The Meaning of Authority

Introduction

Well, good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I want to invite you, if you will, to open in your Old Testament to Isaiah chapter 52, at least as a beginning place. Isaiah chapter 52. In our study, I I want us to talk a little bit about authority.

And as I say that, I get that there are many people, especially in our world today, who may look at a subject like this and think, you know, why do we need to talk about something like that? Uh, you know, that’s kind of boring. That’s the way our society would view that. Uh, isn’t there something more practical that we could talk about than the subject of authority?

And there may be others who think, you know, what does what does that even mean? I mean, what does it have to do with anything? Why do we need to talk about authority and connection with our service to God at all? And so, in order to to kind of set the stage for understanding the importance of and recognizing God’s authority uh as we endeavor to serve him, I want us to start with something that we read here in Isaiah.

Isaiah chapter 52:7. And Isaiah says there, “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.” This this verse which Paul actually quoted at least part of it in his letter to the Romans Romans 10 and:1 15 contains one of the key messages of the gospel that is that God reigns. He is king.

He is sovereign. And it’s only through his exercise of sovereignty that we’re actually saved of all people. We ought to respect the sovereignty of God. And so that’s why authority matters because God is king.

1. Authority Is Grounded on Four Pillars of Truth

And if and if we’d like to take part of if we’d like to participate in the salvation that he provides, then we need to listen to him. And so when we talk about authority, we need to recognize that it’s it’s grounded on four pillars of truth. And I just want to kind of touch on them. We’re not going to spend very long with each of them.

I’m just going to basically set them out there. And the first of those is that God is the creator. Genesis chapter 1 and verse one. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

He has the right as the creator to tell us what to do and how to live. The second is that Christ is the one who now reigns as king. And that was the message of Peter. For example, on the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter in Acts chapter 2, you read about verse uh you know, you could read all through there, but in about verse 32, he talks about the fact that God raised up Jesus and of that we are all witnesses.

And then he says, “Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God and having received from the father, the promise of the Holy Spirit,” he’s poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. And he talks about, you know, uh, Old Testament prophecies about the about the death and the the resurrection of Jesus. And he talks about David. But he comes down in verse 36 and he gets to the conclusion.

And he says, “Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, the anointed, this Jesus whom you crucified. He reigns. He sits on his throne and he rules his kingdom.” Paul would say in in Colossians chapter 1 and verse 18 that he is the head of the body, the church.

He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead. So that in everything he might have the preeminence or the supremacy. Some translations say third, the Holy Spirit is the revealer of the mind of God. I want you to take just a moment to to turn with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 2.

1 Corinthians chapter 2. And I want to start reading in verse 9. 1 Corinthians 2 verse 9. Paul there say says there as it is written what no eye has seen nor ear heard nor the heart of man imagined what God has prepared for those who love him these things God has revealed to us through the spirit for the spirit searches everything even the depths of God he says who for who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person which is in him so also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the spirit spirit of God.

And now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given by given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom, but taught by the spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. Paul just appeals to people. He says, “You you get the fact that I don’t know what’s on your mind unless you tell me.

You don’t know what’s on my mind unless I tell you. And none of us knows what’s on the mind of God unless he reveals it to us.” And that’s exactly what he did through the Holy Spirit to the prophets and apostles that they then uh wrote down for us to have as well. And so the only way for us to know what God thinks is for us is for him to tell us about that.

That’s what he’s done. That’s what we have in scripture. And so the Holy Spirit is the one who revealed God’s thoughts or God’s mind. And then the fourth pillar is that mankind is God’s creation.

And the point of all of that is that we’re not in a position to be the authority. As Jeremiah would say in Jeremiah 10 and verse 23, I know, oh Lord, that the way of of man is not in himself. That it is not in man who walks to direct his steps. People are flawed sinners who can’t be the final standard of truth.

2. All Sin Is Rebellion Against God’s Authority

We need God. That’s what we need. And so think for a moment about what Jude said in in this short little letter that he wrote, the one chapter letter uh right before the book of Revelation. He would say about those who left the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.

In Jude verse 11, he would say, “Woe to them for they walked in the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain to Balam’s error and perished in Kora’s rebellion.” I don’t know about you, but sometimes when I read through passages like that and and okay, we read about Cain and Balum and and Kora’s rebellion there and you don’t stop to think about what what exactly is the purpose of all of those examples. What is he getting at? What does that mean?

What do these situations all share in common? And at the heart of all three is an attitude that allows people to think that their way is better than God’s way. That their thoughts are higher than God’s thoughts. That their needs outweigh what God knows and what God plans for.

And so these all paid the price for a spirit of rebellion against God’s authority. And so you go back to Cain. The way of Cain is a path to envy and hatred that is due to a failure to follow God’s instructions by faith. If you recall back in Genesis 4 and:e 7, God God had said to Cain, “If you do well, will you not be accepted?

And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.” It was a warning to him. And here’s the short end of that.

