In God's Word by Mike Mills, Apr 19th

April 14, 2016 - And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying; "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." (Matt 28:18 -20) NKJV

We know these 3 verses as "the Great Commission", the great command given the church to be carried out across all the planet, to all nations, to all classes of persons, to all individuals. By His own power as stated in verse 18, He is able to give power to the church to carry His Word to all people, everywhere.

You see, God has no regard for any person over another, He wishes for ALL to be saved. He loves one as much as the other, all colors, all nationalities, all individuals are judged the same to Him with the only difference being whether or not an individual does indeed accept Jesus as Lord and Savior.

Verse 19 speaks of baptism and it references three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, the three aspects of God. This may be best explained as; all things happen "from" the Father, "through" the Son and "by" the Holy Spirit. Christ authorized the church to baptize all believers in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, however, one is not baptized in order to obtain salvation, but to declare that he has already accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior.

Verse 20 actually gives us both the assignment; "teaching them to observe all things I have commanded you" and the assurance that He, God will be with us always. We can rest assured that as long as we are obedient to His will, wherever we may be, He is there to guide us and protect us from evil.

However, as with the church, God's presence is based upon our obedience to His wishes and not the wishes of the world. This is all part of God's plan of salvation. As born again Christians, our salvation relieves us from the penalty of sin. Daily, through the study of God's Word, we are saved from the power of sin.

When we are finally at home, with Christ, we will be saved from the very presence of sin. Until that glorious day we are to teach the gospel of Christ every day, either through actually sharing His Word, or by the way we go about living our lives here on earth.

As Saint Francis once stated; "I am compelled to preach the gospel at all times, in all places, with all my might, even if it means resorting to words." Amen...

Please feel welcome to join us on Wednesday evenings at 6:00PM for our weekly Bible Study. For more info call, 936-615-1427.

May God bless you and keep you...