“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. Matthew 28:18-20 (NKJV)

As many of you all ready know this scripture is referred to as the Great Commission.  Jesus gave this commission to his apostles after he was resurrected from the tomb.  This statement of Christ is the foundation of the evangelical movement and is the reason that we, as Christians, send missionaries to all corners of the Earth.  We are instructed to tell “all the Nations” the Gospel of Christ.  I don’t think that it a by accident that these verses are found at the end of the Gospel of Matthew.  As an young believer chances are you start by reading the Gospel of Matthew.  You’ll read about Jesus’ ancestry, birth, childhood, adult ministry, death and resurrection.  And after you read all that you get to the last statement that Jesus is recorded to have said and that is his call, his commission, for his followers to go out and spread the good news.  To spread all that you have just read in the Gospel to all ethnic groups, to all races, to all religion, to ALL the World.  Jesus didn’t say “go and tell the gospel to all everyone you personally know and are comfortable with.”  No, he said to go to the entire World.  But, lets look deeper into the words of Jesus to see what else these simple verses can teach us.  First the Jesus makes the reference to the Trinity.  Baptizing them in the name of the FATHER, the SON, and the HOLY SPIRIT.  And then Jesus goes on to tell us to observer all of his commandments. 

 

So he answered and said, “ ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’^[a] and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’” Luke 10:27 (NKJV)

This is your commission its not just that of the apostles, or of you Pastor.  It was directed at you personally.  We are all to go into our mission field daily.  Your mission field could be Africa, Asia, South America, the park, your school, your backyard, or the mall.  Anywhere you are there is your mission field.  So go out and make disciples spreading the Good News of Jesus to everyone you meet.