Out of Commission

“We are not called to hold the fort, but to conquer the world.  We are not called to merely preserve the faith, but to advance it.” (Paul Washer)

What a compelling charge to the saints of God!  This reminds me of the following recorded words of Jesus Christ:

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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 28:18-20).

And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature  (Mark 16:15).

For the truck pictured above, there’s no conquering, no advancing, no going!  Now, there was day when that truck was new, shiny, functional and the engine was revved up ready to go!  It was on the move!  Remember the day you were born again and the successive weeks thereafter?  You told everyone about your salvation.  You were exciting to share the great work of the Gospel in your life!  You were on the move!  Question—When it comes to sharing the gospel today, July 23, are you parked, rusting, and out of gas or conquering, advancing, and going?

For the next eight weeks, the teen and adult small group SS classes of our church will be using this book as a resource guide along with Scripture to help us be greatly involved in the continuing ministry of Jesus Christ, the Great Commission!  In other words, we are  moving from theology to “legology;” from fleshly response to Gospel work to heart-change about Gospel work; from talking about the Gospel to talking to someone about the Gospel; from doing nothing to doing the good works because love works; from rusting to relaying the Words of Life; from being parked to pursuing; from being out of commission to being engaged in the Great Commission!  These will be exciting days as we “look under the hood” and see the Lord exchange “the broken, worn out parts” for functional ones and “tune up” the others by His grace for the special supernatural work of “conquering, advancing and going”!

Scripture For Today:  Romans 1:14-16  (Read it, meditate on it, pray it back to God, put yourself in the passage, and obey it.)