Great Commission part 2
STUDIES & DOC
The Great Commission Part 2
From Your
servant, Dan L Baxley
Before we begin this article I would like the reader to
know that I am not opposed to anyone sharing their faith with others, in fact,
that is part of living this life, perhaps, however, not as you have been taught
– we are not taught nor instructed to hassle our neighbor, or torment people of
the world with our brand of religion. Not by any Apostle of YaHshua and certainly not
YaHshua Himself. We are told the Gospel will be preached in all the world, and
at one point, "published" -- and then the end will come.
This is the Gospel message, The Mystery about the Good News:
(1Ti 3:15-16) But if I tarry long, that you may know how you ought to behave yourself in the House of God, which is the church (ecclesia = congregation or assembly) of the living God, the pillar (support) and ground (base or foundation) of the truth. And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.
That all happened way back then, by our time, but in Heavenly time, a year as a 1,000 years, by comparison, as revealed in 2 Pet 3:8-9 & Ps 90:4, and this, of course, is for comparison only, we, then, are still in day number 6 of a 7 day week. Many a professing prophet has made a lot of hay out of this comparative revelation, but it is only a comparison, at this point, to make a point. Historical time for mankind may seem like long and off in a distant past or future, but from a Heavenly point of view it is not the same and what seems like thousands of years to us, is, in reality only days, by comparison to Heavenly time, or even to the time in all the Universe. Another small observation, on a much more personal level -- our physical reality -- that time begins and ends with our individual birth and death, and rarely exceeds 100 years. Our individual time is not eternity, not yet, anyway, but only to the end of our physical decay or death -- the decaying process of our physical being starts with the moment we are born and from that point to a gradual break down. I mention all of this to Just put things into prespective -- humanity lives with an attitude of immortality, but people like us are dying every day, some sooner than others.
Under the cry to
carry out the “Great Commission, huge buildings of stone have been raised,
television and satellite works beam around the world. But what if the message they carry is not
the Message our Savior delivered? What
if all of these grand works of men is not the message about our Savior but of
another? What if these resources are all
channelled toward another Savior, a different God from what the Apostles
taught? What if all of these great works
of stone and blood are preaching under a different Name, declaring a message
under a false Name? I’m asking the questions I feel we all need to ask. We should not be afraid to question anyone
claiming to preach the Gospel – claiming to be exercising the commanded “Great
Commission”.
There is nothing more boring than someone pushing their
religion or politics on you as an individual.
Some excited Christian converts want to share their experience and after
discovering others do not see it the way they do usually join a group with a
mission. By proxy many believers step
out with their wallets and bank accounts to help accomplish the “Great
Commission”. There is nothing wrong with
this, not at all, but to say the “church”, meaning the body of the Christ on
Earth, is to force feed the world, whether they want to hear it or not, is a
duty, and obligation, of the followers.
Usually this leads to financial demands, on the lay members, beyond local
support and need, requiring millions upon millions of
dollars.
This study will be questioning the wisdom of the “Great
Commission” and just what it means and how it has been used by power hungry men
to abuse others. This teaching of forced
baptism and the command to convert all nations -- was it meant for the church?
It is not to question the honesty of honest men, and of
those that have furthered the Message of Salvation by the one and only Savior
and the revealing of our Heavenly Father.
Great men have lived and died for the Faith once delivered, beginning
with the Apostles. It is by their
calling for they have no choice, just like those called today, but not all
callings are the same. The vast majority
is not called to preach, to mission to the world, and most of all, not to force
conversion on the unwilling, or anyone not agreeing with your church
leaders.
Now you know where I stand and I hope you will take the
time to read the rest of this article and take another look, with me, at this
idea of the Great Commission –
________________________________________________________
Go you
into the world – Proclaim the Gospel – Teach all Nations – Baptizing
Is
the church really commanded to convert the world, to baptize all nations in His
Name? Is the Great Commission of the
Church a commandment from our Savior? Is
there a commanded Great Commission to preach the Gospel and save the world? Does the New Testament, the New Covenant made
with all people, contain this Great Commission?
No, it does not and if you think it does then where is that command? Where does it say, or is it recorded that the
church is to carry out a nation by nation conversion? It doesn’t but this is taught and the verses,
recording the words of our Savior, in certain places does seem to say so, on the
surface that is, but under close examination – well, you be the
judge.
(Mat
28:19-20)
Therefore go and teach all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of
the Son and of the Holy Spirit, (MKJV)
And then we have
Mark’s account:
(Mark
16:15-16)
And He said to them, Go into all
the world, proclaim the gospel to all the creation. He who believes and is baptized will be
saved, but he who does not believe will be condemned.
(MKJV)
First we can
discount the account found in the Mark Gospel.
