Commissioned!

Part 1: No Compromise and No Condemnation

9/4/16
- Peter DeWitt
Audio Written Summary Blog Post

When something isn't operating according to its commission, we call it "out-of-commission." We don't want to be out-of-commission Christians. It's important to know what our job as believers is. So what is our job description as Christians–what is our commission?  According to the Gospels, our Great Commission is as outlined:

  • Go everywhere
  • Everywhere you go, preach the gospel to every creature
  • Make disciples of all the nations
  • Baptize those that believe in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit
  • Teach them to observe all things that I (Jesus) have commanded you 
We also see that these signs should follow those who believe: 
  • Cast out demons
  • Speak with new tongues
  • Pick up serpents
  • If you drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt you
  • Lay hands on the sick and they will recover 
Our Christian Job Description (our Commission) has NOTHING to do with our identity in Christ! The Great Commission is not "the great commission for righteousness...to earn righteousness!" It is just the Christian job description! 
  • In wanting to be transformed concerning the commission, the first stage is denial/avoidance. Look at the Commission and don't let it depart from your eyes. Don't gloss over it. Don't average it out (aka justify yourself). Don't claim that it doesn't work because you've tried it half heartedly before with correspondingly poor results. 
  • The next stage can be condemnation. At this stage, remember it is important to not let your identity get wrapped up in your job description. To the pure all things are pure. If you are looking at the Commission and you think "I don't do any of this." OK, that feedback is PURE. There's nothing more to it. It's just data. It's just feedback. It's not your identity. Don't get your identity from your job; you get your identity from Christ, and then you help people. 
  • The third stage is to embrace the tension. You want to look squarely at the Commission and the things that will follow and feel the tension that says, "I don't see that" or "I don't want to do that." You stay in that tension and say "I know, my heart's going to change, but I am not letting it depart from my eyes until I see my heart change to line up with the Word because that is my standard!" Be careful not to throw a pity party for yourself and go back into condemnation in the midst of the tension. Understand that we are prone to use condemnation as a cop-out. You are not victimized because someone or the Word told you the truth! Stay in the tension–you can do it and you will be changed!
  • You begin to actually have faith rise up in your heart for the scripture you are keeping before your eyes! 
We are going to do the Great Commission with zero modification AND zero condemnation! Commissioned! It's a good thing. The Commission has NOTHING to do with your identity in Him. It has everything to do with a job that needs done. Keep it before your eyes and we're going to build from there. Amen! 
 

Part 2: The Natural Desire of Our New Nature

9/18/16
- Peter DeWitt
Audio Written Summary Blog Post
Bobby Conner has said there is a roar of revolution - a revolution of unction for function! This coming move will be about action. It was never the plan of God to establish the kingdom of God with mere words but with Christ-centered works. Not just mere doctrine but God inspired deeds. 
 
The Holy Spirit is again waiting for the Word of God to be released in this earth! (see Gen. 1:2-3) Initially, the Holy Spirit was partnering with the Word of God to make the earth. Then, Holy Spirit was partnering with the Word of God to bring Jesus to the earth! Now, He wants to bring the earth to Jesus! THIS is the pulse beat of the Holy Spirit. When Holy Spirit comes into your heart, He wants to bring the world to Jesus!  For example, in Acts 2, the first thing that happens after the Holy Spirit has His way with 120 believers is that thousands are saved! Why? Because the Holy Spirit came and He has one agenda! The Holy Spirit only responds to the Word of God (Jesus), and He was listening when Jesus gave the Great Commission! 
 
We have to understand we have a new nature with new desires. The old things that used to motivate you are gone and all things have been made new! When we talk about the Great Commission, we are not talking about something that you’re not. There is nothing more core to your new nature as a born-again believer than to bring the world to Christ - to prepare the Bride of Christ! 
 
Some of you are about to go through a “spiritual puberty.” When you go through a physical puberty, you find a drive that you didn’t have before. Some of you are about to have a spiritual, Great Commission drive that you’ve never had before. The desire for the Great Commission is so natural for your born again spirit that it is going to get to the point where you think “how could I not want to do this?” 
 
Proclaiming the gospel takes faith! If we put any of the pressure for being able preach the gospel on ourselves then apparently we don’t think it’s by faith. The Great Commission is not a will-powered mission. It is a faith-powered mission, and if we need faith to carry out the great commission then we need to be clear about how to get faith! The first thing we need to know is that actually, as believers, we have already all been given the FULL measure of faith. That said, we are not all walking in the full measure of faith yet. Allowing all of the faith that is within us to be released requires knowing His Word. Romans 10:17 says “faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.”
 
We want to approach the Great Commission God’s way - not just “the logical way.” “In the beginning was the Word.” If you want to start anything in your life, start with the Word! That’s what God did after all! John 1 also says that “all things were made through the Word” and “nothing that was made was made apart from the Word.” So how does God make things? By His Word! So if we want to operate like God, how do we make things? By His Word!
 
