Acts’ Missionary Means
Evangelism is Spiritual Movement
January 2024
Every passage which depicts the Great Commission’s charge bears the full meaning of every other passage. Jesus emphasizes its mandate in Matthew—evangelism in the fullest sense. In Mark, he expresses its magnitude showing evangelism’s focus. In Luke, he clarifies its message—the facts of evangelism. In John, he gives the model—the uniqueness of the figure he provided. All of these are adopted when we come to the means by which missions is accomplished. Luke records the final words of Jesus before his ascension: “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me.” Acts 1:8a
Please note that where every other charge comes as a conclusion to a Gospel account, this final one comes as the commencement of the Church’s activity. The grandeur of that is that before the church was planted in Acts 2, the followers of Christ were under the yoke of the Torah in the Jewish discipleship model with Christ as their Rabbi who was born under the law and his followers as Talmidim…that is “Teacher and disciple.” The purpose of this relationship was two-fold: to call the nation of Israel to “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,” and to prepare for Israel’s rejection of her Messiah so that the age of the Church could begin. For the commission to “Go only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” to end and a NEW commission to “Go ye into all the world” to begin, the “old” had to be fulfilled and the “new” had to be inaugurated. New wine could not be put in old wineskins and a new covenant could not be established until the old was ready to be removed. When Christ was rejected and subsequently resurrected, the New Covenant began, and their Rabbi, or teacher, would ascend. After Christ’s ascension, He sent a NEW teacher, the Comforter, to indwell them for a new work for which God had been preparing from ages past—a mystery unveiled (Eph.3:1-12)! For the first time in the history of the world, The Holy Spirit of God would abide within his disciples, baptizing them into his spiritual body, and giving them the same spiritual victory he had achieved through his death, burial, and resurrection (Rom. 6:1-7). The Holy Spirit’s presence within us as our New Covenant’s teacher is under the headship of our new commission’s shepherd—Jesus Christ. Yet the presence of the Spirit is what gives the local New Testament church the means to evangelize…the spiritual means to accomplish missions.
Some mark the day of Pentecost as the day the church merely received her power for ministry, but she was planted at some earlier point under the old covenant. This is a theological conundrum on multiple levels. Instead, we see the disciples were preparing for the church under their Rabbi, but they themselves became the church after it was planted at Pentecost. That’s when the presence of the Spirit of Christ began to indwell a humble group of 120 missionaries!
The means by which Missions must move onward so the church marches forward can only be a spiritual one. One which began at Pentecost and continues even today. A carnal church that moves forward may do so for God, but it does not do so by God. May the means of our mission’s movement in 2024 be spiritual that it might yield a spiritual harvest in the regions beyond.
Praying, Pleading & Plodding,
GFF General Director