[Listen to an audio version here]
Because of this past year, many people have gotten out of the discipline of gathering. Before the pandemic, we may have gathered on Sunday and in a small group, but now we have gotten out of the habit. Why is this? Because we are tired, overwhelmed, and busy. That’s what generally keeps people from doing so.
There are so many good things that require discipline. They require strength and power to complete. Where are we going to get the strength, even when things get difficult, to keep going and doing the right things?
But our situation is often worse than that. We not only fail to do the right things. We do the wrong things. We spend our time on that which is useless or positively harmful. Some of you are completely stuck in a pattern of doing the wrong thing. You’re stuck in bitterness or addicted to pleasure or fixated on some wrong in the world. You’re stuck in a toxic relationship and keep going back. You hit a wall, and you keep descending to a low and unhelpful place. You get tired, and you start blaming and attacking. You feel like you’ve got nothing left. I know. I’ve been there, too, especially in this past year.
What are we to do? Well, we don’t have to rely on ourselves. Jesus has what we need, and that is what we learn from what Jesus says in Mt. 28:18, “Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.'” He has the power, and He makes it available to you.
Let’s consider this more carefully by looking at Jesus’ authority and then how this power helps us.
Jesus’ Authority & Power
In this passage, Jesus met His eleven disciples on a mountain. Judas had betrayed him and was no more. The eleven remaining disciples met him in Galilee. They went up to the mountain to meet him. Some worshipped Him, and some doubted.
They knew that Jesus had risen from the dead, but what does that resurrection mean? What is its significance? What is going to happen next? Jesus told them. “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” He has not only risen from the dead. He is exalted over all things.
Jesus was now exalted as the ruler of heaven and earth with all power and authority given to Him. That is one of the most important aspects of the resurrection. He rules over the entire world with all power and authority given to Him by His Father.
In Psalm 110:1–2, David prophesies concerning the Messiah, “The Lord says to my lord: ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.’ The Lord will extend your mighty scepter from Zion, saying, ‘Rule in the midst of your enemies!'” What Jesus is saying in Matthew 28:18 is that this had now been fulfilled!
And this is the amazing thing. The Apostles got it. In spite of the fact that they were persecuted and opposed by the authorities of this world, in spite of the fact that they were a small group of believers, they walked around like they owned the place. They believed that whatever happened before their physical eyes, the true reality was that Jesus was reigning right now and was in the process of redeeming and restoring the world through His almighty power. They saw Jesus with the eyes of faith. They saw Him as reigning with all authority and power.
That’s what Peter told the crowds on the Day of Pentecost. People began to speak in different languages so that everyone in Jerusalem understood what was being said in their own language. Peter explained why this was happening:
God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said,
“The Lord said to my Lord:
‘Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies
a footstool for your feet.'”Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah (Acts 2:33–36).
In other words, what you are seeing is the result of all authority and power being given to Jesus.
At one time, the Apostle Paul believed that Jesus was an impostor. He opposed those who followed Him, putting them in prison and even to death. Then, all of a sudden, he showed up in Damascus proclaiming that Jesus was the promised Savior! What happened? He encountered Jesus’ authority! Jesus met him on the road to Damascus and told him to stop fighting against him. Then, he called Paul to proclaim that He was the one who had authority over all things all over the world. Here’s what Paul wrote about Him:
[W]hen [the Father] raised Christ from the dead, [He] seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way (Eph. 1:17—19).
Paul believed Jesus when He said that He had all authority and power.
We could multiply examples, but you get the idea. The fact that Jesus was risen from the dead, later ascended into heaven, and then sent out the Holy Spirit upon them convinced them that Jesus was indeed the ruler of heaven and earth. And the same thing should convince us, too!
Why? We have not only seen Him rise from the dead, but we have seen people acknowledging His power and authority all over the world. Rich and poor, young and old, from every tribe, nation, and language have bowed before Him. They have done this from a position of weakness and often with virtually no resources. China is a great example. Many missionaries went into China in the 19th and 20th centuries. They had some fruit and saw some conversions but not a lot. Then, the communists took over. They kicked out all the missionaries. Shortly thereafter, the Gospel spread all over the nation. How? All authority in heaven and earth has been given to Jesus, not to communist China, nor to democratic America, for that matter.
Here’s what this means. The nations are not in charge. Jesus is actually in charge of the world. That’s how we need to think of Him, as gloriously exalted over all things and filled with power. That power is now a resource for us. And that’s what we turn to in our second point.
The Effect of Jesus’ Authority and Power in Us
How can we do what we are called to do? How can we get out of places in which we are stuck? How can we be delivered from doing destructive things? “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” Jesus said. He has authority over all these things, and He has the power to get us off the wrong track and get us on the right track.
