That is Mark's rendition of the Great Commission...only it's a misquote. What it actually says is, "He said to them, Go into all the world and preach the good news (the gospel) to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned."
Every time Jesus quoted the Old Testament, it was to show how it pointed to Him. Every time Paul quoted the Old Testament, it was to point us to Jesus. In fact, every time the New Testament quotes the Old Testament, it is to point us to Jesus.
The Old Testament is not about Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Shadrack, Meshack or Abednego, it is about Jesus.
So, how many people has your church baptized so far this year? Why is that? You preach the Bible as hard as you can, yet nobody comes to Christ. What's wrong?
What's wrong is they're hearing the Bible preached instead of the gospel. Preaching the Bible is not what we've been commissioned to do. We've been commissioned to preach the gospel.
Many preachers "pride" themselves that they "preach the Bible," and they turn its verses into morality lessons, character studies, Christian behaviorism, social commentary and political opinion, never getting to its point, which is the gospel in both the Old Testament and New.
What is this "gospel" thing?
The word "gospel" means good news. The good news is that Christ (Messiah) has come to save people from their sins when they repent, follow Him in baptism and trust in, and only in, His finished work at the cross of Calvary. Virtually every preacher knows that, but somehow it does not compute in their minds that the gospel is the only message they have.
If you preach from the Old Testament, you must not preach it for the purpose of showing how God blesses obedience and curses disobedience. You must preach it for the purpose of pointing people to Christ.
If you preach from the New Testament, you must realize that it is not an extension of the Old Testament, it is the fulfillment of the Old Testament in Christ.
"But just preaching the gospel gets old," you say. Then you're not saved. If the gospel ever gets old, then it was never good news to begin with. The gospel is not just good news, it is the best news that has ever been presented. It trumps ABC, NBC, CNN, MSNBC and FOX news hands down. It is more current than tomorrow's news. It is the reason there are Christians in the world. It is Jesus.
When people come to your church, they should have three things: They should have a time of deep, spiritual worship (not fun and entertainment); They should have a time of exuberant praise of Christ; and they should hear the gospel.
Maybe there's a reason people are not "getting saved." Maybe they have no idea what's going on in your "worship" service. Maybe they're hearing the Bible preached instead of the gospel.
You think?
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