The Great Commission - The Authority of Jesus

Matthew 28:18 "And Jesus came and said to them, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.' "


Anytime I have ever heard someone speak of the Great Commission, the focus has always been on Matthew 28:19-20, the "go and make" portions of the passage. Without a doubt, the command to go and make are very important, as how are to know what we are to do if we aren't told? They are our marching orders, if you will. However, I cannot remember having heard anyone give so much as a passing comment on verse 18. Jesus' authority. Who is giving these instructions? Jesus is. Who is sending us to go and make? Jesus is. He is the Lord, the Master, the Creator of the universe. He has the authority to give these commands, to make the demand that we his followers obey.


Authority, by definition, is the right to hold sway in a given relationship. To be in charge would be a simple way to put it. A father over his children, a general over his soldiers, a manager over his employees, etc. In Matthew 28:18, the word authority is also translated power, which invokes the imagery of might. The person at the top. THE MAN!

One example we see of this in Scripture is in Matthew 8:8-9, "But the centurion replied, 'Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes, and to another, 'Come,' and he comes, and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it.' " While the main focus of this passage is the great faith of the centurion, his grasp of the authority of Jesus is also remarkable. He knew that he was unworthy to have someone as powerful as Jesus in his home and that a mighty word from the Lord was all that was needed.


I have been somewhat puzzled by some of the commentaries on this particular verse that seem to say that NOW Jesus has this authority to send us. From what I have been able to find in the Gospels, Jesus had always had authority. He had the authority over the weather, over elemental properties, over sickness and demons, in His teachings, over death, even over His own death. So, while the resurrection of the Savior certainly paid our price for sin, securing our salvation through Him, how does it increase or finalize His authority? Does His resurrection simply prove His authority over sin and death, therefore being a very visible demonstration of His supremacy?


Two things are clear to me from this passage. First, the scope of Jesus' authority. He makes it plain that He is Master of all. Where is there that doesn't encompass heaven or earth? He has authority over both and all that they contain. He is Lord of the spiritual realm as well as the physical realm. He has the right to command all to be saved (Acts 17:30) and to demand that we glorify Him in whatever we do (1 Cor.10:31).


The second is that Jesus not only has the authority to send us to do His work, He also has the authority to command all who hear our message to obey it (again, see Acts 17:30). If they reject the message we bring, they are rejecting Jesus. To reject Him is to reject God (Luke 10:16). To reject Jesus is to remain under the wrath of God (John 3:36)


The blessing in this verse is that we are acting in obedience to our Lord and Savior when we "go and make," when we share the Gospel. There was no question in the Apostle Peter's mind when he said, "And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead." (Acts 10:42) It is a command and it is to be obeyed. There is no other option for us as believers. We are to spread the Gospel!!

---MP

The Great Commission - Introduction

Missions have been on my mind a lot lately, from things that have been going on at church to PM going to Nepal, to things that I have been reading. As a result, I have been spending some time studying the Great Commission and personal evangelism in general. I have been trying to tie the passages that deal with the Commission, or are the final commands of Jesus in the Gospels, together to make it clear what we are to be doing. We have been reading What Jesus Demands of the World, by John Piper, in our men's group at church and on the cover it quotes the beginning of the Great Commission as found in Matthew 28:19, "All authority in heaven and on earth are given to me." Since the point of the book are demands that Jesus makes on the world, starting with salvation and going into obedient Christian living, it has made me want to take an even closer look at the Great Commission itself.

There are four specific instances in Scripture where the Great Commission is given, Matthew 28:18-20, Mark16:15, Luke 24:46-48, and Acts 1:8. I am also going to include a passage from John, but only because of how it pertains on a personal level to us. To summarize all of them, we are to go into all of the world, sharing the gospel, telling of the things that we have seen and heard, baptizing them in the name of God, teaching everyone the things that we have been commanded by the Lord. I want to look at each passage individually, briefly, while focusing mainly on Matthew's version. I'll try to get it done over the next couple of weeks, as I need to get it of my head and on to paper, or at least into cyberspace!! I hope to make it as clear as possible and that it will be an encouragement to all who read it!

MP

Godspeed

PM is leaving for the country of Nepal in the morning. His family will be dropping him off for a lengthy flight that will take him around the world. Once there, he will be helping to encourage and lead native pastors, as they serve God and shepherd their flocks.
Let's back him up in prayer, praying that 1) God would be glorified, 2) PM would be spirit-filled as he teaches from God's Word, and 3) the Gospel would spread throughout the region as a result.

