The Great Commission

There's just a few things I would like to mention and then leave some time for others. I would like to remind our hearts of the commission of our Lord Jesus Christ, and that, of course, is found in Matthew chapter 28. Chapter 28 and verse 19.

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 always, even unto the end of the age. Amen.

It's just what I would like to mention is found in the commission, and that in other portions where the commission is mentioned, you find that the Lord's word is go, and to go into all the nations. And I believe it's very important for us to be considering the commission of the Lord Jesus, because he doesn't say go from gospel hall to gospel hall. He says go ye into all the world and baptize and teach.

And so you find that we have to go and we have to make disciples, and disciples are made by the proclamation of the gospel, and then you find the disciple is marked by baptism, and you find then that they're molded by the teaching of God's word. So I would just like to go to the last chapter of Mark, and there I would like to speak about one who is a good picture of a disciple. It says in the end of chapter 15, And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph departed where he was beheld, where he was led.

And when the Sabbath was passed, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome had brought sweet spices, and they might come and anoint him. And very early in the morning, the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun, and they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the tepuch? And so in verse 6, we'll jump over the first few. And he said unto them, Be not afraid, ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified.

He is risen, he is not here, behold, the place where the Lord lay. Verse 9. Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first unto Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven demons. And she went and told them that had been with him as they mourned and wept.

That'll do just for the reading, because I would like to leave time for someone else. You'll notice something about this dear lady that she is marked by many things, and I believe I would call her a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. You find here that it tells us in verse 9 about her past.

And it tells us that she had seven demons, seven devils. It was a time when she met the Lord Jesus Christ, and that's very important because that's the day that she was saved by God's grace, the day of her conversion. So you find that she had a past, and then she met the Savior, and you find that he delivered her by his power.

And that's something that sometimes we just fail to mention, the power that delivers souls from going down to the pit. Romans chapter 1 and verse 16 tells us this. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth.

Now, that is, she knew something about the power of God. She was delivered by the power of the Lord Jesus Christ. And you find that ever after that, she had a love and a desire to be with Him.

You find something about her. In verse 47 of chapter 15, you find that she was at the grave. She loved Him, and you find her name is Mary Magdalene.

And what did her love for the Lord Jesus Christ do? You find another portion of God's word, how the Lord really saved her. But she knew the delivering power of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that is what the gospel does.

It delivers people from the power of sin and Satan and the world. This is the beginning of discipleship. And this is why we need to remember the gospel that we do preach.

It's not a fancy story. For those of you who do preach the gospel, let me tell you something that I have learned over the years. And you'll find the Apostle Paul, he uses an expression, and such were some of you, but... And that but, you find, would be when he went into Corinth.

And you remember how that he had a fear of going in, and God had to assure him that no man would touch him. And so as the Apostle Paul went in there, you find four things that he preached. He didn't preach, Old Mother Hubbard went to the cupboard and got the poor doggie a bone.

And when she got there, the cupboard was bare, and so the poor dog got none. But that's only a story. And you could make a sort of an application there.

She went there, she got disappointed, and so forth. But that isn't what he preached. He preached four lovely things that are the pillars of the gospel.

You'll find in 2 Corinthians 2, he says there, that he preached Christ the Son of God. Because if He's not the Son of God, if He's not Deity, you haven't got a Savior. He must be who the Word of God tells us, that He is the Son of God.

God sent His Son to be the Savior of the world. So in your gospel message, remember to preach about the Lord Jesus, that He's none other than the Son of God. The next thing you find the Apostle Paul preached was 1 Corinthians 1. We preach Christ crucified.

And that's very important, because if He's not the Son of God, you've got no Savior. If He hasn't died on the cross, you've got no salvation. And then you find that the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15, he preached the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.

And in 2 Corinthians 4, I believe it is, he says we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord. Now those are, for any of our young brethren who are going and have exercised about the gospel, get to know what the gospel is. It's not a story that you tell and pass away ten minutes.

It's a message about the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the center and He's the circumference of what Paul preached. And that is why you find that he could say this, and such were some of you.

But the gospel changed them. And you find that's what the gospel is all about. But before I get too far away, you find that here's a woman and you find that we find her past here.