Why? As it turns out, this verse
is not found in any reliable MSS before 1100 AD. In fact, not one of the copies or fragments
contains verses 9-20 before that date (apparently some are scratching to
make these verse legit, claiming to have found a MS around 400 AD with these
verses -- they are really speaking about writings of other professing Christians
after Constantine proclaimed Christianity as the State Religion of the Empire --
the timing makes such information suspect). See any note in virtually any modern
translation Study Bible, and if you do not believe them then do a little more
research and after you prove this then use a little common sense too. I will save some the trouble and quote from my own
NIV concerning Mark 16:9-20 --
Note From NIV Study Bible, 1985 Edition: "Serious doubt exists as to whether these verses belong to the Gospel of Mark. They are absent from important early manuscripts and display certain perculiarities of vocabulary, style and theological content that are unlike the rest of Mark. His Gospel probably ended at 16:8, or to original ending has been lost".
This is a verse the
Christian Church, as a physical body, wants to keep, giving certain professing
Christians the "command" to preach the "pearls of God" before the "swine"
(being sarcastic - Mat 7:6)). After all, these verses contain the
order for the Great Commission – but wait – they ignore the command found in
these verses to prove your faith by handling deadly snakes and testing God by
drinking poison (Ex 17:12, Mat 4:7).
When you read some of the commentaries on this verse they will mention
the suspicious source or appearance of these verses but are inclined to agree
with it, partially, selectively, that is -- would our Lord really command his
followers, disciples, the Apostles, to “…take
up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them…”?
Now, using the
brain and a little bitty bit of our Savior’s Spirit I will tell you what I think
-- I think someone added to the Gospel of Mark, perhaps -- in an effort
to get rid of as many believers as possible?
Really, why would anyone tell their followers to play with deadly snakes
and be tempted to drink poisons to prove they are full of faith, if they were
not trying to destroy them? I would suggest
those claiming these verses as their authority to cram the prize of the Gospel
down the throats of everyone, and even, by some, resorting to forced baptizim to
play with deadly snakes and to drink the poision first.
Of those jumping on
the support wagon for the first part, “Go
into all the world…” and quoting
this as a command of our Lord, well, they need to reexamine their motives. The context needs to be remembered, if these
words be true, then these words were directed specifically to the 11 disciples,
soon to be Apostles of YaHshua, and no one else – not even to the Apostle Paul,
would this, supposed, command apply. Of
course, if you insist these words are true because they are in the Bible, so God
put them there -- they are still not words for you but for the original 11. If that is the case, and it is, then, where
is the apostolic example of the Apostles taking up serpents? Don’t bother pointing out how the Apostle
Paul was bit by a deadly insect, or snake, he was not part of the original 11 to
whom this command was supposedly given, remember (Mark 16:14)? Other than this account in Mark there are no
other examples of believers testing our Creator in this way. We can discount this part of Mark as a
corruption of the Mark Gospel, and most likely for devious
purpose.
Matthew’s Record – What about Matthew’s
Account?
Once we clear away
the bogus verses added to the Gospel of Mark we still have Matthew’s
account. His seems much more palatable
and may be an original record but there is a lot wrong with it. When we read the verses surrounding Matthew
something is just not quite right. Let’s
have a look at it, verse by verse –
(Mat
28:16) And the eleven disciples went into Galilee,
to the mountain where Jesus had appointed them.
In earlier verse of
this same chapter we are told the two Mary’s were instructed to tell the 11
disciples to go to Galilee and the disciples did as they were told by these
women. That is the first suspicious
accounting. This account does not agree
with any other of the Gospel accounts as to what happened right after YaHshua
was resurrected.
(Mat
28:17) And when they saw Him, they worshiped Him. But some
doubted.
Some doubted? This would seem highly unlikely at this
time. After all, by the other accounts
there has already been the meeting in the upper room and it was Thomas that
doubted, and his doubting was put to rest at that time, so this part of Matthew
makes no sense at all. If there were
still “some that doubted” wouldn’t He have corrected them right then and there,
as He did with Thomas? After all, he is
sending them out to preach the Gospel, right?
And notice, He did not scold those who doubted – none of this makes any
sense. We have already seen how past
scribes and copiers of copies of the Gospels had added verses and we may be
seeing a similar things here. It is not
unheard of, and is admitted by Biblical scholars that many times “margin notes”
of copiers ended up in the text, sometimes on purpose, as in Mark, and other
times accidently from copier to copier, to copy. Some may doubt scribes would do such a thing,
but and easy example is to look at the KJV and everywhere you see words in italics the translators, doing the
copying from other MSS, admit these are added words not found in the Greek or
the Hebrew – they add these words attempting to make the scripture more readable
in the English.
