Commission
by Darrell W. Johns
June 11, 2023 · Atlanta West Pentecostal Church (Lithia Springs, GA)
Kind: sermon
Scripture: Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:15, Luke 24:47, John 20:21, Acts 1:8, Colossians 2:15, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Mark 16:16, 2 Corinthians 7:1, Mark 16:17-20, Psalms 133:2, Exodus 29:7, 1 Samuel 16:13, Psalms 89:20-21, James 5:14-15

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/darrell-w-johns--commission
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

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Matthew 28 18. and Jesus came and spake unto them saying all power is given unto me in heaven and in Earth 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 to the end of the world or the age amen amen I'd like to speak to you today on the theme commissioned God bless you please be seated Matthew 28 19 is commonly referred to as the Great Commission parallel passages in the Bible in Mark Luke John and acts Echo the command that Jesus Christ gave to his disciples to go everywhere and preach the gospel to everyone no one is to be excluded and no one is outside the scope of God's power to change their lives and save their souls forever now to be commissioned is a word we use uh in our culture it is to be empowered by a higher authority to perform various Acts or to fill assigned duties in Matthew Mark Luke John acts the word commission is not used but it is a command it is a command to go into all the world commissioned officers in the military have Rank and the authority that goes along with that rank it is conferred on them to act on behalf of our government they have authority they have power to carry out duties that are assigned to them by the government the Great Commission is not the great suggestion Jesus did not call his disciples around him and say hey guys uh I just want to maybe throw out here that uh perhaps if uh you're feeling spiritual and works into your schedule if it's not too inconvenient or scary that you might consider going somewhere and telling someone perhaps about me you don't get that feeling when you read the Great Commission it is go it is a great commandment Jesus said that we are his friends if we do what he has commanded us to do and part of being an obedient friend of Jesus Christ is to carry the Great Commission out to his fullest intent to preach the gospel to everyone everywhere and the United Pentecostal Church says and we are part of that the whole gospel to the whole world by the whole church not just card carrying preachers but every member of the body of Christ is Anointed by the Lord to teach and preach the gospel everywhere to everyone so today it is my mission to remind you that you've been commissioned by Jesus Christ we have the privilege and we have the obligation to represent Jesus Christ to the world the Bible said that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself and he is committed to us the word or the ministry the previous verse says of reconciliation the Great Commission is so significant that all four gospels and the book of Acts contain various forms of the Great Commission I want to quickly go through them today to reinforce this concept Matthew 28 19 go ye therefore and teach All Nations baptizing them in the name I'm glad that I know the name of the father and of the son and of the Holy Ghost Mark 16 15 and he said unto them go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to Every Creature Luke 24 47 and that repentance a remission of sin should be preached in his name among all nations beginning at Jerusalem John 20 21 then said Jesus to them again peace be unto you as my father hath sent me even so send I you Acts chapter 1 verse 8 the words of Jesus but ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you and ye shall be Witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth those are the great commissioned passages in the Bible now I taught a few weeks ago about the importance of your testimony and that in the mouth of two or three Witnesses every word shall be established so we we have this Great Commission one time would have been enough but it is repeated we have it five times in the gospels in the book of Acts that Jesus told us to go everywhere and tell everyone the Gospel of Jesus Christ now Matthew 28 18 Jesus came and spake unto them saying all power is given unto me in heaven and in Earth he establishes that what he is about to command is predicated on the power that is invested in his name and in his person that he has all power in heaven and in Earth Jesus said I saw Satan like lightning fall from Heaven amen when you speak the name of Jesus Christ you're speaking the name of almighty God and all power is invested in that name the basis of the commission is the power of Jesus Christ and in his name he has all power he defeated the power of Satan sin death and Hell Colossians 2 15 says that he spoiled principalities and power making his show of them openly openly triumphing over them in it referring to his cross he demonstrated his power in his Earthly Ministry power over sin power over sickness power over demonic possession power over nature the disciples Marvel that even the wind and the Seas obeyed him power over death to raise Lazarus from the dead to raise the Widow of nane's son from the dead for himself to be raised from the dead and Satan himself Jesus has all power in heaven and in Earth so this is backed up by the mighty power of God and then he gave us the purpose in verse 19. go ye therefore now in the Bible when you see the word therefore you look to see what it is there for what precedes that word and what precedes go ye therefore is the power that is in the name of Jesus Christ so because Jesus has power he can commission us to go in his name and in his power amen we don't go alone it's not just our word the Holy Ghost witness is to the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ value therefore and teach All Nations baptizing them in the name of the father and of the son and of the Holy Ghost to teach here means to make disciples that's what's in the original language of the New Testament the first component of this commission is to lead people into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ now I have learned by principle and by practice that you cannot disciple an unsaved person an unregenerated person you cannot reform a sinner and make them a saint they must be transformed by the new birth of water and of spirit the new birth is not behavioral modification it is spiritual transformation that leads to a new life of right living I'm saying that for those of us who are saved but I'm saying that for those who are not saved that God is not expecting you to live up to his moral Nature by your ability alone but you shall receive power when the Holy Ghost comes on you his power to witness but it will transform your life from the inside out amen Paul wrote in second Corinthians 5 17 If any man be in Christ he is a new creation all things are passed away and behold all things are made new I take the scripture at face value amen the Bible says such were some of you but now you're washed now you're Sanctified now you're Justified there's been a transformation in your life and you know are no longer what you used to be the power of sin has been broken by the power of Jesus name this is our commission amen lead them into a saving relationship with Jesus Matthew Mark 16 16 says he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved he that believeth not shall be condemned or damned the King James says Luke says that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations beginning at Jerusalem so this gospel message is repentance and the Forgiveness of the remission of sins and then the scope of this Great Commission is the entire world Matthew Mark and Luke say that we are to go to all nations in the book of Acts it tells us to go to the ends of the Earth now your commission May mean for you to become a global missionary and go to a Faraway country our church is going to help the Phelps family who are in Nigeria their home traveling on deputation we're going to bless them with some things for their work but God has called them to West Africa your commission may take you to an unchurched city in North America a North American missionary your commission might be to the homeless your commission might be to the those in the nursing home who are at the end of life all nations for you might be next door or the next office or the next town we need to make sure that our idea of who can be saved matches God's idea of who can be saved for no one is outside the power of the gospel for their lives to be changed in Jesus name amen I'm excited about what God is doing here God's blessed us with a larger church with great Ministries and worship but I met a man that in this past week in South Carolina at their camp meeting he went and started with nothing and he introduced me to a man fresh out of the world I'm sure they don't have all the things that we have that help our Ministries but those things are not the gospel the gospel is the word of God and the power of God it doesn't have to have all the trappings of a church service it could be across a coffee table it could be in a car somewhere and when the name of Jesus and the power of the Gospel is conveyed it will change anyone anywhere [Applause] amen praise God the Bible speaks of a group of people called scythians the lowest class of people that you can imagine but they are in the church because they've been transformed by the power of God the gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes to the Jew first and also to the Greek we thank God that water baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for the remission of sins was practiced by the early church and by this church amen we understand the name of the father and of the son and of the Holy Ghost is Jesus Christ that there is none other name under Heaven given among men whereby we must be saved amen the commission begins with leading people to conversion but the second component is to lead them into a path of discipleship Matthew 28 20 tells us this teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you and I'll pause there for now you're going to teach them how to be saved and then baptize them in the Bible baptism is water and spirit and then once they're converted you can work with them they have a nature that can receive the word of God that will save their souls and transform their lives discipleship is becoming like Jesus Christ in our inward character our attitudes as well as our outward conduct of actions in appearance the Bible says in second Corinthians 7 1 that because we have these promises there beloved let us cleanse ourselves of all filthiness of the Flesh and spirit perfecting Holiness in the fear of God I'm glad I understand that Jesus Christ working on the inside changes us on the outside it changes our ethics it changes our code of contact it changes our language it affects every facet of Our Lives to become like Jesus Christ the Holy Ghost is the power to become the sons of God amen and then Jesus ends this Commission in Matthew chapter 28 and verse 20 the last phrase I've read teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you and then Jesus said by the way although I am with you always even to the end of the world I'm not sending you out by yourself but I am going with you and when you go in my name when you go under my commission I have covenanted to go with you wherever you go amen this Great Commission recorded in Matthew has three components to it I've kind of preached through them but Jesus said there is power to this Commission and there's purpose to this commission you're going to go but there's also a promise to this commission that wherever you go and to