"All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth" (Matthew 28:18). We must believe that if we're to go out and fulfill this Great Commission. If I don't believe that all authority has been given to Jesus, I'm going to give up after a little while, because Christian work can be very discouraging work. You don't see results immediately. Neither the evangelists nor the prophets nor the apostles see results immediately. Much like bringing a child up to adulthood. I can attest this through my years of planting churches and establishing believers and trying to lead them up to godliness. It is very easy to get discouraged unless we realize that the One Who is sending me forth into this ministry is One Who has been given all authority in heaven and earth. He is supporting me with that authority.

So I look at the second half of the Great Commission like this: it is bracketed between two of the most fantastic statements that Jesus made. The first is verse 18, "All authority in heaven and earth is given to Me," and the second is verse 20, "Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." If I have a doubt about either of these two facts, I'm not going to fulfill the second half of the Great Commission. I have found in fifty years of Christian ministry that it can be pretty discouraging, if you're not convinced that:

- The One who sent you forth is the One who has all authority in heaven (in the heavenlies, in the second heavens where the demons dwell) and on earth (over all people on earth). Christ has this authority.

- When I go forth trying to fulfill this part of the Great Commission, I have a specific promise from Him that He will be with me always.

There's one great danger in regards to these two fantastic promises. Christians have a very bad habit of trying to claim a promise without fulfilling the conditions. For example, if you're told, "believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you'll be saved," and you say, "well I'm not going to fulfill the condition, to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, but I'm still going to be saved," wouldn't you think that's crazy? Or, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins." If you don't fulfill the condition of confessing your sin, how can you believe that He's going to forgive your sin? 

The promises of God are conditional. There are material promises, like God makes the sun to rise on the good and the evil and He makes the rain to fall on the righteous and the unrighteous, which He gives to everybody without any conditions. But when it comes to the spiritual promises of God, there are conditions to receive them. This begins with the forgiveness of sins. Without repentance and faith in Christ, nobody gets forgiveness of sins. Justification is by faith, and sanctification is by faith. Also, God does not give His grace to everyone without condition. He only gives his grace to the humble. There is a condition for every spiritual promise.

Why do so many Christians, who understand the importance of fulfilling the condition attached to the promise in all these other areas that I've just mentioned, come to this promise, "Lo I am with you always, even unto the end of the age," and try to claim it without fulfilling the condition? That amazes me. They would be surprised if I preach that you can be forgiven even if you don't repent and believe. If I say you can be forgiven if you don't confess your sins, they would say that's ridiculous. The Bible says if you confess your sins, He is faithful and just to forgive you, right? Well the same Bible says the Lord will be with you always to the end of the age if you go and make disciples, baptize them, and teach them to do all that I have commanded you. This is what the Lord said. Then He said, "Lo, I'm with you always."

So that is a promise specifically given to those who go forth to teach others to do all that Jesus has commanded. I've spent 50 years seeking to fulfill that, teaching people to do all that Jesus commanded, in many parts of the world, through CDs, the internet, and literature. I can testify that I have really experienced the presence and the authority of the Lord with me. So I want to encourage you to believe that God's promises are true. His authority will back you if you go forth seeking to teach people to do all that Jesus commanded, by doing it yourself first, and He'll be with you always. 

One of the results of His being with us always is, He delivers us from discouragement, gloom, bad moods, and all types of things like that. How in the world can I have a bad mood if Jesus is with me all the time? How in the world can I be discouraged or fearful if Jesus is with me all the time? A lot of people imagine that Christ is with them, when He's not. They're not seeking to do all that Jesus commanded; they're not seeking to teach other people what Jesus commanded. So there's a condition to fulfill before we can claim that promise, and I want to encourage you to see that clearly.