CREATION
AS
YOU ARE
GOING
MATTHEW 28:18-20
COLLOSSIANS 1:28, 29
II TIMOTHY 2:2
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TABLE 0F CONTENTS
SECTION
ONE ------------------------------- The
Great Commission
SECTION
TWO ------------------------------ From
Here to Eternity
SECTION
THREE --------------------------- Rewards
SECTION
FOUR ----------------------------- The
Five Crowns
SECTION
F I VE ----------------------------- Motives
and Rewards
SECTION
SIX --------------------------------- Between
Now and Then
SECTION
SEVEN ---------------------------
Exchanging Our Lives Wisely
SECTION
EIGHT ----------------------------
The Great Commission and You
SECTION
NINE ------------------------------
Accepting Responsibility
SECTION
TEN -------------------------------
The Powerful Principle of Multiplication
Unless
other wise noted, all Scripture is from the New International
Version (NIV) of the Bible.
SECTION
ONE
THE
GREAT COMMISSION
On
a hilltop one day nearly 2000 years ago, Jesus, Christ
gave His Disciples a finial charge before returning to
heaven. He had finished His redemption by His death upon
the Cross-He had conquered death by His resurrection. Now
Christ was entrusting His faithful, but very human and fearful
followers, with a fantastic challenge.
Matthew
28:18-20 Then Jesus came to them
and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been
given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of
the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have
commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end
of the age.""
This
charge, repeated in five different forms by the Gospel
writers, has come to be known as The Great Commission
of Jesus Christ. Although it was delivered so
many years ago, it has major personal implications for the
Twentieth Century disciple of the Lord Jesus. The five different,
scriptural accounts of the Great Commission are not simply
repetition. Each account emphasizes a different aspect of
the command and each aspect is important for our
consideration.
THE
MESSAGE
Luke
24:45-47
Then he opened their minds so they could understand the
Scriptures. He told them, "This is what is written: The
Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and
repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name
to all nations, beginning at
This
account records the Great Commission as it was given on
Easter Sunday evening to the disciples on the
THE
SCOPE
Mark
16:15 He said to them, "Go into all the
world and preach the good news to all creation.
In
this account Jesus emphasizes the scope of the task of the Great
Commission. The message is to Go into all the world" and
is to be preached to "every creature".
THE
RESULTS
Matthew
28:18-20 Then Jesus came to them and
said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given
to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded
you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the
age.""
This
account shows us what will be the results of the task. Because of
the Gospel message being preached and bearing fruit, disciples
will be produced in every nation
THE
COST
John
20:21 Again Jesus said, "Peace
be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you."
Here
Jesus reveals to His followers the cost of the task. The
fulfilling of the Great Commission will involve great personal
cost to anyone who takes up its challenge. Jesus said, “As
the Father has sent me, I am sending you." Jesus was willing
to pay the price, even unto death, to ensure that salvation be
made available to all. It may well cost His followers the same
THE
POWER
Acts
1:8 But you
will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you
will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria,
and to the ends of the earth."
The Book of Acts records the last instance that the Great Commission was given before Jesus ascended to heaven. His disciples with the promise and power of the Holy Spirit will be able to do the task. The Holy Spirit in all His unlimited power will indwell those who believed in Christ and are to carry the message to the entire world
Summary
It is clear to anyone who examines these accounts carefully that The Great Commission is absolutely awesome in its demands. Could Jesus really have meant that His disciples were to take these words literally?
The Bible records that these did accept the challenge – simply and completely. Miraculously, by their faith in God’s promise, they accomplished the job! Only thirty-three years after The Great Commission was given, the Apostle Paul, writing in Colossee, said:
Colossians
1:6,23 All over the world
this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been
doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God's
grace in all its truth…if you continue in your faith,
established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the
gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been
proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul,
have become a servant.
In other words, less than 50 years after Christ had given the challenge, Paul was able to report that it had been fulfilled in the then known world! Truly the early disciples had taken Christ’s words seriously and had been willing to personally and individually take up the challenge; obeying Christ to the uttermost.
SPECTATOR
OR
PARTICIPANT?
What
a sad contrast to the church today! Christian laymen are familiar
with The Great Commission story, but they seldom grasp
the fact that it has a deep personal implication for
anyone who names the Name of Christ. Most Christians see
themselves as spectators in the great competition for the souls
of men and women. They stand at the sidelines shouting
words of encouragement, praying, and giving financial support to
full-time “Christian workers"; but normally, here their
involvement ends. If the job doesn’t get done and
the church is not increasing, they feel badly, but they have no
personal sense of responsibility for the outcome. After all, they
surely cannot be accountable! Disciplining is the job of the
pastor, and the evangelist, and other full-time workers. They
were themselves merely faithful onlookers and supporters watching
the action on the field.
This
was never God’s plan. Ephesians 4:11-16 tells us that
God gave the “full-time Christian workers” (the
apostles, prophets, evangelist, pastors and teachers) for a
special purpose. That purpose not to do the work of the ministry
themselves, but “to get His Holy people ready to serve as
workers and build the body of Christ” (Beck Translation).
These
Christian "special agents" were to be coaches to train
the laymen to be the players in The Great Commission. The
ordinary saints of the church were to be the ones "on the
front lines”, the ones leading their friends to Christ,
witnessing, and discipling the nations.
