Go and Tell: The Final Command of Jesus

You're listening to The Bible Guys, a podcast where a couple of friends talk

about the Bible in fun, in practical ways. Hey, good morning or

afternoon or evening. We are the Bible Guys. You do that all the

time. I do. I do because I want to say good morning,

good morning, Yes, good morning. Yeah, there you go. Somebody

just sent it to me the other day. They sent me the clip of

Debbie Reynolds and Gene Kelly saying good morning, singing good morning. I watched

the whole thing. Well, this is it right here. This is your

last chance. Good morning, good morning. We talked the whole night through

good morning, good morning to you, and I say, granted that being

Louisiana, I say, this is your last chance. It's not that we're

ending the Bible Guys podcast. No, it's just this is the end of

the two hundred and fifty or two hundred and some odd major events in the

life of Jesus, which is crazy that it's been two hundred and fifty.

Yeah, yeah, isn't it incredible? Yeah, a long series. So

anyways, that's the end of this series. Yes, and so you got

to squeeze in one more good morning. There you go, and you know

what, before we jump into that, Jeff, could you sing good afternoon,

good afternoon, good afternoon that. Okay, we're we're going to play

guess the word, which is our version of taboo. So if you are

a watcher and you're watching on video, we're going to try to put these

words on the screen for you, the words that I cannot say, because

that's really the fun of the guests. The game. The game is me.

It's harder for me than it is for you. So here we go.

We're going to try to here doing nothing nothing but again it's just you

all you carrying this whole segment, all right, So the first one is

the hardest one. Ready, okay, okay, So you're you're you're when

you you're raised to walk as a as a what you're raised to walk?

Baptism? Yeah? Uh what's the next phrase? Newness of life? Yeah?

Yeah, okay, So I'm about to say the word new because you

said new. Okay, So when you say uh blank spanking new brand yes,

brand brand new, yes, there you go. Okay, all right,

so I had to I had to get you to say the word.

Okay, all right, Now the next word, ready, we're gonna put,

We're gonna put. By the way I should say, I wasn't allowed

to say new or name. I can say it once you say it,

yes, but I wasn't allowed to say new or name or product or label

or export. So I was trying to really get around new. Okay,

now this this, this next one is gonna be very funny. Okay,

here we got ready. What was our theme for Easter Resurrection? New Day,

a new day? The word was new. The next word was new

new again, so we weren't allowed to say new. That was though,

the other one was brand new. And then this one's new. Yeah.

The first word was brand and then this word was new new yes, okay,

and so and so new day. Well yeah, so I wasn't allowed

to say old, fresh, brand, or recent or change. Okay,

okay, all right, good job, Chris, thank you. Here we

go. Here's number three. Did Jesus say that is our next series?

There it is? Which which again when they hear it, we're gonna be

a couple weeks into it, that's right. But I wasn't allowed to say

television set, episode numbers or arithmetic, so I went with the with the

church angle. Yes, Okay, uh, here we go. This is

gonna be really hilarious. Okay, did Jesus say that is our blank series,

new series or next next? Yes? Oh wow? Okay, so

they're all related. Yes. So I wasn't allowed to say last beside door

after or year, so pretty much I could have said a new day is

our brand new next series. Well, think about this, the first four

words brand new, brand new series next. Okay, yeah, so here's

the last words. Okay, all right, ready, there's fifty two of

them in a year weeks yes, or singular week yes. So the words

they gave me were brand new series next week. There you go. So

how clever this is awesome? Yeah, very clever. And I forgot to

say for the word next, I wasn't allowed to say last beside door after

or year. It was not to say the word year. There, Chris,

if the ministry doesn't work out for you, I think you would make

an amazing game show host. And then for a week I wasn't allowed to

say day, Wednesday or Sunday. I actually think a talk show host is

something that I would actually very much enjoy. Talk show host game show hosts.

Oh well that too, Yeah, yeah, I think I would enjoy

it. Like on Family Feud, the question is whether I would enjoy it.

The question is when people enjoy me. Because I know that's a question

that most of us are asking to answer you, because I know I would

enjoy it. I would love to be a game show. Yeah. I

think you do a good job. Yeah, I think I just heard that.

Did Pat say Jack just die? What? I think? So?

