“Afterward he appeared … And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:14-15).
In March 1969, people around the world waited with bated breath for the word from Cape Canaveral for lift-off. During the tense moments, the superstitious crossed their fingers and the godless said a prayer. Everybody was caught up in the earsplitting surge of power which hurls a man skyward toward outer space. Suspense did not lesson, and pulse rates did not drift back to normal until four words come crackling over the airwaves – “All conditions are … GO!” Anxiety then gave way to jubilation.
As if their united voices had been needed to help propel an astronaut into orbit, men and women of every hemisphere picked up the chant, and in their own languages and dialects shouted, “Go! Go! Go!” That one syllable seems to summarize the universal emotions and wishes of that moment.
Borrowing from NASA’s electrifying, newly coined phrase of that time, let us apply it to the spiritual realm, “ALL CONDITIONS ARE … GO!” That two-letter word appears no less than two hundred and fifty-two times in the twenty-seven books of the New Testament, with one hundred and fifty-two of the usages attributed to Christ Himself by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Went, the past of go, is repeated three hundred and forty-nine times.
With Jesus Christ, all conditions were … GO! Jesus Himself moved from place to place. The greatest sentence-biography ever written described Him perfectly, “… who went about doing good … “ (Acts 10:38). So it is not to be wondered at that He frequently used the word go to help move others on course. It was a watchword embodying a principle, a guide to action.
” … go work … “ (Matthew 21:28). ” … go after … “ (Luke 15:4). ” … go quickly … “ (Matthew 28:7). Each was His command. His beneficiaries found that they could not be static, remain in equilibrium, or act by mere weight without motion. Go forth, go show, and go call- these kept His hearers in movement. On one occasion He would be heard saying, “Go preach.” On another it was “go teach” or “go tell.” All conditions were … GO!
To a former adulteress, now forgiven, He said, ” … go, and sin no more” (John 8:11). Bystanders at the tomb of resurrected Lazarus were commanded, ” … Loose him, and let him go” (John 11:44). When He dispossessed a demoniac, He ordered the evil spirits to “go,” and then followed through by instructing the redeemed man to “… Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee…” (Mark 5: 19). His disciples He ordained to“… go and bring forth fruit …” (John 15: 16).
The original twelve were commissioned, “… go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matthew 10:6). Later Christ appointed an additional seventy, whom He sent two by two into every city and place, which was a larger authorization. “Go your ways … “ (Luke 10:3), He told them, for “… The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few …” (Luke 1 0:2). GO has always been an important part of the GOspel. Merely hyphenate the word, add another letter, and it seems to automatically flow, “GO-spell out redemption to all people.”
As it was before Christ’s death, it was even so after His resurrection. The word was still GO! “… Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations … “ (Matthew 28:19). ” … as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you” (John 20:21); then He went away, ” … he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight” (Acts 1:9), but all conditions were still … GO!
Following His ascension, Christ reappeared with the very same words on His lips. He was seen and heard by Saul of Tarsus (turned Paul, apostle to the heathen), saying, ” … go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do” (Acts 9:6).
Quite simultaneously, a devout man, Ananias, enjoyed the same post-ascension visit, the Lord instructing him, ” … go into the street which is called Straight, and enquire … for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth” (Acts 9:11). “… Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles …” (Acts 9:15).
Before and after Christ’s passion, and even following His glorification, all conditions were . . . GO! The message and the direction were the same, whether Christ appeared in person to enunciate them or dispatched an angel with the word.
On one occasion the imprisoned apostles were released by an angelic deliverer, who also commissioned them, “Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life” (Acts 5:20).
Once again the angel of the Lord was sent, this time to Philip, with the message, ” … go toward the south … ” (Acts 8:26). Having arrived, he was instructed by the Holy Spirit to, ” … Go near, and join thyself to this chariot” (Acts 8:29) (the chariot of the eunuch).
At another time, it was this same Spirit who directed Peter to leave the Joppa rooftop and accompany the inquirers to Caesarea. “… get thee down, and go with them, doubting nothing …” (Acts 10:20).
Judging by all the evidence – Christ’s own example: His utterances and commands, both before and after His passion; the repeated post-resurrection commissions; and those post-ascension instructions by Christ, angels, and the Holy Spirit; there is no doubt that from the divine viewpoint and intention, all conditions are still …GO!
The great commission included no time limit. It set forth simply, clearly, and with a note of finality what was to be done; by whom, for whom; by what means; where, why, and for how long. It left no room for shilly-shallying. This command has never been rescinded or modified.
It would seem a mistake of the first magnitude for any follower of Christ to be irresolute or be preoccupied with trifles, when commanded to make this world his parish. To see disciples standing idle in the ecclesiastical marketplaces, saying, “… no man hath hired us …” (Matthew 20:7), when fields are ready for the reaping and the Lord is saying, “… Go ye also into the vineyard…” (Matthew 20:7), is indeed a sorry spectacle.
As long as world evangelization is incomplete; as long as Communism continues to enslave; as long as half of mankind languishes in fear and superstition because of ignorance; and as long as heathens need to hear the truth that sets men free, all conditions are to be regarded as … GO!
By the challenge of red atheism and the horrors of paganism; by the command of Christ, and the right of all men to hear the joyful sound that Jesus saves, we must go. Of hindering things to which we cling, we must let go. Those who stand poised and willing, stymied for lack of aid, we must help go.
ALL CONDITIONS ARE … GO!