Jesus' final words to His disciples, before going back to Heaven, were given in a series of different encounters over a period of forty days. In fact, these encounters with His disciples took place in 5 different locations at 5 different times with 5 different emphases.

Why would Jesus have given these final instructions to His disciples incrementally, or a in small portions, instead of all at one time? There are several possibilities:

(1) The disciples were still in a state of shock over all the events that had transpired in such a brief period of time. They had gone from a 2 1/2 year of being with Jesus almost continuously to His being arrested, tried, condemned, crucified, buried, and then three days later, encountering Him in an all together new way: as the resurrected, glorified Christ. Their hearts and minds were still battling unbelief as well as trying to process all that had transpired. Thus, they were not ready for lengthy, heavy, advanced level training courses.

(2) By using small bite-size portions of truth, coupled with its repetition over a period of forty days would greatly enhance the disciples ability to really grasp the strategic nature of the assignment.

So for the sake of clarity and correct understanding of the great commission, Jesus used the continuing education approach with small portions, adding another aspect to the assignment with each encounter, thus greatly increasing their ability to receive personally, retain easily and repeat strategically the Great Commission assignment.
It is believed that the five different times in which Jesus spoke of the Commission would first begin with John's account as found in John 20:20-21; then Mark's account as found in Mark 16:15; then Matthew's account in Matthew 28:18-20; followed by Luke's two accounts, beginning with Luke 22:44-49, followed by Acts 1:8.

I. The Model for the Commission -- John 20:20-21:

"Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you."And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit."

Location of the encounter with Jesus: Jerusalem
When: On the evening of Christ's resurrection
To Whom: 10 disciples (Judas is dead and Thomas was absent)
Assignment: "... as the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you."
Emphasis: The pattern all the Commission's personnel is to follow.

The term “sent” and its derivatives appear almost 60 times in the Gospel of John. But of special importance in John is the linking of the mission of Jesus with that of his followers as the “sent ones.” The disciples’ mission is essentially the same as the mission of the Son and the Spirit – to bring glory to God and to bring to the world forgiveness of sins and spiritual life.

To participate in mission is to participate in the movement of God’s love toward people, since God is a fountain of sending love.
This must determine the way we think about and carry out the mission; it must be founded and modeled upon Jesus'. We are not authorized to do it in any other way.

How did the Father send the Son? What is the pattern we are to follow in being and building disciples?
(1) Father's Heart was Revealed through a Son -- Jn. 1:18
(2) Father's Life was Incarnated into the Son -- Jn. 1:14
(3) Father's Love was Enjoyed by the Son -- Jn. 3:35; 5:19-20
(4) Father's Life was Multiplied through the Son -- Hebs 2:13

Childhood -- Jesus began as a Consumer Needing Training.
Sonship -- Jesus grew into the responsibilities of a Producer in the Family.
Fatherhood -- Jesus matured to become a Reproducer of Spiritual Offspring.
Imitation by Incarnation results in Multiplication (Luke 6:40).

In John's account of the great commission, the disciples are frightened. They are doing what the church has so often done, withdrawing from the world and seeking protection for itself.
Jesus comes into their midst and declares “Open those doors which you have shut. Go out into that world of which you are afraid. Continue till it is finished, what I came to do. As the Father sent me, so I am sending you.”

II. The Magnitude of the Commission -- Mark 16:15:
"And he said to them, "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation."

Location of the encounter with Jesus: Jerusalem
When: 8 days after Jesus' resurrection
To Whom: 11 disciples
Assignment: "Go into all the world and preach the gospel..."
Emphasis: Go and tell -- not come and hear -- the whole creation the gospel message. Go with Jesus' authority; go as an ambassador of the King, or a herald or announcer of the King. The message we proclaim is not an invitation but a proclamation.

Kevin DeYoung stresses the importance of Jesus’ authority: "The mission Jesus is giving is based exclusively and entirely on His authority. There can only be a mission imperative because there is first this glorious indicative. God does not send out His church to conquer; He sends us out in the name of the One who has already conquered.”
Mission in Christ’s way is neither withdrawal from the world into a religious sanctuary, nor engagement with the world on the world’s terms. It is a totally uncompromising yet totally vulnerable challenge to the powers of evil in the name and in the power of the kingship of God present in the crucified and risen Jesus.