What how old is Pat say Jack? Pat Say Jack is seventy seven years

old. Oh, okay, he didn't die. Okay, Okay, it

must have been a spoof. Well I was gonna say, is this breaking

news? No, it must have been a spoof. Saw. I think

that comes up on social media all the time. You know, you know

those two guys, How would you like to be the guy that he keeps

coming up that you're dead? I know, you know those guys on Saturday

Live. They give each other the news to read. Yeah, they make

fun. They get each other to say things that are going to get him

killed or whatever. Well, the guy gave the other guy, it's the

guy who's married to Scroll Johansson. It's that guy anyway, he said,

famous famous game show host Pat say Jack dies at ninety seven. Of course,

I know it's spoof now because only seventy seven. But he goes famous

game show host dies at ninety seven, and all of the fans watching who

are avid watchers of the game show said, wow, that's young. Yeah,

there you go. So you just you just took a shot at all

of our listeners that also like I didn't Saturday Life. Okay, all right,

well you made us all laugh about it. Yes, that's true.

Okay, Well, now we're going to remove you from your role as game

show host. You demoted. Oh no, I didn't hang out of that

very long at all. Okay, Well, hey, this is it right

here. This is the final event in the Gospels, and so it's in

the extended ending of Mark chapter sixteen. And we're also going to look at

Luke chapter twenty four, and then we're going to take a peek into Acts

chapter one. So you gotta remember, as is Luke part two right?

In other words, the author of Acts is Luke, right, And he

really wrote him as you know, back to back stories. Yes, okay,

it's like the sequel to his first book. His first book did so

well, he wrote a second book, and they're thinking we can make this

into two movies, okay. So Mark chapter sixteen, verse nineteen says,

when the Lord Jesus had finished talking with them, he was taken up into

heaven and sat down in the place of Honor at God's right hand. And

the disciples went everywhere and preached, and the Lord worked through them, confirming

what they said by many miraculous signs straight into the point. And Luke chapter

twenty four, verse fifty says, then Jesus led them to Bethany, and

lifting up his hands to Heaven, he blessed them. And while he was

blessing them, he left them and was taken up to heaven. So they

worshiped him and then returned to Jerusalem filled with great joy, and they spent

all of their time in the Temple in God. And then in Acts chapter

one, verse six so, when the disciples or the apostles were with Jesus,

they kept asking him, Lord, what Lord has the time come for

you to free Israel and restore your kingdom? And he replied, the Father

alone has the authority to set those dates in times, and they're not for

you to know. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon

you and you will be my witnesses telling people about me everywhere in Jerusalem,

through Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. And

after saying this, he was taken up into a cloud while they were watching,

and they could no longer see him. As they strained to see him

rising into heaven, two robed men, white robed men, suddenly stood among

them, men of Galilee. They said, why are you standing here staring

into heaven. Jesus has been taken from you into heaven. But someday he

will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go. And that's

it. You know what I can't get out of my mind. When I

was a very young Babba college student, and you know those family entertainment videos,

they were just they were like cartoons vhs. Yeah, I think some

old Disney employees, yes, yes, from that company, Yes, who

worked on the Black Cauldron in Disney. Anyway, Uh, there's a scene

in the Ascension of Jesus where he flies up into the clouds and then the

angels, you know, two men robed in white Uh said those phrases,

and then they did they did this dramatic ending where uh, you know,

like Oliver, you know, please say, can I have some mole?

You know, like this little kid, this little kid who like tugs in

your heartstrings. So so this little cartoon ends. Jesus goes into heaven,

angels speak and then they zoom in on this little boy and he's got one

single tear and he goes, come soon, Lord Jesus will always be watching.

Then that's it. That's the last line. Okay, you know,

just yes, because it's in my mind every time I read the scriptures,

every single time. It's in my mind because it's says that even so come

quickly, Lord Jesus. Yeah. Yeah, And it's the declaration that we

should have, right, So it's the idea that we should, you know,

look look for the second Coming and expect it at any given moment.

