We have all eternity to tell of victories won for Christ, but we have only a few hours before sunset to win them. (Anonymous)

From the time of the Twelve to Constantine (317) the Christian world experienced tremendous persecution. That pressure did not diminish the growth and development of the Jesus people, it strengthened them, it emboldened them to go forth in the face of death.

As if the devil saw that persecution was not working he tried the opposite tactics, success. Christianity went from being despised to being accepted; that acceptance brought with it a dissipation of the force of God’s people. Christians became defensive of their faith not aggressive in outreach. That same strategy is effective today.

Yet, during those first three centuries the Coptic Church was established in regions of Africa. Pantaenus in Alexandria founded a training school. At the same time the group of churches Paul founded in the region of modern Turkey were outreaching churches.

Evangelistic spirit was replaced by apologetics, political and social concerns. Good is always the enemy of the best. That same pendulum swings today when it is popular to spend mission dollars on the care of orphans, clean water and business development. It is not a matter of evangelism or social concerns but the priority must be Father God’s priority. Well-fed and educated sinners still miss heaven.

The man known as St. Patrick (389-461) was an Irish slave in Scotland who escaped back to Ireland to preach the gospel. There he established training schools and was instrumental in discipling his nation. He was known as a Bible-reading, Bible-believing, Bible-preaching missionary.

Later, Boniface (680?-755), an English missionary went to Germany and there preached and baptized many thousands of Europeans.

The time of the Reformers (1517-1700) brought little to the efforts of missionary progress. This was largely due to their doctrines and other priorities. Calvin, with his teaching on predestination, had no thought of missions. Luther believed the apostles fulfilled the Great Commission. Others, like Knox, were preoccupied with strengthening the home front, leaving no effort spent elsewhere.

Not trying to oversimplify church history at and after the time of the Reformers, the time line is now divided between the history of the Roman Church and that of the Reformed Church. Both had strong allegiances to their leadership and central doctrines. This becomes one of those times when, if people do not learn from history they are apt to repeat it. Back to the core of Christianity, “If I be lifted up I will draw all men unto Me” (John 12:32).

When The Church’s fundamental motivation is centered upon itself and the propagation of itself there is an obvious deviation from the central principles of Christ. When Roman Catholics’ primary concern is spreading Catholicism or when Protestants focus upon distinguishing themselves from the Romans, the real Church is crumbling. In this time churches endeavor to distinguish themselves over small theological or procedural differences. If the only outreach of our assemblies is defending our positions, our generation will remain in peril.

During the thirteenth century Francis of Assisi was traveling throughout Europe teaching and establishing his fresh ideas of caring for the poor. At the same time Marco Polo was with the Mongol leader Khan. Khan was overly impressed with the Christian ideals and requested Polo return with 100 missionaries. Only two responded and they turned back before ever reaching the Mongol territory. To many, this was a lost opportunity with devastating ramifications. It would be instructional to see this position of history from the Lords point of view.

A Chinese convert once said to Hudson Taylor, “What, for hundreds of years you have had these glad tidings and only now have come to preach it to us? My father sought after the truth for more than twenty years, and died without finding it. Oh, why did you not come sooner?”

In Hebrews eleven, after the writer tells of individual acts of faith he writes, “and what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak…” Now, in this brief writing of church history, time will fail if we speak of the Huguenots going to Brazil, the brave Moravians, of Jonathan Goforth in China, of the Student Volunteer Movement, of the great writers, the great preachers, the great thinkers who have all enriched their generations and ours.

Countless thousands, filled with the love of their Savior and armed with the example of the cross have marched across all the continents. Many lost their lives, many will never be included in written history but served a Master who knows of every sacrifice, every act of faith, and every expression of love.

What we need to be assured of is not that we possess an excellent system of doctrine and ritual, but that the gift of the Holy Ghost is a reality. (Roland Allen, Missionary Principles)

The last post resurrection encounter the disciples had with Jesus was just prior to His ascension to His Father. On a previous encounter Jesus told them to “stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high” (Luke 24:49). Now in Acts chapter one the disciples meet together with Jesus in anticipation of being clothed with power. Jesus’ last recorded words are verse eight:

But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.

The power of the Holy Spirit did come on the Day of Pentecost. The lives of the disciples were radically altered. They were bold to speak the message of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. The results were the Lord adding to the church daily such as should be saved (Acts 2:47). There were signs and wonders (5:12) and the whole city was full of their teaching (5:28). The Church was off to a dominant launching.

