Re-defining The Great Commission by Apostle Joshua Selman: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

The Problem in the Harvest Field

The main issue Jesus identified with the harvest is not the inability to gather it together. The major issue is the scarcity of laborers. Every lost soul in the mind of Jesus is already a harvest — not a seed still growing — already ripe. The problem is not the inability to reach souls but the scarcity of those who qualify as true laborers.

There are pastors, preachers, apostles, missionaries, and all kinds of people, but very few who can in truth be called laborers. What empowers a laborer is not being near the harvest field — it is the understanding of the assignment. Proximity to the harvest does not make you a laborer.

The Three Scriptures of the Great Commission

The Great Commission generally rests upon three scriptures, all of which came as a result of conversations Jesus himself had. Many examine this subject and simply pick any one of the three, but the scriptures must be put together to understand the full scope.

• Mark 16:15–20 — Mark 16:15 — Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Signs shall follow those who believe.
• Matthew 28:18–20 — Matthew 28:19 — All authority is given to Jesus. Go and teach all nations, baptizing them and teaching them to observe all things he commanded.
• Acts 1:6–11 — Acts 1:8 — You shall receive power after the Holy Ghost comes upon you, and you shall be witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the uttermost part of the earth.

There is only one thing greater than the truth — the whole truth. If you have a piece of the truth and not the whole truth, your practice will be lopsided and not holistic.

Definition of the Great Commission

The Great Commission is a mandate given by Jesus to his disciples, and now to all believers:

1. To reach the entire globe with the gospel of salvation
2. To bring nations to the knowledge of the truth through discipleship
3. To consequently bring territorial and societal transformation

Component One: World Evangelization

The instruction is very clear: go ye — strategic, energetic action. The location is all the world. The content is the gospel. Notice that Jesus never specified how — the strategy was left flexible because every generation must reinvent its methods while the mission and message remain the same.

The gospel of salvation is a revelation of the Father's love, revealed through the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus Christ, to the end that any man who believes is translated from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God's dear Son.

We have approximately eight billion people on Earth today. Christianity, including all who profess it, is about 2.8 billion. At the rate evangelism is happening globally, there must be intelligence outsourced from the spirit for more effective methods. One-on-one evangelism alone will leave us in frustration. Many social media platforms now have more than 2.5 billion users — human beings have invented an idea more productive in reach than the gospel has been. The believer must work in partnership with the Lord of the Harvest to come up with effective end-time strategies.

• World evangelization is not just a mandate for evangelists and missionaries — it is every believer's mandate.
• The Bible says in Daniel 12:3 that those who turn many to righteousness shall shine as the stars forever and ever.
• The reward of the believer when standing before Jesus will be with respect to the Great Commission.
• All the grace and power that comes from God to the believer — miracles, prosperity, influence — are supposed to be tools eventually deployed for the harvest.
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Apostle Joshua Selman
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In soul winning, numbers matter. When it has to do with discipleship, numbers may not matter, but soul winning is one soul at a time, and one hundred souls is better than ten.

Component Two: Discipleship

Discipleship is the mentorship of believers to attain unto maturity and stature through doctrine. It is also helping believers understand the principles of the Kingdom and the ways of God through the teaching ministry.

The end product of discipleship is personal transformation and maturity. If submitting believers to any body of truth does not translate to personal transformation and maturity, it is not biblical discipleship.

Component two is the primary reason for the physical convergence of believers — what we call church. The local assembly is supposed to be an authorized platform where believers converge consistently to be mentored methodically, line upon line, precept upon precept. Acts 2:42 — they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine, in fellowship, in breaking of bread, and in prayers.

Imagine going to a farm, harvesting tomatoes or yam, and leaving them in the field without taking them through processes to package them. They begin to decay. This is the challenge in the body of Christ. Many have genuinely encountered Jesus, but because of the absence of growth and maturity, some have ascended to leadership positions by longevity alone rather than by the index of transformation.

• A leader who has not been discipled will only mentor others from the lens of their own limitations.
• The end of discipleship is not slavery and subjugation — the end of discipleship is liberty by communication of doctrine.
• The gospel deals with the heart and spirit of man; transformation by the teaching ministry deals with the mind. The Great Commission is essentially a battle for the hearts and minds of men.

Look at Jesus: the ratio of his teaching ministry to impartation was three and a half years to one day. He sat with the disciples consistently — and the product of that mentorship is seen in Acts 2, when Peter, trained to maturity, defended the faith with intelligence on the day of Pentecost.

The fivefold ministry according to Ephesians 4:11–13 is God's strategy designed to help believers attain unto maturity — till we all come into the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man, the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

The greatest gift you can give any man of God is not a car, a house, or money — it is submission to be transformed by the truth that comes from him to you. The greatest joy of any man of God who sincerely loves God and his people is to see them evolve into superior spiritual versions.

Component Three: Territorial and Societal Transformation

This is the most neglected component of the Great Commission. The gospel, as designed in the mind of Jesus, was supposed to penetrate systems and structures so that society feels its impact. Any gospel that cannot penetrate and transform society is barren of many components of power.

First area: Impact on the moral fabric of society. When the church becomes light and the message of the gospel is going far, backed up by discipleship, crime rates should reduce, disobedience should reduce. Every time there was a revival and awakening in the Bible, it translated to societal change. In Acts 19, people brought their magic books and burned them — the financial worth documented. That is the gospel penetrating society.

When Jesus walked upon the Earth, he went to the houses of people of influence. His encounter with Zacchaeus saved many who had been unjustly treated because Zacchaeus became repentant and used his influence to correct the corruption in his tax dealings.

Second area: Impact on the quality of lives of the people within that territory. John 10:10 — the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy; Jesus came that we might have life and have it more abundantly. Matthew 14:16 — Jesus himself said to his disciples, "They need not depart; give them to eat." The same people he was training to be men of God were the ones he used to share welfare with the multitude. A man of God, properly mentored, must serve and care for people even at their physical needs.

The five benefits of knowing God from Psalm 103:2–5:

1. He forgives all iniquities
2. He heals all diseases
3. He redeems life from destruction
4. He crowns with lovingkindness and tender mercies
5. He satisfies the mouth with good things, so that youth is renewed like the eagle's

Third area: Advancement in all spheres of society — technological, educational, health. The story of Joseph in Genesis 41:37–57 illustrates this: Joseph's relationship with God, maintained through every trial, led him to a position where he governed and provided an economic solution that preserved not just Egypt but the program of God itself. Results speak. Territories speak.

The Balanced Commission

To one who sees the Great Commission only as world evangelization — that is powerful but it is one over three. To one who sees it only as discipleship — that is wonderful but it is one over three. To one who focuses only on welfare and well-being without impacting hearts, spirits, and minds — also one over three.

World evangelization + discipleship and mentorship + societal and territorial transformation = the mandate Jesus gave us.

If we fulfill this mandate correctly, something will happen to our territories and to the world before Jesus returns. This is why we are here. This is why we breathe. This is why we learn and do all the things that we do.

• Lord, I am available — use me for your glory as far as fulfilling the mandate of the Great Commission is concerned.
• Whatever you want to do in and through my life as a contribution towards fulfilling the Great Commission, my life is available.
• Father, because I have pledged my life, every resource I need — make it available unto me. The resources, the influence, the access, the power, the revelation, the grace for signs and wonders — I receive it in Jesus' name.