Minister Nikitta Johnson
“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen,” Matthew 28:19-20, (KJV).
“Go ye!” Though it is ‘The Greatest Commission’ given by Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, it is the ‘most greatly ignored.’ I can remember in the early ‘80s when I surrendered my life to the Lord Jesus Christ, there was a very prevalent fear of submission to this ‘Great Commission’ because of a fear of being deployed to some fictitious bush area of Africa. However, I have experienced that no matter where He sends us, we are in the center of His will. God protects us.
I am reminded of a time when our Missions Team was sent to an area of Mexico called Piedras, Negras. On our way back to Pflugerville, Texas through Eagle Pass, we stopped at a general store. The folks who were shopping there asked: “Where are y’all coming from?” We told them we were just returning from a mission trip to Piedras, Negras. They replied: “That is impossible because there was a shoot-out between the police and the ‘cartel’ in that very spot!” We kept telling them that we were just there, but they insisted that it was utterly impossible. My point in all this is that where God guides, God protects. There is no safer place to be than in the center of the will of God.
The call to “go ye”was not given to a select group of people, i.e., the ‘five-fold’ (apostles, prophet, teachers, evangelists and pastors). It was given to the believer, the Christ-follower, the living epistle who is saved, sanctified in the Holy Spirit and filled with a burning fire—the obedient servant, His disciples. It was given to us!
Since “go ye” is a statement of command, not a suggestion, why do we treat it as such? I would venture to say that in each person’s heart, there is a differing reason, but therein is a reason to break the heart of God. His cost for our liberty was priceless. Yet all He asks is for us to “go ye” and share Him with others that they may enjoy the same blessings of salvation.
The greatest love anyone can display (John 3:16) is to share the love of Jesus with the lost—sharing to those who have been chosen to be heirs of salvation, our potential sisters and brothers in Christ. According to Hebrews 1:14, we must share the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to whomever He sends us to. Therefore, “go ye”—whether it is to the ‘gutter most’, the ‘utmost,’ or the next door, county, city, state or country. We are commanded to “go ye!”