Jesus gave the disciples authority in Matthew 28, authority to speak in His Name, authority over all the power of the enemy. Here, Jesus promises power, which is inherent ability. They were to possess the capacity to be witnesses and to affect change. It would be impossible to quantify that power within the New Testament believer. Only to say it is the power of the Holy Spirit who, as God, is omnipotent, all-powerful. Thus, the believer, after receiving this power, is bound only by the limitations of his/her walk in the Spirit. Peter, Stephen and Paul seemed to live at times in the unlimited power of the Spirit. Twenty-first century disciples are called to live this abandoned lifestyle of Spirit empowerment.

In the Gospel of John Jesus spoke often of the function of the Holy Spirit in believers. He was to be their Teacher, their Comforter. He would convict the world of sin, righteousness and judgment. From Jesus’ perspective the Holy Spirit was of more value than He was in that the Spirit was to live in them not just with them (14:17).

The purpose of the coming of the Holy Spirit in Acts 1:8 was to empower the disciples, making them witnesses. In a courtroom a witness can only speak what they saw or heard or experienced. They do not ascertain the meaning of what was experienced only declare the pure incident. The disciple does that very thing; they speak what they have experienced in their relationship with Jesus. The testimony of a witness is undeniable in that what was experienced is undeniable. Combined with the Holy Spirit’s ability, a witness can proclaim the truth of the gospel message with convincing evidence and a powerful confirmation of the gospel.

Next Jesus delineates how He sees the gospel spreading geographically. Jerusalem is the starting point; it is the city of the Great King (Ps. 48:1). Jesus is the Jewish Messiah and it is only fitting that the capitol city would be ground zero for the launching of the Church. Even for the Jews scattered throughout Asia Jerusalem was home, it was the center of their spiritual being.

From Jerusalem the gospel was to go to the rest of Israel, including Judea and Samaria. Ultimately the Message was to go around the world. While Jesus was with His disciples they limited their outreach largely to the Jews.

As was just stated, Jesus was the Jewish Messiah yet His vicarious sacrifice was for the whole world. Every racial and cultural divide is wiped away with the cross and the resurrection. “Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). The Jews will always have a unique roll in the Kingdom but the heart of the Father and the Son is for all. “And I have other sheep which are not of this fold; I must bring them also…” (John 10:16).

Throughout the Book of Acts the reader easily sees how the Holy Spirit used the disciples to spread the message of Jesus to each of the four regions specified in 1:8. The questions we should be asking include:

Is there a geographically progressive plan for our generation?

Where and how does my local church fit into the Holy Spirit’s purpose?

Who is responsible to hear the Spirit’s plans?

It was not until Stephen’s martyrdom that the Church began to spread out of Jerusalem. It is conjecture to conclude that it took persecution to move the disciples into God’s timetable. Regardless, in Acts 8 the church, without the Apostles, scattered to Judea and Samaria as a result of Saul and the persecution from the Jewish leadership. Philip went to Samaria and there saw great results for the Kingdom. From Samaria Philip went to Gaza (8:26) and then to Azotus and Caesarea (8:40).

Peter began traveling to Joppa via Lydda (9:32-36). While in Joppa Cornelius the Centurion had a vision and an angel instructed him to send for Peter. In response to his own prophetic dream, Peter is prepared by the Spirit to visit the home of a Gentile. Culturally this would be unheard of but the Spirit moves Peter over the voice of history and culture. At Cornelius’ home the Spirit is poured out upon Gentiles for the first time. They were saved, spoke in tongues and were baptized. Upon receiving approval form the leaders in Jerusalem (11:1-18) the outreach to the Gentiles proceeds with earnest.

At this point the church at Antioch becomes the hub of Christian outreach. The disciples went everywhere out of Antioch. With the reintroduction of Paul in Acts 13, the first missionary journey commences. In the next years the gospel went throughout Asia, into parts of Europe and northern Africa. Churches were planted, leaders set in place and in spite of severe persecution, the church grew rapidly.

As extraordinary as the Book of Acts is, it is only a record of one century of the results of the Holy Spirit empowering men and women to go be witnesses. Now it is our turn.