And it says here, out of whom He cast seven demons. Now, this is one thing I believe. You know, you get a sort of a wishy-washy gospel sometimes.

You believe this. Yes, then you're saved. The only salvation that is ever worthwhile, that is God's salvation.

And it comes from the Word of God proclaimed. It comes in the power of the Holy Spirit. And you find it is God Himself that gives the increase.

So you find her as a beautiful picture of a disciple. There's a time when the Lord delivered them. And He delivers them by His own power.

Another thing you find about her is in chapter 15 and verse 40. And there it says, And there were also women looking on afar off, among whom was Mary Magnagan. Mary the mother of James, the less, and of Hosea, and Salome.

Now, there you find a woman. And now you find that when all the disciples fled, she didn't. She had courage.

She remembered when this dear Savior of hers saved her precious soul. I would suggest this, that sometimes because we get discouraged, we should do something every morning. We should go back to the time, the place, and the experience when the Lord Jesus Christ saved us.

You may not believe it, but every morning I go back there. I was back in Ireland there and I was at an Easter conference. And during the brief period that we had some lunch or something, I didn't eat it.

I went down to the corner near the city hall. And I looked up inside to a window and I cried. You know what I cried with? I cried with joy because I looked up there and 60 years ago, in God's mercy, that's where He reached and saved me.

And I believe it's good for us to go back. I do it every morning, go back there to when the Lord Jesus saved me. And it gives you a good start for the rest of the day.

So she had a past and she was delivered by the power of the Lord Jesus Christ. You find that when the disciples, they all fled and went home. There she's standing and you find she was one who was marked not only by conversion, but by courage.

I know, and I'm not asking you to go out and shout all over the place. But you know, I want to be honest about this. The things of the Lord and to have a Christian life needs courage.

And the way to look at that is if the Lord Jesus Christ died for me, then I should live for Him. And the next thing you find about her is this. When the disciples for Sugamon fled, that's in chapter 15 and verse 40, there she found that she didn't.

She was willing to face whatever those people were that crucified Him and the authorities and one thing or another. She didn't. She faced these things, these taunts and things.

And this is one thing that I believe we need to do. We need to have that courage. The Apostle Paul says, Christ, it strengthens me.

And you never know, I remember going into the office of the superintendent in South Africa in the company. I worked for the oil company. And I heard a man speaking derogatory about the Lord Jesus.

And I said, I hear you talking about a friend of mine. I'd like to talk to you when you come out. If that doesn't work, well, some people say you can't do that and work well.

If you can't do it and they fire you, well, go somewhere else. The thing is, I spoke to him afterwards. Spoke to him about the Lord Jesus.

I told him where he should go, what he needed, where he should go and here. And I left Africa for Alaska. And a dear old friend of mine, Joe Kerr, this young man came to the Sunday night gospel meeting and he began to talk about Paddy Thompson or they'd call you that because I was born in Ireland.

That's what they'd call you. And he was wondering, who's this Paddy Thompson? And the man says, oh, he went to Alaska as a missionary. And Mr. Kerr had the joy of leading him to the Lord.

Now, he got saved. His whole family got saved. His in-laws got saved.

So please remember, this is what she had. She had courage. This one that saved her, converted her, she had courage to speak for him.

Now, it's not as if we, I believe I'd speak for my brethren. It's not that we, you know you can have the flesh and the flesh can look as if it's really. But we are at times, if you give out tracts, at least I'm like this, I give out a tract and then I wonder, well, you're in a mall or something and you just don't want somebody to tell you to get lost or something like that.

But nevertheless, you get that courage and you find that I spoke to him and then I came out and I talked to him and you find that he got saved and his whole family after that. So one of the things about this dear lady here, Mary Magdalene, was in her conversion, she knew something about the power of deliverance. And that is what the gospel, a priest of gospel, don't be trying to sit down and argue with them.

Preach the gospel. When we went into Alaska, the only thing we had was the gospel. We didn't have any money or anything else, a box and a suitcase.

But you know, preaching the gospel and you saw the place where the devil had had sway and one by one by one they started to go down and there was opposition, but God saved and in a short while there was a seventeen reached and saved. Gospel had never been there before. They got saved and then we baptized them.

What a joy it is. And I would suggest that this is one thing. That some young men, please, get away out and build something for God.