And they just tagged it right onto the ascension. When you get to Heaven

and you meet Luke, you can say, hey, I liked your books,

but you know what you should have done. You should have had a

little boy at the end with it. Come soon. You can straighten him

out, straighten him out, Come on, Luke. All right, So

anyways, here we are. Jesus ascends back to Heaven. Yes, and

his disciples begin to go. But I think my favorite thing, and it's

just so human, is Jesus literally has told them how many times in these

last forty days. Now, listen, I'm going to send the Holy Spirit.

And then I want you to go everywhere and tell everybody. Right,

go everywhere. He says it in Matthew, he says it, Mark,

he says it in Luke, go everywhere, tell everybody. They're like,

okay, okay. Then he ascends to heaven. And then they're just standing

there watching. They couldn't even see him anymore. They strained to see him

rising into heaven, these two white robed men. Suddenly God has to sant

angels. They go, men of Galilee, why are you standing here?

Right? You're just standing into heaven. He was taking from you. He's

coming back. Get back to work, right, And and isn't that just

the typical Christian? God says, Okay, here's what I want you to

do. Do this, okay, yeah, and then we just stand there

and do nothing. Right. Yeah, No, I mean I mean,

go do it. Okay, we should, you know, we should do

it. Let's have a Bible study about how we should do this. Let's

stand around and talk about it. Hey, Jesus is coming back at any

minute. Let's just stand and watch Jesus coming back. Now he has us

on mission. We're supposed to be on mission telling everybody everywhere that he's coming

back and they need to be ready. But nope, we're just going to

stand there and look. You know what that reminds me of is when I

was working at my very first church. This was in the early nineties.

I was going down how we won thirty eight in Jonesborough, Georgia, and

there was a huge, massive typhoon rain. I mean it was just like

a white rain, huge heavy rain, and we were backed up in traffic,

bumper to bumper for like I bet it was forty five minutes, and

we finally get up to the actual like thing. You know how people they

rub their neck and they turn and they look at recks. Well, this

wasn't a wreck. This was a simple refrigerator box. Theyn't have a refrigerator

in it. It was just a box weighed like probably three pounds, five

pounds whatever it was, and it was actually soaking wet, but it was

huge, and it was right in the middle of the lane and people had

to stop and slowly go around it, and then and it was it caused

this massive block up, you know, for like, you know that forty

five minutes. So finally when we got up there, we saw the problem.

And as we're going around this refrigerator box, my boss Chuck, who

was with me in the car, looks at me and he goes, oh,

man, he goes, somebody could take care of this if they just

go out there and just simply just pull that box off the side of the

road. He goes, somebody ought to do that. I said yeah,

as we passed it and kept on going right, and then we looked each

other and we just cracked up because we knew that we weren't going to do

it. And there's thousands of other people who drove past it saying the same

thing. Yes, somebody should get that box right, right, and yet

we just drove past it. And then we just cracked up because we were

like, oh my goodness, look who we are. We're the people who

said we should do it. We didn't do it right. God believes in

us more than we believe in us. Right, So God says, okay,

listen, through his son, We're going to give you power and We're

going to give you a mission. Go tell everybody everywhere. Okay, okay,

And then he has sense literally he just said, didn't he just say?

When Jesus had finished talking to him, finished talking about what right before

that, he says, I'm going to give you the Holy Spirit, and

I want you to go everywhere and tell everyone yes, yes, and to

the ends of the earth. Your assignment is listen, He goes, The

Father alone has the authority to choose the dates when I do return and when

I'm gonna do these things. But you'll receive power when the Holy Spirit comes

on you. You'll be my witnesses. Okay, okay, and break just

stand there and break right. It's us man, but it's symbolic of a

lot of Christians. Okay, I'm going to pray about it, and if

the Lord leads me, I'm going to do it. Right. How often

you hear people go you ask them to do something, you know, and

and it's an easy yes or an easy no, and they're like, I'm

just gonna pray about it. I'm gonna I'm gonna really seek the Lord's will

in this thing. Just do something. How about that? I really feel

like when I come to the end of the Gospels. I just feel like,

just do something. Have a predisposition to serve God, and if you're

waiting for some super calling, just go. There was an old preacher back

in the seventies and eighties named John R. Rice. Do you remember the

name John Rice. I feel like we founded an old newspaper called The Sword

of the Lord. Remember that, Oh my word, yes, yeah.

