The Mandate We have a mandate from God. All Christians have this mandate. Everyone without any exception. God does not care how you look - what your profession may be - what age you may be - what gender you may be - what race you may be - what education you have - what your social status is - God does not care about any of these - once you are a follower of Jesus Christ, you have a mandate from Him, a commandment which He expects you to obey - a Commission to go into all the world to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus after His resurrection stayed 40 days on earth before His ascension back into heaven. During this time He proved to His disciples beyond a shadow of a doubt that He is the Messiah. He continued to teach them various important lessons. He also gave them the Great Commission, our mandate. This commission is so important that it is recorded not just once - not just twice - not just three times but a total of 5 times - in all the gospels and also the book of Acts. This is the way it is recorded in the book of Mark MK 16:15 He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well." Today we will see what this mandate entails. What are the implications of this mandate? We will come to an understanding of our responsibility in regards to this mandate. How we must respond to it. There are two parts to this mandate. The first portion of the command is for us to go into all the world to preach the goods news to all creation. Embedded within this is the reason why we must do so. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved bit whoever does not believe will be condemned. They will remain condemned. This world of ours is a sinful world and without Jesus the whole world is condemned. The purpose of our preaching is so that they may hear the goods news and believe. When they believe in their hearts that God has raised Jesus from the dead and confess with their mouths that Jesus is Lord they will be saved. The mandate therefore is for us to go into all the world and preach the good news so that man, woman and children might be saved from condemnation. The condemnation of being sent into hell. Of burning forever in the eternal pits of hell. Of suffering the pains and torture of hell and not being able to do anything about it. Of thirsting and having no water to quench your thirst. Have you ever experienced acute thirst? I have. A few years ago I was touring Italy. On this day when we were in Rome, we went to the Coliseum. It was a very hot day. The heat there is very different from Singapore. It is dry heat. We were thirsty. We could not find any café or whatever in the coliseum. When we went out we saw a stall - somewhat like the sarabak stall. We bought a small bottle each. Each cost 2 Euro - about S$5 each - we were so thirsty that we were prepared to pay anything. I took hold of mine - uncapped it and brought the bottle to my mouth - a few drops then nothing - the whole bottle was frozen - the water inside was just one big ice - I was thirsty but at least I had those few drops of water. Just imagine what it will be like to be thirsty and have no water forever and ever and ever more. The physical pains - not to mention the emotional - to be without love forever. How many have felt the intense heat of the sun? I love fishing. In fishing you are exposed to the sun and rain. I have found that the sun is getting more intense these days. When it is bright and sunny and you are not covered, you will soon find it hot. But after a while, you will find the heat burning into you. You don't get burnt up. But you will find the heat biting into you. Of course we can seek for shelter and normally I do. But in hell, people will burn for eternity without any way of escape. For them it will be way too late. But now, while they are on earth, the have a chance of escape. This is why God has given us the mandate - the mandate to go forth to share the gospel so that they those who might believe will be saved. Saved from this tragic consequence. Friends, we have the truth and the truth must be shared. No one who has made a discovery will keep it to himself. Just imagine what will happen if Thomas Edison kept the secret to the electrical bulb all to himself - the world may still be dark at night. Just imagine what will happen if Sim Wong Hoo kept the secret of the sound card to himself - we will not be able to enjoy all the video games Just imagine someone discovering the cure to cancer and keeping it to himself. People will continue to die of cancer. Here, we have the answer to prevent people from dying eternally. The answer is in Jesus. Jesus is the only way. If there is any other way, then we need not be bothered. But there is no other name under heaven and on earth by which man might be saved except the name of Jesus. There are many ways for things in this world. But there is only one way by which man might be saved. There are many ways to get to my house. There are many ways to get into Singapore. But there is only one way for people to get into heaven. People have tried various ways to get to the peak of Mount Everest. But so far, they have only found one successful way to get to the top. People have tried many ways - many other religions - many philosophies to get into eternal paradise - but there is only one way. Jesus is the way. He is the truth the way and the life. There are many ways to get light. But there is only one way to get light from electrical bulbs. It is to allow electrical power to flow through it. Similarly, to have eternal life, one must allow the power of God to flow through. And the only way for that power to flow is through Jesus. He is the only way. We know this truth. But the question is whether we will share it? God has indeed given us a mandate. The mandate to preach the gospel to all creation. The mandate to share Jesus with one and all whom God has brought into our lives. The mandate to share the good news unto the ends of the world. Have we? Will we? Consider it. How many people have you shared the gospel with in the last twelve months? I am not talking about building relationships with non-believers. I am talking about sharing the gospel. Telling them the good news about Jesus. How many people have you shared the gospel with. The apostle Paul said "woe am I if I do not preach the gospel of Jesus Christ." He knows what God has called him to. Do we know that God has called us to the same thing? To preach the good news to all creation. So, how many times have you shared the gospel in the last twelve months? Are we obeying God's command as we should? You said "but pastor, they would not listen - they make fun of me - they just reject what I have to say." Well, you are not the only one experiencing this. Even Jesus was rejected. People would not listen to Him. They would not believe Him. And He tells us "when they reject you, it is not you that they are rejecting but me." So, results is not the issue - it is whether we are preaching the good news to all creation. God expects us to. Have we? Will we? The second portion of the mandate is that as we go forth to preach the gospel we must also be ready to meet needs. The gospel must be proclaimed. But it must also be demonstrated. The name of Jesus is the only way by which man might be saved. But it is also by the name of Jesus that demons will be cast out of people, that people might be healed of all sorts of sicknesses and people might be released from whatever has imprisoned them. Verse 17 says that signs and miracles will follow. I shared about miracles on Easter Sunday. There I mentioned that signs and miracles do exist. They exist to show that God is real. They exist to show that Jesus is God. In John 14 Jesus told his disciples that he is the way, the truth and the life. That no one comes to the Father except by Him. In verse 11 He said this "if you do not believe in my words, at least believe based on the evidence of the miracles." When we share the gospel, people may not right away believe. However, when they experience miracles and relate it with the gospel, the chance is much higher that they will. This is what happened to William. William came two years ago to the service where Ian McCormack shared his testimony of how he was raised from the dead. He went away not quite believing. Later that day, he was admitted to hospital. There he experienced a personal miracle and connect it with what he had heard earlier from Ian McCormack. Today, he believes beyond a shadow of a doubt as to who Jesus is. The gospel became personal reality to him when he experienced the miracle of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Miracles do exist. It is to tell us that God does exist. It is to tell us that Jesus is God. And we have been called to share this truth with all creation. We have been given the mandate to go preach the gospel to all creation. We know that daily people are dying without Jesus. It is tragic that they should die without Jesus. We know the consequences. But it would be sad to know that this could have been avoided if someone cares enough to share the good news with them. Yes, we have a mandate. A mandate to preach the good news. A mandate to believe for miracles and to show to the world that Jesus is God. A mandate to tell them that there is no other way by which man might be saved except the name of Jesus. Today, will we answer this mandate?

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