“And He (Jesus) said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: in My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.’”
MARK 16:15-18
We have to relearn, not to just how to preach the Gospel in churches, but also rediscover the highways and the byways where the lost are. The Supreme Commission of Jesus is for our own time.
IF YOU WANT TO WIN SOULS, DONT THROW YOUR NET INTO A bathtub. There are no fish there. At best, you will catch a piece of soap. If you have a heart for souls to be saved, throw your net into a river, the ocean or a lake. You have to go where the fish are, and that is wherever God sends you. If you wonder where the lake is, simply leave the sanctuary, step out of the church and onto the streets. That is where the harvest begins. As people flow past, they all need Jesus. We have become too comfortable behind our stained-glass windows; we urgently need to recover the highways and byways.
The Holy Spirit comes in like a mighty rushing wind, and when the Gospel is preached, it is with tidings of great joy (Luke 2:10). This Gospel is like the tide–as it rises, it moves everything in its way It unlocks stuck callings and floats them in currents of greatness.
I GREW UP AT THE MOUTH OF THE RIVER ELBE IN GERMANY. When the tide was out, we boys played around the barges stuck in the mud. In my mind, they were impossible to shift or move. But then the tide came in. Suddenly, the barges floated. I could move them from the pier with one foot. When we preach the Gospel, the tide comes in, the immovable become movable, the incurable curable and the impossible possible. Let’s trust God!
When the tide comes in, it doesn’t just lift one or two ships, but every boat– except those that have no bottom. But there is hope for even those ships; they can be repaired by the Holy Spirit. Renewed and restored, those ships rise to new service and ministry.
THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IS ABLE TO TRANSCEND individual needs and moves into families, communities and cities. Don’t limit the effect and power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit agenda is always greater than one person, one family or even one community. When the Holy Spirit moves, more than one life is touched. When Peter went to Cornelius’ house to minister, the Holy Spirit fell not just on him but the entire household (Acts 10). When Philip ministered to the Ethiopian eunuch, a whole nation was impacted (Acts 8:26-40).