Jesus Commands Us to Go!
In the days of Paul and Peter, ‘go ye into all the world’ was not an option or a semi-retirement plan once their own pursuits were dried up, it was their life, it was their passion. ‘To live was Christ and to die was gain.’ There were few options at this level of commitment. It was all or nothing. They had signed the dotted line of self-sacrifice and they understood there was no turning back, they had placed their hand to the plough and they knew what it meant to be ‘fit for the Kingdom of God.’ When they walked away from family and career to follow the Nazarene, they knew that there was no turning back. They had went through the veil of selfishness and entered the realm of selflessness. They had put on Christ.
They were missionaries; they were ‘ambassadors of Christ.’ Sent ones, apostles, disciples. They knew only two words, ‘Follow Me…’ Their creed echoed the words of Christ, ‘…deny yourself, and take up your cross…’ There was no multiple choice, they had counted the cost and the conclusion was simple, EVERYTHING. It was no longer ‘I’ that lived; it was only Christ, ‘and the life they now lived in the flesh they lived unto the Son of God that had died for them.’ In their mortal bodies abided the Spirit that had raised Him from the dead, they could not be stopped. ‘Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed…’ The fire of their passion could not be quenched; death would only stoke the flames of their Message. They could not be bought, and when threatened, they prayed and the place where they stood was shaken.
Today the level of commitment goes no further than the church doors. The cries of salvation are rarely heard in the market places anymore. We have boxed it up and packaged it in pretty paper, it has a ‘form of godliness but denies the power’ from whence it came. Pentecost has become perfumed instead of seasoned with fire. The Acts of the Apostles has been reassembled to appear to be a performance rather than His power to save and set free from the grip of sin and hell. The sinner continues on his perilous journey while the church has prematurely abandoned the altars of repentance and salvation. We preach wealth as the world dies in unparalleled poverty and misery. The world cries out for Jesus as we busy ourselves with pleasure and selfish pursuits. The masses march to the sound of church bells that never sound the alarm of death and hell.
My prayer is this, God give us a New Testament Church once again! A place where the preacher cries for souls more than he pleads for money! Where the prophets no longer ‘prophesy for hire’, but only desire to see His Bride rise in awesome ‘signs and wonders’ to usher in this great harvest of souls! Remove, if you must, this monopoly of ministries that hoard the wealth that You had meant for missions. Take away the buildings that build their own Kingdoms and ignore Yours. Tear down these lofty towers of pride that reach and reach and never touch the streets with Your compassion. That have become willingly ignorant of Your words, ‘Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature… And make disciples of all nations…’
Forgive us for our selfish ambition that overlooks the publican and the harlot but seeks out the rich and the wealthy. O Lord we are backslidden! We have forgotten your commandments! We have left our ‘first love.’ We have ceased to do the first works! We have forgotten that You hide Yourself in the faces of the ‘least of our brethren.’ That when we touch them, we touch You. Lord, open our eyes to the world all around us. Open our hearts to the ones that lay wasted, emancipated and beg for alms at the city gate. Let us offer not only our money, but the power of Your Spirit to say to them, ‘RISE UP AND WALK!’ O Lord restore to Your ministers a passion for prayer that they will emerge with a message for these last days. Let us come down from the Mount of Transfiguration with a revelation of Jesus Christ. O LORD SET US FREE FROM THE OCEAN OF RED TAPE THAT DROWNS YOUR CHURCH IN LEGALISM AND TRADITIONALISM. FREE US FROM THAT SIN THAT SO EASILY BESETS US CALLED RELIGION. PIOUS BUT POWERLESS.
God has called us to be His ambassadors! His missionaries! God forbid we stand before Him someday with the same excuses as they did when they were invited to the wedding feast! ‘I have married a wife!’ ‘I must tend to my field!’ ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen!’ Only the words of Paul will give entrance into Heaven! ‘I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith…’
The resume of the apostles was not seminaries or degrees, but rather scourging and beatings, rods and stoning. They were men and women that had ‘suffered the loss of all things that they could gain Christ.’
Ministry was not a form of gain or prosperity, but suffering and long nights in the deep! They ‘carried the scars of Christ…’ They knew what it meant to ‘be abased and to abound.’ They had gained the wisdom of their Master, ‘to be content with whatsoever state they were in.’ They were slaves of grace chained to Christ… God give us a thousand times a thousand times a thousand such saints! Marked by your love and grace, that have come from the mount and seen Your face, that are determined to finish this race! (Luke 14:16-24)
A vanguard of men, women, and children are rising from the obscurity of church to storm the earth with His love and power! Escaping from the confines of religion and tradition, to give even their lives in the fields so white and heavy with souls. Many of His children in the coming days will leave family, friends and home, to never be seen again on this side of Heaven, to be poured out as a drink offering for their Lord. He will send them Himself. The only ordination they will carry is His Holy Spirit. The only validation, His power. They will echo the words of Apostle Paul, ‘But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel preached of me is not after man, for I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, BUT BY THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST…’ (Galatians 1:10-12)
They will stand in front of the skeptics with the words of Isaiah, ‘The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because THE LORD HAS ANOINTED ME TO PREACH good tiding to the poor, HE HAS SENT ME to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound…’ They may be cast out, but they will in no way be forgotten. They may be despised and envied now, but in eternity will their words and deeds be recorded. A greater requirement is coming upon the Church in this hour. All of our resources: land, buildings, and wealth, will be for the saving of souls and reaching the nations. An introverted church will become an Open Door of provision and power. Time is too short to ‘build bigger barns.’ There is no retirement for the saint of God! Only to be ‘offered up as a living sacrifice,’ ‘broken and contrite, which the Lord will not despise…’ These are the days He is calling for missionaries and ambassadors, preachers and teachers, to take His power to the ends of the earth. JESUS STILL COMMANDS US TO GO!
Here am I, Send me…
O Lord, here am I, send me…
I offer up my life as drink offering.
Like David, to be poured out like water,
To desire nothing but the will of My Father…
O Lord, here am I, send me…
To help those in darkness, finally see.
To set the captives free
Grant pardon to those in captivity…
O Lord, here am I, send me…
I pledge my head to Heaven,
To the lowly help me condescend,
To the poor I will be a friend…
Here am I, send me!
I will go when others flee!
To the alleys and the streets!
O Lord! Here am I! Send me!
ChChad Taylor
chadtaylor@consumingfire.com