That’s what we saw in the story about Corrie ten Boom last week (read that sermon here). How did we see Christ’s power? First, there was a man who had served as a Nazi guard in a concentration camp. Christ’s power extended to change his heart and turn him around to find joy in Jesus Christ! That is a miracle in itself. But Christ’s power also extended to Corrie. She did not have the power in herself to forgive. It was Christ’s power that she felt come into her that enabled to shake the hand of her former tormentor, forgive him, and embrace him as a brother in Christ.
But these stories happen all the time. Christ is delivering people. Christ’s power is at work in us. As the Apostle Paul put it, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2:20). Sometimes He works instantaneously to deliver us. At other times, He changes us through a long process.
Ask each other about Christ’s work. You will find how Christ’s power delivered people from anxiety. You will find how Christ’s power healed relationships. You will find out how Christ’s power delivered people from addictions. You will find out how Christ’s power brought people out of the darkness and into the light. You will find out how Christ’s power delivered people from anger and bitterness. These are the stories that you will find here, in our midst. Christ’s power is real!
However, it is important to note that Christ’s power is not just there to deliver us from the power of sin and lead us to a new life. His authority and power are available to enable us to minister, serve, bear fruit, and do great things for the kingdom of God. Notice the implication that Jesus draws from His authority, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations . . .” He tells His eleven disciples, go turn the nations into my followers who obey my commands. How in the world are they going to do that? “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Mt. 28:18). We have the power. As Jesus said later to His followers, “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you . . .”
That’s what the book of Acts is all about. It is about the authority and power of Jesus making disciples of all nations through His people! As soon as His followers tried to do this, though, they faced opposition. So, what did they do? They prayed. “Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus” (Acts 4:29–30). And what happened? “After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly” (Acts 4:31).
And that’s what Jesus is doing today. How does He do it? He gives people a vision to do something for His kingdom. They step out in faith and in prayer, and He supplies the power and the means. It is power on the way. As we go, He provides the power and the means. Often times, we see what needs to be done, and we want to have all the power and all the means before we go. That’s not how Jesus usually works. God provides for us as we go. Go, and make disciples, Jesus said. As they went, Jesus would provide the power. He didn’t tell them how it would work out. They just had to take the first steps of obedience and tell people about Jesus.
Take the simplest example. Let’s say you are in some place and there are other people in the room. It’s easy just to do your own thing and forget about other people, but God calls us to reach out. That means that we need to simply walk across the room and begin a conversation. We don’t know where it will lead. We don’t know what God will do.
Let’s take something slightly bigger. If we get a vision to reach out and serve this community, God will provide the means. He will provide the way. Do we really have a vision to reach this community? Is that what fires our hearts and minds? Do we pray about it? When we do, God will provide what we need. I think He began to do that in 2019 when He gave us a vision to build a facility that would expand our ministry. I believe that God will also provide for it, but He will do it as we go. We won’t know how God will provide until we take the steps that He is calling us to take right now. He is not going to give us a list of donors that will call us in the next few years and provide for us. He just wants us to step out and do the work. He will supply what we need.
What I have observed is that when people or a church get a vision to reach out, the Lord will open the doors and provide the way. Just ask people who’ve tried to do it. Listen to the stories of Live It or SMARM or Marty Huddleston or Discipleship Focus. God gives the vision and provides the way. I saw this particularly in my last church, New Covenant. For years, we would add a person here and a person there. Then, the church as a whole got a vision to reach out to the community. It was amazing, people just started coming. Children of our members who had left started coming back. We had a vision to love people, and God began opening the doors. It was astonishing. I have seen it with individuals, too. When someone wants to reach people, begins praying about it, and believes God will act, then God opens the door. They begin to find people in the most unlikely places. They start to collect people that God leads them to, and God uses them to make a difference. It just takes a vision that begins with Christ’s power, and for us to step out in faith believing that Christ has the power!
Few people have done more to advance the kingdom of God in history than the Apostle Paul. He worked harder than most to do so, but listen to how he described it. “He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me” (Col. 1:28–29). And that energy is available for us? Why? Because all authority in heaven and earth has been given to Christ, and He makes it available for us.
Conclusion
So, what if we really believed that Christ has all authority and power. What would be different? We would not look at ourselves and say that we have to stay stuck. We would believe that power is available. We would not look at our families or neighborhoods and say that they have to remain where they are. We would believe that things can be different. We would not look at our nation and think that it’s a lost cause. We would believe in the power of Christ to bring revival and healing to our nation. We would not look at what God’s calling us to do and say that it cannot be done. We would see Jesus who is with us always and will help us with power on the way. We would not look at any person, even someone like a Nazi concentration camp guard, and say, “This person is beyond hope!” Christ’s power is available to change and transform. In short, we would look at every situation with hope. Why? Because Christ is real. Christ is risen. Christ is with us. Christ has all power and authority in heaven and earth, and it is available to you! So, let’s keep these words of Christ before our minds and hearts: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Mt. 28:18). Amen.