Blessed Assurances From Jesus - Matt. 28:18-20
"Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. Oh what a foretaste of glory divine. Heir of salvation, purchase of love, filled with His goodness, lost in His love." (Fanny Crosby)
We live in a world that is filled with fear, doubt and uncertainty. Recently, a radio poll, released two months after the 9/11 crisis, showed that 78% of Americans are now living with feelings of fear that leads to considerable distress, worry and depression. Since March of 2000, Americans have lost more than $4 trillion dollars on the New York, American and Nasdaq stock exchange. Stories of corporate fraud fill our newspapers everyday making people wonder if they can ever successfully invest their money in the markets.
We can thank God for even these times of instability as He can work all things together for good for those who love God and for those who are called according to His plans. (Rom. 8:28,29)
Illustration:"Eagle Vision And Dependability" written by Christi Harken from Maple
Grove, Minnesota, USA
Birds of all kinds can see where they are going. They pick and choose
their direction and path. As birds fly by instinct they head where they
are directed. But they can only see what is in front of them.
Eagles are known to have vision. An eagle can see up to five miles and
often times is able to see well beyond normal sight. The eagle knows
where it is going and determines how it is going to get there. While
other birds migrate by instinct the eagle stays in its territory
throughout the year, season after season.
The eagle is dependable and will hold its place in its territory. When
a storm approaches, other birds fly in fear while the eagle is
energized by the challenge of the storm. The eagle catches the wind and
rises above the storm. The eagle glides through its territory during
the storm and will only leave its post if it is badly hurt and must
leave to repair its injuries.
I believe God is looking for men and women of vision “who can see” with
their spiritual eyes and catch the wind of God’s Spirit. These men and
women like the eagle are dependable, focused and fearless when it comes
to their God given assignments.
Prayer: Father, bless me with the vision, dependability and boldness of
an eagle to be used for kingdom work in these last days. In the name of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen!
Let us examine some of the most enduring assurances given by Jesus in His great commission.
1. Jesus said, "All power and authority in heaven and earth has been given to me". Notice that we have the assurance of Christ’s supreme authority to accomplish everything He asks us to do. Christ reigns from the throne in heaven as our Mediator, provider and supplier of whatever influence that is necessary to complete His purposes. We have every reason to go forth with His power, optimism and confidence. The Fountain of living water springs up from within each believer to nourish them with a continuous stream of authority in their speech, conduct, love, faith and purity. Christ’s power intercedes for us in ways that assure us that if God is for us who can be against us. People, problem and circumstances will try to make us think that their power is greater than His but do not give in to their suggestions. Greater is He who is in you than the one who is in the world. (I John 4:4)The Lord knows how to deal with each person who is unwilling to bow to the will of God better than we do. Turn your opponents, opposition and adversity over to the Lord’s mighty power. He will fight the battles for you and always give victory. "There’s victory in Jesus."
The problem with most people is that they are not utilizing the power that is made available to them in Christ and His promises. Instead of appropriating the power and authority given to them in Christ they are often fearful of what other people will think or say about their beliefs. God has not given us the Spirit of fear, but of power, love and self-discpline. (2 Tim. 1:7) When a person moves forward with an abiding relationship with the One who has all power and authority they need not fear, hesitate or look to any other source for accomplishing all of God’s will.
Illustration:One New Year’s Day, in the Tournament of Roses parade, a beautiful float suddenly sputtered and quit. It was out of gas. The whole parade was held up until someone could get a can of gas. The amusing thing was this float represented the Standard Oil Company. With its vast oil resources, its truck was out of gas.
Often, Christians neglect their spiritual maintenance, and though they are "clothed with power" (Luke 24:49) find themselves out of gas.
Steve Blankenship in God Came Near by Max Lucado, Multnomah Press, 1987, p. 95.