Jonathan Dodson comments on the magnitude of the Great commission as he writes: "Part of what makes the Great Commission great is its scope. When Jesus said: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations” he was orienting a primarily Jewish audience to a distinctly multi-ethnic mission. Ralph Winter pointed out that this is not calling Christians to Christianize nation-states, but to evangelize particular ethnic groups. We get the word, “ethnic” from the Greek word for nations, which refers not to modern geo-political states, but instead to non-Jewish ethnic groups (aka Gentiles). In other words, Christ does not advocate Christendom, a top-down political Christianity. Instead, in affirmation of the cultural mandate, he calls his followers to transmit a bottom-up, indigenous Christianity, to all peoples in all cultures.

In light of the cultural orientation of discipleship, Andrew Walls makes an interesting observation. He points out that the command in Matthew is to make disciples of all nations not from all nations. What’s the difference? If we interpret the command as “make disciples from ethnic groups”, then one could easily misconstrue the commission as a command to remove disciples from their culture. However, if his command means to “make disciples of all nations”, the command implies we are meant to make disciples within their culture. Is the gospel meant to rescue disciples from their cultures or from their sin? Is the Great Commission meant to quarantine Christians from the world in order to create one vast Christian subculture? Not at all. Walls comments:

Conversion to Christ does not produce a bland universal citizenship: it produces distinctive discipleship, as diverse and variegated as human life itself. Christ in redeeming humanity brings, by the process of discipleship, all the richness of humanity’s infinitude of cultures and subcultures into the variegated splendor of the Full Grown Humanity to which the apostolic literature points (Eph 4.8-13).

What we should strive for is distinctive discipleship, discipleship that uniquely expresses personal faith in each disciple’s cultural context. As a result, disciples in urban Manhattan will look different than disciples in rural Mekong Valley, Cambodia. They speak different languages, worship in different buildings, eat different foods, and encounter different challenges. These differences allow for a flourishing of the gospel that contributes to the many-splendored new humanity of Christ. Matthew’s commission calls us to make disciples that reveal the various beauties of Christ across cultures. Jesus’ command is neither soul-centered not culture-centered but gospel-centered. When the gospel is transmitted within nations, it will produce culturally diverse, distinctive disciples.

According to the Gospel of Matthew, distinctive disciples are those who, in following Jesus, refuse a one-sided, soul-centered gospel, and instead live out faith in context. The distinctive disciple retains the image of Adam — a culture maker — while growing in the image of Christ and becoming a disciple-maker.
In Mark, Jesus explains that not all will believe this grand Story or receive its great Savior: “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned” (Mk. 16:16). Mark’s commission reveals the divisive nature of the gospel. For some it brings life; for others it acknowledges death, but all are to be given the opportunity to be written into the story of God’s redemption.

As with Matthew, the scope of God’s redemptive activity is important. From the beginning, God’s design for creation was for it to flourish and become inhabitable. Outside of Eden, the earth was uninhabitable. Humanity was charged with the task of caring for the earth and creating culture, making the uninhabitable habitable.
Adam failed to trust God with this task and sought to rule not only over creation, but also over God. As a result, the creation project was subjected to sin and calamity (Rom. 8:20). Israel followed in Adam’s footsteps. Then came Jesus. Jesus preached a worldly gospel, a restorative message that put the creation project back on track. His glorified, resurrection body is clearly proof of the new creation to come. He redeems both physically and spiritually.

Just prior to ascending to heaven, Jesus told those who believe that they will be given power to heal the sick, restore the demon-possessed, and to speak new languages (Mk. 16:17-18). This worldly gospel is for the redemption and renewal of the earth, the body, the heart, the mind, and the cultures of the world. It is a saving message that rescues people from their unbelief, not their world, and reconciles their alienation from one another, their world, and their Creator.

According to the Gospel of Mark, Jesus died to bring life to all creation, to restore the environment, renew cultures and remake peoples, spiritually and physically. We are called to preach a worldly gospel.

