Truth That Transforms: How Does God Authorize? - DJ Dickerson

our series that we continue this

morning.

Uh this is lesson six if you're keeping

up with that. Uh the number of lessons

we've done thus far and that series is

truth that transforms discovering God,

his word, and your purpose, my purpose,

our purpose. And through this series,

we've been really going through

foundational questions. Uh we have asked

questions like why am I here? Uh does

God really exist? Uh has God spoken?

What is the Bible? Uh how did we get the

Bible? How should we study the Bible? So

we come to what what I would say is

probably the next natural question that

as I've stated before that a lot of

times, you know, we'll have Bible

studies with folks and guess what? We're

going to hear these questions and are we

prepared to answer these questions? Uh

that's one way we can certainly look at

this study as well.

But the next natural question that I was

thinking of that a lot of times comes up

is once we understand what God has said,

well, how do we know what God

authorizes?

This is an important question because

the Bible is not simply a a book to be

admired. It's God's word to be obeyed.

Uh if scripture reveals God's will,

the very will of God, then we must ask

some questions.

What has God commanded?

What has God approved? What has God

permitted? What has God forbidden? And

how do we know the difference

from our scripture reading this morning

that brother brother Aiden Mosley read

the verses that you noted there from

that text is Colossians 3 and verse 17.

Colossians 3 and verse 17 says, "And

whatever you do in word or deed, do all

in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving

thanks to God the Father through him."

One of the things that stands out and

we'll look at a few other passages of

this sort as well, but one of the things

that you certainly notice in this is the

phrase in the name of the Lord Jesus.

That phrase does not simply mean saying

his name before we do something

as in just invoking the name of Jesus

for any reason or or what what have you.

What that means when it says do all in

the name of the Lord Jesus that means

acting by his authority.

By his authority

uh you know using the example of a

police officer does not say stop in the

name of the law because those words are

magical. Right? We've heard that before

on shows and stuff, right?

The officer says it because the law

stands behind what? The command. the

command. An ambassador does not speak in

the name of his nation because

that ambassador is expressing private

opinions.

That ambassador is speaking with

delegated authority.

And I use those examples because those

are things that we commonly say, well, I

I grasp that. I I can see that.

Well, in the same way, Christians must

act in the name of Christ, meaning under

his authority and according to his will.

And and when we start talking about

these types of things and again having

Bible studies with others who's, you

know, sincerely wanting to know, you

know, how does God authorize,

you know, this is not this lesson is not

about being difficult. This this lesson

is not about, hey, I'm looking for an

argument today. I'm I'm I'm not trying

to make Christianity cold or mechanical.

It's about honoring the lordship of

Jesus Christ.

Because as we say, if he is Lord,

his word, his will matters.

And if he has authority, then what does

that mean for us? Well, we must submit.

And if truth transforms,

then it must transform not only what we

believe, but also in what we practice.

So, let's talk about number one here. As

just stated, Christ has all authority.

Because before we ask really the

question of the lesson, well, how does

God authorize uh we must begin with the

one who well possesses the authority.

When you go to Matthew chapter 28,

Matthew 28 · chapter mention

you'll notice there in Matthew chapter

Matthew 28 · chapter mention

28 and again as I like to make mention

of from time to time impress upon our

minds to prove all things according to

God's word, not DJs. Matthew chapter 28.

Matthew 28 · chapter mention

And what's interesting is you get there

to the end of the book of Matthew and

there's several verses here towards the

end verses 18 down through verse 20.

Sometimes we characterize that and we

list that as the great commission

something that is similar to what we see

in Mark 16 as well. But notice in

Matthew 28 18-20. And Jesus came and

spoke to them, saying, "All authority

has been given to me in heaven and on

earth. Go therefore, make disciples of

all the nations, baptizing them in the

name of the Father and of the Son and

the Holy Spirit, teaching them to

observe all things that I have commanded

you. And lo, I am with you always, even

to the end of the age. Amen." Now, what

you noted is really what I call a

sweeping statement right off the bat.

