Let me announce quickly that
a week from today, on the first Sunday of March, we will meet
at Charlie and Tamar's house in Lewisburg. I thought it was
in Chapel Hill, but according to the address, it's in Lewisburg.
And you may want to jot this down. I'm going to try to send
out an email, but not everybody gets my emails for one reason
or another. If you haven't been getting any texts or emails from
Vicki or I, you need to get it to me. I'm not going to chase
all y'all down and get your information. It's impossible. We've tried
to do directories. It's impossible. It really is. It's tough. So
get it to me if you're not getting anything. 3191 James Shaw Road.
3191 James Shaw Road, Lewisburg, Tennessee. And your GPS will get you close,
but it won't get you there. So I think she's going to put
some markers up. So stay in touch. You'll get
within less than a mile of it, but you'll need a little bit
of help getting to the actual house. And it's not that hard
once you know what to do. 10 a.m. we'll have our usual first Sunday
of the month just there instead of here and then please bring
sandwiches chips desserts just like you normally would we don't
want to bring anything that's going to be real messy or hard
to clean up or anything like that she'll have water and coffee
and Kool-Aid to drink and That's all I've got on here, so let
me know if you have any questions about it after service. Be praying
for Charlie, of course. He's been unable for a while
now to get out and come worship with us, so I thought we'd just
go worship with him. I know this, church is not a
building. It's God's people meeting together
in his name, and so I pray he'll allow us to do that. I'm thankful for this building Luke chapter 20 In verse 1 just verses 1 through
8 Luke 21 through 8 And it came
to pass that on one of those days as he taught the people
in the temple and preached the gospel The chief priests and
the scribes came upon him with the elders and spake unto him,
saying, Tell us, by what authority doest thou these things? Or who
is he that gave thee this authority? Now this is probably a good time
to go ahead and look back into chapter 19. Look at verse 45, he went into
the temple and began to cast out them that sold therein and
them that bought, saying unto them, it is written, my house
is the house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves.
And he taught daily in the temple, but the chief priests and the
scribes and the chief of the people sought to destroy him
and could not find what they might do. For all the people
were very attentive to hear him. You know, this is interesting.
It says he taught daily in the temple. And then in verse one,
it says on one of those days is when they came and confronted
him and said, by what authority you do this. But it says the
people were listening very attentively to him. You know, it doesn't
mean that they were necessarily believers yet, but the truth
A lot of people, whether they believe or don't believe, ultimately,
when they hear the truth, and they've been hearing lies for
a long time, it'll get your attention, won't it? It'll get your attention. When you can point right to the
Word of God and say, see what this says? That's not what you've
been hearing, is it? But it's what it says. That'll
get people's attention. And on one of those days, They came and said, by what authority? Now back to verse three. And
he answered and said unto them, I will also ask you one thing
and answer me. The baptism of John, was it from
heaven or of men? And they reasoned with themselves,
saying, if we shall say from heaven, he will say, why then
believe ye him not? But, and if we say of men, all
the people will stone us, for they be persuaded that John was
a prophet. And they answered that they could
not tell whence it was. And Jesus said unto them, neither
tell I you about what authority I do these things. There's a lot more in this passage
than meets the eye on first glance. And it was important to read
those last four verses and see the context of this, you see,
because as he had thrown everybody out that needed to be thrown
out, and began to teach daily in the place of worship, there's
the Son of God teaching. In his house, he said, my house,
my house. And yet the religious leaders
of the day couldn't stand it. They could not stand it. Now,
on one of those days when he was teaching, the religious authorities
came upon him with this question, and so clearly they had been
working on it for a while, right? At first it says they didn't
know what to do. You see that there? Verse 48 of chapter nine,
they could not find what they might do. They couldn't figure
out, well, how are we gonna, what are we gonna do about it?
