[Matthew 28:18-20 KJV] “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. [19] Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: [20] Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen”.
I want to speak to you tonight about the core mandate of the church and of the believer. A core mandate is a central or foundational authority confirmed by a superior authority.
The core mandate of the church is the great commission: to go into the world and preach the gospel; to preach the full gospel of Christ as our saviour, our baptiser, our healer, and our soon coming King. This is the full gospel. Our faith and persuasion teachers that Jesus Christ is the saviour of the world, the mighty Baptist who baptises with the Holy Ghost and with fire; the compassionate healer and exorcist; and soon coming King. He will come back and take us home. Praise the Lord! This is the core mandate of the church; to go into the world and preach the gospel.
It is important to state that the core mandate of the believer or the Christian is to be a priest and king unto our God. We are called to serve and to rule. You must be willing to serve and rule wherever you find yourself; in the classroom, in the ward, in the banking hall, in the courtroom as a judge or lawyer, or in the bus. As a believer, you have a divine appointment, wherever you stand, to serve and rule.
[Revelation 1:6 KJV] “And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen”.
[Romans 5:12 KJV] “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:”
We are called to receive and represent Christ to the world around us. The biggest challenge us, however, is our dual lifestyle. It is heretic to have a separate Church life which is different from your social life, or ministry life, career life, family life or marital life, etc. All you should have is your Christian life; that eternal and abundant life. Any time we can tell a difference between the image you project in church and that which you project at work, on social media, or at home, in the gym, or at your old school reunion balls, you are defeating the purpose for which God gave you that opportunity, and you are a hypocrite!
So remember, we are the church. We do not come to church, we gather as the church at the feet of Christ. Neither Christ nor the early church had any association with any particular building or denomination. Christianity has always been about a personal relationship and way of living. The early church always talked about the way (See Acts 19:1-12).
The Lord wants us to be the church that gathers at His feet to study, worship, pray, break bread, and fellowship, and occupy the seven mountains to manifest and represent Him to the world. Remember, we are the church; we don’t come to church; we gather as the church! I pray that we shall be the church. Let us gather as the church to worship, fellowship, study, pray, break bread; and let us go forth serving as priests and ruling as kings of God.
We are called to occupy the seven mountains of religion and faith, arts and entertainment, science and technology, business and commerce, media and transportation, governance and order, and education and training. We must do all we can to represent Christ on each of these mountains as the light of the world and the salt of the Earth (See Matthew 5:13-16).
We understand that when the Lord called Apostle Paul and Barnabas to the work of missions (See Acts 13;1-5; Acts 14:23-25), they did the following four things before setting off;
- They purposed, prayed, planned, prepared and travelled from city to city:
- They preached to the city and taught many
- They organised the believers and appointed elders and administrative assistants in every church
- They prayed with fasting and commended the people to God on who they had believed
Then as they preached, all the people had to do was to Hear, Believe, Renewtheir minds by the truth, and Continue in the faith and the way.
Be blessed, I love you!
Kofi Simpe