All right? Jesus did not say, "Some

authority has been given to me." He did

not say, "Religious

authority has been given to me, but the

rest belongs to human preference." You

see, that's not what he said. He said,

"All authority has been given to me in

heaven and on earth." And what that

means, what that tells us very simply is

that Christ has authority over

salvation, right? He has authority over

worship. He has authority over the

church. You know why I specifically

mentioned that about the church

specifically is because who's the one

who said that he was going to build his

church? Well, that was Jesus, wasn't it?

Absolutely. Matthew 16:18 Jesus said, "I

Matthew 16:18

will upon this rock I will build my

church and the gates of hell shall not

prevail against it." He says, "His

church, not mine, not yours." So he has

what? Authority over the church. He has

authority over the doctrine. He has o

authority over morality. And that just

goes into so many different areas like

well authority over our homes, our

words, our priorities, and well our

lives. So even Peter made this statement

in Acts chapter 4 and verse 12. He

Acts 4 · chapter mention

reiterates this regarding the authority

of Christ. Look at Acts 4 and verse 12.

Acts 4 and verse 12. Nor is there

salvation in any other. For there is no

other name under heaven given among men

by which we must be saved. What's that

tell you? Salvation is in the name of

Christ. What else it tell you? Authority

is in the name of Christ.

So friends, we cannot approach

Christianity by asking, well, what do I

prefer? What do you prefer? How many

things you think we get out of that?

Boy, that could that can turn out really

uh crazy, wouldn't it? When we start

talking about all these preferences that

we have, we have to ask the question,

what has Christ

authorized?

You know there's a statement Jesus made

in Luke 6 and verse 46 where people

would say Lord Lord you know and

although it sounds sounds good you know

people who invoke the name of the Lord

but what did Jesus say in Luke chapter 6

Luke 6 · chapter mention

and verse 46

but why do you call me Lord Lord and not

do the things which I

say

the question that Jesus Jesus was asking

there in Luke 6 and verse 46 reaches to

the heart of the matter. Calling Jesus

Lord must mean more than just using the

right words.

Again, if he is Lord,

we must listen.

If he is Lord, then we obey. If he is

Lord, then his authority is not

optional.

So,

how do we get to this authorization part

again?

Well, I think pretty clear so far what I

made mention of this next point we're

talking about is how does God authorize?

God authorized by what he says.

And as we have noted throughout the uh

lesson uh this series in in talking

about the Bible and God's holy and

divine word, his will, we've talked

about that his revealed word is how God

authorizes. And when we study scripture,

we we actually find something very

interesting as well. And that is God

communicates his will in ways that we

already understand in ordinary life.

Sometimes authority is given by a direct

statement.

Sometimes it's shown through an approved

example and sometimes it's understood by

a necessary inference or conclusion.

And what I want to point out to you in

that those are not man-made categories

that's forced upon the Bible. Uh some

people might look at it that way, but

that's that's not that's not it. They

are simple

ways in how communication works. Again,

this happens every day of our lives,

whether we realize it or not. It's

really communication 101.

Let me use an example. Suppose an

employer gives a worker a written order

that says, "Replace the front brake pads

on this vehicle." Would you call that a

direct instruction? Sounds like it,

doesn't it? Well, yeah, we we'll agree.

So, that's a direct instruction that was

given. So, what does that mean the

worker has the authority to do? Well,

the worker has authority to use the

tools necessary to complete the job.

Well, that might include might have to

lift the vehicle. That's going to be

important. Uh might have to remove the

tires. Well, yeah, have to do that. Uh

use the proper equipment, replace the

brake pads. Well, now we're talking

about what does that not include? Well,

that does that means he doesn't have the

authority to repaint the truck or

install a new stereo or or add custom

rims simply because he thinks those

things would be improvements. Now, the

person who brought their truck in to get

their brake pads brads done might be

okay with that, you know, but that might

be a preference statement, but that's

not what the work order, that's not what

the worker, the employee,

that's not what he was told to do. That

was outside of that scope. So, the

question is not could he do those things

because yes, certainly he could. uh you

know, I'm sure he had the ability to do

those things, but the question is, was

he authorized

to do those things? See, there's a

there's a distinction that's being made

in those questions.