They knew they didn't like it. They knew something had to be
done about it. They couldn't figure it out. But then on one
of the days he was teaching, they came up with something eventually. They'd been doing a lot of thinking
about this, clearly. And the reason it took them a
while now, instead of just being honest and saying what was in
their heart, they were afraid of the people. And that'll be
significant throughout this. Look at verse six again. But
and if we say of men, all the people will stone us. It'll cost
us something if we say what we really believe. So we can't do
that. And so that alone disqualifies
them from having any authority in the things of God. And the
title of the message this morning is authority. That's what this
is about. They're asking him about what authority because
they considered themselves the authority. But in their very,
their own, remember the Lord said about your own words will
condemn you? This is a case of that. The very
thing, that disqualifies them from having any authority in
the things of God. Right there, listen to Galatians 1.10. For
do I now persuade men of God? Do I seek to please men? For
if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ. If I say what I say, based on
how men are gonna react to it, I am not Christ's servant. So
they're disqualified right there. All they were worried about was
what do the people think? Because their authority came
from the people and not from God. Their livelihood and success
came from men and not God. They were accountable to men. when we should only be accountable
to God. Now, our Lord said to them in John 5.44, how can you
believe that receive honor one of another? And seek not the
honor that cometh from God only. In other words, how can you believe
on me if what you're looking for is the approval of men, the
honor of men, the applause of men, the agreement from men,
and not the honor that comes from God only? If you only care
about what men say and not so much what God said, how are you
going to believe what God said? Don't even pretend. So they ask
him this question about authority because they considered themselves
the religious authorities, and yet they didn't have any. They
had no power, no authority whatsoever. Authority in the kingdom of God
comes from God, not men. Men may make you priests and
bishops and arch whatever's Men can promote men and that's all
you know all all the time they do But God here's what God said. I will give you pastors. I will
give them to you after my own heart And unless and until he does
that you're not going to hear from God You're not And let me
just add this for just a brief moment. God did not say, I will
give you worship leaders. That's the thing going on today,
you know. You've got religious cheerleaders that get up and
try to stir up excitement and what they call praise and worship,
which is just a bunch of fleshly foolishness. He didn't say, I'll
give you that. Prance around and get people
worked up. God gives pastors. And there's only one way in God's
word to be a good pastor, shepherd. That's what a pastor is. And
that's to be willing to give your life for the sheep. A good
shepherd's gonna do that now. David said, I faced down a bear.
It was gonna be me or that bear because of the sheep. And God
gave him that heart. And he gives pastors like that.
Do you know what that is? A pasture after God's heart.
I got to thinking about that. This is for me and you. I am
utterly and completely responsible for you. Is there any denying
that? I'm responsible for you. I'll
be held accountable. God said if you don't tell him
what I told you to tell him, I'll require it at your hand.
I'm responsible for you. You are family to me. I am a
steward of God's grace to you. In some incredible and wonderful
sense, God has put his heart in me for you. Now think about
that. I will give you pastors after
my own heart. These religious leaders were
not pastors after God's heart. They didn't care anything about
what God said. They were thieves and robbers
who had entered into the sheepfold another way than by Christ. But
they considered themselves the big shot authorities in the things
of God, and hence this question to the Savior. By what authority? We didn't give you any authority,
so where did you get it from? That's what they're asking. And
they had thought very carefully about what to say to him, and
this is what they came up with. And you know why they had to
think carefully about it? Because they were liars. If you don't
have to think about what you're going to answer, if you're honest,
do you, about that, why would you have to think about it? Think
about this for a second now. They knew that they had no authority from God. And think about it, that was
them in their minds now that they imagined, they figured that
if he said that he got it from God, and this is what, they're just
wanting to put him out of business. If he answers, I got my authority
from God, then they'll accuse him before the Sanhedrin. They'll
accuse him of blasphemy. You being a man, you say you
came from God. That's what they did in another place. They knew he had no authority
from men because that was them. Right? That would have had to
come from them if he had authority. They knew he didn't have that.
So they thought they had him trapped. So they tried to outsmart the
omniscient son of God. Imagine how stupid you would
have to be to even try that. They were out of their league,
to say the least. They thought they had cornered him into saying
one of two things. It was a pretty closed question
that they asked, wasn't it? They figured he's either going
to have to say he got it from men, in which case we're going
to say from which ones, because we're the authorities in this
place. Or he's going to have to say he got it from God, and
they're going to take him straight to the Sanhedrin and say he's
blaspheming. He didn't say anything that they thought he was going
to say. He didn't say either one. These
are the same religious idiots who these days say, what would
Jesus do? They not only didn't have ever,
ever have any idea what he was gonna do or say, but they didn't
know what he did or said after he did it and said it. Think
about that for a minute. After they sat there and watched
him do it, they didn't know what he did. So what would Jesus do
is a really stupid question. What we need to find out is what
he did do. That's salvation. They began by questioning his
authority, but look where they ended up. We can't tell. We can't tell. Now think about this. Look at
these two words in verse three, at the end of the verse. Answer
me. Don't overlook that. Why did
he even say that? You could imply that he's expecting
an answer if he asked a question, right? He said, I've got a question
for you, and you answer me. The son of God looked him in
the eye and said, you answer me. You're going to give me an
answer. He didn't answer their question. But he said, you're
going to answer mine. We are not answerable. He is
not answerable to us, but we are answerable to God's son.
