Thursday, April 16, 2020

Tell everyone, every chance you get.

What are you going to do today? I mean, I know all of us have to go to work or enjoy our day off or whatever; I know we've got to take care of our responsibilities, but, really, what are you going to do today? If it's not what's below, you're missing out on what you're here for...
"And [Jesus] said to them, 'Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned." (Mark 16:15-16 ESV)
The word "proclaim" can also be translated "preach" or "herald". It simply means to say what God has declared and done as His decision about salvation toward mankind. In other words, tell "...all the world..." that Jesus has paid for sins on the cross and defeated death in order to grant new life by rising from the grave.
Whoever "believes" --which means to be persuaded to put trust in-- will be saved. Whoever does not put their trust in Jesus will be condemned, which means to be judged decisively as guilty.
So, herald / preach / proclaim Jesus. That's what we're called to do. We are not in charge of whether people believe, but we are responsible that we do proclaim the necessity and exclusivity of Jesus of Nazareth as the Christ of God.
Secondly, we ought to be doing this: (Jesus said) "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:19-20 ESV)
To "make disciples" means "to train in discipleship". In simplest terms, for the people who believe on the Lord Jesus, we are to train them in following Him in the way of His Life and in all the ways of our lives. We are to help people learn what Jesus says and do what Jesus says. Period. We are to teach them to abide, obey and bear fruit for God's glory and their good.
Proclaim.
Disciple.
Believing friends, Christians, Disciples of Jesus...whatever we may be doing today to steward our lives, the above is to be what we are doing with our lives. If the resurrected life of Jesus is in us --meaning, if we are really saved-- this will be the core interest of our existence, for it was surely the core interest of the Life that was resurrected.

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