Gross
misunderstanding of the layman's role has led the church to a
tragic decline in its influence. While Christians spend valuable
time discussing the theology of the world missions and trying to
define the job of the Christian worker, millions pass daily
into a Christless eternity. This is totally foreign to
God’s plan. As He used ordinary and simple men in the first
century, so He wants to use each Christian today.
The
purpose of this text is to examine the task and our own lives
from God’s perspective as stated in the Scriptures so that
we might realistically understand where we as individuals fit
into this magnificent and supremely important imperative which we
know as The Great Commission.
Section Two
James helps us catch a glimpse of
what our lives are like from God's perspective;
James
4:13-17
Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to
this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make
money." Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow.
What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while
and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the
Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." As it is,
you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. Anyone, then, who
knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins.
Some of us may feel that this is a
somewhat gloomy and stark allegory for our lives. Can all
our aspirations, our loves, our accomplishments, our children,
our possessions – can all these be compared to a vapor mist
that appears for a little while and then vanishes into thin air,
like a breath on a frosty morning? Let us try to understand the
perspective that James is helping us to see. In the TimeLine
diagram point “A” is today – it is your life
being lived in the present. Eternity Past stretches to the
left while Eternity Future stretches to the right. Note that
Eternity Past is marked by several major events. Let us examine
these briefly.
CREATION
This was the beginning of beginnings
– the time when God brought the world and man into
existance. The exact length of this period has been debated for
centuries by theologians, geologists, and astromers each having
an opinion. It is not the purpose of this study to enter a
debate, but simpley to recognize creation as a definite point in
God’s history, and to grasp the spiritual signifiance of
God’s relationship and purpose for man from the beginning.
ADAM
and EVE
The Bible tells us that the first
human beings, Adam and Eve, lived in a perfect and fulfilling
relationship with the Creator. However, this relationship was
broken as the result of their rebellion and sin. Thus man was
separated from God. But at the time of the first sin, God
promised that He would provide a way for man to be reunited with
Himself. Genesis promised that through the seed of the woman,
Satan shall be destroyed. The entire Bible account from this
point on, records how God weht about fulfilling this promise.
This action cumulates in the coming of Jesus Christ to redeem
sinners.
Genesis
3:15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and
between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you
will strike his heel."
ABRAHAM
Two thousand years after Creation God
chose an individual, whose name was Abraham, to become the father
of a new nation – the nation of Isarael. In calling Abraham,
God reaffirmed His promise to redeem the world when He said:
Genesis
12:2-3
"I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I
will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will
bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."
KING
DAVID
A thousand yeas later, God again
re-stated His promise through the person of King David. He
promised that through the line of David would come One who would
rule the Hose of David.
2 Samuel 7:12-13 When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
Jesus
Christ
Again
a thousand years pass and God fulfills His promise by sending His
own Sin, Jesus Christ to be born of a Virgin, though the lineage
of Abraham and David. He lived a sinless life as a man, died for
the sins of the world, and rose again from the dead to reign on
David’s throne forever.
Matthew
1:23
"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son,
and they will call him Immanuel"-- which means, "God
with us."
John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
1
Peter 3:18 For Christ died for sins once for
all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He
was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit,
TODAY
Almost two thousand years have passed
again, and we have travleled along the Time Line to the expanded
portion of the diagram. For an amplification of your life,
the tiny gap in the Time Line has been enlarged as a triangle.
The tiny space on the line represents an infintesimal notch in
the expanse of history. However, many things occur within our
lives which determine what Eternity Future will be like for us.
Ø
Birth – The left side of the triangle represents the
first major event in your life - the day you were born. This is
where your life intesected the Time Line and you became part of
History. The base of the triangle represents the flow of your
life.
Ø
Salvation – The Radient Cross mars the point in time
when you received Jesus Christ as your LORD and SAVIOR. At this
point you made the decision which determines where you will spend
eternity when your life on earth is over.
Ø
YOR LIFE – The human figures in this diagram
represents your living out your life today. Each day of our life
is exchanged for something. As you travel through life you are
heading for the next major event in your personal history. What
is this event? Students may believe it is the day they graduate
from the university. Couples in love may think it is the day they
will marry. Student aviators may think it is the day they get
Wings. Businessmen may hope it will be the day they make their
first million. But as important as these events may seem in our
lives on earth, the next great even affecting Eternity Future is
death!
DEATH
When you die your earthly body
returns to the ground and because you have a personal
relationship with Jesus Christ your soul will be reunited with
God to spend forever with Him. This is shown by the right side of
the triangle where we again intersect the Time Line and move into
the great expanse of Eternity. At this point we will come face to
face with the reality of God, and we will at last know what is
like and receive our eternal rewards.
SECTION
THREE
REWARDS
We have discovered so far that
durning the short time each of us here on earth two things will
be decided.
Where
Will
We Spend Eternity?
What
Will
Eternity Be Like For Us?
SALVATION
The first decision is made when a
person accepts or rejects the Person of JESUS CHRIST and the gift
of eternal life, which He offers. This has absolutely
nothing to do with good works. It is simply a matter of receiving
the gift of God by faith or rejecting it.
Ephesians
2:8-9 For
it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-- and this not
from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no
one can boast.
