Our Lord charged his followers, “All power [authority] is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world” (Matthew 28:18-20). This Great Commission (as it has become known) from our Lord Jesus Christ is the privilege and duty of every believer.
The fact that our Lord has all authority makes the execution of this charge credible and achievable. There is no place or circumstance that is exempt from his authority or his presence. At his beckoning we go into all the world, and he enables us to do what he has called us to. The Lord Jesus spoke of the urgency of this charge during his earthly ministry as well as linking it to his authority. He taught “For the Son of man [Jesus] is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch. Watch ye therefore, for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning” (Mark 13:33-35).
The implication is clear. The Lord has given each of his servants a work to do and the authority to carry it out. It belongs then to each of us to pursue that particular labor entrusted to our care reckoning on his provision to accomplish his intended purpose, the propagation of the gospel and the building of his church.
We see this principle at work in the book of Revelation. In our Lord’s letter to the church at Philadelphia he told those believers, “behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it” (Revelation 3:8). He instructs them to “behold” the door, meaning take note of it for the opportunity that it is. We often miss opportunities the Lord gives us because we are busy pursuing our own agenda. Jesus told his disciples “Say not ye, there are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? Behold, I say unto you, lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest” (John 4:35; emphasis added). We often forego opportunities that belong to us now by waiting for a more convenient time that is more suitable to our plans.
The Lord also told those believers in the context of the open door before them, “I know thy works…for [that] thou hast a little strength” (Revelation 3:8). The measure of our strength is of no consequence to God. He has called us and given us a work to do. We follow him where he leads and pursue his work through his enabling. God directs his work. He opens doors and he closes doors. He intends for us to go through the doors he opens when he opens them and by the power he provides.
An open door does not mean there will be no resistance. Paul wrote “For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries” (I Corinthians 16:9). Even so, he went through that door! What door has the Lord opened for you, believer? Are you following him, carrying out that which he has given you to do now by his power? Remember, all authority belongs to him, and he is with us always!
