Traditional “Church” during these very Last Days of course has been a great blessing. But the blessing is mainly for the comfort of believers. It has not helped much in fulfilling the Great Commission.
Fulfilling the Great Commission involves preaching the gospel and making disciples in all nations—including all tribes, people groups, and languages. According to missiologists, between 3,000 and 7,000 such people groups remain to hear the gospel before the end (Matthew 24:14), totally over two billion souls. Traditional “Church”, however, does little to reach them in order to move the needle of the Great Commission toward fulfillment. “Church” is typically a building or facility where people gather on a Sunday morning to sing songs and then to hear a sermon by a seminary-trained and ordained servant of God. Believers are encouraged to bring their friends to “church” to heal the gospel and receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. For non-believers, therefore, “church” might be the only place they will hear the gospel. Serious teaching to train committed disciples is typically scant, and reserved for Wednesday evening Bible Study—if at all.
Believers are NOT taught to do the works that Jesus solemnly promised they would be doing: preaching the gospel in the whole world outside of church, healing the sick and casting out demons outside of church—as evidence that He is the Messiah and the only way to the One True God.
John 14:11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the WORKS themselves. 12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the WORKS I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.
Today in “church” believers are typically taught in a way such that they will remain forever dependent on their pastors and leaders (not deliberately of course). The great majority of ministry is done by paid professional clergy. A good portion of that ministry, including the preaching of the gospel, is done within the physical building used by the congregation.
The word “church” as in “go to church” therefore generally refers to the comfortable edifice where Christians gather to worship God, hear a sermon, and then give their tithes and offerings. “Going to church” therefore does little to move the needle for fulfilling the Great Commission. But for the Great Commission to be fulfilled, John 14:12 must be fulfilled in local believers especially in the mostly unreached Third World. Believers must be preaching the gospel wherever God has placed them, whether in their Jerusalem, their Judea, their Samaria, or where they live at the ends of the earth. Believers must be healing the sick and casting out demons in Jesus’ name as dramatic evidence to gospel-resistant Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, idol-worshipers, and those who trust in witchcraft that Jesus is the Son of God and the only way to the One True God.
However, due to the powerful influence in the Church of the teaching of the Nicolaitans which Jesus hates, this has not and is not taking place. Because of the Nicolaitan influence, many in the Church would say that what is presented in this article is false teaching if not outright heresy. “Believers have NO authority to heal the sick and cast out demons. Only God can perform miracles, and He will do so sovereignly and entirely apart from His people.”
In order to fulfill the Great Commission during these Last Days, local disciples in the Third World must be trained and sent to preach the gospel to the over two billion souls in their nations for whom the gospel is not at all available—where there are no churches, no witnesses, no gospel TV or radio, and no Christian bookstores. As Jesus sent his local disciples two by two to every town and region where he was about to go in Luke 10:1, today we must send trained local disciples to every town and village in the Third World where his name must be preached. The vaunted media of TV and radio generally cannot make disciples, heal the sick or cast out demons. The fruit through such media among unreached peoples will be minimal.
“Boots on the ground” is essential for the Great Commission to be fulfilled during these very Last Days. Sadly, however, the gospel is preached mostly on Sundays to overfed believers in “Church”—located primarily in regions and cities of the world which are already reached—where there are already churches which can potentially reach that region. Yes, preaching the gospel on a Sunday morning may result in a few getting saved and the local congregation growing in size and influence, but it will not move the needle of the Great Commission toward fulfillment during these very Last Days.
When will the “Church” wake up and focus on moving the needle before the great and terrible Day of the Lord comes?
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Why are we not seeing harvests for the gospel like those in Acts?
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Extraordinary reports from our faceless workers in India
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The Elijah Challenge equips nameless harvest workers to reach resistant people groups fruitfully by training them to heal the sick miraculously and consistently as Jesus did and as he promised that believers would do (John 14:11-12)—as irrefutable evidence that Jesus is the Messiah and the only way to the One True God who created the heavens and the earth.
Mission Leaders, if we are available we are able train your Third World harvest workers with The Elijah Challenge—at our own expense.
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CONSISTENT miraculous works in Missions for EVANGELICALS
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