In other words, if during his
lifetime a person confesses his sin and acknowledges Jesus Christ
as his Lord and Savior, he is guaranteed a place in heaven for
eternity. However, if he does not, the Bible also clearly
guarantees that he will spend eternity separated from the
presence of God in hell.
John
3:36 Whoever believes
in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not
see life, for God's wrath remains on him."
The evangelical
Most people mistakenly assume that
salvation and heaven are the rewards of God, but this is not
true. As we have seen, salvation and heaven are free gifts,
totally unrelated to any works of merit on our part. By
definition a reward is “something given or offered for
service” (Webster’s New Ideal Dictionary). In other
words, rewards are intricately connected to a person’s
service or works for Christs in this life.
REWARDS
The Bible is very clear that God does
have a system of rewards. Consider the following passages:
Hebrews 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Revelation 3:11 I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.
In the Revelation passage Christ warns us
that we are not to lose our crowns – the implacation is that
it is possible to lose them.
The Bible also warns about being
disqualified for the prize, implying once again that the reward
can be lost through some disobedience on our part.
Colossians 2:18 Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions.
We see the reward
is intricately connected with works, entirely different from the
free gift of salvation given to us by His Son.
II John 1:8 Watch out that you do not lose what you have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully.
Matthew 16:27 For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done.
Ephesians 2:10 For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Titus 3:8 This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.
In the preceding passages Paul reminds us
that Christians have been created anew in Christ for the purpose
of doing good works. He emphasizes that again and again –
urging Christians to “be careful to devote themselves to
doing what is good.” Why? Not only because the good works
will be a blessing to others, but also because they will be
“excellent and profitable” for the Christian who does
them. In other words these good works will be rewarded.
To sumarize the message of these
passages, let us review the truths we have discovered:
Ø
God is a rewarder and has a system of rewards for His
servants.
Ø
God rewards us according to what we do during our lives here
on earth (our good works).
Ø
The gift of eternal life is not a reward – it is a
free gift of God in Christ Jesus for anyone who repents of sin
and receives Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
SECTION
FOUR
THE
FIVE CROWNS
If heaven and eternal life are not the
rewards we are to expect, what then are they? How do we win them?
The Bible speaks of Five Crowns which a person may win by doing
good woeksin this life. Each crown is related to a specific
“work” or activity.
THE
CROWN OF JOY
(REJOICING)
1Thessolians 2:19-20 For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you? Indeed, you are our glory and joy.
The Apostle Paul wrote that the crown in
which he would glory in the presence of Jesus Christ was the
Thessalonian believers themselves – Paul’s babes in
Christ. This crown has been referred to as the
“Soulwinner’s Crown”, which a Christian receives
as a reward for leading others to Jesus Christ. It is given to
those who have been obedient to what the Scriptures teach
concerning evangelism in passages such as:
Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
Matthew 4:19 "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men."
THE
CROWN OF LIFE
James 1:12 Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.
This crown is given to those Christians
who have endured under hardship and testing in this life and have
remained faithful and steadfast in their love for God. This crown
is related to our own personal commitment and discipleship. The
writer of Hebrews alludes to this reward as he challenged the
Christian to follow Christ’s example as a discipled Son of
God.
Hebrews 12:1-3 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
THE
INCORRUPTIBLE CROWN
1 Corinthians 9:24-27 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
This “Incorruptible Crown”
which last forever is also related to our own personal
discipleship. It was given to those who have been obedient to the
Scriptures in personal, disciplined living and who have denied
themselves for the
Luke 9:23 Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
THE
CROWN OF GLORY
1 Peter 5:1-4 To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder, a witness of Christ's sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed: Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers-- not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.
Called the “Undersheperd’s
Crown”, it is rewarded to those faithful Christians who have
nurtured and fed the flock of God’s people in an effort to
disciple the nations:
Matthew 28:19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
THE
CROWN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS
2 Timothy 4:8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day-- and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
The “Crown of Righteousness” is
apparently won by those who are faithful in looking and preparing
for the coming of the Lord. When one is looking and longing for
another’s arrival, his whole life is given to be ready and
prepared for that event. Jesus used the illustration of servants
expectantly anticipating their master’s return.
Luke 12:35-40 "Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like men waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. I tell you the truth, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him."
Notice in the above passage that the
servants are not simply to be waiting idly by but ready, active,
and watching. Twice Jesus says: “It will be good for
those servants . . .” meaning that the Master Himself will
reward the servants by serving them Himself.
What a humbling and exciting thing to contemplate!
In summary of our study of the Five Crowns, it is very interesting to note that these crowns can be won for the very things we are commanded to do as ordinary followers of Christ who have been entrusted with The Great Commission.
In the final analysis we must;
Win the lost
– Crown of Joy
Involve
ourselves in personal discipleship under testing as an example to
others. – Crown of life and Crown Incorruptible
Engage in
Disciplemaking. Crown of Glory (Undersheperd’s Crown)
We must be
living for His Second Coming. – Crown of Righteousness.
SECTION FIVE
MOTIVES AND REWARDS
From the passages we have examined, it is
very clear that God does have a system of rewards and that
Christians are commanded to actively seek them. However, many
Christians recoil at the idea of being motivated to serve Christ
because of rewards. They may say, “I serve Jesus because I
love Him. I am not interested in rewards.”
