THE "GREAT COMMISSION"

Many preachers speak about it, songs are sung about it, scriptures are memorized about it, but yet few really seem to pay attention to what it says. The so-called "Great Commission" has inspired so many things, yet seems so misunderstood. What does the Bible have to say about it? The "Great Commission" may be found in Matt 28:19-20 which states: 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, "teaching them to sit down, shut up, and send you money so you can go, make more disciples, baptize them, and teach them to sit down, shut up, etc. . . . Well, a lot of people teach it that way, especially large organizations that wish to keep control over everything and everybody. However, that is not what it says. It really says: 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, 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. So, what did our Savior commission His people to do? He told them to go, make disciples, baptize them, and teach them to do all the things He had commanded them to do. In order to even just begin to comprehend what that entails, a study into the things He commanded them to do would be in order. Rather than do an exhaustive study into that, just noting a couple of scripture passages will suffice in providing a tremendous amount of material with which to work. In Matt 10:1, 6-8 Christ called his disciples together and gave them a list of commands to follow. This passage says: And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease. "But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. "And as you go, preach, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.' "Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. There are seven commands enumerated in this "commission" to the twelve: Go Preach Heal the sick Cleanse the lepers Raise the dead Cast out demons Freely give That is quite a list of commands! Most are self-explanatory, but the last one in particular often gets misapplied. He said, "Freely give." Give what? Usually this verse is used in connection with giving money, particularly to a church, denomination, or organization. But was He referring to money here? Looking at more of His "marching orders" it becomes clear that money is not what was to be given. The next verse states: "Provide neither gold nor silver nor copper in your money belts. He told them not to take any money with them. So money is not what they were to give. What was freely given to them? Look back in v. 1! And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease. That's right! He gave them power! And they were to apply that power to accomplish the tasks at hand. "But," some may argue, "these commands were given to the twelve apostles. They were never given to everybody else." That is not what He said in Matt 28:19, but there is more. First take a look at the condensed "Reader's Digest" version of the Matt 10 account. It is found in Lk 9:1-3 which states: Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases. He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. And He said to them, "Take nothing for the journey, neither staffs nor bag nor bread nor money; and do not have two tunics apiece. What happened after these activities were accomplished? Lk 9:10-17 provides the first part of the answer: And the apostles, when they had returned, told Him all that they had done. Then He took them and went aside privately into a deserted place belonging to the city called Bethsaida. But when the multitudes knew it, they followed Him; and He received them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who had need of healing. When the day began to wear away, the twelve came and said to Him, "Send the multitude away, that they may go into the surrounding towns and country, and lodge and get provisions; for we are in a deserted place here." But He said to them, "You give them something to eat." And they said, "We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless we go and buy food for all these people." For there were about five thousand men. And He said to His disciples, "Make them sit down in groups of fifty." And they did so, and made them all sit down. Then He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the multitude. So they all ate and were filled, and twelve baskets of the leftover fragments were taken up by them. After this momentous event there occurred additional activities. Luke 9:28 states: Now it came to pass, about eight days after these sayings, that He took Peter, John, and James and went up on the mountain to pray. Then even more happened. In Luke 9:37-42 is written: Now it happened on the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, that a great multitude met Him. Suddenly a man from the multitude cried out, saying, "Teacher, I implore You, look on my son, for he is my only child. And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out; it convulses him so that he foams at the mouth, and it departs from him with great difficulty, bruising him. So I implored Your disciples to cast it out, but they could not." Then Jesus answered and said, "O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here."And as he was still coming, the demon threw him down and convulsed him. Then Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the child, and gave him back to his father. Some interesting points come to light here. Not only are they well over a week beyond the completion of their seven-fold commission -- during which time they cast out demons, among other things -- but they were unable to cast out this demon. What happened to the power they were given? Apparently it was taken back or was insufficient for this particular demon. But there is more. After some infighting over rank and seniority, a fascinating little tidbit, often overlooked, appears. Luke 9:49-50 states: Now John answered and said, "Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow with us." But Jesus said to him, "Do not forbid him, for he who is not against us is on our side." For those people who have experienced a controlling, authoritarian church organization, this short passage demonstrates the mentality often exhibited by the people in that sort of group. In the fashion typical of these people, when the apostles saw someone they did not know, someone who was not part of "their" organization, someone not "affiliated" with their leader using that leader's name to cast out demons (and apparently doing it successfully), they told him to stop. After all, he was not part of their "organization" and therefore had no right to be using the name of the leader of their organization to perform miracles. John reported it to their leader, expecting a commendation for their putting of this person in his place. But when the report was received, the expected reaction did not take place. Christ told them to let the man do what he was doing, that as long as he was not fighting against them in any way he was on their side. Another aspect of this passage raises a question: Where did this man get the ability to cast out demons in Christ's name? He was not part of the "group" -- the twelve did not even know who he was. He obviously was not one of the men sent out on that seven-fold commission at the beginning of the chapter (and Matt 10). There appears to be an answer. The final command of the commission was to "freely give." Give what? Power! And apparently this man received some of that power and was using it for the purpose it was intended! But more needs to be covered. After some more activites bring chapter 9 to a close, Lk 10:1-9 rebuts the objection that the commission was only intended for the twelve. Here it states: After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go. Then He said to them, "The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves. Carry neither money bag, knapsack, nor sandals; and greet no one along the road. But whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace to this house.' And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on it; if not, it will return to you. And remain in the same house, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not go from house to house. Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you. And heal the sick there, and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you. That is correct -- another seventy received essentially the identical commission, the same set of commands. Now there have been eighty-two people given these commands! What were the results of this excursion? Verse 17: Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name." And one must consider the fact that, at this point, not one of these people were converted! That did not occur until Acts 2. The obedience to the "Great Commission" of those converted ones (and results thereof) was recorded in Mark 16:17-20 where it states: "And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; "they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover." So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen. It not only describes the activities of true believers, it records the results that many of the early ones produced through the power of the Holy Spirit within them and their obedience to the commands they were given. Now it is time to return to the "Great Commission" and notice one more thing in that passage. Again, Matt 28:19-20 states: 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, 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. Having looked at some of the things He had commanded them to do, what did He just command them to do? Go Teach Baptize How many churches instruct their members in general to do those things? Most teach that these activities are only for the "ministry" -- for those "in charge" -- and the bulk of the people are not included. That is not what He commanded here! Christ told His disciples to go, make disciples, baptize them, and teach them to do the same. In modern society it would equate to many multi-level-marketing operations such as Amway, Shaklee, Herbalife, etc. One becomes part of a MLM organization then: (1) goes to his/her family, friends, and neighbors and (2) teaches them about the company, its products, and marketing strategies. If successful, some of them will become affiliated with the endeavor and (3) purchase a "starter kit" (is "baptized") and then taught to repeat the process with their family, friends, and neighbors. This is the way the "Great Commission" works also. The "Great Commission" proves to be a truly great endeavor. Unlike the commercial MLM operations, however, this one produces eternal, spiritual results. And the "product" is far beyond anything that can be bought or sold! And everyone is expected to participate in the various aspects of this commission.   Copyright © 1982-2007 by Lighthouse Congregation of God. All rights reserved.