(Mat
28:18-19) And YaHshua came and spoke to them, saying,
All authority is given to Me in Heaven and in earth. Therefore go and teach all nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit,
The Command is
given -- baptize in the name of the
Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
They, the Father and the Son, either have the same name or there are
three different names. We know the
Savior’s name and can determine the Father’s name but what about the Holy
Spirit’s name? This is a verse
supporting and used to support the false, pagan teaching of the Trinity, a
doctrine the Protestant Church’s used to deny as a doctrine of the corrupt Roman
Church, but in the past generation more and more of the rebellious Protestant
daughters of Rome have been teaching this doctrine, contrary to their original
position when breaking from the Roman Church.
This should bring this verse under suspicion for anyone realizing the son
has a name, the Father has a name, but we find no Name for the Holy Spirit. For me, the Father is HOLY, above all, and He
is the HOLY Spirit – this is why YaHshua
said all sins would be forgiven except for blaspheme of the Holy Spirit, that
would be the SPIRIT of our Heavenly Father (Mat 12:18 ). This is not to say the verses in Matthew 28,
verses 16-20, do not contain a germ of truth but as far as being a true command
from our Lord for each of us to convert the world, to baptize the world as a
direct command from our Savior, YaHshua, is suspect, and cannot be supported by
verses that seem out of place or not in the proper order, still, it is not all a
lie, just a misdirecting, possibly, by a well intentioned scribe, or a
translator in his enthusiasm to help explain what he thinks is meant by adding
marginal comments into the text.
(Mat
28:20) teaching them to observe all things, whatever
I commanded you. And, behold, I am with you all the days until the end of the
world. Amen.
The same is true in
Matthew’s account commanding His disciples to preach to all the world. Technically this command was directed at the
11 disciples not to anyone else (Mat
28:16). Look at how some religious works, not all,
but some, some of great power and authority over rulers, having taken these verses and used them as
permission to force others to convert, on penalty of death. Millions have died at the hands of those evil
workers forcing people of the world into unwanted and forced conversion – many a
Jew of the historical past was given the opportunity to “convert or die”. This
forced conversion extended around the modern world as savage nations were
brought into the Roman Catholic fold, mass baptisms, with the sprinkling of
water. The fate of those on the
European continent as well as the states of South America and other primitive
countries was sealed at the command of the Pope in carrying out the Great
Commission.
For
centuries the ‘ecclesia’ (church) has taken the words written in the New
Testament as a command to do the work of God – baptizing the whole world in the
name of IESUS. Certainly there are those
called to do a work they cannot refuse, such as the Apostles of the first
century, but is this something we are all called to? Are we to chase after the unconverted and
pester them until they repent? Or maybe
we are to work at taking control of these earthly governments and make everyone
a Christian?
This
has happened in the past, hasn’t it?
Religious leaders torturing and killing people, forcing repentance and
murder in the name of God – is that our work, like the Roman Catholic Church of
the past, or the religion of Islam today?
Who can argue against the evangelism of the past? Is that, or was that, the “great commission”,
to force conversion on pain of death?
After all, according to some suspicious verses, our Savior supposedly
commanded us to do just that.
Maybe
we should investigate what the work of God is, what is your responsibility? Should you preach your faith to your
relatives? Should you preach Christ to
your coworkers at every opportunity?
Should you be silent?
When
we are called we have this desire to share what we see so clearly as the answer
to all of man’s problems. We feel,
literally, the guilt of our fleshly lives lifted and call out to the Savior of
the Bible – the feeling and change of mind is astounding and miraculous and the
desire to want to share this treasure with others is nearly impossible to keep
in check. But, as many of you have found
out, it is not long before you see your coworkers heading in the other direction
when they see you coming and your relatives tolerate you only because they have
to. Then there are the “lord” lovers and
these it seems you must tolerate, or join as brothers and sisters of the
faith. Soon when you look back you may
wonder what happened to that childlike believer, so excited about seeing the
answer to the world’s problems.
Your
calling may have come at a meeting of preaching and you, cut to the heart, go
forward to confess your sin and accept the Christ. No one forced you, you stepped forward
voluntarily. Then, what then? For some the answer is to join those you
heard and to add to the work they are doing, physically or financially. Is this wrong? Absolutely not as many a work for our Savior
is working in this world and there is nothing wrong with giving your
support. But, for a work to say they are
obeying His command in the Great Commission is not correct. A believer does not need this command,
remember, your desire to share the truth?
That did not take some kind of permission, did it? No, the desire is there and needs not
command. But we are not all called to
the same calling, we are not all called to be ministers, preachers, or
teachers. Some are called to live as
witnesses, not meaning to confess the Christ to everyone but of watching,
studying, seeing, as a witness might observe an accident, or a great performance
as the days draw near and one day will be here, we then will be able to witness
to the fact that His Prophetic words are correct and true.
