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Topic: The Great Command and The Great Commission
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Author
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Ray Ashmore
Senior Member
Joined: 02/10/2007
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 131
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Posted: 10/11/2015 at 3:52pm
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The Great Command and The Great Commission
By Ray Ashmore
One of the teachers of religious law was standing there listening to the
debate. . .so he asked, "Of all the commandments, which is the most
important?" Jesus replied, "The most important commandment is this:
'Listen, O Israel! The LORD our God is the one and only LORD. And
you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all
your mind, and all your strength’” (Mark 12:28-30).
Why are we here instead of there? Why are we on this earth in the first
place? We are not here just to go through dry religious rituals as if that
will satisfy God. They won’t. We are not here to vote for legislators who
will do our jobs for us. And we are not here merely to learn about the
Bible. Learning about the Bible is good and foundational. But if that’s as
far as it goes, it’s no different than reading a driver’s handbook but
never getting into a car.
The purpose for our presence here is to worship, commune with, and
serve Jesus Christ. Worship and communion are primarily internal with
external manifestations. Service is primarily external with internal
motivation.
Jesus has given us instructions as how we are to live and serve Him.
And the one instruction repeated in all four gospels and the book of
Acts is His “mandate” for the Church. What is a mandate? It’s a
command given by a King or Lord. It tells us what we are to believe and
how we are to behave in His name.
Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in
heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the
nations,baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the
Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have
given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of
the age” ( Matthew 28:18-20).
Notice that Jesus has “commanded us” to act in certain ways. His
commands are not optional; His commands are not suggestions; His
commands are absolute. Why can He require us to obey Him? He can
do so because He is the Supreme Dictator of the Universe. “All
authority. . .” The Kingdom of God is not a democracy.
Why are we here? What’s the purpose for us to even draw a breath on
this earth? Asking the question another way, what are the essentials
and requirements found in the Great Command and the Great
Commission?
▪ God is King, not us
▪ The church is to be mobile, not stationary
▪ Everyone is a potential member, not just people who look like us.
▪ We are to put God’s works on display, not our own.
▪ We are not to run from His will just because it hurts.
Simply put, Jesus Christ is the Boss.
“All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth” (Matthew
28:18).
Paul, speaking to an audience of Greeks, said this:
“God commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has
appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by
the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all
by raising Him from the dead” (Acts 17:30-31).
We are to be participants with Christ in every context of life. An
incarnational participation in the work of Christ requires us to live in the
tension between His words and our church traditions, between His
commands and our cultural preferences, between His life within and the
carcass of flesh we drag around. We are to love the Lord with all our
hearts. And we are to make disciples of all nations. This includes those
near and far, those who are like us, and those who are different from
us. Just how do we go about this? We do this by becoming all things to
all men and letting the commands of God rule our tensions.
“Isn’t this is what we pay the pastor to do?” you ask.
No. Making disciples is everyone’s job. The mandate is for everyone
who names the name of Jesus Christ. And in it all, the call to
incarnational leadership trumps our cultural prejudices, church
traditions, and even our personal preferences. Anointed leadership
must lead and be examples for the church to follow. As Paul wrote to
the Corinthians:
Give no offense, either to the Jews or to the Greeks or to the church of
God, just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own
profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved. Imitate me, just as
I also imitate Christ (1 Corinthians 10:32-33; 11:1).
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Bill Bremer
Senior Member
Joined: 02/29/2016
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 81
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Posted: 07/05/2016 at 4:34pm
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Hey Ray,
Good word.
I'm still struggling with make disciples, because Jesus said that prior to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Disciples were not born again until then. Born again believers in Jesus Christ the Son of God are called saints or holy ones. The last mention of
disciples and disciple is in Acts 21:16.
I understand what Jesus meant, but He was not talking to born again people.
Jesus also said this gospel of the kingdom must be preached.
3As
Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him
privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will
be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
4Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you.
5For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many.
6You
will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not
alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.
7Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.
8All these are the beginning of birth pains.
9“Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me.
10At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other,
11and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.
12Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold,
13but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.
14And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. Matthew 24
Jesus also said, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again
” John 3:3
The reason I bring this up is because of the many abuses of saints discipleship teachers bring. They can not disciple, Jesus is the King, He leads, our Father in heaven disiplines. The word discipleship does not occur in the Bible.
Please see http://billbremer.org/righteousness-2/ and let me know if I am off.
Edited by Bill Bremer on 07/05/2016 at 5:00pm
__________________
Bill Bremer Kingdom Relationships http://billbremer.org
billbremer04@yahoo.com
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