Go into all the world (1)

Matt. 28:18-20;
18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

Observe that Jesus didn’t say go and gather crowd, rather he said ‘go and make ‘disciples’. As we reach the world, we must never compromise the truth of God’s word.

What are we to reach the world with? The Gospel.

What then is the Gospel?

Rom. 10:8-10;
8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach):
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

See verse 14;
14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?

The issue isn’t the calling but the believing.

‘heard’ not ‘heard about’. ‘Hearing’ here actually means to heed. Not talking about hearing of Jesus but hearing the message. It means before one heeds the message, he must have heard the message. Faith comes by hearing the message.

No one gets saved on their own. There must be a preacher who will bring the message. A preacher is the one sent. By using ‘sent’, it means he can’t give his own message – He simply preaches what he is sent with:  the message.

2Cor. 15:17-19
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
18 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation,
19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

It’s the word of reconciliation. We have a definite message.

Gal: 1:6-7;
6 I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel,
7 which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ.

Paul calls it another Gospel. That is, what they will bring is also good news but it’s not God’s news. As you go to preach the message, stick with the Gospel. Your message should be independent of people’s desires.

The Gospel has no respect for societal status. Faith does not come by luring people but by the hearing of the word of faith. Preach that.

If you preach miracles and money, you’ll raise greedy disciples.

You don’t set out on evangelism to fill the church but to raise disciples.

Who’s a disciple?

The first mention of the word disciple in the New Testament Greek is in Matt. 5:1;
1 And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him.

Observe the personalization – “His disciples”.

See how Jesus made them:

Matt. 4:18-20
18 And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.
19 Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
20 They immediately left their nets and followed Him.

It’s important to note that the four accounts of the Gospel are often summative. Thus, when you see “follow me and I will make you fishers of men”, Jesus actually taught them. Jesus removed their attention off things to men.

In the Gospel, we are made. We find purpose. They were called his disciples because he was teaching them. Preaching and raising disciples will involve teaching the message. Don’t compromise the integrity of God’s word. Faith is in the message.

John. 8:31;
31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.

Disciples are known by the message. Be one and make men one too.

Daily Bible Reading Plan:
Exo. 7 – 9

TEACHING OF THE DAY
What to do when you don’t know what else to do