Tag Archives: the Great Commission

“Increase Our Faith” How?

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Luke 17:5–10, Increase our faith. Explaining the correlation between faithfulness and miraculous faith. As is often the case in the Gospels, Yeshua’s answers to his to the disciples’ questions is a bit of an enigmatic head scratcher. How does his answer relate to their question in Luke 17:56–10 about how to increase one’s faith? Let us explore the connection between miracles of faith and faithfulness.

In this passage of Scripture, Yeshua initially answers his disciples’ question by tersely stating that a small amount of faith produces great, even miraculous, results. He launches into a discussion about faithful attendance to duty, and ends the discussion there. What do these seemingly discordant statements have to do with each other? Upon reflection, the answer becomes evident. He is saying that faith resulting in  miracles comes as a result of a servant being faithful by doing the will of his master—in this case, YHVH Elohim. 

As an example of the connection between faith and faithfulness, let’s consider Yeshua’s command to his disciples to preach the gospel to all nations. Referred to as “The Great Commission,” Yeshua promised that certain miraculous signs and wonders would follow his disciples when they faithfully fulfill this command (Mark 16:15–18). One often hears Christians wondering why they do not see many miraculous signs and wonders happening today. Maybe it is because they are not being faithful to their Master’s command to preach the gospel to the whole world—or at least to share the gospel boldly with those around them. The preaching of the gospel is just one example of miracles of faith following obedience.

Let us dig deeper and demystify the connection between faith and faithfulness. Consider this. What is the relationship between faith and faithfulness? When one is faithful to his master’s will and is faithfully executing his responsibilities, what happens? By immersing oneself in the will of one’s master with one’s whole heart, one will be totally in tune with the master. That is, one will know the heart, mind and will of their master. He will know the desires of the master, how the master thinks and what the master wants him to do, and what the master wants him to do next. On this basis and from this spiritual launch pad, the servant can extend his faith and predict the will of the master—what the master wants him to do next, and then the servant can step out in faith and accomplish it, even if it requires a miracle to do so.

An example of stepping out in faith from the launch pad of faithfulness based on fulfilling Yeshua the Master’s will for his redeemed believers to expand the kingdom of heaven by sharing the gospel with others. In so doing, one will be walking hand-in-hand with the Master’s will to reverse the effects of the kingdom of darkness by healing the sick and casting demons out of oppressed people (Mark 16:15–18). In this manner, the kingdom of heaven is expanded one life at a time as per the heart and will of Yeshua. The preacher of the gospel should understand this correlation between faithfulness and miraculous faith, which is why after sharing the gospel with others, one can expect to heal the sick and cast demons out of the oppressed. 

It is really that simple; it is a matter of cause and effect. Faith-based miracles is the natural consequence of faithfulness to execute the Master’s will. If one does not see miracles in one’s life, perhaps it is because one is not being obedient to the will of their Master!

 

On Being a “Fool” for Yeshua—Saints: Come Out of the Closet! (Part 2)

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What Does It Really Mean to Be a “Fool” for Yeshua?

When it comes to being a “fool” for Yeshua, we need to ask ourselves some questions to more fully understand what’s behind such a radical concept. These questions included: Why were you born? What is you purpose in life? Why did YHVH Elohim, the Creator of all things, make you in his image? These are serious questions that few people pause long enough from the frenetic lives to which they are enslaved to ponder. Most people are so occupied living their daily routines, pursuing their dreams or just trying to survive that they never take the logical next step—a giant leap for many folks—and ask themselves these hard questions. The biblical answers to these questions is simple. You were created with in divine destiny. That is to replicate Elohim on this earth and to help expand his kingdom here below. Do you have an inner sense of this divine mission deep in your heart and mind? Sadly, most people do not. Acquiring this understanding, no, this passion, is a key to confronting the tidal wave of evil that is presently enveloping the globe as it endeavors to snuff out the last vestiges of light and Truth.

A Historical Overview

Back at the beginning in the book of Genesis in the garden, YHVH gave the first humans some marching orders which were instrumental in expanding his kingdom on earth. Critical to establishing the kingdom of Elohim was his command for man to get married and to procreate—to replicate himself (Gen 1:28; 2:24). Marriage and family is an essential building block of YHVH’s kingdom and to expanding it. Next, Elohim instructed the first man to make a home for his family and to have pets, that is, to tend and keep the garden and to take care of the animals in it (Gen 1:28; 2:15, 19). After that, YHVH instructed man to walk in his paths of righteousness by not eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge and by communing with his Creator on a personal level (Gen 2:17; 3:8). The weekly seventh day Sabbath, a day of physical rest, spiritual regeneration and relationship building, was instrumental in YHVH’s kingdom building plans as well (Gen 2:1–3). All of these instructions are fundamental to YHVH replicating his kingdom and government on this earth. But there’s more.

Not all families would teach their children and grandchildren the ways of Elohim. Down through the ages, many humans would be born into spiritual darkness and raise their children in it as well. This is because YHVH created humans to have the freedom to choose to follow him or not. Most have chosen the latter. 

To remedy this problem YHVH plucked a man called Abraham out of the spiritual darkness of ancient Babylonia and gave him the light of his Truth. He then gave Abraham many righteous offspring who were commissioned to take the light of that Truth to the nations of the world (Deut 4:5–8; Isa 49:6 cp. 60:1–3). This nation was called Israel, and YHVH placed that nation smack dab in the land of Canaan,which is geographically and strategically located where the trading routes of three continents all meet—Africa, Europe and Asia. Sadly, the nation of Israel failed in their divine-mandated evangelistic mission to spread the good news of the kingdom of Elohim to the surrounding nations. Elohim knew this would happen because he knows that humans are weak and sinful, so now he fell back on his main plan to evangelize the world—to send his only begotten Son to complete the mission.