It is true that we should be motivated to
serve Christ because of our love for Him, but God, who has
created us, knows how to meet us on the human level. He knows
that hope is one of man’s most potent motivations. The hope
that our labor of love will be pleasing to our Heavenly Father
and will be recognized and rewarded by Him motivates us to press
on through obstacles and temptations to work and wait for His
return.
To illustrate, think of a young son who
has a very warm and loving father. Suppose the father was
to ask the son to mow the lawn and trim the hedges on a Saturday
morning while the father goes to town. The father promises the
son that if he does a good job, he will have a surprise for him
that afternoon. Now, the son loves the father with or without the
reward but the reward gives extra incentive to do the job well.
It will make the son appreciate the father more for his
willingness to give special recognition to the task. The hope of
the reward also keeps the boy at the task when he might be
tempted to “stop for awhile” and go fishing with his
friends. The father-son relationship is not created by nor
changed by the reward but it does help realistically to motivate
a person when lofty motives of love become distant in the heat of
the Saturday morning sun.
The great heroes of the Bible, men and
women to whom we look as examples, did not feel that it was
either greedy or calculating to be motivated by God’s
promise of reward. Moses, who is listed in God’s great
“Hall of Fame” in the book of Hebrews, was a man of
faith who was wise enough to look for the eternal reward instead
of the temporal. We read in Hebrews:
Hebrews
11:24-26 By faith
Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of
Pharaoh's daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with
the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a
short time. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as
of greater value than the treasures of
Now we know from Deuteronomy 34:10 that
Moses was an intimate friend of God. The Bible says, “no
prophet has risen in
Even Christ Himself (as a human being)
was encouraged in His passion and death by the reward He knew
would follow with his Father in heaven. We are commanded to
follow His example.
Hebrews 12:2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and prefecture of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
For those who may feel that being
motivated by “crowns” or rewards is selfish or greedy
consider the following.
An old preacher one day was sharing in
his Bible study group the passage in Revelations the forth
chapter concerning God’s throne in heaven and the
twenty-four elders surrounding Him. The old man said, “When
I get to heaven and appear before the throne I sure hope I have
all the crowns for my rewards.” A young man said,
“Pastor, isn’t that sort of greedy of you to want so
many crowns for yourself?” “Oh my son,” said the
old saint. “I don’t want them for myself. I just
don’t want to be empty-handed before my Lord and Savior. I
want to join the four and twenty elders as they fall down and
worship Him. I want to be able to cast my crowns before His feet,
for He alone is worthy to receive honor and glory and
power.”
The Scriptures simply instruct us to seek
the crowns and do not tell us all the purpose that they will have
in heaven. We know the four and twenty elders did lay their
crowns before Christ in worship. Whether this is the only purpose
for the crowns or not, the Scriptures simply do not say, it would
be wonderful to join the elders and the old saint in the story to
lie before Him all we have.
Two passages from Paul’s letters to
the Corinthians further teach us about God’s rewards.
2 Corinthians 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
Christians often make the mistake of
thinking that because they are “born-again believers”
they will not experience any kind of judgment. Now it is very
true that because Christians have received Christ’s
atonement for their sins they will not be condemned to hell when
God judges the dead from His Great White Throne. Because we have
become God’s children by the cleansing of sin through
Christ’s shed blood, we are freed forever from the threat of
God’s condemnation of our sin. It has been totally forgiven.
But Christians will all still appear before Christ’s
judgement seat to have their works judged and rewarded
accordingly. In the passage above it says that each of us will
“receive what is due him for things done while in the body
(during our lifetime) whether good or bad.” The words
“good” and “bad” in the Greek do not mean
ethically or morally good or bad, but rather “worthy”
or worthless.” Paul is saying that Christ will reward us by
judging whether or not our service to God has been of worth or
has been worthless.
First Corinthians goes into more detail
about what God considers “worthy service.”
1 Corinthians 3:9-15 For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building. By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.
In this passage we learn several
important truths. First, we see the “building” or work
referred to is people. Paul says his work or service is building
the things of God into the lives of people (verse 9). Secondly we
see the Christian builder must be very careful how he builds on
the foundation of Jesus Christ. If he builds with costly
materials like gold, silver, and precious stones, materials,
which demand personal sacrifice and which are pleasing to God, he
will be rewarded because his building will stand the test of
fire. However, if he builds carelessly or with inferior
materials, his entire life’s work will be destroyed in the
time it takes to light a match (vr.12-14). Thirdly, we see very
clearly from this passage that this judgement of our works does
not influence a Christian’s salvation, for verse 15 tells us
that “he himself will be saved”. In spite of this
guaranteed salvation, the careless Christian builder will
“suffer loss” in eternity.
Thus we can see in a very real way each
Christian is deciding what eternity will be like for him by the
way he is spending each day of his earthly lifetime. In this
light, therefore, we must return to the original question:
What
is the next great event in our lives toward which we should
direct our attention and preparation?
Is it not the day when we stand before
the Lord and our whole life’s work is on review before us?
On that day we will no longer have opportunity to prepare for our
lives in eternity, for on that day eternity will have been
settled.
SECTION
SIX
BETWEEN
NOW AND THEN
Another event more urgent question looms
before us.
How
much time do we have left?