I would challenge everyone to fast for one meal this week and spend it in prayer for this missionary effort. I will personally be doing this Thursday night. You plan yours however you want!!

Godspeed, my brother!

The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Numbers 6:24-26

MP

The Bed was Already Made

2 Corinthians 2:16

“to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things?”

He had been in hospice care for months, his liver destroyed, his life slipping from him. I saw him once with many people around, stopped by once and was told he was resting, visited and prayed with him twice when he was in such pain that, through the fog of medication, I do not know if he could understand much of what was happening. In prayer with him, I preached the gospel twice (with his wife in the room) both at the hospital and at his home. But I had been praying for a conscious moment for him, to look in his eyes and share Jesus.

Saturday night I rode the elevator up to the fourth floor and walked into a still and dark room. The bed was made, and he was gone. I found out later that he had died the day before.

I helped the widow find the phone number of the pastor that the family wanted to conduct the funeral, formally the pastor of the little church I serve now.

At the visitation, all I could do way pray that they were weeping for the right reasons, and make sure they knew I was really there if they needed me.

I could spend years listing things that I should have done differently in trying to reach him and the family. But nothing prepared me for that dark hospital room, and no one called me to let me know he was gone. They were understandably busy.

PM

Tract Review - Million Dollar Bill HALLOWEEN

Just wanted to show everyone the Halloween Version of the Million Dollar Bill tract. Everything is the same about it except the picture, obviously!!
We have decided to pre-bag our candy this year and put the tracts in with the candy. No matter what your views on trick-or-treat are (and that isn't the point of this post, so save it), there is nothing better than having the world go door to door for you to evangelize!! We are going to put in this version of the Million Dollar Bill, a pressed penny, and for the adults, John Piper's Don't Waste Your Life tracts. I will do a review on the DWYL tracts later, but they are also excellent for handing out. They are based on Piper's book by the same title, which I highly recommend. If you do purchase it, I suggest you get it with the dvd, as it is only a few extra dollars and well worth it!! The video is about 45 minutes long and great for any type of small group or just for your own personal viewing.

Click on the tracts to see the whole text and purchase some today!!

MP

Tract Review - Wallet

This is a tract that I like to drop in parking lots at stores and at the truck stop. At first glance, people will see the $50 sticking out and realize that they have picked up something different! When you open it, you still don't get the message, you are greeted with pictures of credit cards and other "wallet" type things. Then, as you open it again, there are a series of multiple choice questions, almost in an ethics type layout. Then, as always with any Living Waters tract, the Ten Commandments are used to show the sins and to bring conviction.

Because I don't stick around and watch tracts that I "plant," I don't know if these are picked up by cleaning personnel and thrown away or if my intended victims actually pick them up and read them. So, I can't factor any type of "success" to them, other than the fact that the gospel is presented and that God's Word is going out and will "not return to him empty." (Isaiah 55:11)

Click on the tract to see the whole text and purchase some today!!

MP

Psalm 119:169-176

169 Let my cry come before you, O LORD; give me understanding according to your word!
170 Let my plea come before you; deliver me according to your word.
171 My lips will pour forth praise, for you teach me your statutes.
172 My tongue will sing of your word, for all your commandments are right.
173 Let your hand be ready to help me, for I have chosen your precepts.
174 I long for your salvation, O LORD, and your law is my delight.
175 Let my soul live and praise you, and let your rules help me.
176 I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek your servant, for I do not forget your commandments.

Word of God speak. . .

Memorizing Scripture

I have recently begun using the Fighter Verses that Desiring God ministries puts out. I am also memorizing Scripture with our men's group at church and helping BK with her memory verses at school. I came across a way to memorize verses in Piper's book When I Don't Desire God. He took it from Dr. Andrew Davis, the pastor of First Baptist Church in Durham, N.C. I posted the gist of it here and you can download the whole thing from the FBC website. While he is focusing on large portions of Scripture, I am finding it to be very helpful in doing the smaller passages as well as the multiple passages that I am working on.

MP

Sample daily procedure: The following is an example of how someone could go about memorizing Ephesians at the rate of one verse per day:

1) Day one: Read Ephesians 1:1 out loud ten times, looking at each word as if photographing it with your eyes. Be sure to include the verse number.18 Then cover the page and recite it ten times. You’re done for the day.

2) Day two: Yesterday’s verse first!! Recite yesterday’s verse, Ephesians 1:1 ten times, being sure to include the verse number. Look in the Bible if you need to, just to refresh your memory. Now, do your new verse. Read Ephesians 1:2 out loud ten times, looking at each word as if photographing it with your eyes. Be sure to include the verse number. Then cover the page and recite it ten times. You’re done for the day.