And that's how authority works.

Authority is established by the

instruction that was given. Or we let's

do another one. Or suppose an a new

employee is trained by watching the

supervisor demonstrate the approved way

to log evidence. Well, the supervisor's

example teaches the new employee how the

work is to be done. See, we're just kind

of working through there. You're kind of

catching those. The next one, or make,

let's suppose something else. The same

employee is told this package must be

delivered to the courthouse by 10:00

a.m.

Now, the boss may not specifically say,

"Leave early enough to arrive on time."

But what do we call that? That's a

necessary inference. That's a necessary

conclusion that we come to.

If the package must be there by 10 a.m.,

then that worker, that employee must

leave in time to get it there. See that

just we we again we do this every day

because we understand direct

instruction. We understand approved

example and we understand the necessary

inference or conclusion in everyday

life. So really the question is whether

we will allow scripture to communicate

in the same reasonable way.

That's what we have to ask ourselves.

So I there's some examples I want to

give you and about how God authorizes

and we went through some quick examples

there of what we see in our everyday

life. Uh here's the scriptures and I

want to give you a few of them. I don't

have time to get into all of them that

we could go through, but how God

authorizes by direct command. Well, when

we was talking about a moment ago, we

were discussing uh like the great

commission and we were talking about

Mark 16 even as I I alluded to that one

a moment ago from Matthew 28. But in

Mark 16:15,

Mark 16:15

think about this word the words that

state here. And he said to them, "Go

into all the world and preach the gospel

to every creature." That's a command

that Jesus was giving, right?

Peter

told those on Pentecost in Acts 2 and

verse 38, repent and let everyone be

baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for

the remission of sins and you shall

receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

So there's another one.

See, there's kind of a pattern here.

There's following. What do we see in

Ephesians 5 and verse 19? For example,

what Paul told the Ephesian brother in

Ephesians 5 and verse 19, speaking to

one another in psalms and hymns and

spiritual songs, singing, making melody

in your heart to the Lord. Now, these

are not vague suggestions. I want us to

understand that these are instructions

from the Lord. And when God gives a

command, faith does not look for a way

around it. faith obeys.

Let's talk about approved example. Even

God authorizes by that approved example.

This morning in our Bible class, it's

kind of interesting how this all kind of

came together this morning uh for not

just our discussion this morning, our

Bible class in Acts chapter 20, but also

Acts 20 · chapter mention

for the sermon because Acts 20 and verse

7, we were we were actually reasoning

this out, talking about this in verse 7,

Acts chapter 20.

Acts 20 · chapter mention

says, "Now on the first day of the week,

when the disciples came together to

break bread, Paul ready to depart the

next day spoke to them."

Now, even as we noted in the Bible

class, this is not a random detail. It

shows the practice of Christians under

apostolic guidance.

They came together on the first day of

the week to break bread.

Now thinking about their uh the way that

they uh were together even we think

about how Acts 2 verse 42 how they

Acts 2:42

continue fed said fasting apostles

doctrine

and fellowship in the breaking of bread

and in prayers. Think about their

fellowship that they had with one

another

and and the meaning and significance of

Christianity for that matter. And we

think about examples and how how we make

that distinction

uh versus a common meal versus that of

again the proved apostolic example of

what taking of the Lord's supper on the

first day of the week.

Those matter when they reveal the

approved practice of God's people under

inspired teaching.

Now, I'll submit to you that not every

example is binding in every detail.

Uh something that uh was brought up in

the Bible class. It was Walter that

mentioned this. Uh we we read there in

our text of Acts chapter 20 on down to

Acts 20 · chapter mention

verse 11 or so. And we think about Paul

who was preaching in an upper room.