In the Psalms, King David tells us:
Psalms 90:10a The length of our days is seventy years-- or eighty, if we have the strength;
Here David is referring to an average
life – uninterrupted by fatal accident or disease. Many
would see a life of seventy as a very long span. Yet look again
at the diagram in Chapter Two of the time line. Compare the
seventy years with eternity. How many years represent eternity? A
thousand? A million? A billion? The truth is it is impossible to
represent eternity with a number or a diagram. Eternity stretches
from BEFORE time began infinitely into the future. It is
incomprehensible in it’s’ magnitude and grandeur. As it
has been said, “Forever is a long time.” Seventy years
seen in the light of eternity is a mere “fraction of a
second.”
Now we began to understand why the
Apostle James warned us that life is like a vapor which appears
for a little while and the vanishes away. James wanted us two see
our lives from the perspective of God and to be aware that if we
do not live according to the will of God, this fleeting moment
which is our life can vanish as insignificantly and irretrievably
as a vapor. However, if we invest it wisely for God’s
purpose, it can bring eternal rewards.
Of course, as we consider our own lives
in relationship to these truths, we must recognize that seventy
years is only an average of a normal life span. You may, at this
time, be mentally subtracting your age from seventy to guess how
many years you have left. But realistically, we must acknowledge
that each (no matter the age) is only a heartbeat away from
eternity. Almost two hundred thousand people passed into eternity
today – most of who never thought when they woke that today
would be “their day”. Even should we be healthy and
free from accident, we must still be aware that Christ can return
at any time (as a thief in the night {II Thessalonians 5:2}) and
we will be drawn into eternity without even passing the portals
of death.
Sit is very clear that as much as we may
try to speculate about our lives and try to extend them by every
conceivable means, none of us knows how long he really has before
that next great event in our lives when he passes into God’s
presence.
God, however, does not want us to become anxious about the years we have here on earth. The number of years is really not important to God. The decisive thing is how we answer the question: What am I going to exchange my life for between this present day and the day God calls me home?
It is of paramount importance to every Christian too prayerfully and obediently answer this question according to the will of God. If he does not, it will reflect upon him for all eternity. REMEMBER:
“Forever
is a long time.”
SECTION
SEVEN
EXCHANGING
OUR LIVES WISLEY
Whether we realize it or not, we are
exchanging each day of our lives for something. The waking hours
of each day are spent in many different kinds of pursuits –
earning a living, getting an education, relaxing, etc. Each
evening another day has slipped into history, never to be
recalled, and we have exchanged that particular day for whatever
we accomplished in it.
Although there are many worthwhile goals
and activities in the world, the Bible says there are only three
things in this world that will last forever:
GOD
Psalms 102:25-27 In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. Like clothing you will change them and they will be discarded. But you remain the same, and your years will never end.
GOD’S
WORD
Mark 13:31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
THE
SOULS
OF
MEN
AND WOMEN
Will last forever, either in heaven with God:
1Thessalonians 4:16-17 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.
Or separated from God in hell.
II Thessalonians 1:7b-9 This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power
The Bible is therefore, very clear as to
what is eternal. However, it is also very explicit concerning
what will happen to that which is not eternal. God promises that
everything except the three eternal things will one day perish in
fire.
2 Peter 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.
Of course, there is nothing wrong with exchanging a portion of our livers for temporal things. If we are to be a part of the human race, we must of necessity engage in activities that will meet our human needs. Earning money, acquiring education, and certain material things to make our lives pleasant – all of these will require a portion of our time and are necessary for this life. However, if these activities comprise the whole of our life’s investment, we are clearly exchanging our lives for something far less than what God intended for us, and we will surely suffer loss when we stand before Jesus. Jesus said:
John 6:27a Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.
If we desire to follow Jesus’
exhortation and exchange our lives for God’s priorities, we
must first of all make Christ the Lord of our lives – in
deed as well as in word.
I John 3:18 Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.
Many Christians are willing to call Him Lord in word, but in real life, He has no preeminence at all and is merely forced to the fringes of their schedules where they can work Him in as it is convenient. We must remember that God is the first and the last, the Alpha and the Omega. He will exist when all our “URGENT” activities cannot be remembered. He will be the One with whom each Christian will spend eternity. Does He not by right deserve to be paramount here and now in our lives?
Colossians 1:18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.
REMEMBER: God is the first of three things that will last forever.
Making Christ the Lord of all in our
lives is only the first step. We must continue to develop and
cultivate a deep personal relationship with Him – learning
to know Him as He is. This can only be done through deep study in
the Word of God – spending time each day digging out its
truths and applying them to our lives. God simply cannot be Lord
of our Lives if we do not spend time listing to Him daily through
the Word.
REMEMBER: The Word of God is the second of three things that will last forever.
Then thirdly, we must come to grips with the last thing, which has eternal value – the souls of men and women. Through our study of the Word of God we will come to realize how deeply God is concerned about the eternal destiny of each person. So great was His concern that He sent His only Son to pay the penalty for sin that every individual might be with Him forever by receiving Christ.
John 3:16-18 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.
John 1:12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.
In fact, Jesus’ last charge to His
eleven disciples indicates that “people” were the thing
Jesus intended His disciples to exchange their lives for until
God should call then home.
Matthew 28:18-20 Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.""
