The Great Commission

Teachings from India (2): 

Matthew 28:18-20:  Jesus is the sender in the Great Commission–not the church, and not a mission agency.  God may use these things, but Jesus Himself is the one who sends you, and he's sending you with all power.

Matthew 16:19 states:  "I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.  I'm giving you the keys of the Kingdom and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."

The tense of the binding and loosing implies this has already been done.  Jesus is sending you with all the power and authority in heaven and on earth to bind and to loose. 

Jesus is the center of the Great Commission.

The first command is that to go.  The second is to make disciples of all nations.  According to John 15:8, a disciple is one who bears fruit. John 15:16 says that Jesus has chosen and ordained all of us to bear fruit–fruit that remains.  Every Christian is a royal priest who is to bring forth fruit that remains.  The fruit of new believers will not remain unless they are baptized.