Thoughts on the Mission.

I was recently thinking about Mathew 28:16-20.

It’s called the great commission, rightfully so because the Lord himself commissioned the disciples with a mission. (A goal, plan,purpose)

First he begins by informing them that He has all the authority in Heaven and earth . Therefore since he has all that power coming from a place of authority he now sends them on an assignment. The assignment is to

1. Make disciples of all nations ( everyone is to know about the Lord)
2. Becoming aware of the lord, believing ,changing towards him ,they are to be baptized in the name of the father ,son and Holy Spirit.
3. teaching them to obey must be continued and consistent as he commands,.
4. As these instructions, commands are followed (obeyed) his presence with us is promised., (he is present always with us).

Fast forward to Acts 2 where they were waiting for what Jesus promised (Holy Spirit). Once it comes in verse 14 we see Peter following this commission given by Jesus in Matthew 28. Read Acts 2 :14-36 Peter does exactly what Jesus commanded not excluding any instructions.

The people hear of Jesus, are cut to the heart,( those who accepted and believed the news wanting to turn to Jesus) they follow instructions to repent and be baptized and were added to their number.j

In acts 2: 42-47 we see the rest of following the commission ,the teaching part continued after their repentance and baptism.

It dawned on me of how this is truly what an Altar call should consist of , it can start at the altar (pulpit) or meeting you on the street or in your home ,wherever God calls you is the beginning of bringing you to his altar .

What is most essential is the ingredients of the altar call.! It’s what written in the great commission. Should consist of – The message of Jesus, believing once you hear, which leads to repentance,that leads to baptism,which is symbol participating in his death and resurrection, having the Holy Spirit granting you the power to live in Jesus, learning and growing personally and with other believers,, and it keeps repeating through you and all those that have received this.

It’s so vital and important to follow as God commands don’t do one and skip the other, or just pick as you prefer or comfortable obeying. He does not promise it will be easy but he promised that he would be with us. It’s up to us to see if we are following his word . I encourage you to read Acts , if you look at Acts they never failed to continue to follow the specified instructions, commands of Jesus . As people kept hearing, those that believed repented then were baptised and continued learning. We must take time to study this ourselves, there are no shortcuts, we don’t get to pick what we want to follow once we have learned better. It’s in our best interest to obey the word with the help of God as he enables us to learn through his grace ,providing the Holy Spirit to teach us and others that follow his word faithfully. Don’t make the exemption yourself, that’s God’s job not ours , There is grace in each case but not grace for knowingly and willfully disobedience. God does not reward disobedience even if grace is extended and that’s his prerogative !

Please don’t come to the water of baptism not understanding that Jesus died for you because he loves you. That it is a symbol of his death and resurrection, (1 Peter3:21) when you come out , you should believe yourself a new person with a clean start , clean heart and mind , sins forgiven, new Lord Jesus Christ to follow . A heart of humility that is personally choosing this , knowing you don’t deserve it. He took the cross you deserved, the punishment you deserved. Please I plead with you understand it needs to be your choice for yourself and know why you are doing it.

He first loved you and that has not changed.