Transcript

Ravi Zacharias tells about Charlie Peace, a criminal in England, who on the day he was being taken to his execution, listened to a minister reading from the Word.

And when he realized he was reading about heaven and hell, he looked at the preacher and said these words:

“Sir, if I believed what you and your church says, even if England were covered with broken glass from coast to coast, I would walk over it on hands and knees and think it worthwhile living just to save one soul from an eternal hell like that.”

Eternal hell is real and exists. But God is not willing that any should perish, but instead that all might be saved by trusting His Son and His provision on their behalf.

And He has sent us, His Church, His ambassadors into this world to make the good news of His grace known, being motivated by Christ’s love, and burdened by the great need of the unbelieving, that they would be saved from their sins and from hell.

Hellen Keller is reported to have said “To be blind is bad, but it is worse to have eyes and not see.” We, who have trusted Christ and have had our spiritual eyes opened at salvation, must be careful to not see the spiritual need of others who need to saved from an eternity in the lake of fire.

We are each called to “do the work of an evangelist” being sensitive to the great danger people are in at all times. We have the one thing that is able to save them from the torments and eternal death of hell: the gospel.

Because of the desperate need of people to be saved from their sins, the church is commissioned by the Lord to take the gospel to all people, to the ends of the earth.

But for the church to be the brightest light it can be, it is vitally important that we do so in light of Christ’s commission for today, for the Church the Body of Christ.

There is more than one commission in God’s Word. We must rightly divide the commissions, so we know which commission is ours so we might most effectively take the saving message of Christ to the world.

In this episode, we’ll look at the commission Christ committed to His apostles and to Israel. Next week, we’ll look at the commission Christ committed to the Body of Christ.

The dictionary defines commission as “the act of committing, an authoritative order, charge, or direction, authority granted for a particular action or function, to send on a mission, a command to act in a prescribed manner or to perform prescribed acts.”

In a spiritual, biblical sense, a commission is the Lord Jesus Christ charging and sending forth His followers with authority to proclaim a message of truth concerning Himself.

Nowhere in your Bible does it say Great Commission. The term “great commission” has been used to describe the parting instructions of the Lord to His disciples before ascending back to heaven.

The title “great commission” has so long been called this and so long been accepted as the commission for the church today that its validity for today is never questioned.

But as Bereans we should question things to make sure they are the truth and line up with the teaching of God’s Word and His will for us today.

As our Lord warned in His earthly ministry, we are to be careful about traditions which make “the Word of God of none effect” (Mark 7:13).

There are five Scripture references in regard to the commission Christ gave to His apostles prior to His ascension: Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15-18; Luke 24:45-48; John 20:21-23; and Acts 1:8,9.

One major problem is that the whole commission isn’t taken into account. These are not five separate commissions. This is ONE commission explained in five references.

Oftentimes denominations, churches, Bible preachers and teachers choose one of these Scripture references over and above the other references. Matthew’s account of the Lord’s commission to the disciples is the most often used.

Many choose which commission they like out of the four gospels and the book of Acts and follow it, and they don’t consider them all together. Many others simply pick and choose which parts they like out of all of them.

Often you’ll hear preachers speak on and expound on Matthew’s “Go” and “lo, I am with you always,” on Mark’s “all the world” and “every creature,” on Luke’s “ye are witnesses” and the Acts’ “ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you.”

But rarely is the whole commission taught together.

To those who go beyond these picked phrases to examine the record in its entirety, the acceptance of the “great commission” as truth for the church today presents many great difficulties.

So we should ask, “What is the overall content of the commission?” The five separate references are all accounts of the same commission given by Christ after His resurrection and before His ascension.

Like the gospels often do with the Lord’s miracles and teachings, each of the Gospels give different angles and fill in different parts and give different truths about the same event or teaching, and you have to put them together to get the whole story.

As we put all parts of the commission together, we read this:

Matthew 28:18-20: “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”

Mark 16:15-18: “And He said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe: In My name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they shall drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.”

Luke 24:45-48: “Then opened He their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures, and said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things.”

John 20:21-23: “Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as My Father hath sent Me, even so send I you. And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.”

Acts 1:8,9: “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. And when He had spoken these things, while they beheld, He was taken up; and a cloud received Him out of their sight.”

First, we observe that the Lord Jesus Christ is the basis and foundation of this commission. Christ says, “All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth” (Matt. 28:18).

Christ is the One with authority from the Father who commissions and gives the charge as Israel’s Messiah and King, and commands prescribed things to be carried out. He sends the eleven on the mission and granted them authority in carrying it out.

This commission was given to the eleven apostles. It is the apostles’ commission. It says, “And Jesus came and spake unto THEM” (Matt. 28:18), “He said unto THEM” (Mark 16:15). The “them” is the eleven apostles. This commission was given to the apostles of the kingdom, not to the Church, the Body of Christ.

The apostles had already been commissioned and sent out earlier by the Lord with the following “command” in Matthew 10:5-6: “These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matt. 10:5,6).

The ministry of the apostles was to the nation Israel. God’s plan back then was for Israel to be a light and blessing to all the earth, and for people to be saved through Israel and God’s covenants He made with her.

This is what is crucial to note. This commission was given under a program which involves the nation Israel under the Law with an earthly kingdom hope.

But we are not Israel; we are the Body of Christ (Eph. 1:22,23; 2:26; 3:6). We are not under the law; we are under grace (Rom. 6:14). We don’t have an earthly hope (Jer. 23:5,6); we have a heavenly hope (Phil. 3:20).

This commission is for the apostles of the earthly kingdom under the law and God’s program with the nation Israel. It is not for us, Gentiles, the people of the nations and members of the Church, the Body of Christ, under grace.

All the world was in view under God’s program with Israel. God has always loved the whole world (John 3:16). Under Israel’s program, the Lord spoke through the prophet Isaiah and said, “Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.”

Under God’s prophetic program with the nation Israel, God’s plan was for every nation of the world to be blessed through Israel and her rise, through Israel’s Messiah/King, and through the establishment of Israel’s kingdom on the earth (Gen. 12:2,3; Isa. 60:1-5).

Because of God’s love for the world, Christ told the disciples to “Go…teach all nations” in Matthew 28, and “Go ye into all the world” in Mark 16, and to preach in Christ’s name “among all nations” in Luke 24, and to be witnesses of Christ “unto the uttermost part of the earth” in Acts 1.

However, in doing so, the Lord told them that they were to begin their ministry at Jerusalem. Luke 24:47 says, “beginning at Jerusalem.”

And according to Acts 1:8, they were to be witnesses of Christ in the order of “in Jerusalem, and [then] in all Judaea, and [then] in Samaria, and [then] unto the uttermost part of the earth.”

The reason for this order was that Jerusalem was of utmost importance to Israel’s kingdom program. Jerusalem was to be the center, the glorious capital of the earthly kingdom of Christ, where Christ will rule and reign as King over all the earth (Isa. 2:1-4).

Therefore this city needed to be reached first. Then they were to go to Judea in the area around Jerusalem, then Samaria to the north, then they were to go to the uttermost part of the world.

This commission had a worldwide scope and outreach, but it was for Israel to be a channel of blessing to the rest of the world, and so Israel and Jerusalem needed to be reached first for them to be the light to the rest of the world.

The apostles could not make disciples of all nations if God’s chosen nation, did not first repent and turn to Christ. The salvation of the Gentiles, the nations, according to this program came through Israel and her rise, so Israel needed to be reached FIRST.

This commission also instructed the disciples to “teach all nations…teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you” (Matt. 28:19,20).

This includes all the instruction by Christ found in the Gospels to the disciples concerning the kingdom on earth and living through the Tribulation period.

Therefore, it would’ve included the Lord’s instruction to “Love your enemies” and to “love thy neighbor as thyself” and to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, and mind (Matt. 5:44; 22:37,39).

It would’ve included the need to be a humble servant like Christ: “He that is greatest among you shall be your servant. Whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased, and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted” (Matt. 23:11,23).

Under this commission, they would need to teach others to pray after the manner of the Lord’s Prayer (Matt. 6:9-13).

They would have taught conditional forgiveness: “For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (Matt. 6:14,15).

It would have included the need to “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, sell all that ye have and give alms” (Luke 12), and “if thou wilt be perfect, sell all that thou hast and give to the poor (Matt. 19:21).

The apostles would need to teach a faith-plus-works gospel: “And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life” (Matt. 19:29).

They would’ve required adherence to the Law of Moses as the Lord taught the apostles: “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat: ALL therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do…” (Matt. 23:2,3).

Christ lived, ministered under, and kept the law of Moses perfectly (Matt. 5:18). And He taught the disciples to observe it, and its sabbath observance, its sacrifices and taxes, and all its commandments, ceremonies, feast days.

So the apostles were to go to Israel and then everywhere teaching, making disciples, out of all Christ’s earthly kingdom teachings and the Law of Moses, and to set the example themselves.

This commission also instructed them to go into all the world and preach the “gospel” to every person (Mark 16:15). What “gospel”? The apostles didn’t need to ask, because they only knew one: the gospel of the kingdom.

The gospel that they were to preach in accordance with this commission was the good news of the kingdom and the establishment of it on the earth. This gospel they preached required “repentance” (Luke 24:47), confession of sins (Matt. 3:6), water baptism (Mark 16:16), and belief in Jesus as Israel’s Messiah for the remission of sins (Matt. 16:15,16).