3) Day three: Yesterday’s verse first!! Recite yesterday’s verse, Ephesians 1:2 ten times, being sure to include the verse number. Again, you should look in the Bible if you need to, just to refresh your memory. Old verses next, altogether: Recite Ephesians 1:1-2 together once,
being sure to include the verse numbers. Now, do your new verse. Read Ephesians 1:3 out loud ten times, looking at each word as if photographing it with your eyes. Be sure to include the verse number. Then cover the page and recite it ten times. You’re done for the day.

4) Day four: Yesterday’s verse first!! Recite yesterday’s verse, Ephesians 1:3 ten times, being sure to include the verse number. Again, you should look in the Bible if you need to, just to refresh your memory. Old verses next, altogether: Recite Ephesians 1:1-3 together once,
being sure to include the verse numbers. Now, do your new verse. Read Ephesians 1:4 out loud ten times, looking at each word as if photographing it with your eyes. Be sure to include the verse number.
Then cover the page and recite it ten times. You’re done for the day.

This cycle would continue through the entire book. Obviously, the “old verses altogether” stage will soon swell to take the most time of all. That’s exactly the way it should be. The entire book of Ephesians can be read at a reasonable rate in less than fifteen minutes. Therefore, the “old verses altogether” stage of your review should not take longer than that on any given day. Do it with the Bible ready at hand, in case you draw a blank or get stuck . . . there’s no shame in looking, and it actually helps to nail down troublesome verses so they will never be trouble again.

Tract Review - Million Dollar Bill

The Million Dollar Bill was initially one of my least favorite tracts to give out. The original tract, that I still have about 80 million worth, was difficult to read, as the message was around the outer edge of the back in very small print. However, I must not have been the only one who thought that, as Living Waters updated it and actually made it better!
The first one had Grover Cleveland on the front and the Lincoln Memorial on the back. You can see that has been changed to Rutherford B. Hayes and to Washington crossing the Potomac River. The message is much easier to read now, which takes the strain out of it and makes the message much easier to find. With the first one, I had to point out that the message was even there!
On the new one, the message is framing Washington and is a larger print.

These tracts have a way of opening up discussions on the value of money versus eternity. I have had several people ask for more because of a perceived "collectible" feel to them. Like most of the tracts from Living Waters, the message is simple, with the Ten Commandments being used to bring conviction before introducing Jesus as the means of redemption.

I normally just ask people if I had given them one million dollars yet. Most laugh and then are truly delighted to take the tract when I give it to them. Then I turn it over and point out the message. With a few, I have been able to then engage in conversation, mainly just asking about their knowledge of the 10 Commandments, using my arm as a visual aid. So far, no one has hit me.

Darn it!

Click on the tract to see the whole text and purchase some today!!

MP

I Am Weak

On Saturday, I had an accident.

I work a part-time job, doing whatever driving that I am asked to do. I was hauling asphalt on this particular day. Now, most of us know asphalt as the road that you drive on or what is used to patch the road you drive on. This particular variety, AC5, is used for roofing shingles. When loaded, it loads around 1000 gallons a minute, at a temperature of 360 degrees. I guess it's that temperature, because if it hits you, you turn around and run.

While on my fifth load, the valve stuck and I got splashed with it. The problem was, I couldn't get to the valve and shut it off without further burning myself. While I did get it shut off, it wasn't until I had released around 3500 gallons onto my customers ground and spillway.

I'm okay, thanks for asking.

The weakness comes in here. While the asphalt was boiling out, I shouted several words of profanity, running around trying to get the valve shut off. Some would say that it was only natural, and I would agree with that. But I actually saw it as a great weakness on my part. Other than repeating things that others have said, I rarely use any form of profanity. I am around it enough that it still offends me. So why did I use it in my panic?

Several times in Scripture we are told to cry out to God. In joy or in pain, we are told to do so. Was this any different? I believe that God could have stopped the flow for me, if I had only called on Him to do so. At the very least, He could have slowed it to the point that I could have gotten in to shut it down.

After it was over, I just sat down and asked for forgiveness. I confessed my weakness and asked for the strength to do better. I was reminded of the father who asked that Jesus heal his child. In Mark 9:24 we see him cry out and ask Jesus to help his unbelief. May I make that my prayer today. In every situation, let the name of Jesus be on my lips in times of joy and times of pain. In calm and panic, may I look to the Creator to help and comfort.

MP