Mt 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 and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of 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.

4. The Authority of the
Church!
Mt 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
and make disciples of all the nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of 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.

5. I don't know about you, but I have
really been enjoying this study!
■We have seen many things so far about
the NT church and there are many more to
come, but this lesson is perhaps the most
important one!
■Ultimately the authority of the church is
found in one place (doctrine) yet on the
local level there is also authority given in
matters of (decisions) as well!
■In this lesson the 1st part, next the 2nd!

6. It is impossible to maintain unity
unless we agree on the same standard
of authority!
■This is the standard for which Christ
prayed! (Jn. 17:11, 21-23 “be one” 4x)
■This is the unity that Paul addresses!
(1 Cor. 1:10-13; 3:1-9)
■The single-mindedness of Christ!
○Php 2:5 Let this mind be in you which
was also in Christ Jesus,

7. I. The Person!
Jesus has “all” authority! (Mt. 28:18)
■Coming to properly understand “who”
Jesus is should make this point clear!
○Yet, far too many have a misconception of
Jesus and then they struggle with this!
■Mt 1:23 "Behold, the virgin shall be with
child, and bear a Son, and they shall call
His name Immanuel," which is translated,
"God with us."

8. Misunderstanding the concept of
“authority!”
■Most base what they do or allow on the
idea that “if the Bible doesn’t say I can’t
then I can!”
○Col 3:17 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.
■This is ultimately what caused th
division in the Restoration Movement!

9. Why authority is important?
■1 “Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron,
each took his censer and put fire in it and laid
incense on it and offered unauthorized fire
before the Lord, which he had not commanded
them. 2 And fire came out from before the Lord
and consumed them, and they died before the
Lord. 3 Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is
what the Lord has said: ‘Among those who are
near me I will be sanctified, and before all the
people I will be glorified.’” And Aaron held his
peace. (Lev. 10:1-3, See also (Rev. 22:18, 19)

10. II. The People!
Jesus delegated authority to the Apostles!
■With this in mind, we must also understand that
Jesus has delegated this authority to the
apostles!
○Delegate = a person sent to represent another;
authorize someone to act as a representative
○The apostles doctrine/doctrine of Christ!
■These are used interchangeably throughout
the New Testament!
■Act. 2:41;Heb. 6:1; 2 Jn.1:9-10; Eph.2:20

11. Called to be ambassadors for Christ!
2 Cor 5:18-20 Now all things are of God, who has
reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and
has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is,
that God was in Christ reconciling the world to
Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and
has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as
though God were pleading through us: we implore
you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God.
■Ambassador = a diplomatic official of the
highest rank, sent by one sovereign or state to
another as its resident representative

12. Would receive the baptism of the Holy
Spirit and become the Lord’s witnesses!
Act 1:8 "But you shall receive power when the Holy
Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be
witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and
Samaria, and to the end of the earth."
■ They were the ones given/lead into truth!
○ Jn. 14:16-17, 26; 15:26-27; 16:13-14
■ The Holy Spirit did come and they were
given all truth!
○ Act. 20:27; 2 Pet. 1:2-3; Jude 1:3
■ The apostles were given all that we need to
know to be right with God & know Him!

13. III. The Pattern!
The Apostles have written these things down!
■ As these men were lead into all truth they wrote down
God’s will/Word for us!
○ Eph 3:1-5 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of
Christ Jesus for you Gentiles-- if indeed you have
heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which
was given to me for you, how that by revelation He
made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly
written already, by which, when you read, you may
understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ),
which in other ages was not made known to the sons
of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to
His holy apostles and prophets:

14. That you might believe!
Jn 20:30-31 And truly Jesus did many other
signs in the presence of His disciples, which are
not written in this book; but these are written that
you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son
of God, and that believing you may have life in
His name.
■These are written that we might come to
read & study them & come to the same
understanding!
■God’s Word is meant to be understood!
○Jn. 8:31-32

15. Able to complete us!
2 Tim 3:16-17 All Scripture is given by inspiration
of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof,
for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that
the man of God may be complete, thoroughly
equipped for every good work.
■We do not have to depend on our own
thoughts or feelings, we can know for
certain the will of the Lord!
■“In matters of faith unity, in matters of
opinion liberty, in all things charity!”
(Thomas Campbell)

16. Conclusion:
"All authority has been given to Me in heaven
and on earth.” (Mt. 28:18)
■If we desire to be the NT church then we
must understand who has the authority and
what this means!
■We have in fact been given all that we
need, the question is “what will we do with
it?”
■If you are here and not yet a Christian,
then today is the day, tomorrow maybe too
late!

17. Relax, I am in
charge!
1 Jn 4:4 You are of God, little
children, and have overcome
them, because He who is in
you is greater than he who is
in the world.

18. This is my
church I am
in charge!
-Jesus
Col. 1:18
Yet how often
do we want to
run the show!