REMEMBER: People last forever.
The three things that are eternal are:
GOD
THE
WORD OF GOD
THE
SOULS OF MEN AND WOMEN
SECTION
EIGHT
THE
GREAT COMMISSION AND YOU
Having considered our lives in
relationship to eternity, the significance of rewards and the
importance of exchanging our lives for eternal values, we must
now return again to Christ’s charge in the GREAT COMMISSION.
Matthew 28:18-20 Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.""
In order to grasp
the personal implications of this GREAT COMMISSION to us as
twenty-first Century disciples, we will break down the command
into its component parts.
THE RESOURCES
In the first
phrase of the command Jesus says, “All authority (power) in
heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Therefore go and make
disciples…” Wherever you find “therefore” or
“wherefore” in Scripture, STOP and re-read what
precedes that statement. In this instance what is about to be
said is based on the preceding statement which assures us that
“All authority in heave and on earth has been given to
Me.”
What exactly does
this mean? Jesus is promising His eleven very ordinary and human
followers that He is able to provide everything they need to
accomplish the objective of making disciples. This promise
reaches out to us also – Christ’s very ordinary and
human present-day followers. He is assuring us as well that
whatever we lack or need to accomplish the task, whether in
heaven or on earth, He has the power and authority to provide.
This is a staggering statement to us, but it is very obvious and comprehensible to Jesus. Since He created all things, it is perfectly logical to conclude that He has authority over everything He has created.
Colossians 1:15-17 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
The Greek text is in the imperfect case.
It is in this way the writer can show an action not yet complete.
“Go therefore” could better be translated “AS YOU
ARE GOING”. Every day, all the time, a person needs to have
the mindset to reveal Christ to a world that is going into
eternity without Him. As a person “grows in Christ”
this mindset is developed into “a way of life”. When
you are at the gas pump, the food market, in school, at the bank,
wherever you might be your actions reveal your very nature. Is
that nature that of Christ or is it that of the world.
In recent times the acrostic WWJD (What would Jesus do?) has become popular, however, one must do more than ask the question, action is required. The command “AS YOU ARE GOING” is to be exercised at all times. The word witness speaks of telling what happened to you. The world is watching, do they get a true picture of what Christ in you looks like or is a distorted picture that revels a Christ that is hidden in a corner and only referred to on occasion? In Acts 1:8 we read:
But
you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes
on you; and you will be my witnesses in
A person does not have a choice as to
being a witness. “Will be” is a statement as to what is
going to happen. You WILL BE my witnesses. The question is
will you be a good witness, showing the true nature of Christ, or
a bad witness, showing a distorted and incomplete image.
According to the words of Jesus you can
do NO-THING without Him.
John 15:5 "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
Now we can see in the Great Commission
when Jesus says, “ALL power and AUTHORITY have been given to
Me” the ability to complete the job is not in question, only
the availability.
Christ’s power and authority are
therefore assured to His disciples before the command to make
disciples is ever given. The magnitude of this promise becomes
even greater as we see that Jesus also ends His command with the
resources of His continuing presence. His promises in verse 20:
Matthew 28:20b And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.""
Jesus so well knows the human frame. He
remembers “that we are dust” (Psalm 103:14). He has
always been aware that people would be TOTALLY unable to fulfill The
Great Commission in humane strength. That is why He so carefully
pads and insulates The Great Commission with His even greater
promises. Only on the basis of the inexhaustible resources of His
power and His presence can its objective be received or achieved.
THE
OBJECTIVE
Therefore, go and make disciples …
“Making disciples” of all nations is an imperative
command. When Jesus ascended to His Father that was the command
He left with the eleven. Jesus expanded the command by
illuminating to them where and how they were to do it.
Ø
Where to make disciples.
1.
In all nations.
Ø
How to make disciples.
1.
By baptizing them in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
(remember are person is made a follower of Jesus through the Gift
of ever lasting life, baptism is an ordinance done out of
obedience.)
2.
By teaching these converts to obey everything that Jesus
commanded.
In teaching The Great Commission one day
to a church group, some questions were asked.
“Suppose”, it was said,
“that having received this command, the disciples started
out and began to preach the Gospel. Before long someone was
converted and baptized. Then, according to this passage what were
the disciples of Jesus to do to the young convert.
“Make him a disciple too,”
someone replied.
“How would he do that,” it was
asked.
“Teach him all that Jesus
commanded,” came the answer from the audience.
“Right!” I said, “Now on
the basis of what Jesus commanded, what should that new convert
be taught about stealing?”
“Well,” said a young fellow,
“Jesus told the rich young ruler that he should keep the
Commandment – one of which says ‘Thou shalt not
steal” – so I suppose the young convert should be
taught not to steal”
“Excellent,” I returned.
“How about lying?”
“The Commandments also teach not to
bear false witness,” said another. “So you would have
to teach him not to lie.”
“In other words,” I answered,
“the older disciple is responsible to pass on to the new
convert all that Jesus has commanded. Now the $64,000 question:
What should the new disciple be taught about who is to go
according to Matthew 28:16-20?”
What if the question was put to you? How
would you answer? If we follow the same rationale we have
followed in the teachings about lying and stealing, we must now
teach the new convert what Jesus commanded about going. We must
instruct him as Jesus instructed the disciples – HE IS TO
GO! It is God’s business to direct him. It is our job to
teach the convert that he is to go. HE personally is responsible
for this command, just as for the others.
