Authority of Christ

Let's turn to Matthew's Gospel, chapter 21. I'd like to follow what we've been hearing so well spoken, and I appreciate everything that's been spoken by our brethren. I'd like to think with you a little bit about the authority of Christ, not only challenged in the Gospel of Matthew, but asserted and reinforced in the Gospel of Matthew.

We'll just read primarily in one passage here in chapter 21, and I want to read from verse 23. And when He was come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto Him, as He was teaching, and said, By what authority doest thou these things? And who gave thee this authority? And Jesus answered and said unto them, I also will ask you one thing which, if you tell me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John.

Whence was it? From heaven or of men? And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say from heaven, he will say unto us, Why did ye not then believe him? But if we shall say of men, we fear the people, for all hold John as a prophet. And they answered Jesus and said, We cannot tell. And He said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.

Now, our brother Stanley Wells has reminded us of the character of the day in which we live, and I'm sure that much more could have been added to what he said. Anyone that has their eyes open would recognize the fact that we're living in a day, and in fact, it's really no different than it always has been in relation to rejection of the authority of God in man's life. Not only rejection of the authority of God in a general way, but a rejection of the authority and the right to rule so far as Christ is concerned in the individual life.

And our brother Lavery has been reminding us that in many most gatherings, perhaps, the authority of Christ in a local church is also rejected or set aside. And God intends that a local assembly of believers gathered in simplicity according to the word of God should recognize, perhaps above all things, the authority of Christ and the place that He is to have in such a company as that. I'm sure of this, that we would acknowledge that the more we are personally subject to the authority of Christ in our lives individually, the more the authority of Christ will be recognized in a local assembly gathering as well.

I think that when you look at the Gospel of Matthew, you'll find there's one great thing that is being asserted, and that is Christ's authority, His right, and the place that He ought to have, not only in the nation of Israel, not only in the world in general, but also among His own people and in the individual life. Now, the idea of authority that is translated sometimes power, we could have read in Matthew's Gospel, chapter 28, verse 18, where closing the book, the Lord Jesus said, All power, all authority is given unto me in heaven and on earth. And on the basis of that authority, He said, Go ye into all the world and make disciples of all creatures.

And so we have the authority of Christ emphasized in the Gospel of Matthew from beginning to end. One has said that the Gospel of Matthew is the Gospel of the headship of Christ. More references to Christ's head in the Gospel of Matthew likely than any other epistle, any other gospel, sorry.

And you notice that when you come to the Gospel of Matthew from the very beginning, you have that authority being rejected. For instance, in chapter 2, when the announcement has been made that those wise men coming from the east were seeking Him that was born King of the Jews, the immediate reaction by Herod was to seek to destroy Him. Any rival to His authority was going to be put away because Herod was not going to tolerate anyone that would stand in His way.

When you come to chapter 4, you find that the authority of Christ is being questioned and denied by Satan. Because while the Lord Jesus Himself has the right to all the kingdoms of the world, the devil said, I'll give them to you because they're my right to give them. And he was going to supplant Christ's authority by taking that to himself, saying, I'll give them to you, but they're mine, really.

And of course, Satan has been back of all the rebellious acts against the authority of Christ from the very beginning. And when you come down to the Gospel of Matthew in verse 21, what we've read, we have the active opposition of religious men. And they were recognizing that what Christ was doing and what He was teaching was challenging their authority and undermining their position.

And they were afraid that they were going to lose that influence they felt was so important. They were more concerned about their own welfare than they were about the welfare of God's people. So it's been the nature of man right from the very beginning impelled by Satan to resist the rights of the devil, of the rights of Christ.

The word authority or the word power in the Gospel of Matthew is a word that not only indicates his right to rule, but also his might, his ability. And of course, might is essential to carry out the right of sovereignty. And one could have the right to rule without the might and it has no effect whatsoever.

