GreatCommission

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(Mk 16:15-20) Great Commission and 7 Prophetic churches (Rev 1-3))
A.D 100 300 600 1500 1900 200? Antichrist
Commission: Ephesus Smyrna Pergamos Thyatira Sardis Philadelphia Laodicea

Luke 9:1-6
1 Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases.
2 And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick.
3 And he said unto them, Take nothing for your journey, neither staves, nor scrip, neither bread, neither money; neither have two coats apiece.
4 And whatsoever house ye enter into, there abide, and thence depart.
5 And whosoever will not receive you, when ye go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet for a testimony against them.
6 And they departed, and went through the towns, preaching the gospel, and healing every where.

The Apostle Paul; Philip the Evangelist: Stephan that waited on tables

Acts 14:7 (Paul)
7 And there they preached the gospel.
8 And there sat a certain man at Lystra, impotent in his feet, being a cripple from his mother's womb, who never had walked:
9 The same heard Paul speak: who steadfastly beholding him, and perceiving that he had faith to be healed,
10 Said with a loud voice, Stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped and walked.
Acts 8:5-8 (Philip the evangelist)
5 Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them.
6 And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did.
7 For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them: and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed.
8 And there was great joy in that city.
Acts 6:8 (Stephan)
8 And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people.

As saved Christians we must receive power from the resurrected Christ first before we can do any great miracles in His Name.

Jesus was born of the Spirit but did no miracles till he was baptized by John. John saw the Holy Spirit come upon Jesus as a dove and then led Jesus into the wilderness for 40 days to pray and fast and be tempted of the devil. When those 40 days expired Jesus began his public ministry full of the power of the Holy Spirit and began to destroy the works of the devil. Everywhere Jesus preached the gospel, He manifested the power and authority of the Kingdom of God by healing the sick of all types of sickness and disease, casting out devils, making the blind to see and the deaf to hear, and even bringing the dead back to life. This same pattern that Jesus followed was now to be repeated among His faithful followers after the resurrection which numbered about 120 (Acts 1:15). Jesus said to his followers before He ascended into heaven for them not to go preaching the gospel until first they were baptized in the Holy Spirit in which they would receive power after the Holy Spirit came upon them. The 120 were already saved and had the Holy Spirit in them, but like Jesus, they needed the Holy Spirit to come upon them with power.

Acts 1:4,5,8,9
4 And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me.
5 For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.
8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
9 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.

Day of Pentecost

Acts 2 - 10 days later after Jesus ascended into heaven it was the feast of Pentecost and the gift of the power of the Holy Spirit Jesus promised now came upon the 120 and the church age began. Peter stood up to explain the baptism of the Holy Spirit to all those that were attending the feast of Pentecost and Peter extends the experience of the gift of the baptism of the Holy Spirit (vs 38, 39) to their children and to all afar off (those in other nations and countries) and to whosoever is saved and asks.

Acts 2:1-47
1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
5 And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.
6 Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language.
7 And they were all amazed and marveled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans?
8 And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?
9 Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia,
10 Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and Proselytes,
11 Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.
12 And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this?
13 Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine.
14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words:
15 For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.
16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;
17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:
19 And I will show wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke:
20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:
21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
22 Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:
23 Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:
24 Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.
25 For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved:
26 Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope:
27 Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
28 Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance.
29 Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and
his sepulchre is with us unto this day.
30 Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne;
31 He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.
32 This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.
33 Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.
34 For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand,
35 Until I make thy foes thy footstool.
36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.
37 Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?
38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.
40 And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation.
41 Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.
42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
43 And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.
44 And all that believed were together, and had all things common;
45 And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.
46 And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,
47 Praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

How to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit

When you receive Christ as your personal savior the Holy Spirit comes and dwells within you as evidence of the gift of salvation - you are born again. When you receive the gift of the Holy Spirit you receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit as your own and as part of your inheritance in Christ (Eph 1:13,14). Just like you get all wet when you are water baptized and there is no doubt you were immersed, so is the experience when the Lord baptizes (immerses) you in to the Person of the Holy Spirit. You will be covered from head to toe with the power of the Holy Spirit. Notice the 3 manifestations that occurred when the 120 were baptized in Acts 2:4. Their spirit was filled with power; their soul (mind, emotions and will) was filled with God's fire (His fervent warm emotional caring love); and their bodies spoke in tongues (different languages that they never spoke before). The speaking in tounges is the outward supernatural evidence of the Holy Spirit being in control of their spirit and not their natural mind or self (soul). This is a fulfillment of Jeus own words saying that those that believe will speak in new tounges (Mark 16:17). By new tounges is meant a language that one never spoke prior to this experience. Over the heads of the 120 appeared tongues of fire. This was an appropriate symbol the Holy Spirit displayed because this is exactly what happened to their tounge. God filled their human spirit with the Holy Spirt which overflowed to the soul which in turn overflowed to the body expressing itself through the tongue of the body in utterance. God put their tounges on fire to witness about the Lord. This was how the Gospel began to be preached by the disciples - by word of mouth - tounges on fire. They did not have radio, television or the internet. Jesus said you shall receive power and be witnesses of me. Jesus witnessed about His Father and the kingdom of God by what He spoke and the signs He did. When God can get a hold of your tongue He has control of you. The tongue may be a small organ but it can say a whole lot. It can be used for blessing or cursing. This baptism in the Holy Spirit experience can happen to anyone who seeks to be baptized with part of their inheritance after been born into the family of God - they can ask and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. They too can be on fire and be filled with power like the 120 and be a witness for the Lord. Following Acts 2, it is hard to find a page in the book of Acts that covers the first 40 years of the history of the church where the disciples were not doing miracles and healings, fasting and praying. Other scriptures where saved believers received the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:17-21, 9:17, 10:38-48, 19:1-6). A study of the manifestations of the Holy Spirit can be found in 1 Corinthians 12, 14. They preached the gospel of the kingdom and souls were being saved and added to the church daily. We are to continue the great commission as long as the church age goes on. In Matthew 3:11, John the Baptist spoke of the baptism of the Holy Spirit been done by one greater than himself and different from water baptism which he did and then introduced Jesus. Speaking of Jesus John said Jesus would baptize the believer with the Holy Ghost and fire (God's burning love)

Matthew 3:11
11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:

Mark 16:15-20
16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
19 � So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.
20 And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.

The Great Commission
Mark 16:15-20 15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. 17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; 18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. 19 So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. 20 And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.
Jesus and the apostles demonstrate the great commission by example
Matt 4:23, 24 23 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. 24 And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatic, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them.	Matt 9:35 35 And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. Matt 11:4,5 4 Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and show John again those things which ye do hear and see: 5 The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.