The Basis for This Command

So why is the tone of our evangelism so different from that of the apostles? Why do we not deliver the gospel with the same authority as they did? Why do we give the impression that faith and repentance are a mere option when they proclaimed them as a universal duty of all mankind?

I’d like to suggest that the differences in the two approaches to evangelism could be the result of a difference in emphasis upon the authority, power and sovereignty of Christ. The apostles seem to have placed a great deal of importance upon the exalted station to which Christ had been raised. I believe that it was this heightened view of the dominion of Christ that led the them to preach with such authority. I believe, in addition, that it is the modern church’s tendency to deemphasize that dominion that leads to the frequent lack of strength in her evangelistic efforts.

Look again at Peter’s first sermon. Upon what did he base his command for the people to repent and be baptized? Jesus had been raised up; he had been exalted by the right hand of God. All the house of Israel was to know assuredly, that God had made him both Lord and Christ. It was because of this exaltation that the people were required to repent.

Consider again the sermon on Mars Hill. Upon what did Paul ground his announcement of God’s command that all men everywhere repent? “…inasmuch as he hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men in that he raised him from the dead.” This universal obligation to repent was based upon the authority that Christ had been given to judge the world.

And what had been the basis for Christ commissioning the apostles in the first place? “All authority has been given unto me in heaven and on earth. Go ye therefore…” The apostles were sent out to make all nations into disciples. They were instructed to baptize all nations and to teach all nations to obey the words that Jesus had spoken. The force that moved them, the strength that upheld them was the authority that Christ had been given, an authority that encompassed all of heaven and all of earth.

It seems to me that if we are to recover the fervor, the energy, and the authority of apostles’ evangelism, we must first recover their emphasis upon the sovereignty, power, and authority of Christ. We must continually remind ourselves that this, our Messiah, is more than king and lord of Christians, more than king and lord of the church. He is the King of Kings. He is the Lord of Lords. Perhaps if we understand this as we should, we will be more encouraged to preach as the apostles did and to press upon the unbelieving world its absolute obligation to submit to Christ's lordship and rule.