The Great Commission and the 21st Century Church — Keith Malcomson

The Great Commission in Matthew 28 and Acts 1

Praise the Lord. I want you to turn with me here this morning to Matthew and chapter 28, the last chapter of Matthew's gospel. We're continuing with the 21st century church. I believe there are many scriptures written very clearly that depict what the church is going to look like in the last generation at the end, just before Jesus comes back.

This is not just applying all of scripture to us at the end, but I believe they reveal something very notable about the last church or the last chapter of church history. When you begin to read Acts chapter 1, you begin into the beginning of the early history of the church, and yet we read a very remarkable thing in Acts chapter 1.

This was at the end of Jesus being on the earth for 40 days, physically in his resurrected body, with a small remnant of the church that were going to be his vessel upon the earth. And listen to what it says concerning those last 40 days that Christ was with them in the midst of them.

It says in Acts chapter 1 and verse 2, "...until the day in which he was taken up. After that he, through the Holy Ghost, had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen, to whom also he showed himself alive after his passion or after his death by many infallible proofs and speaking the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.".

Now it says here clearly that during those last 40 days that Christ was with the apostles and with the disciples, and he gave them during that time many commandments, and in fact he spoke many things pertaining to the kingdom of God.

Now all through my Christian life I have heard many say, we wish that it was written down what he spoke to the disciples during those 40 days. We wish we were there. We wish we knew all of this teaching during those last 40 days when he was doing miracles and giving them specific commands.

Do you know we do know, and in fact in five distinct places we have clear commands that were given during that 40 days that are utterly unique. We're not left in the dark as to what the teaching of the kingdom of God was, or these commands were to the disciples, and that's what we're going to deal with here this morning, and I hope and pray that your hearts will be opened by the grace of God.

This is part 11 of our message on the 21st century church, and this is my title here this morning, The Great Commission on the 21st Century Church. Will you pray with me? Sorry, we're going to read and then you can pray with me, but Matthew chapter 28, reading from verse 16.

Then the 11 disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them, and when they saw him they worshipped him, but some doubted, and Jesus came and speak unto them all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and lo I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.

Amen. Father we thank you for the word of God, the clarity of it, and Father these things that you instructed the disciples in during those 40 days in your resurrected bodies, doing many miracles, many signs that could not be argued against or disputed or disproved.

Father I pray that those clear commands, those clear teachings that you imparted as the kingdom of God, clear commands that you gave to the apostles and to the early church. Father I pray that you'd open them up, reveal them, make them very clear, and Lord God inscribe them in our heart, that we would never be free of these words, that these words would dominate this church, dominate the preaching in this pulpit, dominate the evangelism, dominate our life and work and home and family in this city.

We bless you and we praise you and we ask of you by the power of your Holy Spirit that you'd inscribe them and write them upon our heart in Jesus' mighty name. Amen. Here in Matthew 28 what we've just read has become well known in the church as the Great Commission.

The Great Commission as the Church’s Marching Orders

My message is the Great Commission and the 21st century church. I believe without the Great Commission we have no future in this century. I believe we've got to rediscover the Great Commission again in this decade of this century.

I believe it's vital to the health, the wealth, and prosperity of the church and I'm not talking about the prosperity message, I'm talking about the normal healthy function of the New Testament church.

I believe the Great Commission, I'm persuaded of this, is mostly forgotten, neglected, not taught, not even understood, not believed, and certainly is not expounded in the teaching of the church of this generation.

We're going to see that the Great Commission was the church's marching orders. It was the last command of Christ on earth to the church and believe me, he doesn't like his orders changed. The church of our generation changes it, reinvents the commission, or tries to organize, strategize, invent something unique that no other church has.

I'm going to tell you that's a fallacy, that is a heresy, and it's very dangerous. We have one Great Commission, we have one last command of the Lord Jesus Christ. It was a divine command, it was from God, not a human institution, not a human headquarters, not a denomination.

My headquarters is not in Rome, neither is it in Beaumont, London, Dublin, or anywhere else. I tell you there's only one HQ for the real church, and it's at the right hand of the Father. His name is the Lord Jesus Christ.

He is the head of the church, he commissions the church, he lives in the church, and he goes forth to work with the church. Jesus Christ placed the entire responsibility of world evangelization upon the shoulders of a small band of believers who had all failed him at some point.