Ok So he was in the fifties, sixties and seventies, pretty famous preacher

in America. Very very conservative guy and all that stuff, but a great

student of the Bible. Anyways, I can remember him. He was in

he's probably seventy five seventy seven, and he said, so roughly the age

of pats a Jack roughly yeah, yeah, yeah, okay, passe Jack

in your mind, same right. So anyways, doctor Rice said at one

point he said, you know, I never he said, I kept waiting

and waiting and waiting for God to call me to ministry. He said,

because he would hear preachers talk about these like earth shattering moments, like it

would you know, there was an earthquake and it was like lightning from heaven

and the angels spoke, the clouds rolled back and said, you are called

in the ministry. He said, I never had that. I never had

like some significant earth shattering moment in my life when I felt like God called

me the ministry. But he said, I wanted to serve God so bad

and I never got the call. So I just volunteered and figured he'd stop

me if you wanted me to quit. And then he was fifty years later,

having served, led tens of thousands of people to Christ, preached in

every state in the country, had written all kinds of books and materials that

had helped transform, you know, tens of thousands of families, and he

said, you know, basically, he said, I got to the end

of the Gospels and he said go. So I just went and figured if

he didn't want me to go, he'd stop me. Right, And here

we are fifty years later, and what he's saying is, you don't need

a mountaintop experience to obey. Just go. Just do a thing, right,

Just do something. What are you doing for the Lord today? What

are you doing specifically to bring lost people to Jesus today? You don't need

some kind of angelic message from heaven, Jesus told us. And yet most

of us are just standing there looking in heaven. Boy, I hope he

comes back soon, right, Yeah? And you know, it also reminds

me of I was a part of a discipleship organization. The name of it's

not important, but basically there was different shapes or different aspects of God speaking

to us and discipleship, and one of them was centered around the idea of

when God speaks, and basically it said it said, it's this simple,

Okay, you should respond every time you feel like God is nudging or you

know, speaking, or you know, you read his word and it feels

like he's encouraging or challenging something whatever, whatever it is. If God feels

like he's getting your attention, he goes, there's only two questions that you

need to ask yourselves, God, what are you saying? And what do

you want me to do? That's it, It's really it. And so

what you're supposed to do is you're supposed to have a process of you know,

trying to figure out, okay, God, what is it that you're

saying? And then it breaks that down and it says, okay. The

first half of that question would be okay, reflect, you know, reflect

and say, Okay, what did God do here? And then to observe

and then to discuss with people? Right, and then it says, okay,

God, what do you want me to do? And then basically it

says to uh account in other words like you know, get godly counsel and

an account. And there was another word in there, and then I think

it was uh and then it was act. The final one was act right,

so and so yeah, the first breakdown was God, what is it

you're saying? Okay, now that I know what you're saying, what do

you want me to do? And again God is pretty clear, isn't it.

He gives us the mission? And I love how it says Jerusalem,

Judea, Samaria in the Ends of the Earth. And Jerusalem is the very

specific city that they start in, right, it's smaller, and Judea is

a region, and then Samaria is a region. Further it will be cross

cross cultural, yeah, and cross cultural, and then to the Ends of

the Earth is even further. So it's like a bullseye that starts in the

middle in Jerusalem and it just goes ring after ring after ring after ring,

and it goes outward and it says, start where you are in other words,

in your neighborhood, in your workplace, in your sphere of influence.

Right, and then so bring the Gospel both here and then also there,

do your part and wherever you go. And by the way, I also

love an old time preacher. I can't remember who it was, but I

remember this old time preacher talk about when he said the word go, it

was it literally translates into as you are going, as you are going,

as you are going, that's right, And so it doesn't just it doesn't

mean go. And then once you get to the destination, then preach the

gospel. It says as you are going, which means every day on your

journey, wherever you are, which is an incredible translation. So when you

get that as you are going, which is what the original Greek, it's

it's a way that you can translate the original Greek. The other thing is

in the NIV does this really well? It says in Jerusalem and Judea and

Samaria and the ends of the earth, not then, right. It doesn't

say go to Jerusalem, then Judea, then Samaria. It's all now.

So God's call on the church is to go everywhere, all at once,

right, which is which is a real big idea, so you everywhere we

go. It's not like evangelism is a destination for some day somewhere you go

on a missions trip. All mission is local mission, all of it.