The
most powerful tool a believer has is “prayer” coupled with “faith” which is the
undying belief in the truth of His Words and His Word. When we experience answered prayer the joy is
true and at times tearful. As newbies in
the Messiah our answered prayers are powerful and necessary. Our God proves Himself and proves our calling
by these answered prayers and it is in this way our faith is strengthened and
why not, we are at the height of our faith, our emotional excitement in
belief. Our prayer to our Heavenly
Father is conversation with the Sustainer of all things, the One giving YaHshua
power over everything. He listens to us
and many times, I am convinced, our prayers are answered when we do not see
them. When we pray for the brethren in
other parts of the world we do not witness the answer, perhaps, but we continue
to pray for our brothers and sisters unseen, with confidence He hears and He
answers. He wants us to make request for
their safety and good health and growth in the truth. He also wants to hear about our personal
problems, not that He doesn’t know but because in our requests we can see the
answer to our prayer, sometimes no, sometimes positive, but always for our own
good and when we see this, or witness
His active actions in lives our faith is strengthened, and in unanswered
prayer (yes, I said unanswered) our inner spirit is tested and
strengthened. You work In our Lord and
Savior may be to be one of the silent few, a witness, being prepared to answer
the hope that is found in us, to share His words at the right time – when
another is being called to the Faith with you as the tool revealing His mercy.
It
is my hope to put a balance back into the natural desire to do a great work, or
to be a part of some great work, preaching or teaching or sharing what we so
plainly see. Many of us want our loved
ones to see the truth, to accept and see YaHshua the way we do and it is
discouraging when they don’t. Contrary
to popular belief it is not our duty to save the world, He is coming to do that,
to restore all things, our patience is to wait on Him.
So,
What Must We Do?
We
are told to do certain things while having one foot in this world and another in
the Kingdom. We are called to be
citizens, not of this earth, but of Heaven, and to act appropriately.
(Php
3:20) But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it
we await a Savior, the Lord YaHshua
the Christ, (My paraphrase)
(Eph
2:19-20) So then you are no longer strangers and
aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints (Israelites) and members of
the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, the
Christ, YaHshua himself being the cornerstone, (ESV)
As
citizen in Heaven are we to become involved in the works of men? No, we need to be concerned with the works of
God not of men. But, we do have a dual
citizenship, so long as we continue in the flesh, for we have only a deposit of
the Holy Spirit (2 Cor 5:5), and YaHshua has not come yet but when He does He
will be bringing our Heavenly citizenship with Him as He establishes the Kingdom
of God on Earth with the Law going out from Jerusalem (YaHushalem) (Mic
4:1-2).
But,
what is the work of God? Where is the
authority for the ‘Great Commission’ found?
We have seen the Great Commission, as a command, even in those verses
that are of suspicious origin, is directed at the 11 disciples not the body of
the Messiah in general. So, does man
really need to help God? No, He does
not, He is fully capable of saving the world and keeping Satan in check. It is our very existence that defeats Satan,
not a Christian Crusade of any kind.
When YaHshua returns He will find those that have remained true to Him
and have defeated Satan’s assaults from the very beginning.
The
work of saving the world is not our job.
There are those building great works and building empires to the honor of
the Christ – or are they? Many of these
works, of men, do not ask you personally to do anything other than support them
financially as they work and dedicated their lives to the ‘great
commission’. All they want from you is
your support, that is, money, money to build more and greater works of their own
hands (Rev 9:20 and Rev 16:9).
What
is the Work of God, then? Isn’t there
something we can do?
(John
6:29) YaHshua answered them, "This is the work of God -- that you believe in him whom he has
sent."
Wow,
believe in Him, who He has
sent, what a concept. This, however,
is harder than it seems, or so it seems.
Look at the world, look at the Christians, a lot of well-meaning and
sincere people. Many, I am sure, will
make it into the Kingdom, but look around, how many do this Work? How know the “him” we are to believe in and
how many know the “He” that sent “him”? Not many as I can testify to that, having sent
out many an email to leaders of various religious organizations, and
individuals, only to discover almost no one knows the Father’s identity. Some have the correct identity of “him” we
are to believe in but fall short of knowing who the Father is – they are only
doing half the work of God. Most,
however, professing Christian works do not have a clue and while preaching and
teaching all sorts of laws, rules, traditions, customs, etc., they teach a false
Messiah, in a false identity, ignoring the Birth Name of our Savior and ignoring
scripture like – “Salvation
is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by
which we must be saved."
(Act 4:12)
This verse need no interpretations and reads the same in various
translations. There is no other Name
given to men – which is to say, there is a name found among men, a name under
heaven, not in heaven by which our Savior was and is Named, and that Name is
YaHshua (Joshua, in Old English). This
Name declares the Name of our Heavenly Father also, and has been a name found
among men for thousands of years. It is
like hiding in plain sight and that is some kind of miracle in itself. Oh, and how hard men to struggle to ignore
and replace this Name pointing at our Savior and Creator of all
things.
