Truth in Love
Truth in Love
Necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel!
...A dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me.
These words belong to the apostle Paul, and were written long ago to the church at Corinth (1Co 9:16-17). Paul was committed with the dispensing of the gospel. He had a commission: go preach the gospel. Woe to him if he did not! Necessity...
That is how Paul regarded the fulfilling of his great commission. It was a must that he preach the gospel. A great deal of theorising and many strange doctrines have been draped around Paul's commission, but I submit that it was the same commission that was given to the eleven at Christ's ascension; the very same commission that is handed on to us with the same urgent necessity.
"Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned" (Mrk 16:15-16)
Paul's commission had a gentile emphasis, it is true, but he was still to preach to every creature. "He is a chosen vessel unto me," said Jesus of Paul, "to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel" (Acts 9:15)
The eleven were given the same commission, but with a Jewish emphasis. Jesus said to them, "Ye shall be witnesses unto me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth" (Acts 1:8).
We have this great commission too. It is our responsibility to preach the gospel to every creature in all nations of the world. Necessity is laid upon us that we do this.
It may be very well that we put an emphasis upon Nigeria or Ethiopia, Singapore or Australia, or some other place; constrained and compelled by a modern Macedonian call (Acts 16:9-10).
On the contrary, we may emphasise the need in our own country. But whatever we do, wherever we go, we must not lose our world vision; for Jesus said, "Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world" (Mtt 28:19-20).
Paul kept this commission as an absolute necessity. The disciples to whom Jesus was speaking when he gave it kept it also. We must keep it too... we must! Jesus said, "Teach them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you..." This commission to preach the gospel was included in that "whatsoever I have commanded you" The commission is handed on from disciple to disciple, until the end of time. "I am with you always, to the end of time" Jesus promised (NEB). We believe the commission is to the end of time as well as the promise.
Having established that we are under the same commission as Paul, and that like him we have necessity laid upon us, shall we examine more closely the reasons for the necessity?
Article continued Part 2