Once we begin to pay closer attention, it becomes obvious that Jesus put forth special effort to convince His disciple, Thomas, in particular, that he was indeed the risen Lord. Why? Because He foresaw the potential this man had to become one of the most outstanding cross-cultural evangelists among the eleven.
Thomas, for his part, took every word of Jesus to heart from this encounter. He then acted upon them. From doubting Thomas he was transformed into "de¬termined Thomas." He became determined to fulfill the mission of Jesus to the extreme Jesus had just spoken about.

Not long after Jesus' ascension, Thomas began to make his way eastward. He traveled further and wider than any of the other apostles. According to church tradition, Thomas crossed countries, kingdoms, continents, rivers and penetrated into diverse religious communities to herald the gospel. He did not stop until he reached one of the most extreme parts of the earth then known to man. He kept on going for thousands of miles until he made his way to what is today southern India, a remarkable journey for that era! There he died a martyr's death, and that is probably the only thing that kept him from going even further. But he left a trail of believers in his wake! Today, there is an established ancient church in southern India that traces its heritage back to the apostle Thomas.

What drove Thomas to go so far? What motivated him to reach as many people as possible? What transformed him from being doubtful into a determined person? One single sentence from the mouth of the resurrected Jesus motivated him: "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation."

III. The Methodology for the Commission -- Matthew 28:18-20:

"And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

Location of the encounter with Jesus: A mountain in Galilee.
When: Somewhere between 8-14 days after Jesus' resurrection.
To Whom: The 11 disciples.
Assignment: "... make disciples of all nations..."
Emphasis: How the Great Commission plan is to be carried out.

Jesus gives the most detailed account of how the Mandate is to be fulfilled. In this text, He sets forth several essential truths that must be consistently employed in order to see the Commission expand in the manner designed. Someone described these truths as 1,2,3, DO the Great Commission.

1) There is ONE command that applies to ALL believers -- "make disciples" (matheteusate).

(2) There are TWO provisions that assures the success of the Great Commission:

(a) exercise of Christ's authority -- Mt. 28:18, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me."
All authority is the Greek word exousia. It means literally “out of the being.” If it were not for this statement, the assignment to disciple all people groups would be ludicrous. But by divine right of being and by divine reward for His successful mission, Jesus declares that His authority extends over the two worlds in which He and we operate – heaven and earth. Because He has become the Head of a new Body – the Church, all in the Body have been delegated all the authority, out of the very being of God, that’s necessary for the fulfilling of our commission. He has given to His Body both authority – the right to act – and power – the resources to accomplish what He assigned.
He authorizes His disciples then, and every disciple since, to bear the name of God, obey the will of God, speak the Word of God, and do the work of God. A.T Robertson, "It is the sublimest of all spectacles to see the Risen Christ without money or army or state charging this band of five hundred men and women with world conquest and bring them to believe it possible and to undertake it with serious passion and power." Yet that is precisely what Christ did.

(b) expectation of Christ's accompaniment (or presence) -- Mt 28:20, "And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." Jesus' promise is that His supporting presence can be expected, enjoyed, and employed 'day by day by day.'

This means that if we want to know Christ's presence, we must be involved in his mission. Christ has not promised his presence to just any mission. He has promised his presence to those who seek to fulfill his mission. Prof, Craig Keener said, "If many Christians have lost a sense of Jesus' presence and purpose among them, it may be because they have lost sight of the mission their Lord has given them" We have no guarantee of Christ's presence if we won't obey his commission.

3) There are THREE actions that will accomplish the Commission
(a) Going -- Mt. 28:19, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations ..."
(b) Baptizing -- Mt. 28:19b," baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit..."
(c) Teaching -- Mt. 28:19c, "... teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you."

Pastor John MacArthur stresses how important the understanding of Jesus' final words as recorded by Matthew really are as he writes, “If a Christian understands all the rest of the gospel of Matthew but fails to understand this closing passage, he has missed the point of the entire book. This passage is the climax and major focal point not only of this gospel but of the entire New Testament. It is not an exaggeration to say that, in its broadest sense, it is the focal point of all Scripture, Old Testament as well as New.”