Elihu said in Job 33, 13, why do you strive against him? For
he giveth not account of any of his matters. But I'll tell
you this, you're going to give an account of all of your matters
before him. Every one of us will stand before the judgment seat
of Christ and give an account. We better stand in him. That's
the way to get through that one. And that's what we see here in
our text. Answer me. He never did answer them. Because
he's not answerable to them. But they answered him. And you
know what they were forced to say? We can't say. Now think about
that for a second. Here's the religious authorities
forced to admit that they could not answer a very simple question. I mean this is simple. The baptism
of John Was it from heaven or was it of men God Almighty spoke
from heaven when John baptized the Lord Jesus Christ That's
not a hard question to answer but they were forced to say we
can't tell Now think about this When you're dishonest, you have
to think, what am I gonna say and what's gonna be the consequence
of it? That's what they're doing. We're told right here in the
text. If we say this, this'll happen. If we say that, that'll
happen. If you're honest, you don't need
to consider that, do you? Why would they even consider
saying from heaven? If they honestly believed that
it was strictly of men and God had nothing to do with the baptism
of John, would they sit there and say, if we say of heaven,
they wouldn't consider saying that because they don't believe
that. The only reason they would consider saying of heaven is
because they knew it's true, right? Think about it. Why would
you consider saying something that you know isn't true if there's nothing in it for
you? Now, you might consider saying something you know isn't
true if there's something in it for you. So they thought about it. They
thought, well, if we tell the truth, he's going to say, then
why didn't you believe him? Because everything John said.
He pointed to Christ, didn't he? He pointed to Christ. There's God's lamb. There's one
coming after me that's preferred before me. The latching of whose
shoes I'm not worthy to unloose. Clearly they didn't believe John. They knew it was from God. They
knew it was. That's why they thought about
it for a second. If we say from heaven, Listen, then cometh Jesus from
Galilee to Jordan unto John to be baptized of him, but John
forbade him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest
thou to me? And Jesus answering said unto
him, Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfill
all righteousness. Then he suffered him, and Jesus,
when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water,
and lo, the heavens were opened unto him, And he saw the spirit
of God descending like a dove and lighting upon him. And lo,
a voice from heaven saying, this is my beloved son in whom I am
well pleased. Not a hard question to answer.
And so forced to acknowledge the truth of Christ, which is
what John's ministry was, John's baptism, and John himself was
all about Christ. Instead of giving glory to God
and honoring His Son, what did they say? We can't tell. They
made as though it was just too complicated, too tough. We can't
tell. We'll have to think about this
some more. They still do that. When confronted with the simple,
plain truth of God, they still do that. You say, what about God? Is God
sovereign? Can God do whatever he wants? That's complicated. No, it's
not. I can't tell. Yeah, you can. You just don't like it. I confronted a preacher one time
who did not preach the effectual atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ.
That Christ, everyone for whom he died is going to be saved.
Of course they are. He died for them. That was Paul's
only hope. That was all of his hope. He
said, I stand justified before God because it's Christ that
died. So I confronted this preacher
when I was too young to know any better. I was a young teenager,
I liked a good argument then, you know. I have no desire to
argue with anybody now, don't even try it. You know what his answer to me
was, because I've told you this before, he said, I believe what
you do, but if I preach that, it would split the church. So when it comes to that in the
scripture, what does he do? When it says, I lay down my life
for the sheep. And you're not of my sheep because
you don't believe on me because you're not my sheep. But my sheep,
they hear me. And I give them eternal life.
I lay down my life for them and they shall never... When he comes
to that clear truth that's taught all through the world, you know
what he says? I can't tell. I cannot tell. That's complicated. You know, we'll leave that, we'll
just kind of, we'll skip over that. They're still saying it. They've thought a lot about it.
And that's their answer, I cannot tell. Let's just not talk about
that. Let's go back to what you need
to do for God. The word authority in our text
literally means this, and this is key now. This is key. The power of choice. That's the first, that's the
very beginning of the definition of this word in the Greek. The
power of choice. The one who gets to choose. The one who said, you didn't
choose me, I chose you. That's the one in authority right
there. The ability, the power of choice,
comma, the ability to do as one pleases. That's the actual definition
of it. The power of choice. I've chosen
you. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath from the beginning chosen
you to salvation through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the
truth. Ability to do as one pleases. Our God is in the heavens. he
hath done whatsoever he hath pleased." All of the prophets spoke like
this. Listen to this. Talking about
authority. This is how the prophet spoke.
