Ultimately, every Christian who has made a decision to follow Christ must be willing to proclaim the Great Commission. As Matthew 28:19 says, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” This was the last request of our Lord before He ascended into the heavens.  He gave those who wished to follow Him one final instruction – GO!

 

Do you believe you are qualified to carry out the Great Commission? With over twenty-five years of experience, I have found that most believers do not believe they are qualified to preach the Good News. Most Christians believe they need to be a professional preacher, pastor, or evangelist. However, as you study the Bible, you can come to an entirely different conclusion.

 

Jesus did have some qualifications, but they’re not what you might expect. As you study Matthew Chapter 28, you will find three common qualifications for those He chose to send to proclaim the gospel. Let’s first read Matthew 28:1-10, 16-17 and see if you can spot these qualifications:

 

 

There are three qualifications for carrying out the Great Commission that can be seen in the example. First, they were looking for the risen Christ (verse 5: “... for I know you are looking for Jesus”).  Jesus had just been crucified, but this group took the step of faith and began the search for the risen Christ. They did not give up until they saw Him.  You will never be qualified to be His witness unless you have first witnessed the resurrected Christ.  Have you seen the risen Jesus?

 

Secondly, once they saw Him, they worshipped Him (verse 9: “... and they came up and took hold of His feet and worshipped Him”). Mankind was created to worship the One True God.  When these early witnesses laid eyes on the risen Christ, they recognized that they were in the presence of God Himself.  Those that want to be His witness must worship Jesus as God in the flesh.

 

Lastly, they were ready to “GO” whenever He instructed them to go (verse 10: “... go and take word). Our journey with our Lord does not end with worship.  When we complete our time of worship, we must understand that, as long as we live on this planet, our duty is to “go into all the world and preach the Gospel.”  The question becomes: Are you ready to go?

 

The time to evangelize is NOW.  America is in serious trouble. Our politicians cannot save us. Our judicial system cannot save us. However, our Risen Savior, Jesus Christ, can. We need a revival to break forth throughout this great land and you are a key ingredient. We constantly pray for a revival as if it is something the Lord is withholding from us. We pray, “Please, Lord, bring us a revival.” However, the truth of the matter is that we are already carrying a revival. We mustn’t forget that He is inside of us and, when we tell nonbelievers about Him, revival breaks out one person at a time!

 

For over twenty-five years, as I have taken the gospel to people on the streets of America, I have seen “individual” revivals take place. It is not because I am something special, because any believer who has seen the risen Christ, has worshipped Him, and is willing to go, as He has commanded us to do, can experience the same results, one soul at a time. You can be the witness God has called you to be.  You can see revival break forth right before your eyes, one soul at a time. The question is, are you ready?