The fulfillment of Matthew 28 is simple - do what Jesus did. Jesus issued only one command in Matthew 28 - "make disciples." Then He told believers how to accomplish the command. By going, baptizing, and teaching to obey. All three participial phrases simply reflect the three balanced priorities Jesus modeled in His everyday life.
"Going" reflects the priority Jesus modeled when He entered our world to become a "friend of sinners" (Matt. 11:19). Every day of His life on earth Jesus entered people's worlds and met their needs - both physical and spiritual. He actively pursued the lost. "Baptizing" reflects His priority of establishing those new followers into the work of Christ and then the body of Christ. Baptism is an identification with the community of believers. The new believers are established in their newfound faith.
"Teaching to obey" reflects His priority of training the workers who wanted to go deeper in their relationship with Christ. Christ prioritized these few and trained each to reproduce their lives in others.

What makes the "Great Commission" great? Unlike the "Great Commandment" (Matthew 22:37-40) the "Great Commission" is not great because the text explicitly states that it is great. What makes it great is the reality that the fullness of God's redemptive work has been displayed in Jesus! Jesus fulfills the promises given to the three most important people in Israel's history - the patriarch Abraham, Moses the lawgiver and nation-builder, and David the faithful king. In Jesus, the fullness of God's saving work is manifest. He fulfills and carries out all the promises and responsibilities of God's greatest leaders of the Old Covenant. There will be no one greater. The fullness of Jesus' glory will not fade like Moses’ or fail like Israel’s – it will last "even to the end of the age." The "Great Commission” is great because of who gives it (Jesus), when it is given (in the fullness of time as the final expression of God's saving work), and why it is given (to provide identity, ministry, and destiny to all believers).

IV. The Message of the Commission -- Luke 24:44-49:

"Then he said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled." Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high."

Location of the encounter with Jesus: Jerusalem
When: About 40 days after Jesus' resurrection.
To Whom: The 11 disciples.
Assignment: "... repentance and forgiveness of sins..."
Emphasis: The Explanation of the Commission's message.

Luke 24:27, "And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself."
A golden thread of gospel grace runs through the whole web of the Old Testament.

In brief, Jesus makes seven vital statements that make up the basics of the gospel message:
(1) The reality of who Jesus is: (the Messiah of Christ).
(2) The ruin of man in sin that only divine redemption can resolve -- (of sins).
(3) The redemptive work of Jesus is the only solution for man's sin problem (suffered death and raised to life).
(4) The response that is necessary to obtain the benefits of Jesus' redemptive work (repentance).
(5) The results of godly sorrow that leads to true repentance (forgiveness of sins).
(6) The reaches of this gospel message is to extend to all the nations (proclaimed in his name to all nations).
(7) The resource provided for carrying the gospel to the ends of the earth ( I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high).

The gospel is not a self-help report. It’s God's way of dealing with His "problem" of how He, a holy and just God, can justify and accept sinners like you and me. Only God's wisdom and work is great enough to devise a plan that will achieve this.

The gospel is God-authored, kingdom-based, Christ-centered, and God-glorifying. Its preeminent purpose is declared in 1 Peter 3: 18, “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, …” Notice, the good news isn’t about fixing us so we can healthy, wealthy and wise, or to meet all our needs, but instead to bring us into a right relationship with God.

The good news came down from heaven in God’s time: Luke 2:10, “And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. Luke 2:11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”

Luke 4:18, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed,”

Acts 14:15, "Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men, of like nature with you, and we bring you good news, that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them.”

The good news Jesus announced was that the living God, whose kingdom reigns over all was accessible, available and could be entered by repentance and faith -- Mark 1:14-15, “Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel."

The highest, best and final good that makes all the other good things promised in the gospel good is knowing that the gospel is all about Christ; it’s about seeing and savoring the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ!

Believing the good news isn’t a matter of just coming to church, but coming to Christ; it isn’t getting religion but getting a supernatural revelation that brings you into a loving relationship with God through Christ so that you can take pleasure in what God takes pleasure in – His Son! Becoming a good news believer isn’t living up to a new set of rules, but it is letting a new Person life in you so that it is no longer you who lives but Christ who lives in you.

