The Great Commission

And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:18-20).

We have often confused the good news of our salvation through the cross with the message of the Great Commission. Of course this is included in the gospel, but the gospel is much more than personal salvation. The foundation of The Great Commission is that all authority has been given to Jesus, in both heaven and earth. The Great Commission is not just a proclamation of our salvation, but of His authority.

Of course, our redemption is so wonderful, and the message of the love of God that is established by it is so profound, that it is easy to understand why many have a difficult time seeing beyond it. However, if we are to fulfill The Great Commission we must see beyond it. We were not commanded to go into all of the world with the gospel of salvation, but with the gospel of the kingdom, as we read in Matthew 24:14:

"And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a witness to all the nations, and then the end shall come."

The gospel of the kingdom is the good news that Jesus is the King who sits above all rule and authority and power. He can at anytime reveal to the whole world that He is the King by peeling back the heavens. However, until the time of His return, He is seeking to call those who so love God and His truth that they will live in His kingdom now, even though they are opposed by the whole world that still lies in the power of the evil one.

We first proclaim Him as our own King by submitting our lives to His leadership and dominion. Then we seek to proclaim the good news of how much more wonderful it is to live under His dominion rather than under the domain of this present evil age. However, our message will be hollow and empty unless we are in fact living under His dominion.

That is why the Great Commission was not just to make converts, but to make disciples, teaching them to observe "all" that He has commanded. The most important step in any journey is usually the first, but we must acknowledge that the first step is just the beginning. As wonderful as it is to be born again, when one is born again they are as far from their ultimate purpose as an infant is from being the President of the United States. I use this example of the President because a Christian is called to something much higher than that—which is ruling and reigning with Christ.

The author of the Book of Hebrews laments that he cannot give his readers solid food, but can only give them milk because of their immaturity. Hebrews is one of the deepest theological books in the Bible, with few Christians even comprehending many of its teachings such as that about the Melchezedek priesthood, yet the author says that this book is only milk! (see Hebrews 5:11-14) Where does this leave us? How do we go on to maturity so that we can partake of solid food spiritually?

The Lord spoke something to me nearly twenty years ago that so jolted me that I have since been on a quest trying to understand it. What the Lord said was that many multi-level marketers understand kingdom principles better than the present leaders of the church. An important insight about this statement came to me recently from a friend of mine, who has been one of the most successful multi-level marketers. I asked him what he considered to be the secret of his success. He replied quickly that it was the fact that when someone entered their business they were immediately shown how far they could go, and that each step toward their goal was clearly defined so that they always knew where they were in relation to their goal, and what they needed to do next to go higher.

How many Christians can say that in relation to their purposes in Christ? How many even know the next step toward pressing on to maturity? In poles I have taken in our conferences it seems that less than 5 percent of Christians even know what their own purpose in Christ is. This must be one of the great and tragic failures of the modern church.

When I had the prophetic experience that I wrote about in The Final Quest, I had to climb a mountain. Each level on that mountain represented a biblical truth. As I climbed higher, I received more authority to defeat the enemies who were attacking us, and I also began to see more of the glory of the Lord. Since that time I have sought the wisdom of the Lord as to how to best implement the climbing of that mountain into our ministry and our message.

It is for the reason of trying to impart this systematic spiritual progression that I am writing this kind of book. Even though it is a daily devotional, I think that you can see a systematic progression in it. I am already writing the next one, which I believe can help show the way to an even higher realm on the mountain of the Lord. As Proverbs 4:18 declares, "But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, that shines brighter and brighter until the full day." The light that we walk in should be getting continually brighter.

We Have Yet To Find God!

Find God!
by Francis Frangipane
(En Español)

There is only one thing that keeps most churches from prospering spiritually. They have yet to find God.

Holiness Comes From Seeking The Glory Of God
“How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another, and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God?” (John 5:44) If we are displaying our spirituality to impress men, still seeking honor from others, still living to appear righteous or special or “anointed” before people, can we honestly say we have been walking near to the living God? We know we are relating correctly to God when our hunger for His glory causes us to forsake the praise of men.

Does not all glory fade in the light of His glory? Even as Jesus challenged the genuineness of the Pharisees’ faith, so He challenges us: “How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another?”

What a weak comfort is the praise of men. Upon such a frail ledge do we mortals build our happiness. Consider: within but a few days after the Lycaonians attempted to worship Paul, they were congratulating themselves for having stoned him! (See Acts 14:11–19.) Consider: was it not the same city whose songs and praise welcomed Jesus as “King . . . gentle, and mounted on a donkey” (Matt. 21:5–9), that roared, “Crucify Him!” (Luke 23:21) less than one week later? To seek the praise of men is to be tossed upon such a sea of instability!

We must ask ourselves, whose glory do we seek in life, God’s or our own? Jesus said, “He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory” (John 7:18). When we speak from ourselves and of ourselves, are we not seeking to solicit from men the praise that belongs only to God? To seek our glory is to fall headlong into vanity and deception. “But,” Jesus continued, “He who is seeking the glory of the one who sent Him, He is true and there is no unrighteousness in Him” (John 7:18). The same quality of heart that made Christ’s intentions true must become our standard as well. For only to the degree that we are seeking the glory of God are our motivations true! Only to the degree that we abide in the glory of Him who sends us is there no unrighteousness in our hearts!

Therefore, let us give ourselves to seeking the glory of God, and let us do so until we find Him. As we behold the nature of Christ, as our eyes see Him, like Job we “abhor” ourselves and “repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:1–6 KJV). As we are bathed in His glory, we shall be washed from seeking the glory of man.

If we truly find Him, no one will have to tell us to be humble. No one need convince us our old natures are as filthy rags. As we truly find God, the things which are so highly esteemed among men will become detestable in our sight (see Luke 16:15).

What could be more important than finding God? Take a day, a week or a month and do nothing but seek Him, persisting until you find Him. He has promised, “You will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart” (Jer. 29:13). Find God, and once you have Him, determine to live the rest of your life in pursuit of His glory. As you touch Him, something will come alive in you—something eternal, someone Almighty! Instead of looking down on people, you will seek to lift them up. You will dwell in the presence of God. And you will be holy, for He is holy.

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The preceding message is adapted from a chapter in Francis' book, Holiness Truth and the Presense of God (published by Arrow Publications). For more information on this book, please visit the Arrow Bookstore at www.arrowbookstore.com.

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