Here we find Jesus’ last commission to the church. We see here that Jesus commands us to preach the Gospel to all nations, teaching them to keep all that He has commanded us. He does not say, to teach them to know it, but to keep it. It is one thing to teach someone to know that he must not steal, but quite another thing that he does not do it.

How will we preachers stand before God one day if we fail to teach the people to keep what he taught us? He commanded us this great commission, and we will have to give account one day whether we have done it as he had commanded us.

According to the latest statistics, the Muslim religion is the fastest spreading religion in the world today. How is this possible! They are serving Allah, an idol. In the Koran it says that a Muslim is not allowed to have a non-Muslim as a friend. They are also not allowed to have a Christian as a friend. In fact, according to the Koran, if you kill a Christian, you are doing a good deed. It is not you that kill the Christian, but Allah.

But we have the Triune God. All power has been given unto Jesus in heaven and on earth, and yet, their gospel is spreading faster than Christianity. There is no product as perfect and good as the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have such a powerful Lord who gave His life for us, paid the price, shed His blood, rose again, and is sitting at the right hand of Power, the right hand of the Father, in heaven. And yet, the Muslim religion is spreading faster. How is such a thing possible? What are we saying about it? What are we doing about it?

Just listen to the promises of Jesus.

Jn 15:7

7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

If this was the only promise in the Bible, it was worth more than all the riches in the whole world. But this is not the only.

Jn 14:12

12 ¶ Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.

Since my youth, these promises were so precious to me. After my conversion as a young boy, I always used to go around with my small New Testament and read from it whenever I had an opportunity. This is God’s Word, and every word true and faithful. If ever it was true, so is it today.

How precious should Jesus’ last commission not be to us? Just think of how precious a beloved’s last words are. How much more Jesus’ last words, before He ascended to the Father?

There are so many reasons why we urgently need to save the lost with the Gospel:

• AIDS
• Criminality
• Hi-jacking
• Killing

But the thing that touches me the most is this matter about the Muslim’s religion. And the great commission of Jesus is possible, because all power belongs to Him in heaven and earth. Maybe there are some that doubt this fact about the power of Jesus. Someone might say, "my wife or son can never be saved". Difficulties or hardships might cause some to doubt. How can we doubt with the living Christ? Is it impossible for Jesus, even in South Africa, to change the hatred, and give us love and joy and peace? May God deal with all the doubt in our hearts that we may give to God all the glory and to Jesus all the honour.

In Jn 17 Jesus prays:

21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.

and in Jn 13, He says:

34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

Jesus meant what He said. Of course He is not speaking about being one with sin and with the person that is wrong. But if we Christians are one and love one another and even our enemies, then we will be called children of our Father in heaven and all will know that we are Jesus' disciples. Then the world will believe that the Father has sent Jesus into the world. If they speak badly of us, we speak well of them. If they hate us, we love them. If they curse us, we bless them.

We preachers must live what we preach. We must be perfect, as our Father in heaven is perfect. That does not mean to be equal with God and have the same knowledge and power. No, but in Mt 5, Jesus mentions the things He is referring to. There He speaks about the sin of anger in your life that must be dealt with. He says there that you should not even look at a woman to lust after her, but must be perfect in relation to the opposite sex. He mentions how God hates divorce, and many other things. In all these things, we must be perfect.

Henry Rolls was the founder of the Rolls Royce factory. One day as he was walking through his factory, he overheard a worker saying, "this will be good enough", as he put a certain part into the basket. He was very upset with him and fired him, saying, "in this factory, nothing will be just good enough. It must be perfect. No car will leave this factory, without being perfect". What amazing words from a worldly man! No wonder that Rolls Royce has the name that it has.

How much higher should not our standard with the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ be? Perfection must be our goal. I’m not preaching sinless perfection, but I am just saying what Jesus Himself said. We must strive and pray for perfection in our lives.

Q & A:

Q: What do we have in mind with these meetings in Vereeniging?

Listen to the answer:

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A: Let’s start with what we do not have in mind. We do not want to hold services where tens of thousands of people come together, and there is great excitement for a moment, and everything burns brightly for a short while, and then everything dies down shortly afterwards.

