In our contemporary society we have two opposing viewpoints regarding this so called Great Commission. Frankly, I think both of them are extreme. One extreme group feels that the Great Commission contains the only command for the church. That is it, and they hang on to it. The other extreme group feels that it has no meaning for our day and that it should be excluded from the church program. It seems to me that both of these groups are in error.
We are to be His witnesses, and we are to be endued with power from on high.
28:16-17 – Some worshiped and some doubted—that is how it has been for over nineteen hundred years! And, my brothers and sisters, you are in one category or the other.
28:18 – He was speaking as the King.
28:19 – This, I am confident, will have a real application during the Great Tribulation Period and even during the Millennium. But, my brothers and sisters, it has an application for us today, also.
28:20 – Notice that teaching is part of the work of the church (see Eph. 4:11).
The teachings of Jesus are found not only in the Gospels but in the Epistles (see 1 Thess. 4:2).
In His power the Great Commission can be carried out.
At the time of the Rapture of the church, the Lord Jesus will take His own out of the world to be with Himself, and the Ascension is essential for that event.
However, Matthew is the Gospel of the King. Jesus was born a King. He lived as a King. He died as a King. He rose again as a King. And, my brothers and sisters, He will be coming again to this earth as King of kings and Lord of lords! I hope you will bow to Him today.