If you were in Dunkerdon this week, you'll excuse my repeat of an illustration that sort of grabbed my attention. One was illustrating the relationship between might and right by saying that if a rhinoceros were to come into the restaurant where they were seated, he could not challenge his might, but he would challenge his right to be there. And of course, when you think of the Lord Jesus, we're looking at one who has absolute right to reign and to rule and one day will do so, but he has the might to bring it into reality.

And so the word encompasses two ideas that are involved in what has to do with authority. When you look at the Gospel of Matthew, you'll find that Matthew, in his Gospel, emphasizes the authority of Christ repeatedly, beginning from the very first chapter of the first verse where we learn right away that he's a son of David, the one who has the right to the throne. And he's also the son of Abraham who has the title rights to the land.

Of course, having the right to the throne, he far exceeds every son of David that ever sat upon that throne. And looking at the genealogy of Christ, you find that he is following a number of men who were sons of David but never sat upon the throne. But he is going to be one that will sit upon the throne and he will never be succeeded by another.

As son of David, he has not only the right to sit upon the throne of Israel, but he has the right to sit upon the throne of the universe. As a son of Abraham, he has the right to control every portion of the land because it all belongs to him. Not only the land of Israel.

I tell you that he has the right, we read that in Hebrews chapter 1, chapter 1 and verse 2, chapter 1 and verse 1 and 2. But he is the one who is the heir of all things. And as such, he is going to inherit everything. As Isaac, the son of Abraham, did in his own day.

And yet in a far greater way than Isaac ever did. And so we have him presented as the one who has the absolute right to direct and to control every portion of that which belongs to him. It's amazing when you come to the end of his teaching in chapters 5, 6 and 7, that the people that heard him, it says that they were astonished at his doctrine.

Because his word was with authority. They recognized that he was not only a man who had authority to teach, but he taught with absolute authority, knowing what he was teaching them, and teaching not as one who would learn from the rabbis. I understand in those days, those who would stand up and teach in the synagogue would be those who would begin, they would preface their remarks, their teaching by quoting a long list of rabbis and those that had gone before them as their authority.

The Lord Jesus says, it has been said of all time, but I say unto thee, I say unto you. And so he was speaking as one with authority. And they couldn't understand it.

They'd never heard anyone speak like that before. And so his authority is expressed in his teaching. The one who had a stronger, deeper, and wider range of teaching than all of the rabbis they'd ever listened to in the entirety of their life.

And then when you come to chapter 8, you'll find that there a centurion comes to the Lord Jesus, and you remember he wants him to heal his servant at home. And the Lord says, I'll come and heal him. Now the centurion said, and by the way, there are five centurions, I believe, in the New Testament.

They're all very good men. Very remarkable men of character. The centurion said, Lord, you don't need to come under my roof.

I'm not worthy. He said, I'm a man under authority. And I have servants under me, and they're under my authority.

And I just say to one, you go do this, and he does it. Another, you go do that, and you do it. He said, I know what it is to be under authority.

I know what it is to exercise authority. He said, Lord, you have more than that. He said, you just speak the word, and my servant shall be healed.

A man that recognized the authority that was vested in Christ when those who were religious leaders of the nation failed to do so. Come down to chapter 9. Off-quote in verse 6, it says, that ye may know that the Son of Man hath power on earth, authority on earth to forgive sins. He said, that the sick of the falls, they rise, take up their bed, and walk.

We oftentimes quote that in terms of the Gospel and say, yes, sins can only be forgiven while you're here on this earth, and that is absolutely true. I take it to mean something different than that. That is that they wanted them to know that while he had ability, and God had ability and right to forgive sins in heaven, here's a man upon earth that has the ability to forgive sins.

And the right to do so, he's Son of Man. And he had the authority in the midst of men to pronounce the forgiveness of sins, and that's only one who is God himself. They knew that.

And then in chapter 12, you remember that there he is being accused, and it has been done repeatedly by the Pharisees and the strides, that he cast out demons by the power of Beelzebub. Remarkable to me that when he commanded demons to leave a person, depart from them, they obeyed him. They recognized his authority.