Well, does that mean the church must

meet upstairs?

Is that what that means? or Paul

preached until midnight. Does that mean

every sermon must last that long? I have

a good case for that one.

You're like, DJ, you don't. That's not

the way that works. Like, we'll we'll

we'll we'll have to talk about that one.

But you see what I'm saying? We we we

must ask careful questions. Uh is this

example connected to apostolic teaching?

We got to ask that's that's a good

question to ask. Is it approved rather

than merely reported? Is it part of the

church's worship, work, or obedience?

Okay. Is the detail essential, or is it

merely incidental?

And so these are questions that when

we're studying and we're going through

these scriptures and we're looking at

the context that we talked about this

morning in our Bible class, that's

important because approved examples

help us see how inspired men and first

century Christians carried out the will

of God.

Now the other one here is how God

authorizes by necessary inference or

conclusion.

Some truths are not stated in one single

sentence

but are necessarily drawn from what

scripture says.

Jesus himself used this kind of

reasoning. I want to use Matthew 22 and

verse 32. I want you to look at Matthew

22 and verse 32.

In this text uh you have the Sadducees

who uh Jesus is is talking to. they they

had denied the resurrection. Uh and so

so that was a a situation that was being

addressed. And again, if you go to

Matthew chapter 22, uh this is

Matthew 22 · chapter mention

again much of uh

stated through through the uh passages

here

when the Sadducees were asking about the

resurrection. And again, that that

starts if you're looking for the

context, you're looking starting in

verse 23 on down to verse 33. Uh and

again, the Sadducees denied the

resurrection. So, in Jesus talking to

them and addressing that issue, uh Jesus

quoted God's words to Moses. Now, I am

the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac,

and the God of Jacob.

Interestingly, I want you to notice

something. Jesus concluded in that

sentence there, if you will, God is not

the God of the dead, but of the what?

The living.

Now, God did not explicitly say in that

passage, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are

still alive.

It's not worded that way. Okay, we agree

with that. But Jesus showed that the

conclusion necessarily followed from

what God had said. And again, this is

important because Jesus expected people

to reason from scripture. He expected

them to recognize not only the words

themselves, but the truth those words

necessarily

implied. You see, so when we look at

words like that, when we're talking

about uh command and approved example

and necessary inference or conclusion,

we're not trying to create loopholes uh

or invent doctrine in using that kind of

terminology. We are trying to listen

carefully to everything God has

communicated

because the goal is is not to ask how

little can I do and still claim to be

faithful.

The goal is to ask this,

what has the Lord authorized and how can

I humbly submit to him?

That's the goal.

God is not the God of the dead, but of

the living. You see how Jesus used that?

Reason. Reason,

logical reason. So, something else that

comes up a lot of times in in

discussions, in studies is, well, what

about God being silent? Well, God's

silence must be respected

because I I believe before we move

further, we need to to make this clear

that authority is not established by

what God did not say. Authority is

established by by what God did say. And

that's that's a very important thing we

have to to understand. That's why the

question

where does the Bible say not to can be

misleading. You ever heard that

question? Have you ever asked that

question? I mean, sometimes that they

say, "Well, where does the Bible say I

can't do this or I can't do that?" Uh,

if God has already specified what he

wants, what he desires, then this is

where faith respects what he specified.

I want you to notice cons and I used

this example last Sunday I believe

talking about Noah and you go back to

Genesis chapter 6. Genesis chapter 6 and

Genesis 6 · chapter mention Genesis 6 · chapter mention

verse14

the command that God gave Noah in the

building of the ark was make yourself an

ark of gopherwood. Now there's a lot of

specifications that's that's given uh

throughout that command and and as we

know uh Noah followed those that those

commands

to that very pattern that God had given

him. He did according to what God had

said.

