Was The Great Commission For the Apostles Only?

Believe it or not, this issue has been raised to me a number of times over the years.  Can you see Satan’s strategy here?  If he can’t keep Christ followers away from the highways and byways via lukewarmness or lack of compassion or fear of rejection, he will do it by outright lies.  Just the thought of Scriptures that clearly call all believers to the gospel-preaching mandate being limited to first-century church leaders would be laughable if it was not despicable!

Please, please receive the heart of your King, your Savior, your Lord.  His heart is beating for those who are perishing.  He longs for them to come.  He has departed and He sits at the right hand of God the Father, but He has poured out upon us the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit yearns to cause the Savior’s heart, which He carries, to beat in our hearts.  Look around.  Look at the multitudes–blind, lost, perishing.  Feel your Lord’s compassion for them, and then, run to them. Shout from the housetops:  “Jesus Christ has come into this world to save sinners!  Please turn from your sins, run to His arms.  Believe the gospel and you will be saved!”

J.I. Packer addresses the above question with these comments:  “But the commission to publish the gospel and make disciples was never confined to the apostles.  Nor is it now confined to the church’s ministers.  It is a commission that rests on the whole church collectively, and therefore on each Christian individually.  All God’s people are sent to do as the Philippians did, and ‘shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life.’  Every Christian, therefore, has a God-given obligation to make known the gospel of Christ.”