whomever you go I will be with you when you speak I will be there and I will confirm your word and my word with signs following amen commissioned to go everywhere to everyone by any means possible now I I love the Bible and I love to study it and if you're going to read through the Bible to find out all the details of where we're supposed to go and how we're supposed to go you're going to find some general instruction but not a lot of details I'm amazed at the Simplicity of the Great Commission Jesus did not say go on Horseback or go on foot he didn't say go by boat or go by Chariot if he did that then the methodology might have been limited the Holy Spirit would guide that early church and it is guiding this church on how to go and how to approach various cultures and personalities of people methods in the Bible were relatively open answering to the mission and the message Paul preached in the synagogues because they were Jewish people there he preached on Mars Hill to pay pagan people that were gathered there to discuss philosophy his approach was different because his audience was different Paul met with people in the marketplaces because there were people in the marketplaces so he took the gospel there when he was rejected in one place they went into the school of taranis and they taught there for two whole years and because of just teaching in a school in the space of two years all that dwelt in Asia that part of Asia heard the word of the Lord you say well why did you do that it was an Open Door of opportunity so that's why we did it that way Paul priest in Holmes and in prisons and on ships he preached in the chambers of government officials and even in the Palace of the emperor of Rome when you were commissioned to go God will design a plan for you he will open doors for you he will make a way for you there will be the power of God to accompany the purpose of God and there will be the person of God who will go with you with the promise that he will never leave you and never forsake you so in Atlanta West make it a little easy when you leave today please take two business cards you can take five or ten and share them with someone this week you may not have the opportunity to sit down in a Bible study but you can invite them to come to church or to watch Church online your personal witness of telling the before how now story of your conversion is very powerful Paul the great brilliant Theologian told his testimony because it was powerful of what he was before Christ and how he encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus and how his life was transformed by the power of God probably the most effective way is if you're able to sit down and discuss the Bible with a friend go through a one-hour Bible study into His Marvelous Light sit down over 12 weeks of exploring God's word and build a relationship while you're instilling the word of God p7 Bible clubs for our students when they go back to school in the fall for our campus students that are in college campus ministry International workplace Bible studies men's bible studies like the Dominion Bible study there are any number of tools but the primary tool is the Bible it is your textbook it is your guidebook it is everything you need to get from here to heaven with the help of the Holy Ghost and then we have this thing called small groups they start today small groups create common ground for you to meet people but the desire to lead them to Holy Ground you may distribute literature to people that you're not able to talk to and you never know how that written word will communicate truth to them you can post good social media posts and point them to our website or to our app you can post high quality videos or Point them to preaching and teaching that will save their lives the Bible said Paul wrote that I have made all things to all men that I by all means might save some the New Living Translation of that verse Paul says I try to find common ground with everyone doing everything I can to save some that is the commission that we are called and sent by Jesus Christ to go everywhere to reach everyone with the Gospel of Jesus Christ Acts chapter 1 and 8. but you shall receive power dunamis is the Greek word Dynamite dunamis Dynamite after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you and ye shall be Witnesses unto me now the Holy Ghost does a lot in our lives and leaves and guys that convicts of sin and builds righteousness it shows us the way the spirit intercedes for us with groanings that cannot be uttered the spirit does so many things in our life but in the context of Acts 1 and 8 Jesus said when you receive the Holy Ghost you're going to receive this power and this power is going to enable you to be a witness for me he told them in one place when you're kind of put in a bind you're brought the Four Kings or or dignitaries don't worry about what you're going to say I will give you in that hour what you should say it doesn't mean that you don't study the Bible but when you're kind of put on the spot the Holy Ghost will come witness through you and when you testify for Jesus Jesus will testify for you backing you up with the power of the Holy Ghost said I want you to go here your hometown of Jerusalem start that fire there on the day of Pentecost your hometown your home turf let it start there I was doing a little updated research on our city and the City of Atlanta Georgia is made up of 243 neighborhoods you may think of the city of Atlanta proper not the metro area now the city and how do you get into that City well you get into a neighborhood amen the combined statistical area of the Atlanta metro area and depending on what you read or where you study you'll find various statistics but the 2020 census has the metro area at 6.9 million people the Chamber of Commerce showed 140 cities and towns in what they call the 28 County Metropolitan statistic area and there's some other cities that have