And when the religious leaders saw what was taking place, the demons recognized his authority, but they didn't. Sad commentary on the attitude of man's heart. But here he is, one with the power, the authority to command demons to leave, and also diseases as well.

An expression of the absolute unquestioned authority of Christ. Wonderful, isn't it? But I come right down to chapter 21 where we're at. And here we seem to have a chapter that is replete with the authority of Christ being emphasized.

Primarily, first of all, let's look at the verses we read from verse 23. Here come the scribes, the Pharisees, the leaders of the people. They say, by what authority? Well, who gave you this authority? By what authority do these things? That's the first question.

And who gave you this authority? The second question. In other words, what is your authority? What right do you have to do these things, especially as it comes to cleansing the temple, driving out those money changers, and ridding the temple courtyard of those commercial interests? You know, when you touch on a religious aspect in terms of money making, you're getting pretty close to home. They resented it.

Second time you'd done it. And not only that, remember that what began as a means of convenience for those that traveled at a distance and needed to have a sacrifice that would be acceptable became a means of commercialism in the house of God. That shows how things can be begun at one point in time and degenerate over a period of time because of man's wisdom.

And what authority doest thou these things? The Lord had absolute authority. That authority was vested in Himself and who He was, the eternal Son of God. But also, who gave you this authority? Well, obviously He could say, My Father in Heaven that sent me, He gave me this authority.

It's God's house. And so He answers that without answering the question at all, doesn't He? He doesn't seem to answer the question. He says, now let me ask you a question, first of all.

The baptism of John, who gave John the authority to baptize? Was it from heaven? Did God give him that authority? Or did man give him that authority? Well, they have to go off and have a consultation. Have you noticed in the Gospels how many times men couldn't give the right answer because they were afraid of people? That's right. Pilate couldn't give the right answer because he was afraid of the multitude.

And here are men that say, Well, we know it was from God, but we don't want to say it. He says, if we don't say it was from God, then we're in danger that the people are going to stone us. They're going to be angry with us.

But we don't want to say it was from God because we don't want to acknowledge that. They did not want to acknowledge the authority of John to baptize. Why? Because it came from outside their sphere.

It came as one that came out of the wilderness of a different direction altogether, and it wasn't one of them. So he didn't have the authority. We cannot tell.

They were lying. They could have told. It seems almost that the Lord Jesus has entered the whole question.

Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things. But He hasn't stopped yet. Notice what the next verse says.

But what think ye? But what think ye? He hasn't done with the argument yet. Because He follows that rebuttal, that silent answer, He follows it by giving a series of three parables. Notice the parables.

The first one has to do with the father who sent his two sons into the vineyard to work. The one said, I'll go, but he didn't go. And the other one said, I won't go, but he did go.

He said, which of them really obeyed his father? Which one really acknowledged the authority of his father? The one that went. They had to acknowledge that. The second parable has to do with the man who had a husband in a vineyard.

And he, of course, let it out to these tenant farmers. And at the season he sent, that he might receive the fruit of it. And they, of course, rejected them.

They stole them. They cast them out. They would not acknowledge their authority.

At the last he sends his son. He says, they will reverence my son. And you know what happened? They cast him out and they killed him.

In other words, they refused to acknowledge the authority of the man that owned the vineyard. When he sent his own son. Again, a matter of authority.

When you come to the beginning of chapter 22, you have another story about authority. Because it also pertains to a son. Every one of these parables has to do with a son.

A son that went. Obeyed his father. A son that came at the end of the wall and he was rejected and disobeyed.

He was disobeyed by the men. And you come into chapter 22 and you have another parable. And it has to do with the question of honoring the son.

And there are those who were invited to that marriage. And there are those, a few that came. And there were some that refused the authority that was in respect to the garment.

