What is the Great Commission? Quotes

“home had no idea of the outcome in the battle’s immediate aftermath. They had to wait anxiously to get some word of what had happened. But today, in most cases, we don’t have to wait very long for updates on significant events. We live in a world where news travels very rapidly, with sophisticated technology to announce what is going on around the globe in a matter of moments. In the ancient world, though, it was not like that. A battle of strategic importance for”
― R.C. Sproul, What Is the Great Commission?

“I don’t know.” The cat says, “Then it doesn’t matter which way you go.” Many people today are like that. They have no idea where they are and no clue where they’re going. Their whole lives consist of wandering about aimlessly, without purpose, design, meaning, or significance. It’s one thing to be lost; it’s another to be lost and not know it. When a person is in that state, it is inevitable that they will experience a crisis and realize they have no idea where they are or how they got there. God puts a priority on seeking people like that. After the lost coin and the lost sheep, Jesus turns His attention to people. The parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11–32) is a familiar story, and it’s important to keep the focus where it belongs: not on the lost son, but on the father and his great joy at the repentance and return of the son. When the father sees his son far off, he races down the road and embraces him, kills the fatted calf, gives the signet ring to him, and clothes him with a cloak of honor. As he says to the older brother, “It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found” (v. 32). This parable tells us what God is like. He runs after the lost, and He rejoices when one person is redeemed. That is the mission of the church, and each of us has a responsibility to make sure that the lost are sought and found. We’re not dealing with coins or sheep, and we’re not dealing with dogs or keys. We are dealing with people whom Christ loves. He said so Himself. About the Author Dr. R.C. Sproul was founder of Ligonier Ministries, founding pastor of Saint Andrew’s Chapel in Sanford, Fla., first president of Reformation Bible College, and executive editor of Tabletalk magazine. His radio program, Renewing Your Mind, is still broadcast daily on hundreds of radio stations around the world and can also be heard online. He was author of more than one hundred books, including The Holiness of God, Chosen by God, and Everyone’s a Theologian. He was recognized throughout the world for his articulate defense of the inerrancy of Scripture and the need for God’s people to stand with conviction upon His Word.”
― R.C. Sproul, What Is the Great Commission?

“Pero Jesús no tenía un local. Él no esperaba detrás de unas puertas cerradas que la gente viniera a verlo. El suyo era un ministerio “ambulante”. Él salía a donde estaba la gente. De eso precisamente se tratan las misiones. El ministerio de Cristo era un ministerio de búsqueda del dolor y de los perdidos.”
― R.C. Sproul, ¿Qué es la Gran Comisión?

“Eso significa que hay varias cosas que el evangelismo no es. No es vivir nuestra vida siendo ejemplo. No es establecer relaciones con las personas. No es dar nuestro testimonio personal. Y no es invitar a alguien a la iglesia. Estas cosas pueden ser buenas y útiles, pero no son evangelismo. Puede que preparen el terreno para el evangelismo. Puede que permitan que los demás se relacionen con nosotros, o quizá hagan que alguien sienta curiosidad por la razón de vivir como vivimos. Pero no son evangelismo, porque no proclaman el evangelio. Puede que digan algo acerca de Jesús, pero no proclaman acerca de la persona y la obra de Cristo.”
― R.C. Sproul, ¿Qué es la Gran Comisión?

“It is finding the lost that necessitates the endeavor of missions. It’s easy for us to deceive ourselves into thinking that no one is lost, and one way of doing that is to distance ourselves from the search—that is, to make sure that we keep ourselves uninformed about the needs of the lost, to insulate ourselves from knowing what is really going on in the world. For instance, we don’t go out of our way to understand and learn about all of the people who are starving in this world. When we are confronted with it, our consciences are pricked and we are moved to action. But we don’t go out of our way to find misery; we think there’s enough misery in our own lives, without looking for more.”
― R.C. Sproul, What is the Great Commission?

“The Apostles and the early believers were also commissioned to make a specific announcement. When we analyze the preaching found in the book of Acts, we repeatedly see what theologians call the kerygma, or “proclamation,” which is the same essential message in every sermon. This message consists of the basic realities of the death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ. Then, in addition to the kerygma, we find in the New Testament the emergence of what was called the didachē, or “teaching,” which supplemented the initial proclamation of Christ’s salvific work.”
― R.C. Sproul, What is the Great Commission?

“Evangelism, on the other hand, is the actual proclamation—either oral or written, but certainly verbal—of the gospel. It is declaring the message of the person and work of Christ, who He is and what He has done on behalf of sinners like you and me. That means there are several things that evangelism is not. It is not living your life as an example. It is not building relationships with people. It is not giving one’s personal testimony. And it is not inviting someone to church. These things may be good and helpful, but they are not evangelism. They may lay the groundwork for evangelism. They may allow others to relate to us, or they may cause someone to be curious about why we live the way we do. But they are not evangelism, because they don’t proclaim the gospel.”
― R.C. Sproul, What is the Great Commission?

“The way Christians relate to each other—which is something that people can see—bears witness to Christ. When we feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and visit the imprisoned, we bear witness to the compassion of Christ. The Christian, without converting people to Christ, can still bear witness to who Jesus is and what He is like. There’s a certain sense in which the bearing of witness to the kingdom of Christ is every human being’s Godgiven responsibility, because every human being is made in the image of God.”
― R.C. Sproul, What is the Great Commission?

“all evangelism is witness, but not all witness is evangelism.”
― R.C. Sproul, What is the Great Commission?

“Martín Lutero dijo una vez: “Cada cristiano debe convertirse en Cristo para su prójimo”. ¿Estaba sugiriendo que cada cristiano debería morir en una cruz para expiar los pecados de su prójimo? No, lo que estaba diciendo es que Cristo es invisible para las personas incrédulas a nuestro alrededor. Ellas no ven la cruz, la tumba vacía, o a Jesús transfigurado. No lo ven en su gloria de la ascensión, y no lo ven a la derecha del Padre. Lo único que ven es a ti y a mí; y al vernos a nosotros, deben ver a Cristo.”
― R.C. Sproul, ¿Qué es la Gran Comisión?

“To look at the church as an organization where the labor and ministry are done only by the ministers is to miss the entire point. The ministers’ primary task is to equip the saints—the rank-and-file, the people in the pews. The ministry of the church belongs to the people of God who have been gifted by the Holy Spirit to carry it out.”
― R.C. Sproul, What is the Great Commission?

“When strong unbelief is present, the church’s vision, zeal, passion, and commitment for evangelism tend to decline. Who would be zealous about urging other people to believe something that they themselves do not believe?”
― R.C. Sproul, What is the Great Commission?

“In recent years, discussion has emerged on whether evangelism is even an appropriate enterprise of the church. Yet it seems unthinkable to me that a church should consider whether evangelism is an appropriate enterprise when it has the mandate of the authoritative command of the Lord and Head of the church.”
― R.C. Sproul, What is the Great Commission?

“we can never replace the message of Christ with a human enterprise of social concern. Our social concern flows out of the gospel—it does not replace the gospel.”
― R.C. Sproul, What is the Great Commission?