Nothing
Wrong
There
is nothing wrong with you supporting financially or physically a work or an
organization you believe in. There are
many works in this world that are worthy of our support, and do need our
financial aid, especially those that care for, and give aid to those that cannot
care for themselves. Paying our taxes is one method by which we, as a people,
help to care for the less fortunate, as well as cover the costs of things we
tend to take for granted, even our Messiah paid His taxes (Mat 22:18-21 and Mat
17:24-27). Concerning the payment of taxes, or tribute, as it was called then,
YaHshua asked Peter a question about whom the Kings take taxes, not their own
children, but from strangers. From this
this YaHshua makes it plain we are free, even from this, but we are obligated so
as not to offend those requiring taxes or the payment of tribute. So, while we are citizens of the coming
Kingdom we are obliged to pay what the State or Nation requires as strangers on
this earth. In some ways you could look
at paying taxes as a form of tithe, by which we receive benefit to our own well
being as will as support for the poor. When you look at the tithing law of the
Nation Israel, under the Old Covenant, was, basically a tax to support the
priesthood and meet the needs of the nation and a welfare program. Today, this tithe would have been called a
federal tax – too many, especially the TORAH teachers, place too great an
importance on the tithe -- true, it is an ordinance with a promise and what a
promise it is, indeed, but to the Christian this is not a requirement. In fact a Christian is not limited by a tithe
(10% giving). Too often this part of the
Torah for Israel is used to claim Levitical support, a priestly religious order
that has been abolished since the destruction of the Second Temple. It is an ordinance, also, supporting animal
sacrifice. Yes, tithing existed before
Israel, Abraham gave a tenth to the King Priest Melchizedek – this demonstrates
a principle, not a Law.
It
is my contention that this work of believing in Him the Father has sent, is the
duty of and the “job” of the believer.
Paying taxes, and being a law abiding citizen within the country you
live, living at peace with the system, come under the ‘second great
commandment’, and that is to love your neighbor as yourself, no matter where you
live. We show respect for our fellow man
if for no other reason than mankind is made in the image of the Creator God and
this should be remembered every time we look harshly on another human being.
If
you want to support a work that is in agreement with you and what you feel is
correct in actions, attitudes, and methods, then go right ahead – your resources
and your talents are placed within your control. There are plenty of worthy causes to donate
your money and time to if so moved. So
long as you have determined there is nothing wrong with them or your
participation in their programs. You do
have a certain responsibility in seeing that your money is being used
responsibly, as good stewards of things and fortunes He has blessed you
with. Money, all money, belongs to the
Creator, you possess it on loan.
Certainly it is yours to do with as you please, while it is in your
possession, but the real wealth belongs to the Creator God and this should be
considered before you pass it on.
What
has this to do with the great
commission? This perceived command
from the gospel of Mark and Matthew is too often used by some works to solicit
money and this becomes a central theme of these works – raising money. Giving to a charitable work is one thing,
giving to a work that claims it is fulfilling the ‘Great Commission’ is
another. Mission works are another
thing, these I would classify, for the most part as charitable activities. Mission works establish schools and
orphanages and are the unsung heroes of the faith in these modern times. Too many false works concerned being skinned
by calls to save the world, or take over political systems and miracle works
that really benefit no one. Harsh? Maybe but it is true, the Evangelicals are so
full of pagan spiritualism they are blind to the truth and have turned religion
into entertainment. That’s my opinion
and may mean nothing but then this was about the Great Commission, and much of
what these modern preaching’s and teachings in put together in the mega
gatherings, stadium filling fests, are not accomplishing anything near what the
Apostles were doing. For the most part
they are putting on shows for the choir, preaching to the choir, Christians
stroking Christians. How do you convert
the converted? How do you baptize the
baptized? This is the kind of thing Paul
meant when he said he was glad he had not baptized anyone, save maybe for three
people (1Cor 1:14-17).
Whose Commission is it
anyway?
In
the New Testament, the book of Luke, we read –
“And
said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved
Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance
and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations,
beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses
of these things. And, behold, I send the
promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye
be endued with power from on high.
And
he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed
them.
And
it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up
into heaven. And they worshipped him,
and returned to Jerusalem with great joy:
And were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God. Amen.
(Luke 24:46-53)
Interesting,
no mention of going to Galilee, and in the previous verses, before those quoted,
YaHshua removes all “doubt” by letting the doubters handle Him and then He
demonstrates He is not a ghost but eating some meat. In the first verses of Luke’s account we are
told he gain his information from eye witnesses (Luke 1:2). The commission belongs to YaHshua; it is His
inspiration and the aided by the Holy Spirit of our Heavenly Father, inspiring
the Apostles forward in preaching the Gospel to the world. You will not find many, if any, works like
that of the Apostles, as they traversed around the Empire and beyond with little
more than the clothes on their backs.
(Gal
1:1) Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by
man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the
dead;)
(Mat
24:14) And this gospel of
the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations;
and then shall the end come.
So, what is the hold up? Certainly the whole world has heard about the
Christ and the promised coming of the Kingdom?