They fell asleep in the prayer meeting, they ran when persecuted, they stumbled in obedience, and yet Christ lays upon them the full weight and responsibility to go and reach all nations with the gospel.

If they fail, the church fails, and the commission fails, and Christ fails in his work, and yet he lays upon the small band in Jerusalem. It's your responsibility to reach every single nation, every creature, in every single generation until I return again.

Would you have chosen this band? Would you have chosen Thomas for this great task? Would you have chosen Peter, who's just denied you three times, even with curse and oaths, to a little maid who said, I know you're one of those Galileans, I recognize your accent, I know you're one of his band, and yet he said, I don't know him.

Would you have chosen a Peter? Would you have chosen a John? Would you have chosen the likes of these to begin to be the vessel, the instrument of the great commission? If we are sensible, we wouldn't, and yet Christ chose them, and he commissioned them to preach the gospel to all nations.

The Missionary Character of the Early Church

In the beginning, the first century, or in the book of Acts, the church was a mission society. It actually moved cooperatively as a unified body under the instructions of the great commission. They actually believed this commission, acted upon it, prayed according to it, and stepped out believing that Christ would be there with power.

The early church added to its numbers mainly by the life and the speech of its individual rank-and-file normal members that sat in the church, men, women, children, old, young. That was the body of Christ.

The early church was a missionary church. Its vision came from the great commission. Its actions came from the great commission. All of its ministry poured out of the great commission. Each local church had a worldwide vision, not just a local vision.

Each local church, each of the five ministries that God ordained in the church, not just the apostle, not just the missionary, not just an evangelist, every ministry in the local church was consumed with the great commission.

They had an awareness this was the command of Christ to every member of the church, to every church wherever it's established, to every generation. Now when we come to the Bible, we find the great commission given five distinct clear times.

We find it at the end of each of the four gospels. The gospel never finishes until Christ gives a clear commission to the church. Then the book of Acts church history does not begin without the great commission being given at the beginning of it.

And so we have five statements of the great commission written by four different men at four different times. Now listen now, there's five distinct records of the commission but two of these speak of one of the times which means there's four occasions that Christ actually specifically gave the commission.

The Four Post-Resurrection Commission Settings

When did Christ give the commission? It was during these 40 days. The first time he gives it is on the first of those 40 days at the beginning of the 40 days at his resurrection. When he first appeared alive, he gave the commission.

40 days later when he's about to ascend to heaven, he again gives the commission. So from beginning to end, his command is the great commission. As soon as he rose from the dead, he commissioned them.

As soon as he's about to leave them, he commissions them. I believe this is the dominating message of the 40 days of Jesus Christ. Let me just point out briefly to you these four incidents in the time scale because I'm going to go to the five records of it and simply expound them to you.

But I'm not going to do them in time scale sequence. But I'm going to give you the time sequence now very briefly before we go to them. First of all, on that first day after Christ's resurrection, it was at Jerusalem on the day of his resurrection and he appeared unto the 10 disciples.

You remember Thomas wasn't there. Judas had committed suicide and they were yet to appoint someone to replace him. So the 10 were gathered there and scripture says that many others, many other men, many other women were also there when Christ revealed himself.

That was the first commission and it's given in Luke 24 and in John 20. Those two incidents of Luke 24 and John 20 happen at the same time, in the same place, though they're in two different books, given in two different ways.

That is the first commission at the beginning of the 40 days. The second time happens one week later. And notice these first two times were on Sunday, the first day of the week. The first time he meets with them is on the first day of the week, the day of his resurrection.

They're all gathered together. He meets with them and he commissions them. One week later, it's again the Sunday. He didn't meet with them on the two first Sabbaths. He met with them on the first two Sundays.

So the second time was eight days, sorry, seven days later and the 11 were there. Now Thomas is actually in the midst. This is recorded in Mark chapter 16 and John chapter 20 at the beginning of it. The third time he appears unto the 11 on the mount of, let me say that again, he appears to the 11 on a mountain in Galilee.

You find this in Matthew 28 where we've just read. So this is the third time in a 40 day period that he appears to them and gives them a clear commission. And this was most likely when above 500 brethren saw him.