What I want us to note in Genesis 6:14

Genesis 6:14

specifically is

God did not list every kind of wood that

Noah was forbidden to use. He did not

say, you know, do don't use oak, don't

use cedar, don't use pine, and so forth.

He specified gopher wood. And what does

that mean? Well, that's enough. That's

enough.

Faith did not require Noah to ask where

did God say, I cannot use another kind.

See there? See that faith required Noah

to build according to what God had said.

And that same principle you find in

Hebrews chapter 7. Go to Hebrews chapter

Hebrews 7 · chapter mention Hebrews 7 · chapter mention

7.

Hebrews chapter 7, the writer uh the

Hebrews 7 · chapter mention

Hebrew writer explains that Jesus came

from the tribe of Judah, not Levi.

Look at verse 14 of Hebrews 7. For it is

evident that our Lord arose from Judah,

of which tribe Moses spoke nothing

concerning priesthood.

Moses did not have to say no priest from

Judah. When God specified Levi, what did

that exclude? that excluded the other

tribes.

So the silence concerning Judah did not

authorize priests from Judah under that

covenant. And again, friends, this this

is a principle that truly matters

because God's silence is not permission

to do whatever we want. And I'll tell

you this, as a parent of three children

and you as parents of your children,

are we okay if our kids said, "Well, you

didn't say not to."

Right?

See, we could understand that on that

level

because that's the way God's silence is.

God's silence is not permission to do

whatever we want. If God has specified

what he desires, we must respect what he

has said.

Another example that is common I believe

in studies in in is that of uh found in

Leviticus chapter 10. Naab and Abahu is

Leviticus 10 · chapter mention

is uh found there in Leviticus chapter

Leviticus 10 · chapter mention

10 and verses 1 and two. Look at that.

The Naab and Abahu the sons of Aaron

each took his center and put fire in it

put incense on it and offered profane

fire before the Lord which he had not

commanded them. So fire went out from

the Lord and devoured them and they died

before the Lord.

So here's the issue. Uh depend on your

translation it might say profane fire.

Yours might have strange fire but you

you understand what's the fact is it was

not commanded by God.

So the problem was not simply that God

had said do not use this fire.

The problem was that they offered what

God had not commanded. They treated this

worship as though sincerity would be

enough. But God showed that worship must

be governed by his will, not human

innovation.

Not human innovation. Think about what

Jesus said in John 4 and verse 24.

God is spirit and those who worship him

must worship in spirit and truth. And

what that verse tells us is worship must

involve the right heart, but it also

must be according to the truth. Those

things go together. That's why Jesus

made that statement. God is spirit and

those who worship him must worship in

spirit

and truth.

Then we start talking about different

kinds of authority. Let's go ahead and

move to that. Start saying well what

about you know generic and specific

authority. We got to we got to

distinguish those uh because to

understand biblical authority clearly it

is imperative that we distinguish

between generic and specific authority.

And what I mean by that is sometimes God

gives a general command that allows

choices in how the command is carried

out. We used that of Markapter 16:1 15

earlier. And he said to them, "Go into

all the world and preach the gospel to

every creature." Now, where's the

command in this? Well, the command is

two words. And that is starting off with

go. Okay.

Now when you look at that, did Jesus

specify

the method of travel?

No, he did not do that. So that means it

could be opened up to walk, ride, drive,

sell, fly, print materials, use radio,

stream lessons online, or teach through

other lawful means. Okay? And that we

can make that list. uh

those methods help carry out the command

to go.

That's what we call generic authority.

But then on the other side, we we have

where God specifies what he wants. We

used that example a moment ago with that

of with God telling Noah and building of

the ark to use what kind of wood? Go for

wood. That again was specific. When God

commanded singing worship, that's

specific. Ephesians 5:1 19 tells us,

Ephesians 5:1

"Speaking to one another in psalms and

hymns and spiritual songs, singing and

making melody in your heart to the

Lord."

