Many Christians feel as if evangelism is “not their calling.” Listen to what William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, said, “‘Not called,’ did you say? ‘Not heard the call,’ is what you should have said. Put your ear down to the Bible and hear Him bid you go and pull sinners from the fire of hell. Go stand by the gates of hell and hear the condemned beg you to go to their houses and plead with their brothers and sisters to get saved.”
Jesus declared that His salient purpose in life was evangelism when He said in Luke 19:10: “For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” For every believer, evangelism is not an option, but an obligation. In fact every saved person living on this side of heaven ought to be concerned about every lost person living on this side of hell.
The Great Commission is stated in all four Gospels and the Book of Acts. It is great because of the greatness of the One who gave it. These were His final words before ascending back to the Father. Notice four things.
1. The Power for Evangelism
Matthew 28 begins with Jesus rising from the grave. Only 40 days later Jesus is standing on this Galilean mountain giving the Great Commission. Just days before, Jesus was dying on a cross and lying dead in a tomb. But now, Jesus is alive and has conquered death. By virtue of His atoning death and victorious resurrection, Jesus rightfully commands our obedience.
Jesus claims, “All power (authority) is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” In other words, Jesus has the authority to say and do whatever He wants. Therefore, He has the authority to command us to “go.” The Great Commission is not the Great Request or the Great Recommendation. It is the Great Command.
Jesus exercised authority over diseases by healing the sick, over natural disasters by calming the storms and even over death by raising Lazarus to life. If the Great Commission has been given to us by the One who has authority over demons, diseases and death then why would the Christian not obey this authoritative command from His voice?
2. The Plan for Evangelism
Matthew 28:19–20a lays out the three-fold plan for fulfilling the Great Commission. The order that Jesus gives in this plan is very important. First Jesus says we are to “go … teach all nations.” The word “teach” is the verb. It is better translated as “disciple.” The word “go” is a participle and it means “as you go.” The text could read, “As you go, disciple all nations.”
William Carey, the father of modern missions, was a shoe cobbler by trade. He longed to go to India as a missionary. Meanwhile, he told everyone about Christ who came into his shoe shop. A customer said, “All your talk about Jesus is going to ruin your business.” Carey replied, “Ruin my business? My business is talking about Jesus. I only cobble shoes to pay the expenses.”
John Wesley said, “You have one business on earth — to save souls.” Like Carey and Wesley, whatever we do and wherever we are, our business is to talk about Jesus.
Second we are to baptize new believers in the name of the Triune God. Baptism is one’s public identification with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Notice Jesus’ command is not to baptize a person before he believes, but to baptize him after he believes unto salvation. This is because people are not confirmed into Christianity. They are converted to Christianity.
Finally we are to teach new disciples to observe all of His commands. If new Christians are not taught then they will be spiritually malnourished and weak.
3. The Places for Evangelism
To what places are we to go in our attempt to share the gospel? Matthew 28:19 says, “All nations.” Mark 16:15 says we are to go into “all the world … to every creature.” No place is exempt and no person is to be excluded. The message of God’s wonderful love and matchless grace is for all people everywhere.
Our world is comprised of more than 7.3 billion people living in 196 countries and speaking 6,500 different languages. Every single one of those persons is made in the very image of God and has the right to hear the gospel of Christ.
However, in order to “go into all the world,” we must first get out of the church. In fact, nowhere in the Bible are lost people commanded to come to church and hear the gospel. But all through the Bible, Christians are commanded to go into the world and tell the gospel. If anything, we need to stop condemning the lost for not coming to church to hear the gospel and start condemning Christians for not going from church to share the gospel.
4. The Promise for Evangelism
Evangelism is a work that promises Christ’s empowering presence. Jesus said in Matthew 28:20, “I am with you always.” Christ is not asking us to do evangelism for Him, but He is asking us to do evangelism with Him.
Finally notice that the Great Commission ends with a prophecy of the end time. Jesus says His presence is with us “even unto the end of the world.” There is an urgency to the Great Commission because this world is coming to an end. We do not have forever. One day Jesus will return and the day of grace will expire.
The logic behind evangelism is simple. There is a heaven and a hell. Jesus died to keep people out of hell and to take them to heaven. And that’s good news worth telling.
I plead with you. Eternal destinies are at stake. About 103 souls per minute and more than 6,000 souls per hour plunge into a hopeless, Christless eternity. We must recapture the urgency of evangelism.
Wilson, pastor of First Baptist Church, Pleasant Grove, received his education from Campbellsville University in Kentucky; Luther Rice Seminary in Lithonia, Georgia; and Trinity College and Seminary in Newburgh, Indiana. He and his wife, Erin, have two sons.
Share with others: