The Authority of The Christ
Matthew 28:18-20
The Christ Event Series,
Part Seven

Don’t make the mistake of thinking that when Jesus spoke these words He was only thinking about missions and evangelism. These verses are called the "Great Commission" and are almost always used to preach on soul winning and missions and while that certainly is included, it’s not the only thing Jesus had in mind.
We see also that He is talking about assurance and comfort, but first of all He mentions His own power and authority.
...and just like all the other attributes of Christ, we can’t possibly overstate the power and authority of Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ came into the world to overthrow the authorities that had taken over.
Since the Garden of Eden, sin had its rule in the world and Satan was its ruler.
Matt 4:8-10...In the wilderness temptation When Satan offered Jesus the kingdoms of the world, he actually had them to give.
- Satan is the "Prince of the power of the air", Eph 2:2
- Jesus Himself called Satan the "Prince of this world", Jn 12:30,31
It would be by the cross that the power of Satan would be defeated.

The whole point of the temptation in the wilderness was to keep Jesus from going to the cross.
Contrary to popular opinion, Satan did not rejoice and throw a party when Jesus was crucified because he knew that the cross of Christ would spell out his defeat.
Now comes Jesus along and makes a fantastic claim that He has been given all power and authority in heaven and earth. If this is true, He has to prove it.
If He has all authority, it means He has power and freedom to do what He wants to do.
Over Satan and his demons; including the authority to forgive, Mk 1:21-26
Over the natural elements; the stormy Sea of Galilee, Mk 4:35-41
Over sickness, and sin; Mk. 2:1-12
Over doctrine and teaching; "I say unto you"
As in the Sermon on the Mount...Matt 5:20,22,28,32,34,39,44
See also Matt 7:28,29
Over the powers that be; at His trial and crucifixion, Matt 26:53; Jn 19:10,11
At the crucifixion Jesus was in control, and everyone else was on trial, including Satan and his demons. Jesus never has been and never will be the victim of his circumstances

For all these reasons and demonstrations of His divine authority Jesus could say, "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth"
When Jesus speaks on a subject, any subject, the issue is decidedly closed for all time. His authority is absolute, supreme, and eternal. Being omniscient, He never changes His mind.

And Jesus has delegated some of that authority to His followers, Matt 28:18-20.
For example, we are to teach only what He has commanded, v. 19a,20.

Most Christians don’t even use the God given authority we have, and others abuse it. To think that we can add one word to the words of Jesus,or add one work to the works of Jesus is the height of pride and hypocrisy.
In doing so, it brings Jesus down to our level, and exalts us God’s level.

In a day when the world is trying to dismiss the Bible and claim that it was just written by mere men, and is full of mistakes, and unreliable;
Christians must reiterate their stand and say we still believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and the Savior of all who place their faith in Him.

And furthemore we still believe that the Bible is God’s Word; it is holy, infallible, inspired, and inerrant. We believe this because Jesus endorsed it as authoratative,

Jn 5:39...Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.

According to the World Christian Encyclopedia, (2002 ed.) there are over 9,900 organized religions in the world.
The authority Jesus has given to His church is to preach salvation from sin in His name alone, Acts 4:10-12.
The church has the authority to pray to God,...but only in Jesus’ name, Jn 14:13.
We have the authority to baptize new believers, but only in Jesus’ name

There will be one final demonstration of Christ’s power and authority one day when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

Phil. 2:9-11

The Temptations of The Christ
Matthew 4:1-11
The Christ Event Series, Part Six

This message picks up exactly where we left off last week. Immediately after Jesus was baptized, He was then led of the Holy Spirit into the wilderness in order to be tempted of the devil.
No sooner had He been identified by John as the Lamb that takes away the sin of the world, (the Savior) and baptized, and declared to be the Son of God with whom the Father was well pleased was Jesus tempted.
Jesus was not tempted so the Father would know whether He’d be obedient or not. He already knew He would.
Jesus was tempted:
- to show every creature in heaven and earth that He was the Conquerer.
- to expose Satan and his tactics. Satan tempted Adam & Eve in the garden, and the Hebrews in the wilderness. He uses the same tactics today.
- to prove that temptation in itself is not a sin. It is more of an affliction to be endured to be tempted, but it becomes sin when we give in to it.
- to show us the value of knowing the word of God.
Jesus answered every temptation with scripture
- to show us that we don’t have to give in to temptation, it can be resisted, I Cor. 10:13
- to show us there is a reward for resisting temptation. Since Jesus overcame the tempter, He can help us to do the same, Heb. 2:18

