He said to them, "Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned. These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will drive out demons, they will speak new languages. They will pick up serpents (with their hands), and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover." So then the Lord Jesus, after he spoke to them, was taken up into heaven and took his seat at the right hand of God. But they went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the word through accompanying signs. (Mk 16:15-20)
The commission of the Risen Christ to his disciple is: "Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel”. Proclamation of the Christ event was the topmost priority of the early church and they were faithful to this mission. The great missionary among the gentiles (Paul) was also compelled to do the same: “If I preach the gospel, this is no reason for me to boast, for an obligation has been imposed on me, and woe to me if I do not preach it!” (1 Cor 9: 16). This was the compelling commission felt by every great missionary after Paul.
And the gospel which Paul proclaimed and every missionary continued to proclaim after Paul is: “Now I am reminding you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you indeed received and in which you also stand. Through it you are also being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I handed on to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures; that he was buried; that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures” (1 Cor 15: 1-4).
This proclamation is accompanied by signs and wonders. The signs and wonders are: doing good to the people and removal of evil. Those who proclaim the gospel will be accompanied by the presence of God and they will not be overpowered by evil. Evil will have no victory over them. Doing good and overcoming evil are the miracles. It is in this that the presence of God is felt till the end of time.
