In every resurrection appearance to groups of believers, Jesus
reiterated the call to proclaim the gospel to the world.
Clearly, this is a task not only for the apostles, but for all believers.
Here is a list of Jesus’ exhortations:
To the apostles and nearly forty believers: “The persistent preaching
of this gospel of the kingdom will some day bring to all nations a new and
unbelievable liberation, intellectual freedom, and religious liberty. . . .
Remember that you are commissioned to preach this gospel of the
kingdom--the supreme desire to do the Father's will coupled with the supreme joy
of the faith realization of sonship with God--and you must not allow anything to
divert your devotion to this one duty. Let all mankind benefit from the overflow
of your loving spiritual ministry, enlightening intellectual communion, and
uplifting social service; but none of these humanitarian labors, nor all of
them, should be permitted to take the place of proclaiming the gospel.”
(1931.2)
To 25 women believers: “You also are called to publish the good news
of the liberty of mankind through the gospel of sonship with God in the kingdom
of heaven. Go to all the world proclaiming this gospel and confirming believers
in the faith thereof. And while you do this, forget not to minister to the sick
and strengthen those who are fainthearted and fear-ridden.” (2033.1)
To forty Greek believers: “Go
you, therefore, to all the world, proclaiming this gospel of salvation as you
have received it from the ambassadors of the kingdom, and I will fellowship you
in the brotherhood of the Father's sons of faith and truth." (2034.0)
To one hundred and fifty believers in Philadelphia:
("Go, then, into all the world proclaiming this gospel of the
fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of men to all nations and races and ever
be wise in your choice of methods for presenting the good news to the different
races and tribes of mankind. Freely you have received this gospel of the
kingdom, and you will freely give the good news to all nations. Fear not the
resistance of evil, for I am with you always, even to the end of the ages. And
my peace I leave with you." (2042.1)
To eighty believers in Alexandria: "You are all to proclaim this
gospel of love and truth by the lives which you live in the flesh.
. . . .
As the Father sent me into this world, even so now send I you. You are
all called to carry the good news to those who sit in darkness. . . .
Go you, therefore, into all the world preaching this gospel, and lo, I am
with you always, even to the end of the ages." (2044.3-4)
To about eighty Jerusalem believers: " You are to go forth
preaching the love of God and the service of man. That which the world needs
most to know is: Men are the sons of God, and through faith they can actually
realize, and daily experience, this ennobling truth. . . .
I have lived among you as the Son of Man that you, and all other men,
might know that you are all indeed the sons of God. Therefore, go you now into
all the world preaching this gospel of the kingdom of heaven to all men."
(2052.4-53.1)
To seventy-five Samaritan believers: “Go, then, into all the world
telling this good news to all creatures of every race, tribe, and nation. My
spirit shall go before you, and I will be with you always." (2054.0)
To believers in Tyre: “And when you go abroad to tell all nations the
good news of this gospel, I will go before you, and my Spirit of Truth shall
abide in your hearts.” (2054.3)
Is this commandment obsolete? “All Urantia is waiting for the proclamation of the ennobling message of Michael, unencumbered by the accumulated doctrines and dogmas of nineteen centuries of contact with the religions of evolutionary origin. The hour is striking for presenting to Buddhism, to Christianity, to Hinduism, even to the peoples of all faiths, not the gospel about Jesus, but the living, spiritual reality of the gospel of Jesus.” (1041.5)
Jesus has promised: "The persistent preaching of this gospel of the kingdom will some day bring to all nations a new and unbelievable liberation, intellectual freedom, and religious liberty." (1930.6)