Of course the Bible says, “Go …
and make disciples” so until the new disciple has mastered
the art of reproducing himself and making more disciples, it will
hardly do any good to “Go!” The imperative as was
said earlier is “to make disciples.” Therefore, today
he must master the art of making disciples so that tomorrow when
Jesus sends him out, next door, across the street, across town,
or around the world he will know how to do the job Christ
requires.
We can clearly see therefor that The
Great Commission task is not completed when a person simply comes
to Christ as a convert. Until he has both accepted the
responsibility to carry on The Great Commission and has learned
how to make disciples himself, he has not fully been taught
“to observe” all that Jesus commanded.
As I have traveled around the world
sharing this concept, many Christians respond by saying,
“Well, if God were to call me, I would certainly go”.
They seem to be waiting for some audible instruction to fall upon
their ears before they recognize their responsibility for
evangelism and disciple making. Tragically, such people do not
realize that because of the self-perpetuating nature of The Great
Commission they have already been called.
Every disciple of Christ has already been
drafted into the labor force to help fulfill The Great
Commission. The question is not whether you have received a
special call from God, but whether or not you have received
special exemption. If Jesus Christ has not personally rescinded
your orders, you are already called and accountable. You, as a
present-day disciple of Jesus Christ are just as responsible for
the fulfillment of The Great Commission as the first eleven
disciples who received it.
2
Timothy 2:2
And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.
Colossians
1:28-29
We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.
Section
Nine
Accepting
Responsibility
It is quite an exercise in imagination to
picture in your mind how the Eleven must have felt as Christ
committed the task of world discipling into their hands. They
were only eleven individuals – weak and frail, without
financial backing or the “
And yet, despite all these
“disadvantages” the disciples were able to report less
than fifty years later:
Colossians 1:6b, 23 All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God's grace in all its truth. If you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
Perhaps these verses refer to the
Christians today would find it extremely
difficult to come close to reporting the same accomplishment
recorded in Colossians. In fact, we tend to fall farther and
farther behind each passing year as population continues to
explode around the globe.
Most Christians, realizing the great lack
of success that Christianity is experiencing, are very reluctant
to accept any personal responsibility for the outcome. It seems
an overwhelming task for any individual who responds to The Great
Commission as the Eleven did so many years ago. After all, there
are over six billion people in the world today. How can any one
be responsible for reaching such a world?
And yet – we see all around us those
non-Christians are willing to accept the responsibility to reach
the world with messages. Take, for example, George Pemberton, the
man who invented Coca-Cola. A hundred years ago, in his first
year of business, Pemberton sold three gallons of syrup. Today
more than 1,000,000 bottles of Coca-Cola are consumed each day!
That is over 3.5 billion GALLONS of coke per year. There is
hardly any place in the world where people have not heard,
“Things go better with Coca Cola. Things go better with
Coke.”
Once I was standing on a beach in
The music people are another group of
people who have taken their business to the world. Any hit song
is known throughout the world in a matter of weeks. The world is
not as big a place as it seems. People with dedication and
commitment are reaching the world with soft drinks, hit songs,
and any thing they set their minds to promote.
Once my wife and I spent seven days
vacationing in Bahi after a tiring ministry trip in
One of the places visited was the museum
where there was a large mural depicting the Hindu concept of
hell. As we were looking at the mural, the young man turned to me
and said, “Sir, do you believe in Hell?”
“Yes I do,” I replied.
“Is this the way you would envision
it?” he asked
“In a way, yes,” I replied.
“You see, the Bible teaches that men are going to be in
agony, torment, and pain, and these people are obviously in
tremendous agony. But I will never be there.”
“How could you say that?”
“Young man have you ever heard of
the name Jesus?” I asked him.
“Who is He?”
I said, “You mean to tell me that
you have never heard of Jesus Christ the Son of God?”
“Not until you spoke the name
today,” came the reply as he shook his head.
“Have you heard of the name Davy
Crockett?” I ventured.
A smile broke out on his face,
“Yeah, he was the ‘King of the Wilds
Frontier!’”
“But you have never heard of the
name Jesus Christ?”
“Not until you spoke it to me
today,” he confirmed.
What a tragedy! This young man had never
heard of the KING OF KING and LORD OD LORDS, but he had heard of
Davy Crockett. Someone in the record companies has accepted the
responsibility to get hit songs to the ends of the earth, but
Christians who are in touch with all the power in heaven and on
earth are reluctant to be responsible for the greatest message
ever told.
Many years ago when I first studied The
Great Commission in depth, I found myself among the number who
desperately wanted to “pass the buck” of accountability
to someone else. However, the more I studied and mediated, the
more convinced I became that if I were to take the Great
Commission seriously, I would have to acknowledge that the
responsibility was indeed mine. If it were true that the Eleven
had taught others to observe all that Jesus had commanded, then
it must also be true that they had passed the responsibility for
discipling nations on to me. I was the one responsible –
just as every Christian is responsible who has become part of the
self-perpetuating Commission.
The thought was awesome to me! How, I
thought, could God have made a mistake? How could He have given
such great responsibility to someone as irresponsible as I?