Because humans failed in their mission to spread the good news of Elohim’s kingdom to their children, friends and neighbors and to the world, out of deep love for humanity, Elohim sent his only Son, Yeshua the Messiah, to raise up followers who, with the inner dynamo of his Set-Apart Spirit, would fulfill the mission that Adam and the descendants of Abraham failed to do. 

In preparation for the advent of the Messiah, YHVH sent John the Immerser to preach the message of “Repent [from sin] for the kingdom of Elohim is at hand” (Matt 3:2).  This gospel of the repenting of sin or lawlessness (i.e. Torahlessness, see 1 John 3:4) and coming under the rule of the kingdom of Elohim is the same message that Yeshua the Messiah preached (Matt 4:17, 23; Mark 1:15), and that he commissioned his disciples (then and now) to preach as well (Matt 10:7). This message of the kingdom of Elohim is the essence of Yeshua’s Great Commission command to his disciples to preach the gospel to all nations (Matt 28:18–20; Mark 16:15–18). To fulfill this commission was Yeshua’s last command to his disciples before he ascended to heaven (Acts 1:8), and that command still stands to this day and applies to all disciples of Yeshua including you and me. These were last marching orders of the saints’ Commander and Chief, the Captain of Our Salvation before he left this earth, and these orders still stand!

At the same time, the demonic spirit of Antichrist is in direct opposition to the advancement of the YHVH’s kingdom on this earth. Satan the opposer and adversary to Elohim and his kingdom has been at his game from the beginning, since he manifested himself as a snake in a tree in the garden to oppose the will and commands of the Creator. This is why these evil forces are so opposed to marriage, family, the people of Israel, Yeshua the Messiah and the Bible and its followers. This is because Satan is the god of this world, and he is the ruler of all of its kingdoms. He knows that his time is short, that his gig as the ruler of this world is almost up, and that Yeshua the Messiah is about to return to destroy his kingdom—called Babylon the Great—and to capture and imprison him for eternity. Until then, Satan is pulling out all of the stops to prevent the kingdom of Elohim and its King—Yeshua the Messiah and his followers—from replacing him.

Enter the Great Commission

So where does that leave you and me in this cosmic struggle between good and evil, between the kingdom of Elohim and the kingdom of Satan? What is our divine mandate as obedient disciples of Yeshua?

On the table before us is the last set of orders that Yeshua, or Commander and Chief, the Captain of our salvation handed down to us. 

Continue reading →
 

Preach Messiah first and then the Torah (not vice versa)!

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Acts 11:20, Preaching the Lord Yeshua. Yeshua instructed his disciples that if he be lifted up (John 12:32), all men would be drawn to him. This, of course, is a not so oblique prophetic reference to the method by which he would be killed, that is, by crucifixion, but is also a double entrendre referring to the subject matter and method that his disciples were to use when preaching the gospel. 

Notice, Yeshua didn’t say to preach the Torah-law of Moses per se. Rather, preach about him. 

Of course, when preaching about Yeshua, it automatically will follow that people will come into a loving and heartfelt compliance with the Written Torah because of their love for Yeshua, the Living Torah (John 14:15, 21) and their desire to know him and to imitate his perfect and beautiful life (1 John 2:3–6).

 

Mark 16:15–18: In or Out of the Bible?

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Mark 16:9–20, The Great Commission. Many modern scholars call into question the genuineness of these last twelve verses. For a discussion on whether these verses of Mark’s Gospel should be included in the Bible, see E. W. Bullinger’s (1837-1913) The Companion Bible (appendix 168).

Bullinger states that the two oldest Greek manuscripts of the Testimony of Yeshua (from the fourth century) don’t contain these verses. On the other hand, more than six hundred other Greek manuscripts do contain them as do the oldest Syriac manuscript known as the Peshitto (which Bullinger believes is from the second century) and the Curetonian Syriac (from the third century). He notes that Jerome when translating the Bible into Latin (The Vulgate, A.D. 382) had access to Greek manuscripts older than any now extant,which is why he included these twelve verses in his Bible. Additionally, he notes that the Gothic Version (A.D. 350), the Coptic (fourth or fifth century), the Armenian (fifth century), Ethiopic (fourth to seventh centuries) and Georgian (sixth century) versions all contain these last twelve verses. Bullinger goes on to say that there are nearly one hundred ecclesiastical writers before the oldest extant Greek manuscripts who attest to the authenticity of these verses. Moreover, between A.D. 300 and 600 there are about two hundred more writers who do.

Bullinger gives two reasons why he believes these verses may have been omitted from several of the oldest Greek NT manuscripts. After the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 extending forward one hundred years, there is a complete blank regarding the history of the early church and a complete silence about this era from Christian writers. Therefore, no one knows what was going on in the church during this period including whether such signs and wonders as enumerated in these last verses in Mark’s Gospel were still occurring. He speculates that when later translators came to the last twelve verses of Mark and saw no trace of these spiritual gifts currently being manifested in the church (in the fourth century), some marked them as doubtful, spurious or even omitted them altogether. This same doubt has been passed on to modern scholars.

 

New Video: A College Student on Friendship Evangelism

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How do we do the great commission of preaching the good news of the kingdom to those around us? This video gives some helpful tips on friendship evangelism—how to gently share the gospel with those around you.