Striving to Complete the Great Commission （1） — Let All Men be the Disciples of Our Lord
“And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18/20)
Dear brothers and sisters! This of Jesus prior to His ascend to heaven is a declaration of victory. It made clear that His resurrection has conquered death, hell, Satan and all his power in sin. It further releases all of us from the slavery of sin caused by our fear of death. What amazing and great salvation and grace this is! He further commands us to spread the gospel to the entire earth. And let all men be the disciples of God. What noble and important gospel mission this is! Lastly, He tells us in practice how to bring all men to Him.
From the Scriptures above, we perceive the mission we carry to include: 1. spread far and wide the gospel (sow seeds). 2. Bring all men to be His disciples (share food). Our first duty is to obey His command and saw the seeds of gospel in men’s hearts —that’s the live and everlasting words of God. These words allow men to be born again (I Peter 1:23). Let “whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16). Also, to baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit., to bring them under His name, to become the children of God — the body of Christ (church). Therefore, we need to be prepared at all time, to be send forth by the Holy Spirit, and to deliver the gospel to all men near and far! However, this is only the salvation and the first step. The mission of spreading the gospel has yet to be completed. More importantly, we need to further lead all men to be God’s disciple! For these reasons, each of us who have been saved by His grace must be humble and learn His word. We need to practice His words and be completely separated from the world and its sin. We need to look upon Him, follow His example in all things as His disciples. We need to share spiritual provisions with all those who are hungry and need nourishment in the spirit. Let them grow, mature and be His disciples on food of the truth. This is the heart and will of our Lord and therefore our second mission. Daily, we need to be edified with God’s word, to die from sin and to live for God. Our inner being needs to be broken constantly, renewed constantly, and grow constantly. Only then can we pass along life with life, lead life with life and lead disciple with disciple. Together we shall complete the mission of gospel.
Dear Brothers and sisters! How should we confront both the missions of “sowing seeds” and “distributing spiritual food”? Have we prepared sufficient seeds and food? If our spiritual lives are still poor, short of seeds to sow and food to give, how can we be sent off to spread the gospel, save souls and bring all men to be the disciples of our Lord Jesus? Today, all men on this earth thirst for the “seeds of the gospel”—the words of life. The children of God are in dire need of “the food of life” — the edification of the truth and provision of life. Exactly what are we going to offer them? Jesus said: “I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst.” Prophet Isaiah pointed it out to us:” For as the snow and rain fall from the heaven, And do not return there without watering the earth, And making it bear and sprout, And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; So shall My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:10-11). May the words of God that He sends to us were not futile. These words will take roots deep within our lives and become our lives. This life of abundance will overflow and be shared with others.
The life of Joseph can be our example for learning! Psalm 105: 16/19 pointed out that Joseph was sold into slavery. His feet were chained by iron. The words of God tested him, until the words of God (two dreams) came true. The documented lengthy suffering of Joseph was not in vain. All the pain and trials that he endured enriched and brought maturity to his life. He humbly obeyed and endured all his sufferings. He experienced “The Lord was with him” in everything. Therefore he had the bountiful seeds and bread of life. When the entire land went through famine, people came to Joseph for seeds and food (please read Genesis 47:15, 19). As he was elevated to be second only to the Pharaoh in Egypt and during the seven years of good harvest, he traversed through out the land of Egypt. He gathered all the food, like the sand of the sea, so plenty it could not be measured. Then when the seven years of famine came along, he was able to open all the storehouses and provide bread for the world. He also provided for the family of Jacob through the years of famine.
Dear brothers and sisters! As disciples of God today we must also “provide bread for the world”, to feed all those who are hungry for the spiritual bread, so that they will never be thirsty or hungry again. Time is running short now! We need to treasure every minute of our time, be diligent without a moment of slack, and use God’s word to equip ourselves. We can no longer be lazy! We can no longer slack off! We need to learn from the ants who prepared their food during the summer (Proverb 6: 6/7). Jesus further reminded us: “Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life.” (John 6:27).
Many years ago, when I was in a farming village in China , I met a brother that truly loved God. He came from poverty. He had no land, no house, and certainly was in no condition to get married and start a family. He only looked up to God, patiently waiting without losing heart. Finally a God-loving sister with a high school education was willing to marry him. He praised the Lord without ceasing. Once they were married, they borrowed some money and built several rooms. God then gave them a son. They opened a small grocery store, hoping to earn some money and repay their debts. Take a look at what God-fearing children they were! They closed the store every Sunday and all three of them went to church to worship and serve God. God further blessed his little store. Although there were other surrounding stores, people all bought at his store. No long after, he paid all his debts. This couple was full of gratitude and praises to God. The husband said to his wife “God has given us enough! We have enough for our life! Enough!” So he gave the watch-repairing counter in his store to a poor relative of his. He let his wife watch the store. He then rode his bicycle to each different village every day to spread the gospel. His wife loved God very much. She would tend the store and find time to read the Scripture…. This is a most touching testimony that we witnessed in real life. Many times we complain “this is not enough that is not enough”. Yet there was such a couple who looked at the material things that God has given them and said “enough, enough….”