And people who do not know the Lord ask why in the world we waste our lives as missionaries. They forget that they too are expending their lives… and when the bubble has burst they will have nothing of eternal significance to show for the years they have wasted. (Nate Smith Jungle Pilot)

Each of the four gospels contains a statement outlining Jesus’ post resurrection command to affect the world. In the passage found in Mark 16 is this concise statement, “And He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.’” Many of these words are all inclusive, everyone, men women, young and old, rich and poor. All are to go. Not to the pretty places, not just the English speaking places, not just to the 10-40 window. Go everywhere and preach to all. Most Christians have preferences, but they must submit to the scope of this command. Many have fears that need to be swallowed up by the love of God. Some have joked that the Great Commission is a calling to go but never mentions returning.

At the center of the command is preaching the gospel. This is outside the vocational calling to preach. Preaching the gospel in most cases is one-on-one. It is private and relationally based. The one speaking has had an experience with a loving Father and His Son Jesus. Out of that personal encounter comes a passion to pass on the knowledge of the Holy One. That passing on process is preaching the gospel. The blind man in John 9 could only say, “I don’t know who it was who talked with me, all I know is that I once was blind but now I see.” That is effective communication of the message of Jesus.

As a believer grows in understanding of the cross and the ramifications of redemption his/her conversation can be more informed and even more anointed. But it is not knowledge that saves; we are not endeavoring to win a mind to Christ but a spirit or soul to Christ. The gospel is filled with power to bring a person to a saving knowledge of Jesus.

The early church ‘went forth, preaching everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following.’ Faithfulness to go and to speak the word produced evidence of the spiritual nature of gospel preaching. Lives were changed. Back to Mark 16, “these sings will follow those who believe.” The trail of a missionary (believer) should be littered with signs, wonders and miracles.

In Matthew 28:19-21 the Great Commission is what most believers think of when referring to evangelism and the call to go.

All authority has been given to Me in heaven and in earth. Go, therefore and make disciples of all the nations…. Teaching them to observe all that I commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

Jesus conferred His authority to the Church, equipping them for success. In our time a great portion of the world’s population is closed to conventional methods of evangelism and church planting. The authority given to believers is greater than the authority to keep us out. The gospel is not bound (II Tim. 2:9).

Conventional western-minded missions cannot work in many places but indigenous evangelism can go anywhere. The authority is not in the method but in the message. Some groups have been slow to alter their methods resulting in diminishing results. Adaptive people are now experiencing explosive growth. The authority is present; the disciple maker has to be up to date with God’s methodology.

The goal here in Matthew is disciples not converts. With modern equipment it is easy to conduct huge crusades, see the 1000’s saved and then go home. This makes for exciting newsletters and press releases but it is not the Great Commission. Making disciples is an entirely subsequent process. This will be discussed in Lesson 12.

A convert is born again but a disciple is established in the faith. Naturally speaking, parents would never leave a new born to fend for themselves. But they nurture and protect and train them. In verse 20 Matthew continuous the Command by instructing the believers to teach the new ones how to do the words of Jesus. A teacher can eloquently speak the teaching of the New Testament but have no changed life. The Command is to teach in such a way that the convert can actually do what is being taught. This becomes the standard for the teacher, ‘Can my students live what I am teaching?’ Teaching and disciple making is all a part of the Great Shepherd’s heart. When He promised, “and lo I am with you always,” that loving heart goes with us as well.

In Luke the Commission is quite different:

And that repentance for forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His Name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. (Luke 24:47)

It is a small point but the word nation does not necessarily mean country; it refers to a people group; a tribe or those who speak a common language. There are only about 200 countries but thousands of nations. In Revelations, those of every nation will be found in heaven.

From Lev. 17 we know that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin. All the Old Testament sacrifices pointed forward to Jesus, the Lamb who was slain from the foundation of the earth (Rev. 13:8). Jesus is the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of all the world (John 1:29). His sacrifice was a once and for all sacrifice (Heb. 10:10). Sin is what stands between a Holy God and an unholy people. Jesus removed that barrier making it possible for there to be communion between God and mankind.

John simply says, “As the Father has sent Me, so I am sending you” (20:21). Believers, once the enemies of God, are now ambassadors, proclaiming the will and the purpose of our King. What assurance is ours, we are sent out by our Father to speak in His behalf, His word with His power and protection. This again brings us back to the core of missions; a loving Father reaching out to His creation by the agency of His people.