So as you're going wherever you are, and then if that happens, then

Christians are everywhere, and so we would always be sharing the Gospel everywhere if

we understood that it's not an event that happens when we get to a place,

but that we're living it all the time and we're declaring the gospel.

So yeah, yeah, I went to the Detroit Lions game downtown to meet

my family. They were playing the Cleveland Browns, and I had this big

ordeal where I was. I was in a crutch. Yeah yeah, back

in a daily Oh you told it on this episode on this Well, basically

I wasn't planning on going into details, but basically I ended up walking all

the way to the to the stadium, forgot my tickets, went all the

way back. I was well into the second quarter and as I was trying

to ruffle and shuffle, uh, the guy who is parking the cars and

watching the parking lot saw my Bible And as I'm trying to get my tickets

and go back to the stadium to meet my family. He goes, Hey,

I just have a quick question for you. He goes, how does

the person know for certain they can go to heave when they died? And

I was like, oh, is that all you know? I was like,

well, I guess my time with my family is hijack because I'm not

walking away from this right, And it's just the it's the idea of like,

as you are going, right, and so here I am in the

middle of doing whatever. Yeah, but you know it's the mission. Here

I am in the middle of this parking lot. And then of course,

you know, it's not as if I could lead him to Christ in twenty

minutes. This poor guy, you know, he's got a thousand questions.

And do you remember David would Yeah, And David Wood always taught us,

you know, to say, hey, that's a great question. Let's put

that question to the side, and let's talk about salvation, right, and

then let's talk about the message of Jesus, and then at the end of

that, let's answer your question. And chances are they won't have that same

questions. Did dinosaurs roam the earth? Right? You know that kind of

thing. But this guy, you know, he so basically, hey,

it was all mission from that point on. So I love as we wrap

up. I love how the Book of Acts chapter one explains this. They're

asking Jesus, when are you coming back? So the things Christians want to

talk about, when's Jesus come back? When's Jesus coming back? When's Jesus

come back? When's Jesus coming back? And he goes, it's none of

your business. He literally says, it's not for you to know, right,

So it's not your business. So get to work, right, get

to work. Go share the gospel. The work he gave us is go

tell everyone everywhere. All the rest of the things we do, passing out

programs and passing out coffee in church and making sure the floors are vacuumed,

all those things are nice things, they're important things, but they're only for

the purpose of being able to share the gospel right right, everything we do.

So you go share the gospel. Learn to share the gospel personally.

How do you close the deal with your sons and your daughters. How do

you share the gospel with your neighbors? How do you bring up a gospel

conversation? With your coworker. God called you to go, But I know

so many Christians who are obsessed about end times, obsessed about end times and

never share the gospel right, right, And so Jesus said, it's none

of your business. Go, And then there's still standing there looking up and

having going. I wonder when he's coming back, right, And so the

angels have to remind him again. And so I think it's important that we

be reminded over and over and over and over, because I think the hardest

thing for Christians to do is to get up and go, whether it's across

the office or across the street or ass over the world. Yeah, and

you don't have to have a Bible degree. You don't have to know theology.

You don't have to just like I'm referenced David Wood just a minute ago.

You don't have to know the answer to every question that every agnostic has.

The only thing you have to know is I once was lost and now

I'm found. Yeah, you need to know your story, that's right,

who you were before you became a Christian, What was the event or the

things God used to catch your attention? And what did you do? Right?

Hey, I confess my sin, accepted Christ my savior, and then

what has happened afterwards? And if you know your story and you can learn

how to tell God's story, the fact that God made us to love us,

but we are sinners and Jesus paid the price for our sin and salvations

by grace through faith. If you can figure out how to tell those things,

your story and God's story, you're qualified to share the gospel. Right

And I always advise people just re memorize John three sixteen. God loved,

God gave, We believe we have. Those forwards are in that verse.

Yep. So hey, that looks like our time. So as we read

it, that is it. We wrap up this series. And so we

will see you for great new information. Well tomorrow, tomorrow we're doing an

entire day of stump the pastor. That's great. Yeah, so it's gonna

be fun. All right. We'll see you then on the Bible, guys,