Incorporated so now it's at least 150 cities how do you reach the Atlanta metro area you reach it by neighborhoods he reach it by schools he reach it by cities and towns you break it down into flights that you can reach and pray over amen so that you can reach people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ Jesus said go to your Jerusalem and then go to your Judea which for them was their Province would be like our state 8 that it was probably more the size of a county it's interesting that Metro Atlanta is about the size of the state of Massachusetts we are a sprawling metro area and as a church based on our heat Maps we live all over this metro area we're called to our Judea and for us that would be the 10.8 million people in the state of Georgia then Jesus said I want you to go to Samaria it's not that far away geographically but it's a long way away culturally the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans the Jews don't go through Samaria if they can avoid it they take a circuitous route to go around the the province of Samaria but Jesus sent the gospel there he went there himself Philip went there preaching the gospel and there was a great Revival in the city of Samaritans a Samaria in a in a province that they didn't even like they didn't even like those people but God loved them sometimes we have to overcome our bias and our prejudice because you never know where God will send you to bring your Revival to a people group that are hungry that feel disenfranchised that think you don't even care about them or love them but the gospel will Bridge any Gap amen so Samaria is that unfamiliarian and Jesus said to the ends of the Earth all nations that may be culturally Every Nation or a far away place but you go into Power you shall acts 1 and 8 again you shall receive power after not before but after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you and then I want to take just a moment to walk you through Mark chapter 16 because I want you to know today that you were commissioned you are commissioned by Jesus Christ he said unto them gay into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature either believe it then is baptized shall be saved either believeth not shall be damned or condemned and then verse 17. and these signs shall follow them that believe True Believers don't seek a sign they don't pray that God will work a magic trick of a miracle just so we'll look powerful or spiritual we pray that Jesus would confirm his word with signs following the signs follow the believer Believers are not to follow signs verse 17 again and these signs shall follow them that believe in my name shall they cast out Devils everybody please say that's me you're looking for a devil this afternoon it's probably not your spouse or your children might be you no I'm just kidding they shall cast out devils when Jesus cast out devils the Devils might have wallowed on the ground and contorted but Jesus did not he never broke a sweat he never touched a demon-possessed person he spoke to the demons in that person and they departed because all power in Heaven and Earth was given to him and greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world you've got that power amen all right I've got to get through this passage verse 17. they shall speak with new tongues they shall take up serpents not on purpose Paul did one bit him and he shook it off in the fire if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover remember this is power and signs following Believers going to unsaved people so then after the Lord had spoken unto them he was received up into heaven and sat on the right hand of God now God is a spirit doesn't have a literal right hand but the right hand of God is figurative of a position of power the right hand of God is the power of God and Jesus Christ has all power and Heaven and Earth amen verse 20 and they went forth and preached everywhere the Lord working with them they were working and God was working with them Paul said that we are laborers together with God they went everywhere preaching the word the Lord working with them confirming the word confirming the word with signs following amen today I'm here to remind you that you are commissioned by Jesus Christ to go in the world and preach the gospel to Every Creature every born-again believer regardless of your age season of Life Education socioeconomic status no matter whether you're a new believer or a seasoned Saint Jesus Christ has commissioned every one of us and we are on Mission by command not by suggestion so today he brought a tangible reminder that you are commissioned by Jesus Christ now the power of God to do the work of God is often referred to as the anointing the anointing of God it's the the empowerment of God that comes on a person and the anointing is symbolized often in the Bible by oil this happens to be olive oil and a couple weeks ago maybe a little longer I had this message in my heart for today I realized that this would be summer and some people would be gone but I cannot get rid of the impression from the Lord to preach this message today amazingly in the foyer after church today I met a first-time guest she had a dream last night that someone prayed over her and gave her a bottle of oil I said I have been here over 27 years I have never done this till today the anointing of God symbolized by the oil Jacob built an altar and he poured oil on it offerings to God in the Old Testament under the law often included oil God gave Moses a recipe if you will for the ingredients of the Holy anointing oil and the process Psalm 133 refers back to this as the precious ointment that was poured over Aaron the high priest that ran down over his garments all the way to the ground this oil was a composition of four different spices myrrh cinnamon calamus and Casia that was worked after the uh the work of the apothecarian boiled down and distilled down and put in