FBC Okelerin

17 Nov, 2019 By: Victor O. Oyelowo

THE CARDINAL COMMISSION OF THE CHURCH Matthew 28:18-20

‘And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in Heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded to you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen’ (Matthew 28:18-20)

 

Preamble
I stand here today to respectfully acknowledge the Missions thrust of this Church since 1855.  I celebrate our forefathers and mothers who championed such a noble cause that gave birth to hundreds of Churches and hundreds of thousands of souls. I have promised myself that when we get to heaven, I will further celebrate them all starting from Rev Thomas Jefferson Bowen.

I equally acknowledge all of you, current members, who have made notable contributions to soul winning in several ways. I have a clear leading to call our collective audience to the need to take the Missions thrust of this Church to the higher heights. No doubt, there are more lands to be possessed for the Lord Jesus as there are things our forefathers and mothers couldn’t do before they returned to their Maker.

 

Introduction
The Cardinal Commission of the Church of God is Missions. Missions is everything that is undertaken to reach people with the Gospel, win them for God’s Kingdom, and make them correct disciples of Christ. Everything a Church engages in should equip her to achieve maximum results in this direction.  In other words, our prayer meetings, Bible studies, Worship services, House Fellowships, Organizational meetings, and etc. should have missions as their ultimate goal. Anything short of that is an aberration and abuse of divine privileges.  Whatever we engage in as individual believers and as a Church that does not have the expansion of God’s Kingdom as its end goal is disgusting to God who sacrificed His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.

The Lord has great expectations from FBC, Oke’lerin. He has blessed this Church with all resources to undertake great soul winning to the ends of the nations. We must not disappoint God.  He has endowed us with more than enough to do Missions and usher millions into His Kingdom.  All hands must be on desk to achieve this.  Mind you, the kind of Missions the Lord is calling us into is not to please any man or for the sake of award or recognition.  It’s one that’s undertaken for the Lord’s Kingdom.

The Concrete Claim
From the text commonly called the Great Commission, ‘Go Ye’ was not the first statement Jesus made. Most times, we unconsciously neglect the first thing Jesus said to His disciples. In verse 18, Jesus made a concrete claim that paves way for the Great Commission. He came to His disciples and informed them that He is in possession of all authority in heaven and on earth. Jesus clearly told them that He is in charge everywhere, every day, and in every way. He is in full control and the final charge over every matter. He is superior and supreme in everything.

This crack claim is the greatest motivation for any believer or any church to engage in Missions.  With this, you can go anywhere on earth and do missions. This claim is tantamount to divine backing for winning souls for the Lord. In other words, we already have the needed impetus to undertake for Jesus in all the continents and nations of the world. With Christ as our backbone, our going out for the Lord is a done deal.  Every power and provision are available. From that context, there’s no lack of anything significant.  We have God’s fullest backing.

 

The Cardinal Commission
After that audacious statement, the Lord Jesus handed over the cardinal commission of His church to His disciples: GO THEREFORE! It means, ‘Go’ is an offshoot of the great claim. Nobody can go anywhere to do anything for the Lord without a recourse to the earlier claim. In other words, no Cardinal Commission except through the Concrete Claim. We can go anywhere only because the authority of everywhere is invested in Jesus. The vision of Jesus’ claim gives birth to the Mission of the disciples.

‘… and make disciples of all nations.’ This clearly spells out the ultimate goal of missions. That is, the end goal of missions is to produce disciples of Jesus in all the nations of the world. The word translated ‘nations’ here refers to tribes and clans. It’s more of people groups than of countries. We must have this at the back of our minds that the Cardinal Commission of the Church is incomplete until ardent and committed disciples of Jesus emerge. Having churches and congregations among different tribes are not the ultimate.

Other constituents of the Cardinal Commission of the Church of God are baptizing and teaching those that have been won for the Lord. Jesus went further to promise His presence with anyone /any congregation that undertakes for Him.

Practical Application
In line with that mandate, a number of things are to be put in place:
* Dedicated Sunday
From January 2020, the 3rd Sunday of the month would be designated Missions Service
* Dedicated Partnership
By God’s grace, beginning from January 2020, we will go into partnership with Churches, Missions Agencies, and Missionaries in our quest to fulfill the Cardinal Commission of the Church of God.
* Dedicated Funds
Starting from the year 2020, we will raise millions annually to undertake the Cardinal Commission of the Church.

 

Conclusion

Each of us needs to make personal and pertinent commitment in this direction. There are three major ways each of us can get involved:

* Going
* Giving
* Interceding

Don’t be left out… Be generously involved