I wish that this work would start with the preachers. That God’s fire will be kindled in every servant of God and that they will be on fire and burn with Godly zeal. Otherwise, how can the church be on fire, if the leader is not on fire? So, my desire is that God will bless you and grant you that divine fire in:

• Your own lives.
• Lives of your wives, because it is difficult in God’s work if the wife is not one with her husband.
• Elders and deacons of the church.
• Congregation

May these services then have such a lasting effect that every congregation will grow and become better. And as these congregations are changed, may they too spread God’s Word all over the world until the uttermost parts of the world is reached. We cannot be satisfied by anything less. This must not stay in Vereeniging alone, but must spread all over the world like fire.

Q: How do we spread God’s Word?

Listen to the answer:

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A: Now, before trying to win others for God’s Kingdom, we need to prepare the ground first. Some are in a hurry, but we are not wasting time by preparing the ground for God to work. Remember the parable of the sower. Some seed fell on the road and was trampled and destroyed. Some seed fell in the shallow ground, sprang up, but soon withered away. Some seed fell among the thorns and thistles and was suffocated. Lastly, some fell on the good ground and bare fruit. So, before we sow the seed, let’s pray to God to prepare the ground. Each of us need to play his part in preparing the ground.

• Firstly, we must remove the stones. We must start with ourselves. Pray to God to search and try our hearts to show us if there is anything that grieves and quenches His Holy Spirit in our lives. We need to pray that God would deal with it and remove it.
  Is there any thorns and thistles in our lives that choke the Word of God. Are we worried about what we shall eat or drink, or have other anxieties? Remove all of these things from your lives, confessing and forsaking them.

• We also need to prepare the ground with prayer, after we have dealt with our own lives. Come together with other ministers to pray for God’s working. Let God lead you in this. After some time, the elders and deacons can join in these prayer meetings as well. Continue with this until the fruit is ripe in your own congregation.

• Let your own people then go out and win others to Christ. Let those that have colleagues in their work, win them to Christ, e.g. the motor mechanics can win other motor mechanics, the housewives can win their neighbours, etc.

• Let people be trained as counselors to help the newborn in their Christian walk.

• If there is problems among the people you win to Christ, help them with their problems. For example, if there is starvation, teach them how to cultivate food for themselves and steal no more. Others can be taught how to do business by manufacturing and selling products, e.g. jam or dresses.

• Teach the youth how to live pure and blameless lives before God. Teach the girls and boys to live in purity. That will uplift the whole community. Shortly you will be able to distinguish the Christian homes in the community by their lifestyle. If you just pass by the homes, you will immediately be able to see that this is a Christian home and that one not. Even their gardens and houses will change.

• Rather than giving everything to them, teach them how to care for themselves. If someone is hungry, and you give him a fish, you’ll have to do so tomorrow too. Rather teach him to catch fish. Then you’ve solved the problem.

• Ensure at all times that they are spiritually healthy, go to church, pray, read God’s Word, rule their families well, and live Godly lives.

Q: How can Africa and South Africa change?

Listen to the answer:

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A: Europe and America is what it is today, because of the Gospel. My forefathers came from Germany, living very much like the traditional Africans live today. They wore skins, lived in huts and worshipped the ancestors. Then the Gospel came to them and they accepted the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, and this changed them into an industrious, prosperous nation. The founders of America founded America on the Word of God. Even on their money we read up to today, "In God we trust". That is why America is such a prosperous nation.

Switzerland’s products are known for its quality. The airways of Switzerland is very dear to their heart. The General Manager of Swiss Air that started the company was a Christian and started all his meetings with prayer. He bought God in everything he did, to the annoyance of some of his colleagues, and he prospered. 10 years ago he retired, and the man that took his place got up and said, "Now God is out and we are in. We will now do it on our own." Just the other day Swiss Air went bankrupt, and that General Manager is dead. One can ask how such a thing is possible, in a country like Switzerland. It is because God was removed from that company.