Not only in this verse that we saw

earlier, Ephesians 5:1 19, but also in

Ephesians 5:1

our scripture reading this morning. We

saw in Colossians chapter 3 and verse

Colossians 3 · chapter mention

16.

Colossians 3 and:e 16. Let the word of

Christ dwell in you richly in all

wisdom, teaching and admonishing one

another in psalms and hymns and

spiritual songs, singing with grace in

your hearts to the Lord.

There is

uh where God specified

singing and that of which God named for

that very melody is the heart.

The action God commanded

is vocal praise. And if God had simply

said make music, then different kinds of

music might be included. But when he

specified singing, we should be content

with what he authorized.

Because the question that we have to ask

is, well, is it all about DJ's personal

taste? because I I've had this

discussion and I think it's I think it's

worth that we we need to we need to

in in a lot of my discussions actually

when I've uh in my studies with others

on on this very topic when I ask this

question it does make people pause

because it sounds like well I don't like

the way God said this and I want to add

this and I want to add that and I want

to you know because it's my preference

and I prefer because I like it. Do y'all

see how that sounds? Does that sounds

like I like it. Well, whether I like it

or you like it doesn't matter. Okay?

It's it's what God has authorized

because again, what are we talking

about? God's authority, Christ, his

church, how the church works, all of

those things. The worship

that is not about personal taste. It's a

It's not about what someone says, "Well,

I think this would sound better." It's

not about what we think would attract

more people. See, that's that that's the

trouble. It's about respecting the

authority of Christ in all things.

And again, that same principle applies

in many areas. And I could go into again

talking about uh uh you know, the Lord's

supper. You know, we talk about baptism,

immersion in water because that's what

the word means and what the New

Testament examples show. The church's

work, worship, organization, and

teaching must be shaped by the authority

of scripture.

You know, and when God gives general

authority, we, you know, we may use

lawful aids to carry it out, but when

God gives specific instruction, we must

honor the boundary that he has set. And

we have to definitely make that

distinction and and have that

understanding

from that because when you take all of

this and you boil it down when we talk

about authority and we say we hold to

the authority of the scripture, we hold

to the authority of Christ and the work

that he wants us to do because we are

his disciples. It's not the other way

around where we get to tell God what we

want to do, how we want to do it, when

we want to do it. See, again, we have to

recognize he's the creator as we started

out this series of lessons. And we are

the created.

So, it comes down to authority being an

act of faith. That's what it comes down

to. At this point, someone may say,

"I've heard this. Well, this sounds

quite restricted, DJ. This is so

restricted."

But biblical authority is not meant to

make faith cold.

It's meant to keep faith surrendered.

Authority is not simply about rules.

It's about trust.

I'm asking the question this morning, do

we trust God enough to let him decide?

Do we trust Christ enough to follow his

word, his word?

Do we trust scripture enough to stop

where scripture stops?

Because when we go back and look at John

14 and verse 15,

there is a statement that Jesus makes.

If you love me, keep my commandments.

Jesus said that

because friends, love and obedience,

they're not enemies. They're not

enemies. Jesus connected them, didn't

he? Obedience is not how, you know, we

we earn God's love. Obedience is how we

express our love for God.

First John 5 and verse three. I'd be

aiss if I didn't put this one in. For

this is the love of God that we look

here keep his commandments and his

commandments are not burdensome.

So friends, when we love God, his

commands are not viewed as chains to

resent.

They are the will of the one that we

trust.

And I think about, you know, for the

example, a child may not understand

every single instruction of a loving

parent, but trust leads them to obey.

A patient may not understand every

single instruction of a skilled

physician, but trust leads them to

follow what has been prescribed.

And friends, a servant of Christ may not

always understand why God has commanded

one thing and not another, but faith

says your will is enough.

That spirit is seen in Samuel's words to

Saul. Takes us all the way back to the

Old Testament.

Samuel told Saul

in 1st Samuel 15 and verse 22, "Has the

Lord as great delight in burnt offerings

and sacrifices as in obeying the voice

of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better

than sacrifice in the he than the fat of

rams."