While Jesus was in the desert, He fasted 40 days and nights. And after that 40 day period he was hungry. It was when Jesus was at His weakest and most vulnerable that Satan came a tempted Him to turn rocks into bread.

V. 3..."If" is used three ways in Greek;

(1.) If, and the case is true

(2.) If,and the case isn’t true, and

(3.) If, and the case s unknown.
Here, Satan is using the first instance. He was saying, Since you are the Son of God,...There was absolutely no doubt on Satan’s part that Jesus was God’s Son, Mk. 1:23,24

No one can blame their sin on their environment and their circumstances. Adam and Eve sinned in a perfect place where they had their heart’s desire.
Jesus resisted sinning in a desolate, lonely wilderness where He had been denied food and companionship.
No person nor place is so holy that the devil wouldn’t dare enter in and tempt God’s choicest vessels.
No Christian will ever reach such a spiritual plateau that he or she will not be tempted to sin against God.

Jesus did not use His divine power to get Him out of the circumstances. He only used the same spiritual resources that we have available to us today.
1. The power of the Holy Spirit, v. 1; Lk. 4:1
2. The power of the Word of God, "It is written."

1st Temptation...v. 3,4
"Since you are the Son of God, turn these stones into bread."
Answer: Man shall not live by bread alone, but by the Word of God, Dt. 8:3.
Same as Eve (Gen 3:1-5) Jesus was tempted to doubt God’s love and care. "God is holding back on you."
There are two kinds of life: Physical and Spiritual. Most people attend to just their physical needs and neglect the spiritual.
God allows us to be tempted to show us the strength of our faith, and areas where we need work. In this case, temptation is good for us.
Nothing tests our character more than the hour of temptation when no one will ever know.

Jesus’ calling was to be a suffering servant, and not a famous magician dazzling crowds and satisfying everyone’s wants and desires.
We are called to walk by faith, not by sight.

2nd Temptation...v. 5-7
Now Satan quotes scripture, but out of context.
Ps. 91:11,12...The devil left out "in all thy ways."
We can prove almost anything by the Bible, if we are willing to take it out of context like the devil did.
ILLUS...The Bible says, "There is no God" Ps. 14:1.
But the first part of that verse reads, "The fool hath said in his heart,..."
Answer: "Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God" Dt. 6:16
Only the evil and the ignorant try to manipulate God’s promises for their own amazement, Matt. 27:40-43.
Herod only wanted to see a miracle, Lk. 23:8,9
ILLUS...For the same reasons, modern day "prayer experiments" are as deceptive because we cannot manipulate God; He is not a genie in a lamp waiting to do our bidding. We certainly should pray for sick people, but not with a view to testing God.
Or, pray something like this, "God if you will do this for me, I’ll be good for the rest of my life!" Ours is not to test God, but to trust God.

3rd Temptation...v. 8-10
"I’ll give you all the kingdoms of the world if you will worship me."
Answer: "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve" Dt. 6:13
Our worship and service belongs only to God.
Now we see the real purpose of the temptations. Satan tried to get Jesus to take the easy way out and by-pass the cross. To go for the crown without the cross; glory without suffering. (Satan left defeated, but he didn’t give up, Matt 16:21-24 he kept on trying to prevent the crucifixion.)
Having defeated Satan, Jesus was now ready to begin His ministry.
Jesus proved Himself the sinless Son of God who is worthy of our worship and obedience

The Baptism of The Christ
Matthew 3:13-17
The Christ Event Series, Part Five

As our Lord begins His active public ministry, we are privileged to read in all four gospels of the account of the baptism of Jesus Christ. However, as we will see, the main subject of these accounts is not the baptism or John the Baptist at all. The writers are very careful to emphasize that that the main subject is Christ Himself.