Surely, I could not be strong enough, smart enough, or rich
enough to accomplish such a task.
Then God gently impressed upon me (as He
must have the early disciples) that responsibility comes from two
words: “response” and “ability”.
God, of course, has all the ability
needed to fulfill the task. That is what He was saying when He
said, “All power and authority is given to Me in heaven and
on the earth”. He is rich enough, strong enough, and
smart enough to know how to reach the world. The Bible states:
But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases.
Psalm
115:3
All He requires of me is that I respond
to His ability. I must, by faith, simply allow God to
channel His limitless resources through me. He has promised
that He will do just that, for He said, “And surely I will
be with you always, to the very end of the age”.
When I realized at last my responsibility
was to respond to Christ’s ability I fell on my knees and
gave my life to Him for the fulfilling of The Great Commission
and the entire course of my life changed permanently.
SECTION
TEN
THE
POWERFUL PRINCIPLE OF MULTIPLICATION
When God gave Adam and Eve the charge to
“be fruitful and multiply” and to populate the earth,
the first married couple was possibly as overwhelmed by the
command as we are by the Great Commission. Adam and Eve
might have asked each other, “How can God expect just two of
us to accomplish the enormous of filling the earth”?
And yet, a few decades later, Adam and
Eve were no doubt amazed when they gathered for their yearly
family reunion! They now had so many children and grand
children that they hardly knew them all. Adam lived to be over
900 years old. If he and Eve only produced children for
just 600 of those years and Eve bore every 3 years that amount is
200. The children would have over 1500 children (very
conservative), the grand children close to 750, 000, the great
grandkids in excess of 150 million and that is just 3 generations
of the 600. Of course many people die off and many won’t be
as productive as our sample but as you can see the number of
people attending the 800 anniversary of the marriage of Adam to
Eve must have been more than just a few. Imagine their
shock if they could see the world today! In spite of a
world flood and generations of war, famine, and disease, the
earth today has over 5 billion people. That is 5
thousand million, a great number of people.
What Adam and Eve did not realize was
that when God said, “Multiply”, He was giving them a
powerful principle, which could help them to fulfill His command.
God has entrusted that same principle to those who would accept
the responsibility for The Great Commission, but sadly, most
Christians neither understand nor use this principle.
This story serves to remind us of the
surprise we can get when even a small number like “two”
is multiplied by itself many times.
King
Shirham of
The
request was so modest that the Happy King immediately complied.
What
the Grand Vizer had asked was this; That one grain of wheat
placed on the first square of the Chessboard, two grains on the
second square, four grains on the forth, sixteen on the fifth
– and so on, doubling the amount of wheat on each succeeding
square until all 64 squares were filled.
When
the King’s steward had gotten to the 17th square
the table was more than full and by the 26th square
the chamber held considerable wheat.
A
nervous King ordered the steward to speed up the count but by the
42nd square the palace itself was swamped.
Now
fit to be tied the King learned from the court mathematician that
were the process to continue, the wheat required would cover all
Incidentally – laying this many
grains of wheat end to end does something spectacular also.
The grains would stretch from earth beyond the sun, past the
planets, to the star Alpha Centauri four light years away. They
would then stretch back to earth, to the star, and back to the
earth again. Such is the astounding power of multiplication!
Now let us see this multiplication at
work in disciplemaking. For twelve years I severed as a
missionary to the
Here is a better strategy. Suppose
that after the first person came to Christ I immediately began to
help that person grow in the Christian life. Six months to
a year later this person is enjoying a vital relationship with
Christ and is starting to understand his responsibility to The
Great Commission. He learns how to present the Gospel
effectively and help another grow in Christ. Side-by-side
we now are ready to labor together in the task of reaching the
population of
WHAT
HAVE I DONE?
At the end of one year I have increased
the trained labor force by one and have cut the task in half.
When I first started I was one person against 2.3 million. Now
the task is reduced by half because another disciple is working
with me.
Let us imagine that in a year’s time
each of us succeeds in leading at least one other person to the
Lord and we help them grow in discipleship. They in turn
catch the vision and after two years there are four of us. Again,
I have doubled the labor force and four now divides the task.
“But”, you say, “You have
labored for two whole years and have only increased the number to
four – one of them being you”! It is true that at
first the multiplication process goes slowly. But let us
suppose that every year we continue to double the number of
disciples. Each one of us discipling and reaching another.
In approximately twenty-one years we will not only have converted
This is the difference between addition
and multiplication. It is the same principle Ben Hair used
to reap his reward. It can be put to use in a significant
way in this century to reach the world for Christ.
It is within our power to reach any town,
state, or country – yes even the world, for the cause of
Christ. The only lacking ingredient is people who see that
through Christ it is possible and who are willing to give
themselves to getting the job done.
For what are you asking God? Do you
have upon your heart what God has upon His? Are you willing
to exchange the rest of your life foe the vocation of knowing
Christ and making Him known?
It is my prayer that everyone who reads
this text will prayerfully consider his life in the light of
eternity’s perspective and will one day have the joy of
hearing His Master say:
Well
done, thou good and faithful servant…enter thou into the joy
of thy Lord!
Matthew 25:21 (KJV)
Matthew 28:18-20 Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.""
Colossians 1:28-29 We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.
2 Timothy 2:2 And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.