That's recorded in 1 Corinthians 15 and 6. So many others are there when Christ is commissioned them, not just the 11, not just the apostles, but it was many other believers. And then the fourth and last time we find an Acts chapter one and verse 12.

And this happens on the mount of Olives at the time of his ascension. And so from this you see four specific occasions that he gives a clear commission that we now call the joint together great commission for the church.

One Commission for Every Christian and Every Church

You see, I've lived my entire life from a child here in the church. What is your vision for your life? What is your gift and what is your calling? And I've never heard the right answer yet. And then for churches all through my life, I'm sick to death with it.

Each church has a special, unique vision that's like no one else. Well, God spoke to me and this is the vision for our church. What's the vision for your church? And what's the vision for your ministry?

I actually believe most of this is confusion. There is one commission. There is one vision. There is one calling on the church. It is absolutely clear. And this ought to be the drumbeat to the church of the Jesus Christ.

Whether you're an apostle, an evangelist or a pastor, whether we as a local church or in Limerick or Australia or Canada or India or Africa, it doesn't matter. There is one condition. There's one commission.

Culture doesn't affect that. Money doesn't affect that. Numbers don't affect that. There is one commission. It doesn't matter your personal circumstance. You have got one dominating command. And saints, can I ask you, are you carrying the great commission in your heart?

Do you know it? Do you believe it? Do you love it? Does it drive your calling in your home raising kids? Do you know this great commission affects a mother raising children at home? Do you realize that it affects you in the workplace?

No matter what your work is, whether in chemistry or school education, this great commission ought to affect that. It doesn't matter what your ministry in the church is, whether I'm to stand here and teach the word of God week in, week out, or you're to stand on the high street to stand up on a Saturday afternoon and to preach the gospel.

All of this is the great commission. The great commission isn't limited to telling someone, the ABC, you must be born again. That is not the great commission. That is only a part of it. The great commission is not becoming a missionary to go to Africa, although I think England needs it more than Africa today, or to Asia, or to the Amazon jungle.

We think the great commission, I'm fulfilling the great commission. I'll go to the Amazon jungle. Do you realize that is another misunderstanding of the great commission when you put it afar off to a unique ministry or position or something that doesn't affect your life here and now?

Let me, in the light of that, bring you to these five clear statements about the great commission. This commission is personally to you. You are not free from it. If you're born again, this is Christ's only commission to you.

You may do many different unique things. You may have a unique aspect within that, but there's only one overriding commission. You must not change that. You must not neglect it. And one day, Christ is going to say, did you fulfill it?

It could be to lead one soul to Christ, or it could be to evangelize an entire nation. But you will be asked, mothers, Christ is going to say, did you fulfill the great commission with those children, with those grandchildren?

Do you realize it's for them? You know that we had someone come in here once trying to drag people out to send them to another country. Kind of spoke to them and said, what about the children? What about your family?

Why would the Holy Spirit ever send you to another nation when you've got children and grandchildren and family who have yet to meet the Lord Jesus Christ? You see, that is a misunderstanding of the great commission.

The Commission at the End of the Age

My mom poured into me more than any preacher ever could have. Number one, my five points here on the great commission. Number one, the commission at the end of age. I want to apply it to this hour, not just church history, not just the early church of the 21st century.

I believe this commission is uniquely going to come with power again at the end of the age. I believe it's for this time. It's for you in this church. It's for everyone that listens to this video. This is a unique hour.

And in fact, the Bible shows us the great commission is going to be fulfilled in this hour. And so my first point, looking at Matthew chapter 28, and we're going to go to each of these verses, the commission at the end of the age, Matthew 28, we read that it took place in Galilee upon a mountainside.

In verse 17, it says that they saw him and they worshipped him. Look at the environment this comes in, that the disciples are seeing him alive, seeing him raised. Do you know if you see Christ raised from the dead?

I mean, if you see him alive, if he is a living Christ to you, you are going to hear this great commission. You're going to know it's for you. You're going to hear the words of his lips and love them.

To worship Christ means to hear the great commission. Don't think you can worship Christ with soft music and with tunes and with instruments and say the great commission isn't for me. That is a fallacy.

That is wrong. If you're a true worshipper of God, you are caught up in the great commission of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is without doubt. And it says, but some doubted. They worshipped, but some doubted.