Every one of these has to do with a son. Every one also has to do with the subjection to the authority that was expressed. So the Lord is answering them indirectly by three parables that follow the question that he gives them.

Now he's telling them in the first place, he says, what about these two sons? You claim like this son to obey God, but you don't. You claim verbally to say that I will go, I will do the will of God, but you're not doing it. So you're rejecting the authority of God.

For there are those that initially would say we will not go, but they did go. He said the public is in a harlot, so he prays before you. So he's accusing the religious leaders.

They were questioning his authority. Listen, you are defying the authority of God. The second parable.

Of course, obviously, at the end of the second parable, they recognized who he was talking about. They knew it. Here he let out this vineyard to these farmers, these that were responsible to render unto him the fruits.

A picture of the nation of Israel. They had the responsibility to care for it and to give to God what was his right. So they've gone, he sent you the prophets, he sent you the servants, he sent you the series of others.

And you've refused every one of them. Last of all, he sent you a son and you were defying his authority. Questioning his authority in verse 23.

By what authority doest thou these things? He says, I've come in the authority of the man, of the one that owns the vineyard. You have a responsibility to obey. And then last of all, in chapter 22, he says that there was that king that gave the marriage for his son.

And there were those that came that invited guests. And you remember that there was one man came in. He wanted to be there, but he didn't want to be there subject to the authority of the king.

They rejected him. Cast out. And we find that the result of it was not submission to the word of Christ, but the result is they went out and plotted how they were going to take him.

Is that the end of the whole thing? No, you go right on down through chapter 22. Follow the sequence. He has given him three parables to show them the question of authority that has been denied by the nation and by the leaders.

And now they come to him and they ask him these questions to try to plot how to trap him in his words. The Sadducees, the Pharisees, the Herodians, they all came. And again, the Lord Jesus proves the superiority of his position in his power.

And not a one of them could take him in his words and they had to see. Tremendous expression, a tremendous section that deals with the expression, the emphasis of the authority of Christ. It ought to make a tremendous impact upon our hearts.

Brethren, we are brought into relationship with a man, the eternal son of God that has absolute authority. He expects obedience from you and me, every one of us. This is the chapter that really has to do with authority.

Look at verses one through seven. You see there that he sends his disciples to take this donkey, this ass, this and the colt, bring them to him so that he might use them. And the disciples responded to his command.

And not only the disciples, but the donkey and the colt as well. In other words, it emphasizes in a practical way to your heart and mine, I trust. Here is the one that has authority to expect obedience from his own people and to use them, use that which it pertains to him.

He wants obedience of your heart and mine, brethren and sisters. He wants subjection from the heart to his authority. And if we have the wisdom of the world, we'll say, well, a little bit is all right, but not too much.

A genuine wisdom that is from above is that which recognizes that the one that saved me and redeemed me has a right to use me, has a right to control me, has a right to expect obedience from each one of us. And so he had the authority to command and to use for his purpose. And he was being honored as a result of their obedience and the submission to his authority.

In verse eight through 11, we have another aspect of the authority of Christ, and that is that he has the authority, we have the right to receive praise and honor. Riding upon that colt, we find him going into the city of Jerusalem, screwing their branches in the way, putting their garments upon that animal. And he rides triumphantly in the city before he was rejected.

They're crying Hosanna to the son of David, Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. And there's no one has the absolute right to receive that kind of praise except this one person, the Lord Jesus.

You have the right to receive all honor, all praise, all adoration and all worship. Brethren, you and I have been called by God to be worshipers, and called by God to exclaim the praises of him who one day will ride into Jerusalem triumphantly, the city of his rejection. And in the day of his rejection, we have the privilege, we have the responsibility to bow to him, to claim his worth and to magnify his name, and to do so not only with lip, but also with life.

Everything they were doing was magnifying and exclaiming the greatness. And the one who was coming into that city was the one who had the authority to receive it. They were not ascribing that to a mere man.

