The year 2030 will mark the 2000th anniversary of the Ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is important to note that this anniversary is only two decades away. It is also important to remember that the Lord Jesus Christ, earlier on, before his Ascension, told his disciples that he would return to earth, a second time, and so mankind must await his return.
We do not know when this Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ will take place. Whether it will be before this 2000th anniversary or after, we do not know. Mankind must however start in earnest now, preparations for this return of the Saviour; that is, for those who have not yet done so. For, as sure as the sun shall rise from the east and set in the west, Jesus shall soon come.
Many people, who profess to be adherents to the Christian faith, whether rightly or wrongly, consider themselves to be workers in God’s Kingdom and or stewards to His secrets, mysteries, and blessings. It may be that, it is such serious-minded people who may be preparing for The Great Day of the Lord, which the closeness of this 2000th anniversary of his Ascension seems to be reminding many of us about.
For those who consider themselves to be called by the Lord Jesus Christ, to lead people into his salvation, they have a lot of thinking and preparations to do, if they are to receive any commendations from the Lord at his coming. In particular, they must remind themselves of the Great Commission of the Master, and critically consider what roles they are playing in it.
By this Commission, the Master enlists loyal, knowledgeable, wise, and anointed followers for this special work of soul-winning. Today, those who believe they are in this Commission must be asking themselves how they are faring in the execution of this special work of, and for, the Kingdom of God.
Soul-winning is a specialist’s job. Anyone who is involved in it must be blessed by God to be able to work with His mind and wisdom, if he is to do it effectively for the expected results. This is what the Word of God says about soul-winners: “… he that winneth souls is wise.” (Proverbs 11: 30, King James Version, KJV). This means that only those with the wisdom of God can win souls for Him. Soul-winning is a job for only wise people: those wise in God’s sight, and not in the eyes of mortal men.
This explains why genuine soul-winners of God’s Kingdom have today become endangered species of the male homo sapiens. Did any people ever see this obvious scarcity of God-taught, God-anointed, and God-sent men, in the business of soul-winning? I am sure many people have. Is that why somebody tried to help God out of this, by wrongfully recruiting and sending out women, to execute a God-ordained men-only assignment?
Yes indeed, Mary Magdalene was the first to see the resurrected Christ. But she forever, thereafter, remained in essence and silence, just the first to see the empty tomb of the Saviour. She did not have the mandate of the Master, to be a legal (credible) witness (testifier of, or messenger-carrier of the proof) to his resurrection.
Mary Magdalene was never conscripted and or ordained by the Master, to have either a part or lot in the business of taking the message of his resurrection to the world, with the object of winning souls for the Kingdom of God. And so are all women, the weaker sex to men, and as such the easily beguiled by the Serpent in the Garden of Eden, never chosen by God as vessels, to carry His Word (message of salvation, warnings, or direction) to mankind. Throughout all the times and seasons Heaven has been ruling in the affairs of men on earth, God has not as yet used (and will never use) women as message-bearers, in His Information Ministry.
The error by many in depending on the wisdom of men, while trying to render a duty that was to have been done by the Son of God himself, has brought about a sad state of affairs, to the Kingdom of God. The ignorance of many people about God’s ways, and His wisdom for soul-winning, has led them into doing ridiculously weird things, all in the name of soul-winning.
Men who are called, chosen, taught, anointed, and sent out by God for this assignment, must constantly remain focused and fully dependant on the instructions of His Son, if they are to be successful. It is important for soul-winners, to always remain dependant on the Master’s instructions since they work in his stead and not for themselves.
When Jesus Christ was about to depart from earth to the Good Father in Heaven, he took the apostles outside the walls of Jerusalem, to Mt. Olivet, to bid them an unforgettable good-bye. There, he finishes his last pep-talk to the apostles. Then he becomes air-borne, en-route to Heaven. They watched and waved him good-bye, till a cloud concealed him from their sight.
This pre-Ascension pep-talk was on how the apostles were to go about the task of soul-winning, for the Kingdom of God. The success of this soul-winning work depended on these downcast men: downcast because their Master was leaving them, for a very long while.
They could not afford to make any mistakes in this soul-winning business – Heaven and The Throne were depending on them. Any mistakes would attract upon themselves, the Wrath of The Throne. One little mistake, would also bring about a permanent denial of God’s salvation to all the inhabitants of the earth.
They had to understand this, and not make any mistakes. They were to depend on the power of the Holy Spirit, to be given to them by God, and on the wisdom in the instructions of the Master. They were also told that the Holy Spirit, upon coming into their hearts to dwell, would constantly keep them in remembrance of the Master’s strict instructions, for their success.
As they waved their Master good-bye, on Mt. Olivet, two men (angels of God?), in white apparel joined their company. The men in white clothes spoke to them, echoing words which their Master had told them earlier on before this Ascension Day. The angels told them about the sure-return of the Master, in the like manner they had just seen him go to Heaven.
Then the apostles returned to their makeshift abode in the Upper Room, in Jerusalem, to console one another with this truth of their Master’s sure-return: cheering themselves up, on the temporal loss of physical contact and fellowship with their Lord.
While consoling themselves, they eagerly await the descent of the Holy Spirit of God into their hearts: by which they are promised by the Master, they would be equipped with power, wisdom, boldness, and the constant remembrance of his instructions on soul-winning to begin to execute the work of evangelizing the world, for the Kingdom of God.
After waiting in the Upper Room for only ten days, the promise by Jesus to send them the Holy Spirit is fulfilled. Then, they immediately move out into the streets of Jerusalem, catapulted by the sheer dynamism of the Holy Spirit of God in them, to execute the high-precision job of winning souls for God’s Kingdom, which can only be done by men who are endowed with the wisdom and power of God. [—this articled is continued in Part Two]
Chris Bapuohyele is an evangelist to the Body of Christ, and the author of the book entitled: BEWARE OF THIS FALSE DOCTRINE of reciting the Sinners’ Prayer for salvation. His email address is: [email protected]