There's always doubters there. And yet Christ gave the great commission in that environment. It doesn't matter what you're struggling with this morning. You may say, I'm just struggling to stand. I'm just struggling against sin.

Well, I'm going to preach the great commission to you. You may have doubts here this morning. You may have fears here this morning. You may have problems here this morning, but I'm like Christ going to preach to you the great commission.

It is so clear and beautiful. And Jesus came and speak on them. Oh, the Christ would come here right now and speak to you and listen to what he says. This is the commission. All power is given unto me in heaven and earth.

The word power there is not dunamis, but it's exousia. It is authority or the right or the responsibility. It was given to the Lord Jesus Christ. All power, all authority. Do you know who gave it to him?

It was his heavenly father gave him the power. You need to realize what the authority is behind the great commission, who sent it, who gave it, where is the power behind it, or the exousia. If a guard walks in here this morning, I don't treat him like some drunkard off the streets.

I go, there's an authority. There's a legal power. There's a responsibility. If he works within that, I listen to him. If he's within the law, I listen to him. But if it's some drunkard off the streets comes in here and tries to say, I'm going to arrest you, I assure you, we're going to have something to say about it.

We say, you've got no authority. It's not your responsibility. You've got no rights. Well, you know what the great commission starts with is the power or the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. In verse 19, it says, Go ye therefore.

Go ye. When Christ gives the commission and sends the church, it's on the basis of him having all power. Who are you to command us? I've been given all power, all authority, all dominion over everything in heaven and earth.

I have the power. Therefore, I'm commissioning you. If you hear these words this morning, if you realize the power behind this, the authority, you say, I'm not standing here delivering my own message.

That's why I preach with authority. That's why the Bible says they said of Christ that they were amazed that he preached with such authority, not like the Pharisees. Do you know I'm not preaching my own messages, my own pet doctrines.

I stand here with authority. You know why? I know who commissioned me. I know who gave the message and I'm able to stand here with great authority. Go ye therefore and teach all nations. Look for a second, the context of this entire commission that we're dealing with here.

It says at the end of verse 20, and lo, I am with you all way even unto the end of the world. The end of the world. The commission of Matthew 28 given to the church 2 ,000 years ago. It has a clause. It's brief.

It's short. It's sharp. And yet connected to this is this little statement. I am with you always. Although I'm at the right hand of the father, I am with the church to fulfill the great commission. If you want this church to have Christ in the midst, let's fulfill the great commission.

If you want Christ to be in your home, your workplace, to go with you in the car, I believe that if you hear this great commission and that you give yourself to be a part of it, you're going to find I am with you always.

Doesn't matter the circumstance. It doesn't matter if it's 2 ,000 years later. And he gives you the extent of this, even unto the end of the world. The end of the world doesn't mean when everything stops existing.

It's talking about the age, the end of the age. The word end there means the entire completion, the consummation, the finale, the end of all things. And so Christ in giving the commission, even before they began to fulfill it 2 ,000 years ago in Jerusalem, before they began on it, he actually gives you an insight to the end of the age, the very last generation, just before Jesus comes back again, just before it's fulfilled.

And you know what he says? I'm going to be with you to fulfill this, even until the very final age, the end of all things. I believe the great commission is given in the context of Bible prophecy, as well as many other things.

Here you have the first commission written in the New Testament for us, and it's very, very explicit. All authority is given to me, therefore I send you. And that's the same for the end of the age. The church at the end of the age needs to discover this, that Christ with all authority has sent you to preach the gospel.

In fact, he says here, teach all nations. I command you to go. What are you going to do when you go? You're going to teach all nations. This commission is given to every church, every Christian, and we're to have a worldwide vision.

Our vision in this church is not just Limerick. It's not just Munster. It's not just Ireland. It's not just Europe. We have a worldwide vision. And this preacher has carried a worldwide vision from a child.

From a young child, I had a global vision, a worldwide vision. I always said the world is my parish. I'm not restricted to a country, a continent, a certain language. The world is my home. I can go anywhere to preach this gospel.

When the church begins to realize we may be small, insignificant in this world, and yet we have a global vision. We have a generational vision. I'm not restricted to one era of church history. Thank God we're not restricted to the book of Acts, and it all happened back there.

