Christ is with us: we have His Authority to Disciple the Nations for the Kingdom of God

The Lord Jesus Christ, the first God-man and the King of the heavenly kingdom, has commissioned us to disciple all the nations, baptizing them into the Triune God and teaching them to observe all that Christ has spoken to us.

After Christ accomplished His ministry on earth, He entered into the realm of resurrection and, when He returned to His disciples, He charged them to make the heathen the kingdom people by baptizing them into the reality of the Divine Trinity.

It is fascinating to see that Christ didn’t charge His disciples to first teach but first baptize others into the Triune God so that they would enter into an organic union with Him.

This means that, as we preach the gospel of the kingdom, we need to have the view of bringing the repentant sinners into the Triune God, first by baptizing them into water and bringing them into the spiritual reality of the baptism, and then by immersing them in God!

Wow, our commission as disciples of Christ is to immerse others into the Triune God!

How do we do this? How can we immerse others into the Triune God? It is not by teaching them but by ministering Christ to them and by putting them into Christ.

On one hand we all have been baptized in one Spirit into one Body, but on the other hand, we were also given to drink of the one Spirit (2 Cor. 12:13). To baptize people into the name of the Triune God is to bring them into spiritual and mystical union with Him.

We baptize people into one name – the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit; there is one name, and this name is the sum total of the Divine Being, equivalent to His person.

So before we can baptize others into the Triune God, we ourselves need to be immersed in Him.

We need to exercise our spirit, read the Word of God with much prayer, and be immersed in God outwardly and filled with God inwardly; then, we go to bring others into the organic union with the Triune God!

As we go, we fight the spiritual warfare to bind the strong man and release his captives, and we preach the gospel of the kingdom in the authority of the King, being assured that the Lord’s hand will follow His word.

Then, we baptize those who believe into the Triune God, immersing them into all that the Triune God is. Hallelujah, all our meetings and interactions need to be in the Triune God and with the view of ministering God to one another!

Baptizing People into the Triune God for His Kingdom, and Teaching them to Observe the Lord’s Word

According to the gospel of Matthew, being baptized into the reality of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit is for the constituting of the kingdom of the heavens (Matt. 28:19).

The heavenly kingdom cannot be formed with human beings of flesh and blood (1 Cor. 15:50); earthly societies can be adhered to by agreeing with certain rules, but to get into the kingdom of God we need to believe into the Lord and be baptized into the Triune God.

God’s heavenly kingdom can be constituted only with people who have been immersed into the union with the Triune God and who have been established and built up with the Triune God, who has been wrought into them (Rom. 6:3-4; 14:17; Gal. 3:26-27; 4:19; 5:21; Eph. 3:14-19; 5:5).

To baptize people into the Triune God is to baptize them into the name of Christ (Acts 8:16; 19:5), and to do this is to baptize them into Christ the person (Gal. 3:27; Rom. 6:3).

Christ, as the embodiment of the Triune God, is the life-giving Spirit today; as such a One, He is available at any time and in any place for all people to be baptized into Him.

When we baptize people into the Triune God, we do this for the constitution of the kingdom of the heavens.

After we are immersed into God, we are in the organic union with the Triune God, and He works Himself into our entire being; this is the growth and spread of the kingdom seed, and this is the development of the kingdom.

In Matt. 28:20 the Lord charged us to teach the newly baptized ones to observe all that He has commanded us; this is for the discipling of all the nations.

So to disciple the nations we need to do two things: first we need to baptize them into the Triune God, and then we need to teach them. We first need to immerse the repentant sinners into the Triune God to be organically joined to Him, and then we need to teach them.

We can say that the baptism, the immersion, is once and for all, but the teaching is continual, just as we see in 1 Cor. 12:13, that we were baptized in one Spirit into one Body, and we have been given to drink of the one Spirit.

We need to teach others what the Lord has spoken, for His speaking is the kingdom teaching, the apostles teaching.

After the Lord charged His disciples in this way, He still remained on the earth with them for forty days, training them to live in His invisible presence, and teaching them the things concerning the kingdom of God.

So the Lord didn’t just charge His disciples to teach others, but He Himself taught them the things concerning the kingdom of God, perfecting them and training them to speak these things to others also.

The Lord is with us and even in us, teaching us in a subjective way how to teach others to observe what the Lord has spoken; when we meet others, we don’t speak our own words but the Lord’s word, and we direct them to the word of God for teaching, so that they may be discipled.

