PMT 2016-047 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

The Great Commission truly sets forth a Great commission. It institutes a program of immense proportions, a program calling for world transformation. Christ s the discipling of all nations in all things He has taught. He lays upon His people the task of bringing all men and their cultural endeavors under the redemptive Lordship of the Triune God.

How can such a program be accomplished? Surely He did not expect it to occur over night. Millions of evangelicals teach that Christ’s coming to end history as we know it has been imminent ever since He ascended into heaven. They live by the standard of pop-theologian Hal Lindsey: “We should be living like people who don’t expect to be a round much longer.” Who would set themselves to the long, expensive, difficult, time consuming task of world transformation if he believed the world as he knows it could end at any moment?

But the language of the Great Commission strongly implies the historical long run. Christ says literally: “I will be with you all the days.” He did not say, “Expect me to return to cease your labors at any moment.” Just as the preceding “all’s” are to be understood in their fullness, so is this statement of the duration of His presence with His people to ensure the accomplishment of the task.

Election and Free Will
by Robert A. Peterson

Election and Free Will helps Christians who believe in a Reformed view of predestination to better understand their faith. Robert A. Peterson traces Scripture’s teaching on election through the Bible and explains the doctrine of free will. He also tackles objections to predestination and concludes with applications of this neglected biblical teaching.

See more study materials at: www.KennethGentry.com

How extensive is Christ’s authority? It encompasses “all authority in heaven and on earth.”
How broad is the ministry to apply? It is to involve the discipling of “all the nations.” How thorough is the training to be? In “all things whatsoever” He taught. How long is the time He left for His disciples? He did not say, “Perhaps I’ll be back tomorrow.” Rather He speaks of the ever lengthening vistas of the future, declaring: “I will be with you through all the great number of days stretching out before you.”

Had He not taught His disciples to expect a long delay before His return? In the Parable of the Virgins He warned that “while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept” (Matt. 25:5). In the Parable of the Talents He warned: “After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them” (Matt. 25:19).

Christians, we must train our children and those who are converted to Christ through our evangelism to dig in for the long haul. It is in this century we have seen what secularists call “the triumph of humanism.” It is also in this century that we have seen the triumph of the dispensationalist imminency doctrine, that has effectively removed an earlier widespread Christian cultural endeavor. Too many Christians have withdrawn from culture to await Christ’s any moment appearing. I think the triumph of dispensationalism is partly related to the triumph of humanism.

Finding a Vision
(by Michael Milton)

Presents a biblical vision of church ministry and involvement.

See more study materials at: www.KennethGentry.com

The task before us is enormous. But the equipment is sufficient: The One with all authority s us. He has given us all the days. And He promises us: “I will be with you.” In the Greek this statement has great emphasis: “I, I will be with you.”

We may confidently expect success in the long run. Christ, Christ is with us. The Old Testament prophets, the New Testament Apostles, and the Lord of glory all look to glorious days in earth’s future in which all nations “from the river to the ends of the earth” will come and bow down before Him. And He uses His people to get the task accomplished under His administration.

The Great Commission ends appropriately in the Majority Text: “Amen.” Amen means simply, “So be it.”

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