Featured Mark's Great Commission

While it is true that mankind has abused our scientific advances, thanks to the Industrial Revolution - electronics and radio communications have broadcast the gospel encompassing all the nations of the earth instantaneously.

Thanks to the invention of the printing press and advancements of electronic telecommunications the word of God is available to most nations of the earth (legally or otherwise).

Thanks to the advancement of aerodynamic transportation missionaries can encompass the globe in a day or two.

While man prides and glorifies himself for these accomplishments IMO it is due to God's permissive will - to spread the gospel over the entire earth before the return of Jesus Christ.

Luke 10:2 Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.

Let it be so Lord that your "house may be full".

HankD

 

Not only possible but a done deal before the NT was even completed:

14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a testimony unto all the nations; and then shall the end come.
34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all these things be accomplished. Mt 24

So belief cometh of hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. But I say, Did they not hear? Yea, verily, Their sound went out into all the earth, And their words unto the ends of the world. Ro 10:17-18

5 because of the hope which is laid up for you in the heavens, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel,
6 which is come unto you; even as it is also in all the world bearing fruit and increasing, as it doth in you also, since the day ye heard and knew the grace of God in truth;
23 if so be that ye continue in the faith, grounded and stedfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel which ye heard, which was preached in all creation under heaven; whereof I Paul was made a minister. Col 1:23

25 Now to him that is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which hath been kept in silence through times eternal,
26 but now is manifested, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, is made known unto all the nations unto obedience of faith: Ro 16

 

IMO, The industrial Revolution is not yet over. We are in the information technology phase.
Much more is yet to come. Do you know John that you can now Skype any of your supporters on your smart-phone?

How would it be possible for every creature to hear?

A one-world government that at the first tolerates the gospel, after which the believers (having been identified) will then be persecuted in the name of "God" (Inquisition II) .

Maybe.

HankD

 

Admittedly the time frame reference may be tricky but the antichrist reportedly by some will be a man of peace, tolerant at the first. Of course he would want to be a "Big Brother (1984)" so that people see him in person over their government issued smart-phone. This issuance of course in preparation and in advance of his appearing/revealing.

HankD

 

Another mystifying passage of scripture:

Matthew 24:30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

What is this sign " sign of the Son of man in heaven" which will leave no doubt as to what is happening?

Apparently there are no "doubting Thomases" as all the tribes of the earth will mourn.
Had the gospel of the kingdom gone out to every creature in a miraculous way previous to this "sign"?

Matthew 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

I Notice that in Matthew 24:30 and in the Revelation:
Revelation 1:7 Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.

there are no doubters as to what is happening, however no one is happy either.
The happy ones presumably have been removed.

So how inclusive is Mark's GC and out to what time line extension might it be?
It seems only to apply to the times of the gentiles of which we are part.

HankD

 

This is a first century command in its origin rather than a 20th century command with regard to its origin. My point is that we can't read back 20th century technology into the first century to determine how it is to work. Of course, if your intent is from a 21st century perspective then of course such technology can be used. Paul claimed that it had been accomplished in the first century without such technology. Of course he most likely was speaking of the Roman World as it does not seem they were aware of the America's or Northern Europe and most of Asia.

Second, it seems Matthew's account takes place in Galilee on a certain mountain (Mt. 28:7-15) while Luke's account in Acts 1:8 seems to take place on the mount of Olivet outside of Jerusalem. It seems that Mark's account occurred in a house inside Jerusalem before they went to Galilee (Mk. 16:14). When all the accounts are considered, it seems that this commission was given to the whole pre-Pentecost church that assembled in Acts 1:15-26 to install a new church officer in the vacated office of Judas.

Third, the very nature of the commission I believe restricts it to the church as it involves far much more than mere evangelization. Every Christian is a witness but this commission cannot possibly be given to indivdual Christians or Christendom as a whole because the distinction between "ye" and "them" in Matthew 28:19-20 is utterly abolished by such an application and there are many more contextual based reasons that is utterly impossible.

The New Testament churches sent missionaries and supported missionaries to do its outreach to the world. As far as I know that has been the only consistent method for the first 1900 years.

 

More than that! It presupposes every believer will be baptized as well and that is precisely what we see in the New Testament consistently. When we stop short of baptism we stop short of obeying the commission and if we stop short of incoporating them into a NT. congregation we also stop short of obeying the Great Commission (Mt. 28:20; Acts 2:40-41).

I think much theological and practical damage to the Christian life has been done by merely restricting the Great Commission to mere evangelization.

 

Of course, I was not discounting salvation but salvation occurs in an instant of time, while the entire remainder of their life is about serving God acceptably.