GO

Today’s Reading: Matthew 28 

Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion).

The Garden Tomb is a rock-cut tomb which was unearthed in 1867 and has subsequently been considered by many Christians to be a possible site of the burial and resurrection of Jesus. Could this be the place where the stone of which today’s reading speaks, “Was rolled back from the door, and (the angel) sat on it”? The groove in which a stone could be rolled is still there, but the stone is no longer there, as it was likely used in construction elsewhere. The angel said, “He is not here; for He is risen as He said. Come see the place where the Lord lay!”

GOOGLE MAPS – To see where the photo was taken, click HERE.

Key Verses: Matthew 28:19-20

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen.

Today is the first day of a four-day series in which we will consider the final chapter and the final verse of each of the four Gospels. On June 3rd, God willing, we will re-start our two-year journey through the entire Bible once again. Please keep on keeping on!!! “Consistency, thou art a rare jewel” is a statement often attributed to William Shakespeare. Wherever it came from doesn’t matter. What does matter is that it is true! We can be sure that the latest “Man of the century,” Winston Churchill, said, “Never, never, never give up!!!”

Matthew begins with, “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ (Messiah), the Son of David, the Son of Abraham” (Matthew 1:1), and he ends with our key verses, which is clear that the Person to which Matthew introduces us is also One with “The Father” and “The Holy Spirit.” He is the Eternal Son of God!!! And this is where we come into the picture! Our job is to “Go (‘you’ is understood) and make disciples (Hebrew talmudim – school children in Israel today are called ‘Talmudim’) of all the nations.” We who believe and take our commitment to Jesus with utmost sincerity have no other choice. We MUST do this, “baptizing them,” “teaching them” as Jesus in His final Words said, “TO OBSERVE ALL THINGS THAT I HAVE COMMANDED YOU!” Matthew recorded the commands of Jesus. Therefore, as we start our daily readings in Matthew on June 3rd, we’ll find out in a fresh way what those commands were, so we can daily bring ourselves under the rule of the Ruler of the cosmos. Does that seem important to us? Yes! Yes! and Yes!!!

PRAYER FOR TODAY:

Lord God, I am absolutely committed to carrying out Your direct orders. You are my Sovereign Lord. I place myself completely under Your command. I pray for the courage and willingness to sacrifice my life for Your cause. You have stated, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age!” You, my King, are right here with me! There is, therefore, “NO FEAR!” May I make disciples directly, and indirectly may I support those who are doing this in places and in ways where I cannot be. I obey your command to “GO!” Amen!!!

100 PERSONAL WORDS:

My Father obeyed Jesus’ command to “Go!” He travelled to Egypt from Canada in 1922. My mother joined him in 1924, and they were married there. Together they obeyed Jesus’ command, and while mother taught music and preached the Gospel to women’s groups, father preached evangelistic missions and baptized many “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” I arrived in 1936 here in Canada. Because of the events leading up to World War II and during the war, Dad had to remain in Egypt and was separated from his family, with no possibility of being reunited with us, from 1938 through until December of 1944. The command to “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations” is in my DNA. I must serve my Lord and Master, Jesus Christ! My mother died in 1949, Dad returned to Egypt and my older sisters and I remained here for our education. It was in 1952, as a 16-year-old, that I carried my ailing father in my arms out of an airplane at the Ottawa airport. He was not the big and strong man I had known. He had poured out his life in obedience to those final Words of Matthew’s Gospel. God restored his health. He served as a Pastor, a college president, and as a strong supporter of world missions until 1972, when God called him higher. It was probably around 1970 when he said to me, after watching me and my guests witness for Jesus on a Toronto TV station, “David, it seems that your call from God is to reach the whole world with the message of Jesus!” I wept and asked him to pray over me, which he did!

Yours with assurance that there are thousands of us who will do the same!!!

David

P.S. I want to thank Jim and Kathy Cantelon for allowing me to use on my blog their commentaries on the book of Revelation.  I’m attaching the last interview that Jim did with me for the 100 Huntley Street daily TV show. It was on air in the Spring of 2012, leading up to our 50th anniversary on television. I did not look too healthy in that interview (click here for part one of the Jim Cantelon interview, and here for part two). My condition was diagnosed in March of 2012 as MDS acute Leukaemia, and I was given two years to live. My wonderful oncologist, who discontinued chemo because positive results were not evident, said in January 2014, “Jaw dropping remarkable” and gave me permission to quote him. Anyway, here we are May 30th, 2016, and the Lord still has me here for some reason…one reason being that I will begin a daily two-minute video version of my 100words.ca blog (called a “vlog”). It will be aired on 100 Huntley Street and YES TV, as well as posted online. It can be streamed through the Crossroads/100 Huntley Street streaming service  called “The Castle.” HERE is a link. As long as God gives me health and strength, I have no plans to just sit around and twiddle my thumbs!