believers? What kind of enemy do we face as
we seek to obey the Lord’s Great Commission? Does the devil want men to hear
and believe the good news (Luke
A good general would never send forth one of his soldiers into the
battlefield without the right kind of armour and weapons and protection. God
has sent us into the world, and He has given us everything that we need to
fight the good fight of faith. In and of ourselves we do not have the strength
that is needed, but we can be STRONG in the _________________ and in the power
of His might (Eph.
Every believer is a member of the body of Christ. This means that we are NOT ALONE! We are part of a great team! There are many members in the body of Christ. There are many other believers to support you as you do Christ’s work and to work with you. A football player would soon get discouraged if he found out that he was the only member of the team and he had to take on the other team all by himself! This would be silly. A true team is made up of many members and these members all work together. As you serve the Lord in your school or neighborhood, just remember that there are many other believers in your church that are working with you and that are on the same team that you are on. Also, your local church is not alone! There are thousands of other Bible believing local churches scattered throughout the face of the earth. These people may not speak your same language and may have different manners and customs and ways, but you can rejoice that they are serving the same Lord in their corner of the world even as you are in your corner of the world.
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