Hallelujah, we have been baptized into the Triune God, being brought into an organic union with Him; now we simply need to drink the Spirit by praying over the word of God with the exercise of our spirit. Amen, Lord, may this be our practice in fulfilling the great commission: may we immerse others into the Triune God for them to be organically joined to Him, and may we teach them to observe all that Christ has commanded to us. Lord, we go in Your name and with Your authority to disciple all the nations, baptizing them into the Triune God and teaching them the word of God.

Christ is with us: we have His Authority to Disciple the Nations for the Kingdom of God

After the Lord charged His disciples to disciple the nations, baptizing them into the Triune God and teaching them to observe all He has commanded them, He said, Behold, I am with you all the days until the consummation of the age (Matt. 28:20).

Christ, our heavenly King, is Emmanuel, God with us (Matt. 1:23). He has promised us that in His resurrection He will be with us all the days, with all authority, until the end of this age.

So let us not have a heart of unbelief or fear, for the Lord is with us; He has promised us, and He is with us not only in His person with all His riches, but with all His authority – until the end of this age.

The Lord promised us that, whenever we are gathered into His name – even two or three of us – He is in our midst (Matt. 18:20).

Yes, He is with us when we as the church are gathered into His name, but even when we get together as vital groups, in twos and threes, He is there with His authority; He charges us to preach the gospel of the kingdom and operate as kingdom people with the authority of the kingdom to cause men to repent and come into the kingdom of God.

This is what the Lord’s recovery is about, and this is what all the churches and all the saints need to do in these days.

In His resurrection the Lord is present with us, and we have His authority, commission, and position to disciple the nations for the spread and development of the kingdom of God (Matt. 6:10, 33; 13:18-23; 28:18-20).

Wherever we are, whether in a small locality or a large city, we are in a part of the “inhabited earth”, so every place is a place where we can preach the gospel, so that we may live in the kingdom life and also bring others into the kingdom of God.

We are bringing people not only in the church life but in the kingdom life, the realm where they are under the ruling and reigning of God.

The Lord needs the gospel of the kingdom to be preached like never before on the earth; there is the need of brothers and sisters who know the gospel of the kingdom, live under the ruling of the kingdom, have a certain level of growth in life and constitution with the truth, and give themselves to the Lord for His purpose to disciple the nations.

The Lord is with us; we have His authority and commission, and we need to go and disciple the nations for the kingdom of God.

While we still have energy and capacity, we need to give our life to proclaim the gospel of the kingdom. The whole earth is open to this gospel, but nobody preaches it; this gospel must be preached before the end of this age!

Amen, we have this charge, we have this commission, and we have the Lord with us – and His authority is with us, but we need to be those who rise up!

We need to rise up and preach the gospel of the kingdom for the kingdom life everywhere, for the Lord to raise up golden lampstands shining in this dark age!

Amen, we need to realise the great commission and the authority of Christ which is with us, and disciple the nations for the kingdom of God!

Thank You Lord, You are with us until the consummation of the age. You are our Emmanuel, God with us, and You also gave us Your authority with Your commission to disciple the nations for the kingdom of God. Lord Jesus, as those who see and enjoy the gospel of the kingdom, we want to rise up and stand with Your authority to preach the gospel of the kingdom and disciple the nations for the spread and development of the kingdom of God! Amen, Lord, may Your people rise up and proclaim the gospel of the kingdom, and may we all disciple the nations until You return!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by bro. Minoru Chen for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Matthew, pp. 830-831 (Witness Lee, 1957), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Development of the Kingdom of God in the Church Life and the Christian Life (2019 spring ITERO), week 8, Preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom and Discipling All the Nations for the Spread and Development of the Kingdom of God.
• Hymns on this topic:
  # Who can be entrusted, God’s gospel spread, / Willing to respond, be commissioned, sent? / His love’s constraining me, ’tis I no more, / This day my response bursts forth: Send me, Lord! / How I long to live this gospel life, / Afresh consecrate, spread Christ with might, / Respond to His call, press boldly forward, following the Lamb, / Knock on every door! Lord, may You quickly come! (Song on, Who can be entrusted, God’s gospel spread)
  # Stand up! stand up for Jesus! / Stand in His strength alone; / The arm of flesh will fail you; / Ye dare not trust your own. / Put on the Gospel armor, / And, watching unto prayer, / Where duty calls, or danger, / Be never wanting there. (Hymns #870)
  # Hasten, Lord, the wondrous hour, / Bid it strike from shore to shore, / Thine the kingdom and the power, / Thine the glory evermore. / Bow each rebel heart, that all / At Thy feet adoring fall. (Hymns #919)