Luke 24:45,46 says the Lord opened the disciples understanding in showing them from Scripture that the Messiah was to suffer and rise again.

He wasn’t requiring belief in His death and resurrection for the forgiveness of sins, but instead that His death and resurrection showed them beyond a doubt that He was Israel’s Messiah the One who would reign from David’s throne over the earth in the kingdom.

Faith in His name that Jesus is Israel’s Messiah is what they were required to believe under the terms of the kingdom gospel.

The reason this was part of this gospel is because when this gospel of the kingdom is proclaimed in the future during the Tribulation period (Matt. 24:14), the Anti-Christ will be alive and at work. They will need to believe in the true Christ in order to be saved under the gospel of the kingdom.

And they needed to believe in the One who was to be their King in the kingdom and trust that Jesus Christ was Israel’s Messiah and King.

The gospel of the kingdom required water baptism. This was not an optional ceremony under this commission. Within the kingdom on earth, Israel will be a kingdom of priests, and the Law required priests to be washed with water.

Israel’s water baptism was a ceremonial cleansing which identified them with their national priesthood (Ex. 29:1-4).

They were commissioned: “baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost” (Matt. 28:19) and “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved” (Mark 16:16).

Water baptism was required for the forgiveness of sins. As Peter taught in accordance with the kingdom gospel in Acts 2:38: “Repent and be baptized for the remission of sins.”

Also in accordance with this commission, miraculous signs were to follow those who believed the kingdom gospel (Mark 16:15-18). Water baptism was a requirement for salvation, and miraculous signs were the evidences of salvation.

The miraculous demonstrations of our Lord’s earthly ministry and of the commission to the eleven as they were done in His name and power confirmed the Messiahship of Jesus Christ (Acts 2:22; 4:10). These things helped them spread the commission and the dangers and obstacles they might’ve faced at that time in going to all the world.

These miraculous wonders will take place in the future Tribulation when this commission is once again in force. They will face great dangers in that day.

There is a practical reason for these signs. There will be many sick from the pestilences of that day that will need to be healed. By tongues Israel will be able to take the gospel of the kingdom to the nations without learning their language.

If they are bitten by a serpent or drink any deadly thing as they travel and spread the gospel of the kingdom, or as they hide in the wilderness from the Anti-Christ, it won’t harm them. Demon possession will again take place in great numbers, and they’ll be able to cast out devils in that day.

As Christ’s representatives, the disciples were sent and given divine authority to forgive or retain sins (John 20:23 cf. Matt. 18:18). Only God can forgive sin.

Isaiah 43:25 says: “I, even I, am He that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.”

But in breathing on them, and giving the Spirit to the disciples, they were enabled by the Lord to carry out this part of their commission (John 20:22).

Thus it became the divine work of the Spirit through the disciples that they were able to forgive sins as they carried this part of the commission out.

The Lord said in Acts 1:8 that the disciples would receive “power” after the Holy Spirit came. The Spirit did come in fulfillment of prophecy at Pentecost (Joel 2:28-32).

It was by the Spirit’s power that they carried out this commission and were “witnesses” of Christ’s resurrection (Luke 24:48,49). All these things agree with what the apostles actually did as recorded in the book of Acts after the Lord ascended.

The story is told of a woman driving through the mountains west of Denver when she ran into a snowstorm. She was completely lost and then peered ahead and saw a snowplow.

She decided to follow it and kept as close to the machine as she could while it removed snow from the road. At times the blowing snow cut off her view, but her faithful guide kept on leading the way.

After some time, the plow stopped and its driver got out and walked over to her car. “Lady, where are you going?” he asked. “I’m on my way to Denver,” she replied. “Well, you’ll never get there following me! I’m plowing a parking lot!”

People are following the wrong commission today. They’re going in circles in a blinding snowstorm of confusion and the church is not moving forward as a result.

Many of these things have been misapplied by sincere believers and churches. Following the wrong commission has led to churches with snake handling. It leads to healing movements, church leaders believing they can forgive sin, and people thinking they are speaking in tongues. As a result, many also try to live by the Law and the Ten Commandments.

Churches recite the Lord’s Prayer. Preachers proclaim a conditional-forgiveness-faith-plus-works gospel from the Gospels, and not the gospel of pure grace by faith alone.

It leads to people trusting in water baptism to save them. Teachers and preachers spiritualize the commission and make Jerusalem your hometown, Judea your county, etc.

The simple answer to all the confusion is 2 Timothy 2:15: “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

God’s Word needs to be rightly divided. This commission is for Israel, and we’re not Israel. God has changed His dealings with mankind. Please join us next time, when we’ll look at Christ’s commission for the Church, the Body of Christ, under grace.