There's places all over where there's nothing. You find if you start going north, there's places. Go out and do something for God.

See the power of God in people's lives. It will thrill your soul. And you find that when you see them saved and delivered, it's a wonderful thing.

It lifts your heart in worship and adoration and praise to the Lord Jesus Christ. So you find here that she was a person that had been delivered by power. Not only delivered by power, but she was a woman who loved Him.

She's always mentioned after that, never apart from the Lord Jesus Christ. Now you find then, as we have said, that she was a woman who had courage. And courage comes from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Not fleshly courage. It's that courage that comes by the power of the Holy Spirit. Do you know that when the Apostle Paul was going to go into Corinth, outside it, he was afraid.

That's what he was. He was a man just like ourselves. A man of our same nature.

But God assured him, no man will set upon thee. And Paul went in, and you know what happened, preached the Gospel, and souls were gloriously saved. So she's a lovely picture of a disciple.

And then you'll notice something, that she was first at the grave, and she was last to leave it. Now as a young Christian, and some who are here may be saved, I wonder have you been to the grave of the Lord Jesus Christ? And that's what I mean. Baptism.

That is the grave. And it's something that is important, otherwise the Lord would not have given that in His commission. But in the baptism, it's a vow, it's a public vow, that can take place in a few minutes.

But it takes a lifetime to live it out. I had the joy seeing some saved, and then baptism, I used to put them up in the bank, and then I would bring them through the water, and up in the other bank, and just say, now that's a wee picture of where you were. You were dead in sin.

And then you followed the Lord Jesus, and now you're dead to sin. And it's a wonderful thing, because baptism understood takes you away, follow the Lord Jesus, and as the Word of God teaches us, alive unto God. So here's a woman that loved the Lord Jesus.

She went to the grave, and not only that, but you find that He gave her the privilege. Look at this. Verse 9. Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene.

What a wonderful thing to be a first. But she was a woman who loved Him. She knew His delivering power.

She knew what it was to be at the grave. She knew also what it was to be the first to see the Lord Jesus in His glorious resurrection. Now, this is one of the things we would just like to leave before we sit down, and that is He appeared first to Mary Magdalene.

That one who loved Him, that one who knew His power, that one that she loved and was devoted to went to the grave. And then you find here, it says in verse 9, it seems to be that she had the blessing and the competition because she was devoted to Him. And that is what a disabled means.

Now the Word of God teaches us make disabled. It's really, I thank God for older brethren who do it. But I'm speaking to younger men.

There's a whole areas of places in the United States and Canada that have never heard the Gospel. At least the Gospel that is a part of going unto salvation. We have elderly men that we honor.

Some of them are sitting not too far away. We applauded and seen souls saved and so forth. And this would be a good thing.

And I say it kindly because it's very, very important for you to get out there. It's easy to get from a Gospel hall. There used to be a man, Joe Stewart, in Ireland.

He said he left some of them to put their tent up in the Gospel hall. We don't want that. What we want to do is, it says, go ye into all the world and make disciples.

Now a disciple is one who is made by the preaching of the Gospel. And the Gospel is the power of God. And it will bring down strongholds of Satan.

There will be opposition. But you overcome that opposition in the power of God and by the Spirit of God. And then you find that it will be a great joy.

And I speak from experience going into places where there was nothing but Russian orthodoxism and heathenism, demonism, and one thing. And just to see people see it. See it and from the power of God, from the Gospel, to see them delivered, I could take some time and tell you some of them.

But this is what we need to remind our hearts. That go ye into all the world and preach. Make disciples.

Now disciples, as I said before, are made by the Word of God. The preaching of God's precious Word. And you remember this.

That it's God's Word He's going to use by the Holy Spirit. And you find when God saves them, they'll be really saved. If we make them to say something that you believe this, then you'll see that's not God's salvation.

You find that it's the power of the Gospel makes people like Mary Magdalene. You find that she's delivered by the power of God. And she's devoted to the person of Christ.

You find that she's never separated after that from the person of Christ. And you know there's that lovely saying, I would not work my soul to save. For that my Lord has done.

But I would work like any slave for love of God's dear Son. May the Lord bless these few words. For His name's sake.