The Time is Now

I have recently heard that you can call it Jesus’ last will and testament. Not wholly  accurate, but a good analogy and it provides good food for thought.

At the end of Matthew 28, just before He is taken up into Heaven, some of Jesus’ last words are:

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”

This was the last thing that Jesus said before He physically departed this Earth, never to return until it is all over and His eternal reign begins. That should make an impact on us – He obviously thought this was the most important thing left to say. His last chance to tell these folks something direct from the source. What does this mean for us? I have the phrase in my head: “the time is now!” The time is now, not only to evangelize the lost, but to make true, whole disciples of those who already believe in Christ, but have yet to devote themselves totally and completely to Him.

We have a great man of God coming to lead us in the next few weeks and I was thrilled to hear testimony of something like 70 people walked the aisle in ONE service! Amazing and glory to God! However, we must understand that as great a speaker as Dr. Jeffress is, no matter how filled with the Sprit he and his staff are, somebody other than him or the leadership team brought or invited those people to church that day. Don’t miss the forest for the trees here – sure, some people probably came in under the Lord’s divine direction through watching the TV show or listening on the radio – the point is the time is now for us as individuals to begin planting those seeds, building those relationships, being friendly and displaying the love of Christ and His ability to change our world to others. The command is to us all. “Go!” Let’s start now and begin laying that soft, rich soil for the seeds to land on.

The last part: “teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” is very important for all believers, not just new converts. I think it is safe to say that for the most part, we all have a deep desire to advance the Kingdom, die to ourselves, and live for Christ daily. Am I exhorting other men that I know who are sort of on the fence to pick up that charge as well? Not as much as I should. Do we exhort each other, not just those of us we know to be on the same page – that’s easy – what about the other guy? That’s hard, and I’m not good at it. I pray that the Lord will give me ‘strength and honor’ and courage in knowing how and when to be an example to my other Christian brothers.

I am so excited about the group of strong men who love the Lord and are ready to go into battle with one another, to lead the charge and change themselves, their families, our city, and the world!
The time is now – be the Light to an unsaved person today. Exhort a brother in Christ today.

 

Nathan Campbell