China, one of the last holdouts in allowing Christianity to exist within
its borders, has gone to not only allowing Christians to live in relative peace
but many of the bible translations are being printed in China. This is a huge turn around in Chinese
culture, and atheist nation.
(Act
13:46-47) Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly:
"We had to speak the word of God to you first (the Jews). Since you reject it
and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the
Gentiles. For this is what the Lord has
commanded us: " 'I have made you a light for the
Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.' "
NIV
(Act
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." NIV
It would seem to me that these verses
indicate the Commission to get the Gospel to the world, to the very ends of the
earth was to be accomplished by the Apostles.
How do we reconcile, “…and then
the end shall come…” (Mat 24:14)?
Open your Bible, who wrote the New Testament, look at the names of the
books, and letters to the believers and to the world. When a preacher preaches from this collection
of writings he is taking the message of the Apostles to his listeners.
(Gal
1:1) Paul, an apostle--sent not from men nor by
man, but by YaHshua the Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the
dead—
(Gal
1:8-9) But even if we or an angel from heaven should
preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally
condemned! As we have already said, so
now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you
accepted, let him be eternally condemned!
It is the Gospel they preached,
about the Messiah they preached and God the Father they preached. A stern warning here and you can see the
importance of what is being said when you see our Savior’s Name, the Name under
which the Apostles preached, the Name of the Messiah they said makes possible
our Salvation is YaHshua and not under the name “Jesus”, the false name used to
replace the Name of our Savior, the Name and identity of the Good News
message. By preaching in another name,
other than the birth Name of our Savior, the one sent to us by our Heavenly
Father, they are preaching another gospel; it cannot possibly be the
same.
Political
Involvement?
What is our obligation
when it comes to governmental processes within the country, State, county, or
city that we live in? On the surface it
seems that we should become involved, that we should vote, and even, as some
suggest, take an active roll in trying to get a Believers in office even if it
means running for political office yourself.
A few years ago a famous evangelist, Pat Robertson, ran for the highest
office in the land. What if he had
succeeded? For me that is a pretty scary
thought, when considering what has happened historically when a religion manages
to get control of the political system.
Satan
once offered a man the kingdoms of the world.
Fortunately for us this man turned this offer down, and in so doing
sealed His fate as the Son of the Living God, destined for the cross as our
sacrifice and Savior, blotting out our sinfulness, and giving us the promise of
eternal life. He, later, made it plain
to His disciples, the Apostles, that His kingdom, their Kingdom, our Kingdom is
not of this world. We, like the
Apostles, and fellow Believers of that time, and down through the ages, are
strangers of this world, waiting for our Kingdom, our Government to come (Heb
11:13; 13:14, John 15:19, Php 3:20, Eph 2:19, 1 Pet 1:17). Our King, our President, our Prime Minister
is on His way, and with Him he brings many offices to be filled by those who
have held fast to their belief in Him and what He and the Father offer us. You want to run for office? Then study your Bible, the word of the Living
God and His Son – begin your training now if you already haven’t. Ask in prayer requests that His words may be
written on your heart, in your mind, that when you think you think in terms
relevant to the word of the Living God, that His Spirit live in you (Eph
2:22). There is a battle, of course,
within your own flesh to do what is right and just and it is by the Word and
with the guidance of His Spirit that you can know and act in living a righteous
life, honor Him. The flesh says let’s do
one thing but the spirit says no, do this, and we know the spirit speaks true by
the words of the Bible, our guide and training book.
A
time is coming when the people of the Living God will be taught a new, clean,
and pure language (Zeph 3:9). This
language will be spoken within this Kingdom to come, this new government to be
centered out of Jerusalem. During this
time, as this government develops under the authority of the Living Christ, men
will cease to teach other men about the true God, for accurate knowledge of Him,
of the Savior, of the Father, will be common as all within that government will
the same, intimate knowledge (Jer 31:34).
Satan
is the god of this world (2Cor 4:4). Men
have long ago ceased to ask the Creator who He thinks should be our
leaders. No, we select who we think is
the best choice -- that is if you live in a free country. For those that live under a Dictatorship
things are quite different, but the principle of being a stranger on this earth
and awaiting a promised kingdom, or government headed by the Creator Himself,
back by the Father of all there is, is what we are to be focusing on.
Should
Christians be trying to take over Communist China? How about Russia, or Japan? North Korea could use some good Christian
guidance. How about Iran, Syria and even
Modern Israel? Can we trust men, no
matter what faith, to rule, or have absolute power? Ask yourself, which type of government, on
the face of this earth, do you think Christians ought to be infiltrating? A ridiculous question, isn’t it? Let’s go a step further, just to make a
point; why not infiltrate the Roman Catholic Church, why not?