Because in this text, what what Samuel

was addressing with Saul is Saul thought

he could improve on God's command. Y'all

remember that?

Remember that? That had to do with the

command for Saul to go and destroy,

annihilate, will the Amalachites. That

was God's command.

But Saul,

he kept what God told him to destroy and

then tried to explain it as something

religious.

That's not what God said.

That is not what God commanded.

God did not asked Saul for what he

thought would be an improvement.

God commanded

and desired obedience of that command.

And that's that same is true today.

God's not looking for people who's going

to redesign his will.

He's looking for people who are going to

simply trust and obey.

So friends, how does God authorize?

Well, as we noted, he authorizes through

his word. Christ has all authority.

Therefore, we must do things in his

name. God teaches by what he commands,

by proved examples, and by necessary

inferences or conclusions that are drawn

from scripture.

His silence must be respected. His

specific instructions must be honored

and his authority must be received as an

act of faith. We talked about all those

things and and as I stated in the

introduction, this lesson is not about

winning arguments. That's not what it's

about.

Friends, it's about disciplehip.

It's about asking what has the Lord

said, what has the Lord approved? What

does the Lord desire? And that should be

the way we approach the scriptures.

Because when we approach scripture that

way and asking those kind of questions

with a heart that's open, we're not

trying to bind human opinion. We are

trying to submit to divine authority,

aren't we?

Because the safest place to stand is

always where God has spoken.

The strongest faith

is not the faith that ask how far can I

go.

The strongest faith ask how close can I

stay to the will of my Lord.

We've been talking about truth that

transforms.

Today we have learned that truth must

govern our authority.

But the authority of Christ is not only

about worship practices or church

organization. It begins with our own

hearts. Remember Luke 6 and verse 46.

But why do you call me Lord, Lord, and

not do the things which I say?

That question is so personal to us

because again Jesus is Lord. I must obey

him.

Jesus is Lord. His word must rule my

life. Jesus is Lord. I cannot simply

admire him. I must surrender to him.

That's truth that transforms.

Perhaps you this morning believe that

Jesus Christ is the son of the living

God.

But you have never obeyed

his word, what he has commanded.

The Lord who has authority, all

authority, commands all people

everywhere to repent.

His word teaches that believers are to

be baptized into Christ into him for the

remission of sins. Numerous examples we

find as we've been studying the book of

acts so far. We find the command that

Jesus gave. We just saw that earlier in

Mark 16 verse 15 and 16 as well as uh

Mark 16:15

that of Matthew chap 28 18-20.

We saw what Peter told him in the first

gospel message that was presented on the

day of Pentecost. Repent and be baptized

every one of you in the name of Jesus.

Whose authority was it by? Was it by

Peter's? No, it was by Jesus's.

So you can do that because that's God's

plan of salvation. It's not mine. You

don't see my name up there. You're not

going to find my name or your name

anywhere else. That's going to be God's

plan. And we adhere to what he has

commanded for us to do to get in that

relationship with him through Jesus

Christ, his son.

And you can do that this morning. All

things stand ready. Perhaps you have

obeyed the gospel message, but you

haven't been living under his authority.

Well, today's an opportunity to return.

Because again, the question is not, "Do

I believe Jesus has authority?"

There's a lot of people that say, "I

think I believe Jesus has authority."

That's not the question we're asking.

The question we're asking is, will we

actually submit to his authority?

So friends, we don't just simply speak

Jesus' name. We live under his name.

We do all in the name of the Lord Jesus.

And as a song, as brother Kyle Copelan

has presented these songs and put these

songs together to go with this lesson

very well. The song that we conclude in

this invitation call is exactly that.

you trust and obey.

Blessed are all they that put their

trust in him. Friends, that was then and

it still is today. If you're subject to

invitation call, whatever your spiritual

need, won't you come as we stand and

sing the