He didn’t do well. Instead of ruling over sin, he gave into it. The error of Balum seeks to to place worldly value and personal gain above God’s will. If you recall uh you know the Lord would tell the Israelites in Deuteronomy 23 and:es 3 and 4 he would say no Ammonite or Moabitete may enter the assembly of the Lord even to the 10th generation none of them may enter the assembly of the Lord forever because they did not meet you with bread and with water on the way when you came out of Egypt and he says because they hired against you Balam the son of Bor from Por of Mesopotamia to curse you and You go back and look at what was going on there.

Balam knew what was right. He knew what God was had intended and all that. But he was greedy. He tried to find a way around it to give uh to give those who would give him money whatever they wanted.

The rebellion of Kora was an an effort to to question the plan and the order that God had set in place for leading his people. Kora and those who were with him said to Moses and Aaron in Numbers chapter 16 and verse three, “You have gone too far for all in the congregation are holy. every one of them and the Lord is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?

What they mean by that? In essence, what they were saying is this. We shouldn’t have to listen to you. You we ought to be able to be a part of this as well.

Everybody’s we’re all we’re all holy and we think we ought to have a say in what’s going on here. They were not content with God’s will as it was being revealed by Moses. They wanted things their own way. And ultimately all sin is rebellion against the nature and authority of God.

The apostle Paul or the apostle John rather would say in 1 John 3 and verse4 that sin is lawlessness. By definition that’s what it is. Paul would say in Romans chapter 3 and verse 23 that when we when we sin we fall short of the glory of God. When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden it was because they distrusted God’s authority and favored their own.

3. One of the Most Fundamental Issues We Face

I mean, isn’t that really what was going on there? They were listening to the wrong authority. And do we really need authority in things like our worship and service to God? Is that something that’s really important?

Do we need God’s permission to act on his behalf? Is that is that significant? Must we know that God approves of the things that we are doing? And the answers to these questions, I would suggest, seem obvious to those who are here this evening.

But rebellion against the concept of authority. It is an old problem. History is filled with revolutions and rebellions against what is perceived as bad authority. People rebel because they think there is a better path to follow.

Isn’t that true? Isn’t that what people do? And although many people fail to recognize it, the subject of authority is fundamental. And in fact, it’s it’s one of the most fundamental issues that we will ever face.

It lies at the heart of of the most basic questions about doctrine and about practice, what we believe and what we do. And so it is at the core of recognizing truth from error. It has to do with the source of truth itself. Where is that found?

You know, it’s not terribly surprising that that many of the that many divisions occur because of issues that pertain to authority. That’s just a it’s a matter of reality. In some sense, it’s a point of continual contention. That’s why we need to constantly reaffirm our faith and our trust in God and in his authority.

We have to do that and also teach these principles to the next generation. That’s something that I’m not sure has has been done as well as it needs to be done in this generation because there is no question that the next generation is going to face face issues that have to do with authority. I’m not a prophet nor the son of a prophet, but I can tell you that that’s a fact because that’s the way it’s always been. The question of authority is not going to go away.

It will never go away. And so when people act as though it’s an unimportant question or we don’t have to really be too concerned about that. Let’s talk about more practical things. I’ll tell you what, bad things happen always.

And that’s why we need to equip people to handle these issues when they come. You know, there’s no getting around the fact that that everyone follows someone’s authority. In the absence of God’s authority, we will either make our own or we will follow that of someone else. And if we care about God’s will, then we will seek to minimize our own because we have no authority that can come from ourselves.

We need to be like Jesus when he said in Luke chapter 22 and verse 42 would say to God, “Not my will but yours be done.” That is the mindset we must adopt. That is the only justifiable response to the sovereignty of God. The fact that God reigns.

And so we know that we can’t, for example, we can’t be we can’t be righteous in ourselves. We understand that principle as scripture says in Romans chapter 3 and verse 10, none is righteous, know not one. And if that’s true, then doesn’t it follow that we also can’t be authoritative in ourselves about matters that pertain to that righteousness? We can’t be.

4. Authority: Power and Official Permission

Seeking to establish our own authority really is no different in principle from seeking to establish our own righteousness. In truth, we are completely dependent upon God for both, for both salvation and for authority. We don’t have what it takes within ourselves. You know, when I looked up the the word authority in the dictionary, this is the definition that was given.

Authority is the power or right to give orders, make decisions, and enforce obedience. And I’ll just tell you that kind of thing is often based on a position that is held. For example, a police officer has authority to enforce the law in a special way because of the position. A judge has the right to pronounce judgments that are consistent within the law.

And this is the power people have because they function in a special role. And ultimately though, God alone has this power or this right just inherently. The authority he possesses is based on his position as the creator of all things. Again in Genesis 1 vers1 in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

He made it. Everything else stems from that fact. But that word authority is also used in a different sense. It’s also used in this.

Let me give you another definition. The right to act in a specified way delegated from one person to another. We might call that official permission. somebody gives us the permission to do that, do something.