In John 6:28-29, the people were asking Jesus “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” The Great Commission is the work of God, correct? So what shall we now (as believers) do so that we may do the works of God - that we may do the Great Commission? Look at Jesus’ response “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him (THE WORD) whom He sent.” The work of God is to believe in the Word whom He has sent - and that is exactly how we are approaching the Great Commission!

Part 3: "Come with Me"

10/2/16
- Peter DeWitt
Audio Written Summary Blog Post

It’s the most riveting thing in the world to follow God! In Matthew 4:19 Jesus said, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” When you follow Jesus, He will make you a fisher of men. Your action verb is to FOLLOW. His action verb is to MAKE.

In Joshua 1:10-11 we read that “Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying, “Pass through the camp and command the people, saying, ‘Prepare provisions for yourselves, for within three days you will cross over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess.’” Get ready Agathos! God’s going somewhere and He wants us to get ready. Remember, God works on people; His focus of influence is individual. This is why we will all stand before God individually in front of His throne. Our church will come with Him if EACH person comes with Him. 

Peter’s life and his history of following Jesus provide an illustrative example. Following Christ always means stopping following something else. Peter chose Jesus. He could honestly tell Jesus that he had “left everything” to follow Christ. He forsook all. He left his nets. Nevertheless, Jesus said to Peter, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.’” (Mark 8:34) There was something going on in Peter’s heart to which Jesus was saying “I know you think you want to follow Me, but you want to follow your version of Me.”

In John 13:37, Peter asks Jesus “Lord, why can I not follow You?” If we follow Him, He will make us fishers of men, but Jesus says, “If you want to come after Me” you need to (1) deny yourself, (2) take up your cross, and (3) follow Me. You have to do a “denying” and a “taking up” before you can do a following. Eventually Peter’s shadow healed all it touched, but at this point Peter had not left this one idea about who the Messiah ought to be to him! 

In all of our genuineness, why can’t we follow Jesus sometimes? There are three hindrances that can exist in our hearts to keep us from actually following Jesus. These are blind spots. Peter was genuine, but he couldn’t follow Jesus because of a mindset. Peter had not denied his own ideas, taken up his cross, and actually followed the real Jesus. 

(1) The first hindrance is being given to the opinions of people. John 5:44 says, “How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?” If satan can’t control you, he will seek to control you through people.

(2) The second hindrance is riches. The Word of God is clear: “you cannot serve both God and Mammon.” Mammon is controlling a lot of believers. We want to be in the flow of realizing that God will supply for you supernaturally to create flexibility in order that you can accomplish His Great Commission.

(3) A third hindrance is self-preservation, or as Mark 4:18-19 calls it “the desire for other things.” You have to leave something in order to follow a new thing. If you will follow Christ, I can promise you what He will do: He will make you a fisher of men! But you cannot follow two things simultaneously: “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.” (Mt. 6:24) We all want to serve God, so let’s remove any hindrances! 

Part 4: Boldness

10/16/16
- Peter DeWitt
Audio Written Summary Blog Post

The Lord said to Jeremiah, “Do not say, ‘I am a youth,’ For you shall go to all to whom I send you, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of their faces, For I am with you to deliver you…” When you became a born-again believer God put a word in your mouth and—and power—is Jesus! We are to speak the word to all the people He sends us to! “Go into all the earth and preach the gospel!” 

This is why there is such a discrepancy between what Christians believe about the Great Commission and what they do: We don’t realize that there is actually opposition to DOING the Great Commission. There is exponentially more opposition to DOING than there is to believing the Great Commission. The enemy just wants you to nod your head during church service, but he doesn’t want you to move your feet on the pavement of the street. The darkness shall cover the earth.” (Isa. 60:2) But that darkness will not cover God’s people! We are to be lamps on stands, salt on food, and a bright shinning light! Arise and shine for your light has come! 

In Jn. 12:42-43 we read, “Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.” Many believers believe, but never confess. There’s a difference. 

Many believers believe, but never confess. Why? We need to realize that there is actually atmospheric, spiritual pressure over the earth. He is called the prince of the power of the air. That pressure is greater in some places than in others. The testimony of Jesus, your confession of Christ (in word and in power) will issue forth out of you when your internal pressure for Christ is greater than the atmospheric pressure against Him! This is why you feel bold for Christ in certain circumstances, but not others. For instance, if you come to a church where all the members believe in Jesus, and they are here to praise God and hear the Word of God, the atmospheric pressure against Christ in that environment is VERY low! It doesn’t take a lot of internal pressure from Christ for you to get to the point that you are praising God in this environment! 

“Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.” (Acts 4:13) We absolutely want to get theology right, but theology cannot replace passion. You can know everything, but if you are not passionate for Jesus, you will do nothing. Think about a marriage. Passion is so important in a marriage. A marriage is not just principle. Passionate love will cause you to do what principle will never motivate you too. Believing is not enough—we must believe to the point of action!