Listen to Moses in Exodus 5. And afterward, Moses and Aaron
went in and told Pharaoh, thus saith the Lord God of Israel, let my people go. So picture
this. Now Moses comes in to Pharaoh
and he says, here's what God says. Let my people go. Thus saith the Lord God. In second Samuel, Nathan said
unto David, thou art the man. Thus saith the Lord God. I anointed the king over Israel
and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul. Thus saith the
Lord God. Here's what God said. In 2 Kings
19, 20, then Isaiah, the son of Amos, sent to Hezekiah saying,
thus saith the Lord God. Have I emphasized that enough? Of Israel, that which thou has
prayed to me against Sennacherib, king of Assyria, I heard you.
I have heard it. They all prefaced their message
with thus saith the Lord God. Why? Because that was their authority
to speak. I've got nothing to say except
what God said. What's Moses gonna say to Pharaoh?
But if God has something to say to Pharaoh and he sends Moses
to say it, now Moses has something to say. He's got some authority.
This is the way our Lord spoke. Verily I say unto you. He's saying the same thing. But
he doesn't have to say, thus saith the Lord, because he is
the Lord. Verily I say unto you, Matthew 10, 14, whosoever shall
not receive you nor hear your words when you depart out of
that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. Verily
I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom
and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city. Think about
what he's saying. He's saying what it's going to
be like for people after they die and go to hell. And he doesn't
say, here's what God said, he said, here's what I say to you. Martin 941, for whosoever shall
give you a cup of water to drink in my name because you belong
to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward. He talks like he's the one that's
gonna be giving out the rewards. When it's all said and done,
doesn't he? I say unto you. Mark 10, 15. Verily I say unto
you, whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little
child, he shall not enter therein. He kind of talking like the one
who decides who gets into glory and who doesn't. The one that
has the keys of hell and of death and said, I am the door. And he said this, no man comes
to the Father, but by me, I say unto you. That's authority. The Lord has all authority in
creation. In Mark 4.41, the disciples feared
exceedingly and said one to another, what manner of man is this that
even the wind and the sea obey him? In other words, he not only made
everything, he runs it. The Lord Jesus Christ has all
authority and providence. I've read you these verses several,
many times over the years. The lot is cast into the lap,
but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. There's no such
thing as luck. There's what the Lord decides. The power of choice. The one who does as he pleases. The king's heart is in the hand
of the Lord as the rivers of water. He turneth it whithersoever
he will. Isaiah 46, 9, remember the former
things of old for I am God and there is none else. I am God
and there's none like me. Declaring the end from the beginning
and from ancient times the things that are not yet done saying
my counsel shall stand and I will do what? What's the definition
of authority? I will do all my pleasure, calling
a ravenous bird from the east. If I want that raven to come
and drop some food for my prophet, that's what he'll do. The man that executes my counsel
from a far country, if the Lord wants me to come here and preach
to you, that's what I'll do. That's exactly what I'll do,
and I'll be glad. Are we just puppets? Depends on your definition of
the word, but I tell you this, if I am one, I know who I want
pulling the strings. I know whose puppet I want to
be. He said, yeah, I have spoken it.
I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it. I will also
do it. Here stands the one who made
these religious idiots from the dust of the ground and who has
manipulated them like puppets. I don't know whether you call
us puppets or not, but it's a pretty good illustration, isn't it?
I can say it's like puppets because he controls us. He manipulates
us. I'm glad. I'm so glad. He had
manipulated them like puppets from the day that they were born,
and they asked him, by what authority do you do these things? And he,
the Lord Jesus Christ, now the Son of God, he has all authority
in creation, he has all authority in providence, and he has all
authority in salvation. John 17, one, these words spake
Jesus and lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the
hour has come. Glorify thy son. that thy son also may glorify
thee. And here's how he's glorified.