Dear brothers and sister! Are we satisfied with what we have today and say “enough, enough”? About our spiritual need, do we say “not enough，not enough.”? Jesus said: “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” (Luke 9:23). “…the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence and men of violence take it by force” (Matthew 11:12). As disciples of Jesus, let us deny ourselves for the kingdom of heaven. Let us press on!
Below we give you a brief introduction to the life of God’s servant Song Shang Jie. He left us an example that obeys Lord’s command, saws seeds and distributes provisions without any regard for one’s own life. Through his selfless dedication and commitment, he led millions to be His disciples.
1) Repented fully and surrendered himself thoroughly for the spreading of the gospel: Since his salvation and thorough repentance, his entire being was melted by the love of Jesus’ crucifixion. He would not allow any sin or fleshly desire to erode his heart and spirit. He confessed his sin daily, hourly and publicly. He raised high the banner of the cross, deemed evil as his enemies. He boldly attacked sin, opened the “coffin”, and led men to the way of sanctification. He yielded himself to God completely and willingly without reservation. He wanted brokenness of himself. He emptied himself, followed the footsteps of our Lord Jesus and never disobeyed and deviated from the vision from above.
2) Loved His Words with passion and focused on the spiritual fellowship: He treasured and thirsted for His words. He read the entire Bible forty times during his 193 days stay at an US mental institute. From that point on, he insisted on reading eleven chapters of the Scripture daily despite of his heavy preaching schedule or physical illnesses. He whole-heartedly followed his Word. He paid great attention to the closeness of his personal relationship with God. He constantly meditated on His word, thoroughly ingested and digested His Words. Hence, his word enabled him the power and strength to conquer tribulations and temptations of all sorts. His messages and work carried such richness and abundance of the life of God and the authoritative power of the Holy Spirit that God was able to use him for many long years.
3) Charged through all trials and obeyed God’s command to the end: He had the will and determination to please God only without fear of any opposition, persecution or ridicules. He bravely defended the truth, followed His command to the very end and loved God above all others. During periods of civil war when danger and peril prevailed, he risked his own life, put aside himself and his own family and spread the gospel traversing all over the country. He simply wanted to save his own countrymen and churches in pain and sufferings. God further used a thorn (his illness) to keep him safe. He was dead to the world, his own flesh and old self while he was afflicted with constant agony both from the outside world and within his own body. God preserved and kept him safe to the very end. He was not harmed or destroyed by the numerous vicious schemes from the Satan (the temptations of fame, money and sex)! It was completely through the grace of God.
4) Life with no endings and prayers with no endings: He never ceased to pray in intercession for the millions of men. Even to the end, when pus and blood oozed from his wounds and he was in great pain, he strived to be the watchman and prayed in intercession. When he prayed to seek the anointment of the Spirit, he saw “From now on the work is the work of prayers”, “Without prayers there will be no revival!”, “The Chinese church will experience great revival during great tribulations!” He encouraged and reminded the servants of God that focusing on much and more prayers is pivotal to the expansion of all God’s work.
5) Receiver of God’s vision and clear knowledge of God’s will: During his later years, even when plagued with great physical pain, he incessantly prayed and sought the will of God. In the spirit, he particularly had the vision: “All workers must take retreat!” He had the profound realization that God regards each worker “the person” to be much more important than all the work combined He was moved by the Holy Spirit to build six “Cities of Flee” and forty two “Cities of Levi” ( Joshua Chapter 20 and 21). They are six “Houses of Grace” for the retreat of His workers. This is the “Arabian wilderness” for their edifications… There will be forty two Antioch as the mission centers for the gospel workers. He further saw that God will use His own word to build up His own workers during the latter days. His workers will be sanctified through His word, die a thorough death of themselves and receive a resurrected life. Together, they will complete Christ’s great commission! May the spirit that moved “Elijah” moves all of us many folds!
Jesus said “If you abide in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine.” (John 8:31). When on earth, our Lord Jesus taught us many times how to be His disciples. All in all, His teaching is to tell us “to abide by His word”. Let us love one another in truth, be united with the Lord to bear multiple of fruits, to carry the cross in the path to love and follow Jesus. Let us forsake all and follow His will firmly. This we will become true disciples of His (John 13:34/35, 15:5/8, Luke 14:26/27, 33).
May all His disciples who love the Lord respond to the calling of Jesus: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations…. I will be with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Home of Grace
12/20/2007