Who shall speak for the Lord?
Matthew 28:18-19 “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth.
Go ye therefore,…”
(I want to stop here for a moment and stress, as we belong to the Lord Jesus…..that it is only because all power is given to Jesus Christ…..that we can “go” forth to a lost world….in His Name.
He is in us….and we in Him….and we go in His power…..that is what He is telling His disciples and us, here.)
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.”
There are two Greek words for “teach, and teaching” here.
The first “teach” means to disciple….to bring under the discipline of Christ.
The second “teaching” means to instruct, teach.
We are to go and make disciples to Christ Jesus. To bring them to the place in their understanding that they submit themselves under the discipline of Christ,….that they hear the Lord for themselves.
This takes effort….effort in prayer and the use of God’s Word.
For we are to teach them what Christ has said….”whatsoever I have commanded”….
(I have found over the years, that Christ’s Words hit a spot, like nothing else.
He spoke to sinners, lepers, Pharisees, rich young rulers, fishermen, the dead, and the sick.
He preached, rebuked little faith, prayed much, and taught His disciples how to pray, and honored any belief in Him….corrected the unbelieving….and blessed children.
His words are amazing…..and it is as we know them, that we are instructed and learn how we should be.)
“….and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”
Alway means day and night, everyday….for the whole of time.
This commission was, of course, first to His disciples….but it is also for us.
If we are born again, then we are to have His Words in us by obedience…
….spiritual reality is always…first in me.
We are to know the Authority of Christ for me….being in subjection to it.
Then we can pass on to others what we have in our own experience…in that which we have obeyed.
Then He can require it at the hands of those we speak to…for we are speaking with authority.
They may reject the Word….and the Christ of the Word,….but that has nothing to do with us….we are just “sent”…..being obedient.
1 Corinthians 3:7-8 “So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.
Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor.”
As the Lord Jesus spoke that which His Father commanded Him, so we must speak that which He commands us.
I have often gone to pray with people, and end up speaking to them about what is really troubling them.
(I told a woman once, to just get honest with God about her trouble…..and she told me she would never talk to God that way!)
(My husband was talking to a young man once concerning God and His claims…the young man taking the view that God had no right to demand from him anything…..and he talked….and he talked.
My husband could see this was going nowhere…..but felt the need to deal with this man….so he said, “I am going to kneel and pray. Why don’t you join me and tell God everything you told me?”
He was not sure he would do it…..or the outcome….but,…
….when this young man knelt, it was if a battle had been won, and he said, “Well, God, it is about time!”
That young man was converted that night.)
We should pray as if the work all depended on God….then work as if it depended on us.
John 20:21 “Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as My Father hath sent Me, even so send I you.”
The Father “sent” His Son into the world….not to condemn the world (they will do that themselves, if they refuse Christ)…
….but to save the world.
So we are sent to give the gospel out…..our testimony of Christ Jesus our Lord….in word, and in deed, and in prayer, and in Scripture…
…and may God bless His means.
Who shall speak for the Lord?
Preaching, Teaching, and Notes 