Many,
if not all, Evangelical, Pentecostal,
and Baptist Churches as well as some others, believe the Roman Church is the Seat of Satan,
the Babylonian Mystery religion, the Daughter of the original Babylonian
religion, get into their political system and turn them into real
Christians. Now there is a governmental
body that needs saving. If it is true
that the Roman Church is a Pagan religion dating back to Nimrod, why not convert
and baptize Catholics. Do you see the
point? If Christian can teach a concept
of, “Taking Back the Government”, (USA movement) and of returning the government
to Judah/Christian values, why stop there.
That did happen once, and it did not turn out so well in the end. The Roman Empire accepted Christianity as its
official religion – with a few changes and additions, becoming a government
approved authority and eventually this led to persecutions of other religions
and the purging of other Christians and the bloody inquisitions of the 15 and
16th centuries. If anyone was
on board with the perceived, Great Commission, it was the Roman Catholic
Church. They alone have managed to turn
nearly one and a half billion people into Roman Catholic Christians. Only one other religion compares to that and
that is Islam. Both have a militant side
and a bloody history. YaHshua said
–
(John
18:36) YaHshua said, "My kingdom is not of this
world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But
now my kingdom is from another place."
Remember,
we are citizens of that Kingdom, as we read earlier, and stranger living as
Abraham did. Did Abraham is called the
father of the faithful and in a spiritual sense we are the seed of Abraham, if
by no other way than through our Savior, YaHshua. Fight, war, take up arms to control people
and governments. Take back a government
of this world? Some teach that the
Kingdom has already come, that it is here now and it is our duty to take
control, to save the world. This is the
same message of the Islamic religion, to take by force, or political
means.
Again
using the Roman Church as a historical example we see an organization, a
government, and it is indeed recognized as a separate governing state by other
European nations that long ago fought with the political systems of its time,
over several hundred years, and won. A
king could not be crowned king without the leader of this religious group, the
Pope’s approval. She is the undisputed
Mother of the Protestant movement. Like
rebellious teenagers, ran from her to do their own thing, keeping much of her
teaching while rebelling at other teaching.
The Mother tried to bring these rebels back into the fold by murdering as
many as possible – it’s in the History books, it is not hidden. For fear her misguided children straight to
hell she resorted to torture as a method of getting those unruly, deceived
children to recant of their sinful and unlawful interpretations of the Holy
Book, and of their brazen accusations thrown at the Mother Church, and the Pope,
under control. Today she is limited to
around 100 acres of earth and recognized a as separate, independent
country. In the late 1980s the USA began
political relations with her, opening an embassy office within her domain. Many have forgotten, and, or it is not taught
in the schools anymore, how the founding of the USA was a way of escape for
thousands to get away from the oppressive and murderous Roman Church. Make no mistake, the Church of Rome, for a
time, was literally held captive for her sins, and relegated to this 100 acres
of earth on the brink of near collapse by 1929, she survives. She has come back, however, and is gaining in
strength every year. She has once again
begun exercising her political will and influences the world over. Since Ronald Regan there has not been a
President that has not sought out the advice, aid, and help of the Vatican, the
Pope in many matters of the world.
President Bush (the Younger) even threw a birthday party for the Pope in
the White House Gardens. I wonder what
our Founding Fathers would have thought of that? (Ouch)
The
Roman Church is a prime example of the evils men do and how a religious
organization coming to full power can be the most evil of all. It can, and has been worse than a democracy
run by devils and demons, or at least comparable. I do not believer any Believer of the Word
wants this to happen again. And brings us to the next point, to the biblical
teaching of the coming Beast government where the two, the religious and the
secular are joined as a united force.
One
World Government One World Religion?
Should
a Christian become involved in politics?
I personally do not think so, but if you are called, and you are in a
political office then you should remain in that office so long as you can
maintain you Christian conscience and morals.
You can, as a believer, have a positive influence. Working for the betterment of your community
is a great way to let your light shine.
Being a government worker or state employee is not the question nor is it
the answer. You do your job as if
working for the Lord and others will see how you are different, you don’t lie,
cheat, gossip, take advantage or talk badly about your bosses. You set the example of what it is to be a
Christian, not by the hammering of your coworkers with being saved, or going to
hell, etc. Remember, Cornelius was a
Roman officer in the military and Peter was directed to give Him and his
household the Gospel and to baptize them all into the Name of YaHshua (Acts
10:25-48). If you have not read this account it is worth
reading, and if you have read it, read it again you may be surprised how much is
said. Certainly the Holy Spirit is not
withheld even from the military and if not from these warriors then not from
Politian’s either. Perhaps voting for
your best choice of an office to serve the people is perfectly all right but you
must allow for other influences in this world to control the end outcome until
our Lord returns. It is not the
individual you know to be of pure motive that you vote for, it is the idea of a
political movement taking over a government.
This happened in Germany, a perfect example of a political machine given
too much power. The example of the
Religious Machine is. Of course the Roman Church and the every growing menace of
the Muslim religion of Islam.