And maybe it all happened in the 20th century. And God help you that live in the last generation. No more revivals, no more missionary endeavors, no more great engathering of souls. You see, there's some in the church belief there's no more revival.

It's all over. I don't believe that. The great commission is given to the last generation, just as it was to the first generation. You need a go. You need a go. Notice it doesn't say, stay in the church and pray.

It will bring more glory. An elder in Scotland once told me this. He said, you know what? It brings far more glory to God. If we stay in the church and pray, and he just sovereignly brings in all the souls.

That's what he said. An old elder in the church who'd been around far, far too long, I want to tell you. And you know what immediately I said? I said, isn't it funny that in the Bible, it doesn't say to do that.

Jesus gave a commission. Go, go. You are not justified in this church to sit here, to fossilize, to grow moss on the soles of your feet, to have cobwebs grow over your ears. You have got no right to do that and expect God to do some unique miracle.

Send revival God to rescue us from this terrible state. You have been given a command, a simple command, a command for the first century, a command for the last century. The 21st century, I believe is the last century of church history.

And so you're given a command to go, not to stay and pray. All of you are given the command to go. I don't know how that works out, but you are going to have to discover that. What does that mean? Teach all nations.

The word teach there means to disciple. He didn't say make converts, make a decision, persuade someone there is a God. Say a sinner's prayer with someone and then you don't see them ever again. He didn't say to do that.

He said, go teach. So it's not just evangelism. It's far bigger than that. He said, go teach. That's a lifetime process. You, the church are given a commission to go preach the gospel, to teach it. That means to lay it out.

There is a difference between preaching and teaching. You're to lay out the word of God. You are to instruct people. What is a disciple? It's someone with the cross. Remember how Jesus defined it. If you would be my follower, if you want to be a disciple, deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me.

You know what that is? That's a lifetime work. And so, first of all, we see the great commission isn't about just getting people saved. Don't limit it to that. To have people merely making decisions is not what we're about.

It's not even regeneration where they're really converted. The great commission is to see people born again, but not to fossilize, not to stand still, not to become static, but then to take them on, teach them to become disciples, teach them in the word of God, bring them to maturity, bring them to the place where they're walking with Christ, denying themselves with a cross on their shoulder.

And look, it begins to explain this, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. That's the first action of a disciple when you get born again. If you know that God has saved you, then the first act of discipleship, this is what you do at the beginning, is to be baptized in water.

And I know at least one person here is going to make a beeline for me at the end and say, you said this morning, you need to baptize me. I know that. But here you have, it's the first act of discipleship.

If you're born again, you need baptized in water in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. In other words, with the authority of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Father gave all power to the Son to give the commission to the church.

And you know what? Every time someone is added as a disciple, they should be baptized in water, in the authority, the name of the Father, and the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you.

You know, every new convert, every new disciple in the church, a part of the Great Commission is that all of you are fully taught. Do you know I'm, on Wednesday night, I'm going to be fulfilling the Great Commission?

Do you know this morning I'm fulfilling the Great Commission? Do you know when I'm emailing someone, I'm fulfilling the Great Commission? When we put those videos online, we're fulfilling the Great Commission, teaching them to keep the commandments of God.

This is given in the context of the Great Commission. And he said, do you know when you do this, you're baptizing, and you're teaching, and you're saying all the things that you've been commanded to do, you need to pass on to others.

Don't try to pass something on that you don't believe, and that you don't obey. You may say, I'm not practicing this, but I'll tell little Jimmy who's coming in the door, you ought to do this, and you ought to do that, and you ought to do this.

You ought to keep your mouth shut and begin to do it yourself. That's how, what it ought to be. And so there's commands here. This first point, the commission at the end of the age. This commission that set the entire church of the first century off to embark on the Great Commission that we read about in the book of Acts.

It's specifically also given afresh dynamically at the end of the age to the last generation of the church. And if you believe we're at the end, this is for you. I believe there's going to be a rediscovery of the Great Commission.

I believe there's going to be a move of God. I believe there's missionary movements yet to happen in the church. I believe there's yet going to be revivals and gifted ministries raised up in our midst.

I believe it with all my heart. God has not finished. The Great Commission is to be finished. And you know what? If you're listening online, or you're sitting here, and you go, well, it's all over, then you need to repent, and you need to come back and believe the Great Commission.

