The Great Commission

Jesus’s command to his disciples to witness to the world

The Great Commission
Reference verses:

· Matthew 28:19-20 “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.”

· Acts 1:8 “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.”

The Great Commission has Jesus telling the disciples to go and teach all nations. In Acts, Jesus last words on earth, spoken to the disciples immediately prior to His being taken up, are another form of that command, to be witnesses unto the uttermost part of the earth. Both of these are still as much a command to modern day disciples as they were to those gathered around Christ on the day of His ascension. And I would like to believe that most Christians obey them as best they can.

Today we substitute our city, state, nation and the world for Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the uttermost part. For me, that is Jacksonville, Florida, the United States and of course, the other 167+ nations around the world as we speak today. For many of us, our witness is limited to the places close to home; our neighborhood, our city, and if we are lucky, somewhere else in our home state where we might travel occasionally. Some of us may even be so fortunate as to travel further on business or extended vacations. Wherever we go though, the people and the language is the same. So we take our tracts, pass them out to our neighbors, leave them in restrooms, with the tip for the waitress, or in hotel rooms…hoping that someone will read them and, ‘God willing’, get saved. We may even share the Gospel with someone given the chance, as long as we speak the same language.

A few of us, myself included, may have the blessed opportunity to travel to other places as short-term missionaries, sponsored by our church family, helping to build churches, share the Gospel and witness through the use of translators and local ministries and church planters.

And understandably there are those you may not be able to financially or physically travel.

But for the most part we don’t really think about ‘the uttermost part’…that’s the thing for mission boards and missionaries to deal with. Besides, you say, I really don’t know anything about those people; their culture, their economy, their religious background, their needs, etc. I would pray for them if I did, but I wouldn’t know where to look for information about “the world”.

Well, I have the answer for you. A book called Operation World, as well as the website, OperationWorld.org, has been the brain child of Jason Mandryk and his team since 1974. It is “‘the definitive prayer guide to every nation”. In its 7th edition, dated 2010, it is the most up-to-date resource on understanding the Geography (area, population, and cities), Peoples, Economy, Politics, and Religion demographics of any nation on earth. Also included are Answers to and Challenges for prayer. It encompasses a year-long prayer schedule beginning with the World, Regions, and then individual nations alphabetically, depending on size and need of the country, for one or more days of prayer. You can visit the website and review the information, join the prayer movement, received daily emails for prayer, and/or purchase the book (in various forms) which comes with numerous helps to using and understanding the material included. I have been using the book and CD-ROMs version for over a year now, and my Radical men’s group uses it daily. I truly believe you will be blessed and become a blessing by adding this resource to your spiritual arsenal.