Jesus is the Messiah, the Message, the Master, the Model, the Ministering High Priest, and the glorified, reigning God-Man!

A little boy was in the Christmas play of his church. His only part was to say, "Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people." He didn't understand his sentence because of two words in it, so after the rehearsal, he asked his mother what "glad tidings" meant. She answered, "It means `good news'". The night of the play, the church was packed with people, and the little boy experienced such stage fright that when his time came, he forgot his line, but his mother's explanation came to him and he shouted out excitedly, "Boy, have I got good news for you and everybody should hear it!"

Yet in spite of this incredibly good news, research shows that less than 5% of Christians will ever share their faith, and less than 1% will ever make a ‘disciple!’
Beloved, we will not do well if we withhold such glad tidings from a lost and dying world.

V. The Means of Doing the Commission -- Acts 1:8:

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."
Location of the encounter with Jesus: The Mount of Olives.

When: 40 days after Jesus' resurrection.
To Whom: The 11 disciples.
Assignment: "...you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses...to the end of the earth."
Emphasis: The Explosive power that hurls disciples to the ends of the earth.

For the disciples gathered in the Upper Room, Jesus’ telling them that He was about to leave them dashed their hopes and dreams. To them it seemed that nothing more devastating could befall them than the departure of Jesus, via His execution as a criminal on a cross. Yet Jesus said that instead of placing them, and us, at a disadvantage, it really would catapult them into a whole new world order that could be called “The Age of Advantage.”
Notice what he said in John 16:7, "Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you."

He then explains that it is His physical absence that will open the door to His personal presence via one just like Him, called the Holy Spirit. He said that His leaving would result in His sending them another “Parakletos” that is “one called alongside on the inside to strengthen, help, comfort, conform, be our Advocate, or resident lawyer, and above all this, be Immanuel – God with us – both now and forever! The Greek word for another is “allos” which means one of the same kind, thus the Holy Spirit is just like Jesus without a body!

For this reason Jesus said that if He doesn't leave the Holy Spirit will not come. And if the Holy Spirit doesn't come to them, they will be orphans without hope. The Holy Spirit will come only when Jesus leaves them for the Father--via the cross and the empty tomb, to His enthronement in Heaven -- then receiving Heaven’s Throne Gift as the reward of His sufferings and victory, He sends back the long-anticipated outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

Need I remind you that there is a tendency on the part of God’s people to think that it would have been more advantageous for us to have lived when Jesus lived, to have seen Him, touched Him, talked to Him, and heard Him with physical ears? The continuing, haunting feeling is that we can’t do much without having Jesus visibly present and physically accessible in a temple in Jerusalem where He rules with might and no mercy – where people all over the world have to do what He says, or else. But this is not what Jesus said. He said that it is actually to our advantage that He did what He did – leave the earth for Heaven and then send back the Holy Spirit. These are the best days of all. This whole age between the initial and final coming of Jesus is the Age of Advantage! The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus, and he dwells within everyone who believes. Jesus, present with everyone who believes is better than Jesus in one place, and Jesus in you is better than Jesus outside you.

A. The Disciples of Jesus were taught that there was a Promise to be Embraced

-- Jesus instructed His disciples to wait for the “promise of the Father” in Luke 24:49, "And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry in the city of Jerusalem, until you be endued with power from on high." And again in Acts 1:4-5, He reiterated the necessity of not attempting the employment of the Great Commission without the empowering of the promised baptism, or receiving of the Spirit. "And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, said he, you have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days hence."

The promise of the Father became a reality on the day of Pentecost and Peter, in explaining what had just happened to the 120 that had been gathered in the Upper Room, he declared, "Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear."( Acts 2:33) He then proceeds to admonish his hearers to, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:38). Then by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he looks down through the corridors of history to the present and on to the termination of history and declares, ”For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off (you and I who have believed), even as many as the Lord our God shall call."(Acts 2:39) The same promise of the Father of the gift of the Holy Spirit continues throughout this age of advantage!

B. The Disciples of Jesus were Taught that there was a Person to be Received

-- John 20:22."And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost."

