Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. (Matthew 28: 19, 20)
And after the Day of Pentecost, the apostles and disciples began to do a work that no generation had ever been commanded before: go tell the world about God.
This would not be an easy task, for the people of the world lived in spiritual darkness: they did not have the knowledge of God. People all over the world did not know about God, nor had they ever heard of Him before.
Think about the difficulty Christians had at that time. Speaking for Jesus was not popular, for the Lord had been crucified by evil people just over a month earlier, and, who would believe their report?
And even before they could leave Jerusalem, they were persecuted, jailed, and Stephen became the first martyr for Christ. Think about being stoned by an angry mod. Think about feeling and hearing your bones crush by men pounding you with rocks. That is what Stephen experienced for talking about Jesus.
Neither was the commission by Christ to the disciples and apostles allowed within the Roman Empire. So now, not only did Christians have angry Jews harrassing them, but they would also face Roman soldiers for centuries to come as well as the wrath of the caesars and popes of Rome.
Thus, the disciples and apostles of Christ departed Jerusalem to take the Good News of Jesus that would eventually reach seven continents. What an enormous responsibility did the Lord give to them!
The followers of Christ were not wealthy people. They did not have much education. Perhaps many could neither read nor write. Neither did they possess wardrobes of clothes, nor extra shoes, nor even backpacks. They had no Bibles, no brochures, no pamplets, no CDs, and no DVDs. All they had was the love of God in their hearts, and off they went---knowing that they would face great peril and danger.
And they also knew that they would likely die, for hundreds and thousands of Christians have been beheaded for their faith in Christ Jesus.
In every direction the Christians went from Jerusalem, they faced opposition. They faced people whose minds were full of pagan religions, pagan gods and goddesses. They talked with people who worshipped gods of the moon, sun, and stars, as well as people who worshipped things of the earth, including animals, birds, and fish. They met people who worshipped graven images, made with their own hands, and they also met people who worshipped dead people.
As strange as this may sound, Christians today meet people who are no different than people the disciples and apostles met 2000 years ago and for all of the years since the time of Christ on earth. Even today, people of the earth have pagan religions, pagan gods and goddesses, gods of the sun, the moon, and the stars, and gods of the things of this earth, such as animals, fish, and birds, and also people who worship idols and graven images, including the worship of dead people and even to give diety to dead people and pray to them as if they are gods.
People of the world today do not want Christians to talk about Jesus Christ---yet millions of people are comfortable with the baby Jesus story of Christmas, Santa Claus, and the bunny rabbit of Easter.
Stranger than this is the fact that many people who are members of Christian churches and Christian religions do not like to talk about Jesus, even in the presence of Christians!
So then, do you believe God is pleased with the behaviour and unbelief of people over the past 6000 years?
No!
We have exhausted God's patience and now we are beginning to witness the wrath of God's anger upon the earth, for God is beginning His judgments of the earth, and God will soon close the book on human history.
In so doing, the Lord is sending His last call to people to believe in His only begotten Son and to turn from their wicked ways. For now the door of the ark is still open.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but will have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. (John 3: 16, 17)
And after the Day of Pentecost, the apostles and disciples began to do a work that no generation had ever been commanded before: go tell the world about God.
This would not be an easy task, for the people of the world lived in spiritual darkness: they did not have the knowledge of God. People all over the world did not know about God, nor had they ever heard of Him before.
Think about the difficulty Christians had at that time. Speaking for Jesus was not popular, for the Lord had been crucified by evil people just over a month earlier, and, who would believe their report?
And even before they could leave Jerusalem, they were persecuted, jailed, and Stephen became the first martyr for Christ. Think about being stoned by an angry mod. Think about feeling and hearing your bones crush by men pounding you with rocks. That is what Stephen experienced for talking about Jesus.
Neither was the commission by Christ to the disciples and apostles allowed within the Roman Empire. So now, not only did Christians have angry Jews harrassing them, but they would also face Roman soldiers for centuries to come as well as the wrath of the caesars and popes of Rome.
Thus, the disciples and apostles of Christ departed Jerusalem to take the Good News of Jesus that would eventually reach seven continents. What an enormous responsibility did the Lord give to them!
The followers of Christ were not wealthy people. They did not have much education. Perhaps many could neither read nor write. Neither did they possess wardrobes of clothes, nor extra shoes, nor even backpacks. They had no Bibles, no brochures, no pamplets, no CDs, and no DVDs. All they had was the love of God in their hearts, and off they went---knowing that they would face great peril and danger.
And they also knew that they would likely die, for hundreds and thousands of Christians have been beheaded for their faith in Christ Jesus.
In every direction the Christians went from Jerusalem, they faced opposition. They faced people whose minds were full of pagan religions, pagan gods and goddesses. They talked with people who worshipped gods of the moon, sun, and stars, as well as people who worshipped things of the earth, including animals, birds, and fish. They met people who worshipped graven images, made with their own hands, and they also met people who worshipped dead people.
As strange as this may sound, Christians today meet people who are no different than people the disciples and apostles met 2000 years ago and for all of the years since the time of Christ on earth. Even today, people of the earth have pagan religions, pagan gods and goddesses, gods of the sun, the moon, and the stars, and gods of the things of this earth, such as animals, fish, and birds, and also people who worship idols and graven images, including the worship of dead people and even to give diety to dead people and pray to them as if they are gods.
People of the world today do not want Christians to talk about Jesus Christ---yet millions of people are comfortable with the baby Jesus story of Christmas, Santa Claus, and the bunny rabbit of Easter.
Stranger than this is the fact that many people who are members of Christian churches and Christian religions do not like to talk about Jesus, even in the presence of Christians!
So then, do you believe God is pleased with the behaviour and unbelief of people over the past 6000 years?
No!
We have exhausted God's patience and now we are beginning to witness the wrath of God's anger upon the earth, for God is beginning His judgments of the earth, and God will soon close the book on human history.
In so doing, the Lord is sending His last call to people to believe in His only begotten Son and to turn from their wicked ways. For now the door of the ark is still open.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but will have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. (John 3: 16, 17)
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