As thou hast given him authority over all flesh, that he should
give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. He has
all authority in saving sinners. And this is life eternal, that
they might know thee the only true God in Jesus Christ, whom
thou hast sent. It is given. The authority is
given. It is given. And what it is, is to know God
and His Son. Salvation. Salvation is given. Salvation. That He should give. That He should give eternal life
to as many as thou hast given Him. Salvation is given. And what is salvation? To know
Him. To know Him. It is given unto
you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. By what
authority? If you're going to be saved,
you have to know God. That's what we just read in John
17. And how does that happen? Luke 10, 22, all things are delivered
to me of my father. All things. He said in another
play in the Great Commission, wasn't it? He said, all power
is given unto me in heaven and earth, all authority. Therefore,
you go and preach. And here he says, all things
are delivered to me of my father. And no man knoweth who the son
is but the father. And who the father is but the
son. And he to whomsoever the son
will reveal him. By what authority are sinners
saved? By what authority? Remember when the Lord walked
up to that man laying on that stretcher? And he had been walking around
saying, rise, take up your bed and walk, causing the blind to
see. But this day, he said something
different. He looked at that poor man who
was paralyzed and had to be carried around on a stretcher and he
said, your sins be forgiven you. And immediately, of course, all
the religious Jews there were up in arms. By what authority? Only God can forgive sins. That's
the truth. That's the truth. He was accused of blasphemy for
saying, your sins are forgiven. And then he said in Mark 2, 9,
whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, thy sins
be forgiven thee, or to say, arise and take up thy bed and
walk, like you probably expected me to say, but that you may know. The reason he said what he said
is so that we might know. that the Son of Man hath power. Same words in our text, authority. By what authority? The Son of
Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. He saith to the sick of the palsy,
I say unto thee, arise and take up thy bed and go thy way into
thine house. And immediately here, Rose took
up the bed and went forth before them all, insomuch that they
were all amazed and glorified God, saying, we never saw it
on this fashion. Now, if when he said, rise, to
a paralyzed man, he did, that man did rise, then what do you
think happened when he said, your sins are forgiven? The power. Same word in our text, the Lord
said, it is my choice. What does power mean? Power of
choice. He said, it is my choice to forgive
your sins. And what about the rest of the
definition? It's my choice and it pleases
me. That who does as he pleases.
What pleased him that day was to forgive that man's sins. It pleased the Lord to bruise
his son. It hath pleased the Lord to bruise, to crush him,
his son. He hath put him to grief. When thou shalt make his soul
an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong
his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his
hand. That's salvation. That's salvation. And the one who has authority
to save is Christ. This is the one who does as he
pleases. That's the definition of our
title, authority. Listen, looking unto Jesus, the
author, finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set
before him endured the cross. It doesn't say in spite of the
shame. There's no negative to this at
all. It's all positive for the joy that was set before him.
It doesn't say in spite of the sorrow. This is because it pleased
him. It pleased him. It was the pleasure
of the Lord. And it prospered in his hand.
Because he has the power. He has the authority to lay down
his life and take it up again. And only he can. who no man taketh
it from him, who for the joy that was set before him endured
the cross, despising the shame means counting the shame a small
thing. It doesn't say in spite of the horror of it and in spite
of just the unthinkable infinite pain. No, counting it a small
thing. And it's set down at the right
hand of the throne of God. It pleased him to endure the
cross for his sheep, but it also pleased him to sit down on the
throne. To sit down at the right hand
of the throne of God. It pleased him to do that. And
do you know what the right hand means? All through scripture? Authority. The power and authority
of God. John 10, 14, I am the good shepherd
And I know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth
me, even so know I the Father. And I lay down my life for the
sheep. And other sheep I have, which
are not of this fold, them also I must bring. And they shall hear my voice.
and there shall be one fold and one shepherd. Therefore does
my father love me because I lay down my life that I might take
it again. This is salvation now. The authority
of Christ and the salvation of sinners are integral. He has power from the Father
for what purpose? To give eternal life to his people. Because I lay down my life that
I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but
I lay it down of myself. The power of choice. To do as
one pleases. No man taketh it from me. It's
not done at the pleasure of men. It's my pleasure. It's my choice. And I have power to take it again.
That's our Lord Jesus. This is the one whose authority
they questioned. This is by whose authority we
preach. I say, thus saith the Lord. Like
the prophets of old, this is what he said. And so I say it
without compromise, without reservation, without qualification, thus saith
the Lord. Never ever question the authority
of God's son. It is by his authority that sinners
are saved and damned. It's by his choice. bow to his
authority and say in your heart, and this is not me giving you
some kind of prayer to say, but those who came to him for mercy
and received mercy from him, this is the way they came. Lord,
if you will, you can save me. If it's your choice, if it's
your pleasure, I'll be saved. That's how you come to Christ.
Not with your decision, not with your will. You can make me clean. It's by
your precious sin-cleansing blood that sinners are made clean.
And if you want to, you can wash me from my sins in that precious
blood. And remember, always remember
what he said to that leper. I will. That's salvation right there.
I will. the one with all authority, the
one who chooses, the one who does what he pleases, he says
I will. I'll have mercy because I want
to. Amen. May he give us grace