First of all, let’s take a look at what baptism is. There are four types of baptisms mentioned in the Bible.
1. The baptism of the Jews...A ritual cleansing whereby non-Jews could become proselytes (or, converts to the Jew’s religion.

2. The baptism of John...which was conditioned upon repentance and prepared them to receive the Messiah and the Kingdom of God. John’s baptism was not the same as the Christian baptism we know it (Acts 19:1-7). The Jews baptized Gentiles who wanted to accept the Jew’s religion, but John was baptizing Jews!

3. The baptism ordained by Christ...which identifies the convert with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. It is by immersion only for Believers only and can certainly include children but not infants who are not old enough to be aware of their sin and need for redemption and unable to decide for themselves.

4. The baptism of the Holy Spirit... Inaugurated in Acts 2; it is not a second work of grace giving the gift of speaking in tongues reserved only for "super-Christians", but a work of God that happens to all Believers at their conversion which places them into the Kingdom of God.

John 1:6,7...John the Baptist was sent by God to prepare the way for the coming of Jesus Christ. He did this by preaching repentance for the remission of sins, and by preparing the world to receive the Messiah.

If Jesus was the sinless Son of God, why did He have to be baptized by John?
V. 15...At first John balked at Jesus’ request to be baptized by him. But Jesus said that it was proper that he should be set apart by his forerunner:

1. To show his approval of John’s ministry.
There were many who were baptizing in that day, but Jesus walked 30 miles or more to be baptized by the right man (John), in the right way (immersion), and for the right purpose, (to fulfill all righteousness).

2. To identify with the fallen human race...II Cor 5:21

3. To announce the beginning of His own ministry...John 1:29
It was a foreshadowing of His own death, burial, and resurrection for the sin of mankind.

4. To set the proper example Believers to follow.
The Bible knows nothing of unbaptized Believers except the thief on the cross who had no opportunity to be baptized.

5. To prove that Jesus was the Son of God.
Immediately the heavens opened and the Holy Spirit descended, and the Father spoke, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." v. 17
Jesus didn’t need baptism for sin, but He accepted it in obedience to the Father.

John’s baptism was made obsolete by Jesus’ baptism...Acts 19:1-7.
John’s baptism was a sign of repentance from sin only, and not a sign of the Believer’s identification with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection and the operation of the Holy Spirit.
They believed in Jesus as the Messiah, but did not understand the full significance of the gospel message and His atoning work on the cross. Nor had they ever even heard of the Holy Spirit, much less received Him.
It was important that they know this because the filling of the Holy Spirit sealed them as saved and secure Believers, Eph. 1:12,13.
Besides, this was part of John’s message. He said that the Messiah would baptize them with the Holy Spirit and with fire, Matt. 3:11.

Now we see who the true baptizer is, Jesus Christ who takes away the sin of the world and begins the work of molding me into the image of God. Christ is the only one who can make me like Himself; and a child of God. The baptism of John could never do that.

It’s true, I’m not what I ought to be.
But it’s equally true that I’m not what I used to be.

I Jn. 3:1,2...Salvation was never meant to make us perfect and flawless.
v. 2 tells us what we are,...the Sons of God and what we shall become,...we shall be like him, Phil. 3:20,21. We will have new, glorified spiritual bodies outfitted for Heaven.

Baptism does not save or even help save us, but by it we identify with Christ, in our death to the old way of life and resurrection to a new life.
God’s love for us doesn’t stop with His merely forgiving our sins. God then sets about to conform us to the image of Christ, Rom. 8:29.

I Jn. 3:3... Tells us what we should be now. In view of what God has done and will do for us we should live pure lives in the present.
When and unbeliever sins, it is a creature sinning against the creator. But, when a Believer sins, it is a child sinning against their father. A true child of God who has experienced and understood the love of God has no desire to sin against that love.