Commission

¹Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you; ²And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; ³And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” (Ge 12:1–3 ^NASB)

1. 1. Israel: A Kingdom of Priests & Light to the Gentiles (Ex. 19:5-6; Is. 42:6; 43:10; 44:8; 49:3-6)
   2. Promises of Gentiles Turning to the God of Israel at the End of the Age

¹And it will come about in the last days That the mountain of the house of the Lord Will be established as the chief of the mountains. It will be raised above the hills, And the peoples will stream to it. ²Many nations will come and say, “Come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord And to the house of the God of Jacob, That He may teach us about His ways And that we may walk in His paths.” For from Zion will go forth the law, Even the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. ³And He will judge between many peoples And render decisions for mighty, distant nations. Then they will hammer their swords into plowshares And their spears into pruning hooks; Nation will not lift up sword against nation, And never again will they train for war. ⁴Each of them will sit under his vine And under his fig tree, With no one to make them afraid, For the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken. ⁵Though all the peoples walk Each in the name of his god, As for us, we will walk In the name of the Lord our God forever and ever. (Mic 4:1–5 cf. Is. 2:1-5 ^NASB)

²²“Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; For I am God, and there is no other. ²³“I have sworn by Myself, The word has gone forth from My mouth in righteousness And will not turn back, That to Me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance. ²⁴“They will say of Me, ‘Only in the Lord are righteousness and strength.’ Men will come to Him, And all who were angry at Him will be put to shame. (Is 45:22–24 ^NASB)

²²‘So many peoples and mighty nations will come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem and to entreat the favor of the Lord.’ ²³“Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘In those days ten men from all the nations will grasp the garment of a Jew, saying, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.” ’ ” (Zec 8:22–23 ^NASB)

0. 3. Jesus and the Great Commission

¹⁶But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated. ¹⁷When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful. ¹⁸And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. ¹⁹“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, ²⁰teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Mt 28:16–20 ^NASB)

⁴⁴Now He said to them, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” ⁴⁵Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, ⁴⁶and He said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, ⁴⁷and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. ⁴⁸“You are witnesses of these things. ⁴⁹“And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” (Lk 24:44–49 ^NASB)

⁶So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” ⁷He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; ⁸but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” (Ac 1:6–8 ^NASB)

³⁸Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (Ac 2:38^NASB)

³¹“He is the one whom God exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. ³²“And we are witnesses of these things; and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him.” (Ac 5:31–32 ^NASB)

0. 4. Taking from Among the Gentiles a People for His Name (Ac 15:14)

⁴²“And He ordered us to preach to the people, and solemnly to testify that this is the One who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead. ⁴³“Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.” ⁴⁴While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message. ⁴⁵All the circumcised believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. ⁴⁶For they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting God. (Ac 10:42-46 ^NASB)

• ¹⁷“Therefore if God gave to them the same gift as He gave to us also after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?” ¹⁸When they heard this, they quieted down and glorified God, saying, “Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life.” (Ac 11:17–18 ^NASB)

• ⁸“And God, who knows the heart, testified to them [Gentiles] giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He also did to us [Jews]; ⁹and He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith. (Ac 15:8–9 ^NASB)

0. 5. The Mission of God Incorporating Jew and Gentile

¹¹I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous. ¹²Now if their transgression is riches for the world and their failure is riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fulfillment be! ¹³But I am speaking to you who are Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle of Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, ¹⁴if somehow I might move to jealousy my fellow countrymen and save some of them. ¹⁵For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? (Ro 11:11–15 ^NASB)

²⁵For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery—so that you will not be wise in your own estimation—that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; ²⁶and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will remove ungodliness from Jacob.” ²⁷“This is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins.” ²⁸From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of God’s choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers; ²⁹for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. ³⁰For just as you once were disobedient to God, but now have been shown mercy because of their disobedience, ³¹so these also now have been disobedient, that because of the mercy shown to you they also may now be shown mercy. ³²For God has shut up all in disobedience so that He may show mercy to all. ³³Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! ³⁴For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor? ³⁵Or who has first given to Him that it might be paid back to him again? ³⁶For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen. ¹Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. ²And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. (Ro 11:25–12:2^NASB)

1. 1. The Spirit and the Prophetic Witness

¹⁰As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries, ¹¹seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. ¹²It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things into which angels long to look. (1 Pe 1:10–12 ^NASB)

0. 2. The Spirit Given to Proclaim

²⁶“When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me, ²⁷and you will testify also, because you have been with Me from the beginning. (Jn 15:26–27 ^NASB cf. 16:5-15)

²⁸to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined to occur. ²⁹“And now, Lord, take note of their threats, and grant that Your bond-servants may speak Your word with all confidence, ³⁰while You extend Your hand to heal, and signs and wonders take place through the name of Your holy servant Jesus.” ³¹And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness. (Ac 4:28–31 ^NASB)

1. 1. Covenantal Witness – The Unchanged Mission of the God of Israel

¹⁴“This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come. (Mt 24:14 ^NASB)

0. 2. Urgent Witness – Impending Crisis of the Coming Day of the LORD

¹²but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, ¹³waiting from that time onward until His enemies be made a footstool for His feet. (Heb 10:12–13 ^NASB cf. Ps. 110; Ac 2:33-36)

³⁰“Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, ³¹because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.” (Ac 17:30–31 ^NASB) 

0. 3. Merciful Witness – Proclamation and Emulation of a Crucified Messiah

³Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, ⁴and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.”…. ⁹The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. (2 Pe 3:3–9 ^NASB)

⁹God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent His One and Only Son into the world so that we might live through Him. ¹⁰Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. ¹¹Dear friends, if God loved us in this way, we also must love one another. (1 Jn 4:9–11 ^HCSB)

²¹For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, (1 Pe 2:21 ^NASB cf. Phil. 1:29; 3:10; 2 Cor. 4:10)

³⁴And He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. ³⁵“For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. (Mk 8:34–35 ^NASB  cf. Lk. 14:27; Jn. 12:24-26)

• ⁹“But be on your guard; for they will deliver you to the courts, and you will be flogged in the synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them. (Mk 13:9 ^NASB)
• ⁹“Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. (Mt 24:9 ^NASB)
• ¹¹“And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death. (Re 12:11^NASB)