The faithful Lord calls those who will demonstrate their faithfulness to Him (1 Thess. 5:24). The called is commissioned by the Lord to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and live in obedience to His will. We are all spiritually dead, but God initiates by calling certain individuals to be made alive to Him and surrender to His will. During Jesus’ ministry, power and authority to heal diseases and cast out demons were only given to the twelve disciples exclusively. But the Lord equips today’s disciples with spiritual gifts to carry out His will and purpose. In addition, there is no apostolic authority or apostolic-quality gifts and miracle-working abilities (1 Cor. 13:8; 2 Cor. 12:12), but rather God works miracles through the power of prayer.
Jesus, in His earthly ministry, revealed the Father’s will in everything He did with the disciples. The end game and purpose of His ministry was leading up to the cross and His resurrection. Today, God works miracles in bringing salvation to souls by proclaiming the cross and the gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel is the ultimate healing power. The disciples during Jesus’ ministry were limited to physical healing; however, the gospel has the power to heal both soul and body. It is no wonder C.H. Spurgeon stated that “the greatest of all miracles is the salvation of a soul”.
The Spirit inside you is better than Jesus beside you. Every believer possesses the Holy Spirit. This is the amazing reality of a Christian’s position in comparison to the twelve disciples. As the Holy Spirit dwells within the believer after their conversion, they receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The gift of the Spirit is “continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer… praising God and having favor with all the people” (Acts 2:42).
Do you believe that Jesus calls and sends you to obey His Great Commission? Christians are to have confidence in who the sender is; that is, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.
- The Lord Jesus Christ is the Son of God who clearly and loudly claimed His deity.
- The Lord Jesus Christ has been given all authority in heaven and on earth (Matt. 28:18).
- The Lord Jesus Christ preached about the kingdom of God.
Given the truths of who Jesus Christ is and His submission to the Father’s will, Christians can confidently likewise obey God’s will as a way of imitating Christ. And knowing believers are kingdom people who are in submission to the King Jesus, they are to live and preach the things concerning the kingdom of God. Jesus sent the twelve disciples to essentially preach the kingdom of God (i.e., the gospel). It is no different today. The Lord Jesus sends His kingdom people today to preach the gospel (Rom. 5:8).
Another transforming reality for believers is possessing the power of the Spirit to resist going against God’s ways. Everyone is born a sinner and thereby rebellious in nature. That is why the gospel message calls all sinners to repentance. As believers personally experience the power of repentance and circumcision of their hearts, they have great confidence in the Sender and the gospel’s impact, and passionately share with others.
The essence of the gospel is Jesus’ death and resurrection. The gospel always brings God’s compassion. And the believer’s deeper understanding of the gospel allows them to be more aware of God’s compassion. Therefore, it all begins with His calling, as He equips, and sends those whom He calls that will be able to fulfill the Great Commission and works of God.
BIBLE COMMUNITY CHURCH 
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