And in this sense, we might think of having a license to act because we’ve been given the power to do so by a greater authority. We have a a license to drive. Many of us do at least. Or we have permission to enter into a a secured facility or something along those lines.

And in cases like that, we’re not the final authority. We’ve simply been given permission to do something. And so when talking about having authority to do something as God’s people, what we’re claiming is that we have his permission to do something. He’s the one who is the authority figure, so to speak.

Everything else that everything that we do stems from that. When we talk about having the authority, for example, to to eat the Lord’s supper on the first day of the week, what we’re saying is that God has given us permission to do that. Actually, he is he has commanded it. He requires it of us.

And as I said earlier, authority is the power or the right to give orders and to make decisions and to enforce obedience. And how we come to understand what we’re authorized to do is an important study in its own right. We won’t get into all of that this evening, but it’s something we probably ought to do from time to time. To think about those things uh to to talk about how do we know that what we are doing is the right thing.

How do we come to determine that? But on what basis do we make or do we come to those conclusions? God is the ultimate source of authority. And how do we reckon with that?

5. All Other Authority Is Delegated by Him

He determines the boundaries of permission. It’s only when God has permitted or authorized something that we can say that we have the authority to engage in that whatever it might be. That’s an important principle that I guarantee you not everybody in our world understands. So many people do not because of who God is, the creator of all things.

Any understanding of authority has to flow from him and from his nature. He alone has the absolute right to rule. He has the right to govern. He has the right to command.

He has the right to expect obedience. All other authority is delegated by him. That’s true in the realm of government. Paul would talk about that in Romans chapter 13 and verse one.

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. He says, for there is no authority except from God. and those that exist have been instituted by God. That principle is inherent in scripture.

That’s true in the home. Among other things, Paul would say in in Ephesians 6 and verse one, children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Or he would say in Ephesians 6 and verse4, fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. That is the aim of all of that.

It’s also, of course, true in the church. No person, no group of people has inherent authority in the ultimate sense of that. They only have it in that they’ve been given permission by God to act in whatever capacity they work. And so, in some sense, you can even say the same thing about Jesus when you look at his life that he lived upon the earth.

And I realize as you do that, that Jesus is God. When we talk about what the scriptures say about Jesus, you can’t escape that fact. And therefore, whatever we’ve been saying about God is true of Christ as well. But have you ever noticed the kind of language that is used in the Bible when it talks about the authority of Christ?

In the great commission for example in Matthew chapter 28 and verse 18 Jesus would say all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Paul would say in Ephesians chapter 1 and:es 22 and 23 that God put all things under his feet and gave him his head over all things to the church which is his body the fullness of him who fills all in all and even Christ submitted to the authority of God the father. He would in John chapter 5 and verse 30 he would say there I can do nothing on my own as I hear I judge and my judgment is just because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me those are the words of Jesus and that same principle was at work in what Jesus taught also in revealing God’s word turn to John 12 for just a moment John chapter 12 and I want to start reading there in verse 44 John chapter 12 verse 44. We’re told there that Jesus cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me believes uh believes not in me, but in him who sent me.

And whoever sees me sees him who sent me. I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world.

The one who rejects me and does not receive my word has a judge. The word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day. For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the father who sent me has given me a commandment what to say and what to speak. Again, those are the words of Jesus.

Or you skip a few chapters later in John chapter 16 and verses 12 and 13. Jesus would say there to the apostles, I I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears, he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He’ll tell you what you need to know.

And that’s where we get our authority, our license to act. If we can’t trace it back to God through Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit and revealing the word of God, then we don’t really have it. That’s just the plain simple fact of it. The only way for us to to do that, to trace it back in that way, is to go back to scripture and to to find what whatever it is that we do in the book.

And if it’s in the book, if it is something that God commands, then it’s something we need to be doing. And if it’s not in the book, then we better not be doing it. I don’t care if there are other churches of Christ that are doing it. It just doesn’t matter.

Conclusion

We need to go back to what God revealed through the Holy Spirit. The reason I wanted to talk about these things this evening is because we need to respect God’s authority and because not everybody does. Seems pretty clear to me that many people are not terribly concerned about the things that we’ve been talking about this evening and a lot of them are people who had claimed to be Christians to be honest. But if God reigns then his kingship should be a fundamental part of our understanding about who he is and why his authority is so important.

And so we need to recognize what lies at the heart of all sin. Sin is essentially displacing God’s authority for our own or for that of somebody else. May we learn to take God and his will seriously in everything that we do. As Paul would say in Colossians 3 and:e 17, “Whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

May it ever be so.” If you are here tonight, if you’ve never obeyed the gospel of Christ, I tell you why you need to do so. It’s not because I say that’s what you need to do. it.

It’s not because anybody else says that’s what you need to do. It’s because the scriptures say that that’s what you need to do. Jesus said, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved.” And the thing is, we just don’t have the right to say anything else.

And so, if you are in a position where you need what the Lord offers, then here’s what you need to do. Just do what he says. And if we can help you tonight in some way in your relationship with the Lord, we ask you to come as we stand and as we sing.