Any
Christian in their right mind should question any religious group or groups, no
matter how righteous they might appear, that encourage joining the governments
of this worlds in a political way. I
tremble at the thought of any religious order, be it Christian, Moslem, Hindu,
or Buddha having full political power over anyone.
You
don’t have to go that far back in history to see the example of the Roman
Church: The Mother Church was still
involved in burning, what they deemed to be heretic Christians, as they saw it,
at the stake in into the late 1800 AD.
By 1813 AD, however, Spain had had enough of the Roman Inquisitions and
basically put a halt to the Church Fathers murderous authority in 1813 AD. I you want to read a scary, eye opening book,
read Fox’s Christian Martyrs of the World.
Not
that long ago in the history of the world.
I remember my grand mother saying that a Catholic would never become
president of these United States. This opinion expressed the events still fresh
in the memories of the descendants of these persecutions by the Mother Church on
the heads of anyone not agree with her.
Today this is all but forgotten.
We have come a long way in a short time.
The Protestant daughters once rejected the doctrine of the Trinity, today
most of them embrace it. How things
change in such a short time. Still, they
reject the supremacy of the Pope.
A
segment of the Christian populations, various groups outside of the Church at
Rome, are calling for more involvement in the governing body of our society,
attempting to influence the government and its rule. It is this group that has been on a march to
change the world by joining together in attempts at forcing the Christian
opinion on any they choose. This seems to be a very righteous activity but, in
my opinion is not. There is good reason
the Founding Fathers of the USA were reluctant to allow any religious authority
to sit in the chambers of law governing the people – past experience told them
not to let this happen. No Pope
presiding over the Congress, or sitting next to the President. This group is mainly operating under the
banner of the Evangelical Christian.
This is a broad term, as it includes a broad spectrum of religious
organizations, that while separate, share the same ambition of world domination
through preaching a gospel that is becoming ever more popular. This gospel allows differences of opinions,
even doctrine, so long as all agree “Jesus” is lord – ignoring the Savior’s true
birth Name. In reality, they preach the
same Messiah as the Roman Church, they preach the same JESUS. There is more to it than that, of
course. Another doctrinal issue, once
rejected by the Protestant daughters, for the most part, but now being embraced
due to the efforts of Evangelical preachers is the false teaching known as the
“Rapture” doctrine. This doctrine puts
forward the “pie in the sky” attitude of escapism, of believers escaping to
Heaven to sit out the end days to come.
This false idea, taught as a true doctrine of salvation giving a sense of
false hope in escaping what is to come as true Christians are going to be
snatched off of this earth, escaping the Tribulation period.
Hopefully
the believer and confessors of YaHshua as Savior see through this false doctrine
and recognize the damaging influence this doctrine can and does have on the biblically illiterate believer. First, a sense of pride creeps in that the
believer is hardly aware of. Once this
doctrine is accepted a feeling of safety, when there is no safety, at least not
for the flesh. This is what it is all
about, trying to save the flesh. This
brings to mind the words about “he that
would seek to save his or her life will lose it” (Luke 17:33, John
12:25). I pray for the Kingdom to come,
but not at the hand of man, that has been tried and is being tried, witness the
religion of Islam, world domination is their agenda as was, and perhaps still
is, the agenda of the once all powerful Roman Church.
I
pray for the Kingdom to come in the power and fullness of our Father in Heaven,
delivered to us and the world by YaHshua, our Savior and King, as we wait
patiently His return to restore what has been lost.
For
me, I do not see any sin in voting for your guy, but in the end it should be
YaHshua, already the winner of the race in your heart and your spirit. His Spirit and your Spirit witnessing to the
Fact that YaHshua is coming to be King of Kings, President of Presidents and not
by popular vote. What I would avoid is
religion as an organization attempting to take over any government. Avoid those religions set on becoming masters
of the World by force – that will be YaHshua’s job, not ours, not at this
time.
In
conclusion I believe there is no Great Commission to anyone but the original
Disciples and they accomplished their mission, and we have evidence of that very
thing in the form of a book, a book we call the Holy Bible, which includes the
Hebrew Scriptures from which they taught.
These bestselling writings continue to spread around the world carrying
the message of the Gospel and anyone reading them, whether to others or to
themselves are hearing from the men of our Creator, the Gospel of YaHshua and
how things are going to eventually be.
The hope we have for the world and its deliverance form utter chaos and
eventual destruction is found in the coming or our Lord YaHshua. Without Him we are all doomed to death and
annihilation, our only hope is in Him.
Science tells us in no uncertain terms, the sun is burning out, it is
only a matter of time before the killer asteroid clobbers us – forget about a
possible nuclear holocaust, or perhaps an alien plague wiping everything out,
delivered by a comet with some strange virus (recent scientific speculations
suggest just such a thing). Without the
coming of the Christ, YaHshua no flesh would be saved – science and His words
agree (Mark 13:20, Matt 24:29-31).