We're commanded, oh, but it's the last day. Oh, it's the great falling away. Oh, nothing is going to happen. Oh, the Bible said. You know what? We're given a Great Commission, and you must not excuse yourself.

The Gospel Confirmed by the Great Commission

This is an hour to be active. We ought to be more active in this hour than in any other hour. Second of all, turn with me to Mark chapter 16, the last chapter of Mark. The gospel confirmed in the Great Commission.

The gospel confirmed in the Great Commission. Reading from Mark 16, 14. Afterward, he appeared unto the leaven as they sat at meat. That's different than sitting on a mountain or standing on a mountain.

That's where he appeared to them in Matthew. But here, they're literally sitting at a dining room table. Isn't that remarkable? When are you going to give the commission? Well, only in a big preaching seminar.

No, when we're sitting at our mealtime. What a time that Christ taught here to draw near to them, to give them a commission. Look what he does. He upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart.

Isn't it amazing when you study the condition of the hearts of the disciples when he gives them this commission? You ought to do a study on that. So here are the disciples within a house at a dinner table.

The eleven are there. And you know what? He begins before he gives them the commission. He upbraids them, or he rebukes them, or he points out the unbelief and hardness of their heart. And people who you have to rebuke for hardness of heart.

Maybe you feel your heart's very hard this morning. Maybe you feel you're filled with unbelief this morning. Well, be rebuked, but I'm going to give you the commission this morning. Christ done the same.

He rebuked them because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen. And he said unto them, and notice what he says, go ye into all the world. This was the most unlikely group, the most unlikely church.

And look at the condition of their heart. He's rebuking their unbelief. He's upbraiding them. And yet at the same time, he's commissioned them. I want you bunch to go into all the world and preach the gospel.

Lord, are you sure you picked up the right preaching notes for this morning? Are you sure? Have you got the right message for the right people at the right time? Yes, I have. He commissions them go into all the world.

Notice the commission has no geographical barriers, no national barriers, no governmental barriers, no time-sequent barriers. You cannot leave the commission in the first century. You can't do that. You can't leave it in Jerusalem.

You can't do that. It is all believers are given a commission to go preach the gospel. And notice it's teaching in Matthew. But here it says, and preach the gospel to every creature. We saw that it's a full teaching and raising up to maturity.

But here you're to go into the world and preach. That's proclaim. That's evangelize. That's to tell them the ABCs. What's the gospel? He died, was buried, and he rose again. And you must be born again.

That is the gospel. So your commission, go into all the world. Everywhere apart from my workplace, everywhere apart from my family. If you knew what my mother was like, if only you knew what our house and estate was like, it says you're to go.

Oh, I'm just waiting for them to come in. I'll just pray every Friday night. I'll ask all of you to pray for them. You need to go. What about giving a gospel track? You may say, I'm terrified. Good. What a great vessel for God to use.

Why not tell them the gospel? Why not share? Why not go? Who knows? Maybe God will do a miracle. Maybe someone will be there saying, I've waited all my life just to hear this. Thank you for telling me.

God cannot work in a miraculous way if you stay at home. You see, he says, if you go, I will go with you even to the end of the age. I will be there. I will help you. I will manifest myself in a very real way.

And so we see here with the second commission in Mark 16, the gospel is confirmed with signs following. If they go forth and preach the gospel, look what it says in verse 16. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned.

What are they preaching? You can be damned. To go preach the gospel isn't just to say God loves you. Or why don't you come to church? If all you say is come to church, or tell a nice story, but you haven't said repent, there's a real Christ, or there's the danger of damnation.

You haven't fully preached the gospel. Here in the commission is a warning that those who believe, baptize them in water. Those who reject your message are going to be damned. Since you realize everyone who rejects the gospel, they are damned.

They're going to hell. They're going to be lost eternally. Are you going to have their blood on your hands? Are you going to have family members who you've never spoken to clearly? Is their blood going to be in your hands?

Is your conscience going to be held accountable for that? What about in your workplace? What about those that you know? You sit and you'll talk about anything and everything with them, but you've never said you must be born again.

This is the basic of the gospel. Since it's not enough to say, well, I just pray for them. Go and tell them. Oh, oh, but I'm praying lots, and I'll fast. If you don't tell them, you're in disobedience.