307 – Christ’s Commission to the Church

SEMESTER 1

307 – Christ’s Commission to the Church

BIBLE INSTITUTE OF CORRESPONDENCE

COURSE:  ECCLESIOLOGY I LESSON # 7
CHRIST’S COMMISSION TO THE CHURCH

 INTRODUCTION:

1. If we hear the world’s demands today on the church, and behold the efforts of many churches, we could conclude that the commission to the church was very abstract.

III: Social, political, economical, educational functions, etc.

2. If we are to find any definite direction, we should find it in Christ’s commis­sion to His church.

I. IT IS TO THE CHURCH, NOT APOSTLES PERSONALLY

1. Some have and do claim this was given to men personally.
2. If this is true, we must assent to apostolic succession, or a dead commission.
3. It is biblical, and logical to see it as given to an institution, that is divinely perpetuated, thus the commission continues.
4. Hence, Mat. 28:19-20 speaks to us as much as to the apostles.

II. SCRIPTURES THAT GIVE THE COMMISSION

Note these are given at different times, emphasizing various details.

1. Mat. 28:19-20:

i. You go.
ii. Teach all nations.
iii. Baptize them.
iv. Teach them conduct.
v. I am with you continually.

a) The “all power” of Mat. 28:19 implies both authority to send and promise of success.

2. Mk. 16:14-20: This commission covers:

i. Where they are to go.
ii. What they are to preach.
iii. To whom they are to preach this message.
iv. The result of its acceptance.
v. The result of rejecting it.
vi. The promise of divine power and its evidences accom­panying those who go.
vii. The account of their going and God’s blessing.

Note: Carefully read tract, “Believers Followed by Signs.”

3. Lk. 24:46-49: This account enlightens us as to:

i. The command of our message (repentance).
ii. The promise of remission of sins, through Jesus’s; name (faith).
iii. The extent of the ministry (all nations).
iv. The starting place, Jerusalem (where they were).
v. The peculiar apostolic ministry (witnesses of these things).
vi. The command to wait (before going) for the baptism of the Holy Spirit on the church.

4. John 20:21-23: In this Gospel we find emphasized:

i. The likeness of our ministry to His.
ii. The necessity of the power of the Holy Spirit.
iii. The authority of the obedient church to discipline.
5. Acts 1:8 may not be seen as a particular account of the great commission, but a restating of Luke 24:48-49.
iv. As Luke is here introducing the Acts of the Apostles, which succeeded that which “Jesus began both to do and to teach.” (Acts 1:1)
v. And since Acts 1:1-14 is an overlapping of Luke 24:49-53.
vi. There are, however, details here not contained in Luke 24.

a) i.e., the progressive nature; Jerusalem, all Judea, Samaria and the uttermost.

III. DIFFERENT BODILY FUNCTIONS

1. Because the command to go and preach is to the church, it is wrongly concluded that this is to every member, (thus men are not to wait for a call).
2. This is to overlook Bible pattern of specific calls.
3. This is to overlook constraints (some not to teach, etc.)
4. This is to overlook structure of the church, and sovereign dispen­sation of gifts and callings. (I Cor. 12:19-31)
5. Yes, the church is to go and preach, but exclusively through its ordained representatives.

Note: Included in this lesson is a copy of the tract “Who Are the Believers Followed by Signs in Mark 16?”