The Holy Spirit is not an "it," the "force," a "liquid love," or a “charge of divine electricity.” He is a person who desires an ever-deepening relationship with the child of God. But in order for this type of intimate relationship to become a reality, He must be received – and this in spite of a prominent, popular teaching that says, “Any praying, seeking, asking, or receiving of the Holy Spirit is foolish in light of the fact that the Christian already has all he is going to get, and he got that in the “package” that came with being saved.”

For the Christian to “receive the Holy Spirit” doesn’t mean to get Him or take Him for the first time, but to welcome Him and receive Him in a larger capacity. When you read in the obituaries that the family of the deceased will “receive friends” at such and such time, you understand that this doesn’t mean they will greet new friends, but will welcome the ones they already have.

1. The Samaritan believer's "received the Holy Spirit -- Acts 8:14-17
2. The Ephesian disciples "received" the Holy Spirit -- Acts 19:2,6
3. The Galatian believer's "received" the Holy Spirit -- Gals 3:2

Matthew Henry said, "What Christ said to them He says to all true believers, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost." What Christ gives we must receive, must submit ourselves and our whole souls to the quickening, sanctifying, influences of the blessed Spirit -- receive His motions, and comply with them: and those who obey this word as a precept shall receive the Holy Ghost as the guide of their way and the earnest of their inheritance."
Have you received the Holy Spirit since you have believed?

C. The Disciples of Jesus were Taught that there was a Presence to be Enjoyed – Jn 14:18, 21, 23

Presence is a precious, priceless and very powerful word. Nothing can take the place of presence – not gifts, emails, photos, cards, calls, etc. When someone losses a mate, the one thing they miss more than anything else is presence! There is no substitute for it. The same is true in the Christian life – both individually and corporately. When the people of God assemble together, what they need more than anything else is the Presence of God. Jesus knew that nothing short of His presence could fill the disciples with hope and make them truly happy. He knew that only His presence could bring peace for enjoyment and power for employment for a great commandment and a great commission people.

In the OT, Moses’ number one issue in leading the people of God was Presence. In fact in Ex. 33:15-16, he makes a point for all of us for all time. Exo 33:15, "And he said to him, "If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. Exo 33:16 For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?" What makes the people of God distinct from all others – the Presence of God!

When on receives the Holy Spirit, is baptized, filled, fallen upon by, endued with the Holy Spirit, they perceive it by God’s omnipresence becoming dynamically or manifestly present. The experience of receiving, welcoming, inviting the Holy Spirit is something to be known, felt, sensed, and grasped. Pentecost brought light, power, and joy to the believes by bringing the Presence of Jesus – minus a body – to them in the Holy Spirit. The same joy, peace, and power is available to every child of God.
It is Jesus’ presence via the Holy Spirit’s filling that brings peace and power for the recovery of Abounding Hope that creates a passion for the supremacy of Christ in all things for the joy of all peoples!

John Wesley was saved on May 24th, 1738, as his “heart was strangely warmed.” Yet he records in his journal on Jan 1, 1739, that he and his brother Charles, along with 60 others were in a prayer meeting, when at 3:00 am “the power of God came suddenly upon them, insomuch that many cried out for exulting joy and many fell to the ground.”
Evangelist George Whitfield, long after his conversion, wrote in his diary, “Was filled with the Holy Ghost. Oh, that all who deny the promise of the Father might thus receive it themselves! Oh that all were partakers of my joy!”

Colin Dye: “To bring or mediate the presence of Christ to the church is the essence, the heart, the core, the center point of the Holy Spirit's work. It is the one basic activity to which his works of empowering, purifying and equipping must be related in order to be rightly understood. The single divine strategy - which unites all other facets of his work, is making known the personal presence of the risen Lord - the Jesus of history and the Jesus of heaven in the church and individual believers.”

I close with a free handed translation of Acts 1:8 – "You shall receive virtue, miracle ability, supernatural energy, after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you, for a specific purpose: to enable you to give absolute evidence and miraculous proof of my resurrection. It is this power working in you that will demonstrate and exhibit the proof of your testimony so as to verify your claims as with documented credentials. And you are to exhibit this supernatural evidence of my resurrection in your own communities, cities, and country, and even unto the remote, furtherest, and last frontiers of civilization!"