2. Jesus said, "Therefore, Go and make disciples." We can be assured that the Lord will enable, equip and empower us to do everything He asks us to do with the help of Christ who gives us the strength, authority and power. (Phil. 4:13) The Lord assures us that He will always give us fulfilling ministries so we do not have to remain idle or flounder in insignificant activities. Christ assures us of a meaningful lifetime of ministries, relationships and challenges. He promises that as we are obedient He will make a way to make disciples when there might not seem to be a way. Whenever Christ gives a commandment He always provides a way and the means to accomplish it. Christ supplies us with the words of encouragement to concentrate on His kingdom priorities by expanding the quantity and quality of disciples in all 230 nations of the earth. We can pray, work and give confidently toward the completion of His great commission knowing that whatever we invest will surely yield great eternal dividends. No bank can provide those guarantees that will beat the return you will get for investing in eternal promises like those found in Christ’s great commission. WE can feel confident that as we lay up for ourselves treasures in heaven, they will be waiting there for us to be enjoyed for all eternity.
Illustration:Just as an eagle stirs up her nest, flutters over her young, to excite them to fly, (Deut 32:11) so Christ stirs up His disciples to disperse them to go in to all the world. Let us risk flying instead of just crawling along like babies.
3. Jesus said, "Go into ALL nations." Some people think that there are areas that are closed and cannot be penetrated for Christ’s gospel. Since we know it is the will of God to go into all nations, we can be assured that the Lord will somehow find open doors and hungry hearts in every nation where the gospel can take root and flourish. We are to cooperate with (Through prayer, giving and training) godly discples who can help reach all 18,800 people groups of the world in all the nations on earth. God so loved the whole world, not just the 4% of the earth’s population that live inside the borders of the USA. Christ insists that His kingdom will expand into every nation on the earth before He returns. (Matt. 24:14) We have every reason to go with optimism knowing that our Lord prepares people who are going to work with us as ambassadors for Christ in every nation. We are to do everything to enlist key people who will plant and grow churches in every community in every nation, for every tribe and every tongue.
Illustration:The more I get to know people, the more I love my dog.
Frederick the Great. (Do not be like him)
4. Jesus said, "Teaching them to obey ALL that I have commanded you." Thank God that Christ confines us to teaching what is essential. He assures us that we do not have to understand all of the mysteries of theology, philosophy or science in order to accomplish His will. By concentrating on Christ’s commands we can be assured that we have a task that is doable. It is not beyond the capacity of His disciples to teach information that will lead to transformation that will result in disciples who seek to resemble His model of incarnation. We do not have to worry about appearing erudite, funny or entertaining to our audience. We can rejoice in the fact that Christ just does not want us to diminish, dilute or distort what He has taught to our students. We do not have to have an IQ like Martin Luther of 200 in order to please the Lord. We are assured that we can please the one who has enlisted us as soldiers by teaching disciples to obey all that He has commanded, not to get straight A’s in our subjects.
Illustration:The best disciples that I have worked with through the years have generally not been the best academic students but were those who were committed to Christ and His kingdom priorities purposes, processes and perspectives in all aspects of their life. One individual is named Rev. Abel Kantoma from Bauchi State in Nigeria. God gave me a great disciple-making relationship with him while I taught in a seminary in Nigeria for nineteen years. There I saw how Christ’s promise may not be taken seriously by many but the faithful will be few but mighty for God. Through the Spirit’s empowering, Abel was able to work with hundreds of disciples who each planted their own church. The Lord gave Abel a discerning mind to concentrate on young men who were willing to learn and apply Christ’s commandments through planting and growing new churches throughout Nigeria. Over the years, the Lord used Abel and His disciple-making church planters to plant and grow more than 100 churches. All of this was done with the full acknowledge that Christ’s disciple-making ministries would result in flourishing fellowship that would be a light in dark places through their Christian fellowships. The greatest assurance we can have is the proof that Christ’s church will grow as He promised, "Jesus said, "I will build my church and the gates of hell (the powers of the darkness, evil and the infernal region) will not overpower my church or be strong to its detriment or hold out against its power." (Amplified)(Matt. 16:18) We can be bold to invest, train and cooperate with people like Abel around the world who are eager to see Christ’s commission fulfilled.