They weren't ascribing praise to one that wasn't worthy to receive it. He's worthy of far more, brethren, than you and I can give him. And then we come down into verse 12 and 13.

We've touched it already, but he has the authority there emphasized to cleanse the house of God. Came into that house. They saw the commercial activity that was disobeying his name, the house that belonged to his father, the house that was to be a house of prayer of all nations.

They saw the awful corruption, the defilement that man had introduced. I read somewhere that one of the biggest commercial activities in the world pertains to religion. And you know there's a lot of money involved in that.

I think sports has overcome that a long time ago. That's man's other religion, I think. But nevertheless, you have this commercial activity that is going on, disrupting deeply and sadly affecting the holy sanctity of the courts of God.

Introduced by man. And likely with many excuses that made it seem plausible in their sight. Lord, cast them all out.

Cleanse the temple. He says, in that case, he says, my house shall be called the house of prayer. Or you've made it a den of thieves.

Great difference between the house and the den, isn't there? A den of iniquity. A den in which there were plottings going on in order to extract the maximum amount of money from the people that had to come there with their offerings. He has the right in that day, he has the right in this day to cleanse his house.

It belongs to him. It was his father's house. And because it was his father's house, it was his house.

And we can apply that, brethren and sisters, to the assembly and the truth we've been hearing today. We have direction from the word of God as to what he wants to see maintained in a gathered company of his people. It's not left up to you and me to decide what we can introduce into such a place.

Oh, it's a house of prayer. It's a house of holiness. It's a house of worship.

It's a place where he is to be honored and his name is to be magnified. And if need be, the Lord can cleanse his house. He did in that day.

They challenged the right to do so, but he had every right to do so. But you go on down the chapter and we find in verse 17 through 21, I'm going to close very soon. And that is, he has the right as well to condemn.

He saw the fig tree in the way and it had no fruit upon it. And he said, let this fig tree bear no fruit on thee henceforth forever. And presently the fig tree wither away.

And no doubt, not only does this indicate his control over all creation, but ultimately it also pictures the fruitless tree of Israel. Had nothing to bring for God under the condemnation of God. But he has a right to condemn.

All judgment is given in the hands of the Son. He has the authority and he's going to exercise that authority to judge the nations. And all men are going to stand before him in righteous judgment.

Give an account to God. You and me as believers, an account for life and our service. And all men an account for their life.

You see what God has recorded in his book. He has the authority. He is the righteous judge and he will sit upon the throne.

And brethren and sisters remind our hearts today. We are responsible to him as servants. We are responsible as those that labor in his house.

He has the right to judge. And then one more I'll just touch on that we've mentioned already. And that is that he has authority to teach and to work according to the will of God.

And while that authority was challenged, yet he had every right. Just the same as John did and even far greater than John's authority. John was sent from God as John chapter 1 tells us there was a man sent from God whose name was John.

Far greater the Lord Jesus sent from the Father into this dark world with absolute authority to carry out the will of God. Teaching the truth of God. Maintaining the grace of God.

And completing the work of God in this world in the days of his flesh. You find other aspects of his authority in the parables that follow. But I just want to remind ourselves and I ask myself do I acknowledge personally the authority of Christ in my life? Is he really and truly Lord? In more than just word.

The Lord could say more than once why call ye me Lord, Lord and do not the things which I say. And he was speaking to those that would gladly, loudly acknowledge him as Lord. But they did not yield to him as authority in their life.

Be careful brethren that we don't say more than we actually do. Be careful that we are not greatly responsible for the things that we express so loudly in gatherings together that we fail to carry them out in our life day by day. Peter says but sanctify Christ as Lord in your life, in your hearts rather.

And be ready always to give an answer to them that ask you through a reason of the hope that is within you with meekness and fear. May God help us as his people today. To not be rebellious.

To not be disobedient. But to bow humbly from the heart to acknowledge him as Lord. And give him the place to exercise absolute authority.

In lives individually, in our homes and in the local assembly of God's people. May he have the place of supremacy.