What to Do – Part Two

It’s time to be bold, be strong, be obedient, and be faithful.

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.

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“When you see the word ‘therefore,’ find out what it’s there for.”  I heard that statement first from Kenneth Hagin in the early ‘70’s.  It is some of the finest advice I’ve ever heard, especially as I have engaged in the study of God’s Word.  It helps tremendously in rightly dividing the Word of God.  In our Text for Today, we see “therefore.”  So, what is it there for?  We must look at the previous verse.  There the Lord said, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.”

What the Lord wants us to know is that His power is more than enough to handle ANY situation that may arise in life.  But we MUST not operate on that statement presumptuously.  We need to know that it is truth, believe that truth, have faith in that truth, and be willing to act on that truth without hesitation in compliance with Father’s command.  You and I should never act on this statement because we heard one another, or someone else say it.  Our reason for acting on this statement is our faith in God’s Word that Jesus said it, and it is absolute truth.  We must live by the principle that “if God said it, that settles it.”

And when we add other Scriptures that relate directly to what the Lord said here, we realize that “all power . . . in heaven and in earth” that was given to Jesus, He has now given to us by power of attorney so that we fulfill His command to us that we are to do the works He did, and even greater works.  Let me be clear here.  The “greater works” to which Jesus refers in John 14:12 are the acts of leading people to the new birth in Jesus, and leading them to the baptism in Holy Ghost.  You see, before Jesus was raised from the dead, neither of these works could be done, and Jesus declared them to be greater works than anything He had ever done in the earth. 

As believers, our TO DO LIST begins with bringing people to Christ, and training (teaching) them to walk in the Spirit and in the power of God, that being obedience to the Word and the infilling of Holy Ghost.  Those are the most important things we can do.  Matthew 24:14 is one of the most profound prophetic passages in the Word.  When the Gospel is preached in all the world as a witness, “then shall the end come.”  As long as Satan can prevent that from happening, he is delaying the return of Jesus for His church.  Anyone who can read can see that.  Is the church allowing that to happen today?  I believe it is.  We, the church, should allow NOTHING to hold us back from immediate fulfillment of the command of our Lord Jesus Christ in our Text for Today.  NOTHING!  Have faith in God.

Manna for Today – Matthew 28:16-20; Mark 16:15-20; John 3:16-17; 1 Samuel 15:22; 1 John 5:3;          John 14:12-17; 2 Timothy 2:15; Mark 11:22-24