about five quarts of olive oil which is the best preserver of fragrances with this holy anointing oil the Bible said that Moses was to anoint the Tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant he was the two anoint the table of showbread and its vessels the Candlestick and its vessels the altar of incense the altar of the burnt offering and its vessels the labor and its foot Aaron and his sons if you're a reader of the Old Testament you know what I've just described to you is the Tabernacle in the wilderness that place of worship the Lord said to Moses I've given you all the furnishings and the layout of this place of worship but if all we have is a place of worship if all we have is Form and Function and furniture and we do not have the power of God then we have nothing we can have methods and singing and programs but what we need is for God to anoint it and God said Moses I want you to take this oil I want you to pour it on every part of worship I want you to postpone it on every part of ministry I want you to pour it on every person that is involved in Ministry pour it on Aaron pour it on his sons we need the anointing of the Holy Ghost we don't need to just be pretty we need to be powerful we need the power of God that changes lives to be manifest Among Us God said Moses pour that oil so today I have come with this biblical symbol of the anointing of God to say Lord you have commissioned us to go and I pray that we would take a bottle of oil and wherever we would go we would be reminded that I have been anointed by God I have been commissioned by God to go everywhere to change the world with the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ Exodus 29 7 just to back up here and then Thou shalt take this as God to Moses the anointing oil and pour it upon his Aaron's head and anoint him Kings of Israel will put into places of Power by the anointing oil for Samuel 9 16 13 describes the anointing of David then Samuel took the horn The Vessel of oil and anointed him in the midst of his Brethren it was not the oil but it was obedience to God and this symbol that represented the power of God but I want you to notice what happened to David after his anointing by the prophet Samuel and the spirit of the Lord came on David from that day forward so Samuel rose up and went to Rama now I know that today is not this day that is described in first Samuel 16 13. that day was the day you received the gift of the Holy Ghost that is the day God anointed you but today I am praying that there will be a renewal of that anointing that there will be a reminder of that anointing that God has put his Spirit upon you amen Psalm 89 describes what God did with David the Lord said I have found David my servant with my holy oil have I anointed him with whom my hand shall be established mine arm also shall strengthen him not because of the ritual but because of the obedience and the transfer of power through Samuel to David there is a mighty anointing that came on him we have a new testament example writer James said is there any sick among you James 5 and 14. let him call for the Elders of the church let them pray over him anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord the oil is not magic but it is obedience God gave us some symbols of spiritual things he gave us he gave us communion he gave us the unleavened bread and he gave us the fruit of the vine we use grape juice when we receive communion but the Bible is very clear that if you drink the cup of the Lord unworthily you're guilty of the body and the blood of the lord we know that that is not turned into the blood of Jesus when you drink it but that symbol has power and has meaning behind it and when you act in faith in obedience in God's process he honors that so here James says pray over them anointing with oil in the name of the Lord verse 15. and the prayer of faith not the oil but the prayer of faith shall save the sick and the Lord shall raise him up and if he committed any sins they shall be forgiven him we believe that when we obey the Lord that God works with us that he confirms the word with sign following amen So today we're believing God in the same way that special Miracles were done by the hands of Paul and from his body went from his body when handkerchiefs and aprons and diseases departed from them from people and evil spirits went out of them I spoke about this recently that when you pray you're praying something out of people and you're praying something into them you're praying sickness out or sin out and you're praying God in amen this oil is symbolic of that amen so a couple of weeks ago or so when the Lord put this message in my heart so let's let's order a thousand bottles and let's fill it with oil in on Sunday June 11th let's have a commissioning service Hallelujah these baskets are filled with oil that they symbolize the supernatural anointing of the Holy Ghost I appreciate our office team and some volunteers who did this last night in the office I prayed over these bottles of oil asking God to let them be consecrated to a holy purpose this is common oil but when you say Lord we're we're consecrating this we're asking you to hear our voice and let us be reminded of the commissioning that you gave us in a few moments we're going to come to the altar going to come to the altar and if you would take one bottle of oil if you cannot come to the altar you must remain in your seat you'll try to get a bottle of oil to you but this is not like take two we're not going to stand at the door and hand this oil out is an act of commitment and consecration of yourself to God and I'm just understanding that for some people they simply cannot walk up here and stand at this altar so we make exception for that but if you can come I'm asking you to come because this is spiritual and this is serious and I want you to be consecrated to the Lord not just have an extra bottle of oil to hang around the house