5. Jesus said, "I am with you always." Thank God for Christ’s powerful presence in our lives that enables us to do everything He calls us to do, say and think. We may think we are inedequate for our present problems and challenges. Paul echoes those sentiments when he wrote, "We are not adequate to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God who also made us as adequate as servants of the new covenant. Not by the letter, for the letter kills but the Spirit gives life." (2 Cor. 3:5,6)
Christ’s presence assures of divine favor, joy and wisdom to do the things that are beyond our human abilities. Jesus said,"My Spirit is with you, the Comforter shall abide with you." (John 16:7) What a comfort to know that He will never leave us or forsake us so that we can confidently say, "The Lord is my helper from whom then shall I be afraid." Jesus said, "My presence will go with you and I will give you peace." (JOhn 14:26,27) Jesus said, "In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer as I have overcome the world." (John 16:33) Rejoice that you are more than conquerors through Him who loves us. We do not have to fear being overcome by problems since we are commanded to not be overcome with evil but overcome evil with good. (Rom. 12;21) We can sing with melody in our hearts knowing, "He will make known to us the paths of life. In His presence is fullness of joy and in His right hand are pleasures for evermore." (Psa 16:9-11) What are great hope we have for each day when we know He is with us always advocating for our best!
What a blessed assurance we have in His presence as one who bears our every burden, who upholds us, who strengthens us and who calms our every fear, angry emotion or feeling of hurt.
Illustration:Robert Louis Stevenson tells of a storm that caught a vessel off a rocky coast and threatened to drive it and its passengers to destruction. In the midst of the terror, one daring man, contrary to orders, went to the deck, made a dangerous passage to the pilot house and saw the steerman, at his post holding the wheel unwaveringly, and inch by inch, turning the ship out, once more, to sea. The pilot saw the watcher and smiled. Then, the daring passenger went below and gave out a note of cheer: "I have seen the face of the pilot, and he smiled. All is well."
Robert Louis Stevenson.
6. Jesus assures us of His success. He said, "I am with you always even to the very end of the age. Amen." Jesus assures us of His favor, affirmation and His blessings. He makes our ministries effectual by the mighty working out of His word through the power of the Spirit. We are in the only vocation that is 100% assured of success because we are only doing what the Master directs us to do. Our reward is not in human result but in accomplishing His will in His way. We can be assured that we will neve lack any good thing. Hudson Taylor, the famous founder of the China Inland Mission Said, "God’s will done in God’s way will not lack God’s support.!"
Jesus is with us in the happy times and in the sad times. He is with us when there is new birth and when there is death. He is with us when we are healthy and when we are sick. He is with us when we are liked and when we are despised or misunderstood. He is with us when we gainfully employed or when we are unemployed. He is with us when we are young and when we are old. He is with us in sunny days as well as in cloudy days. He is with us in summer and in the winter of our days. He is with us without any intermission or laspe. Even when it seems that the end is near, he is with us to take us through whatever dark valley we may be passing through. He is our good Shepherd who leads us all the way. He is not only with us but with our disciples in all the nations of the earth. He shows no bias for or against any nationality. He constantly provides us with encouragement in Christ, consolation of love, fellowship of the Spirit, affection and compassion. ((Phil. 2:1,2)
7. Jesus says "Amen". He assures us that Christ confirms His promise to us. He places His stamp of assurance on all that He says in His word. He backs up all of His promises so that not one of them can possibly fail. He speaks of His church’s concurrence with His great commission. He supports His purposes with all of His favor, His resources and His people. He utilizes all of His prayers of intercession to work on behalf of those who are committed to accomplishing His greater kingdom purposes to expand His glory throughout the earth. He gives the So be it as our most blessed assurance.
Illustration:The Definition of amen
- surely, truly, of a truth at the end - so it is, so be it, may it be fulfilled. It was a custom, which passed over from the synagogues to the Christian assemblies, that when he who had read or discoursed, had offered up solemn prayer to God, the others responded Amen, and thus made the substance of what was uttered their own.
The word "amen" is a most remarkable word. It was transliterateddirectly from the Hebrew into the Greek of the New Testament, theninto Latin and into English and many other languages, so that it ispractically a universal word. It has been called the best known wordin human speech. The word is directly related -- in fact, almostidentical -- to the Hebrew word for "believe" (amam), or faithful.Thus, it came to mean "sure" or "truly", an expression of absolutetrust and confidence. -- HMM
