Now, I want you to imagine, I'm sorry it's not imagine, I'm sure it's actually happened to you over the weeks and months and years of your life, that your parents want to change around your furniture. Has that ever happened in your bedroom? Parents changing around? Hands up if it's happened to you. Mum and Dad have wanted to maybe put up a wardrobe or put a bookcase up, put a cube unit up, put an extra box of presents up for Christmas. Rearrange things around. Now, hands up, this is where you can say what you think. Hands up if you didn't like what your parents did when they changed things around, if you preferred it before. Now imagine when your parents come to you and say, right, we're going to move this there and that there and that there. What right have you to move my furniture around? This is my bedroom. Would that be an okay thing to say to your parents? No. It's your bedroom, isn't it? Some of you probably have signs on your doors, as my boys do sometimes, you know, room in this bedroom, no girls allowed, or, you know, you've got territory in your market, you shut the door and you put stuff in front of the door so no one can open the door. You've done that before. It's your bedroom. So why can't you say to your parents, you have no right to do that, or you could say, to use a really big word we're going to be thinking about this morning, what authority do you have to do that? This is my bedroom. You have no authority here. Do you think your mum and dad would be happy if you put a sign in your door saying, no mums and dads allowed? Because now basically your bedroom's a baby bed, no mums and dads allowed in the bedroom. Why can't you Say to your parents, you have no right or authority. Okay, very good. Yeah, so you're not giving them honour. Yeah, very good. Not giving them respect. There's more we can say though. Is there a sense in which it's actually not your room? Is it really your room? Yes, it is your room. Your parents have said, this is your bedroom, you can use it. It's yours, you can have your stuff in there, you won't put our stuff in there. Daddy hasn't put all my books in your bedroom, have I? No? Sometimes mummy leaves her stuff in there. Well, you've probably got distracted with something else. So it is your room. We generally mean that, like your parents, this is your bedroom. While you live in Brussels, while you grow up, this is your room. But ultimately, who owns the whole house? You don't pay the bills, you don't own the house and therefore who is the authority in the home? Who's the one in charge? Your daddy and your mummy. Mummy when daddy's not around. Your mummy and daddy are the authorities in your home. Now what were they thinking about before it? Because Jesus did miracles, didn't he? Didn't he tell you some of the miracles he did? What did Jesus do? Who first? Turn water to wine. He made Zacharias speak. Well, he didn't make Zacharias speak. God did that. Jesus wasn't yet born as a God-man. He died on a cross. He kept blind. He kept blind. Blind people? Yeah, he healed blind people in the eyes? Yeah. What about his? Easy. What about sea? What did he do on the sea? He walked on the water. He walked on the water. What did he do when the raging storms happened? What did he say? Yeah, be still. Yeah, be still. Stop. Yeah. What did he say to Lazarus who was dead and sleeping in the tomb? Rise up. Rise up. Come forth. And then the Pharisees came to Jesus in our passage this morning in Mark 11 verse 28. By what authority are you doing these things? Well, they're saying, what right do you have to go around healing blind people? Jesus. And healing deaf people? Jesus. And walking on the sea? Jesus. What right do you have? Who gave you permission? Did you ask us? Do you think Jesus needs permission to do anything? Because who is he? He's God. Now many people today say, what right does your Bible have to tell me how I should live my life? What right does God have to tell me I need to repent of my sins, I need to turn? He gives you good things in this world, but he is the sole authority. He's in charge. And he has every right to tell us how things are. Now, you could be at home, couldn't you, and pretend that you're in charge. How's it going to go for you if you pretend that you're in charge and you don't let mum and dad in the room to change your furniture? do consequences of various sorts. If we ignore the authority of Jesus, does it change the fact that he is in charge? No, we're just pretending that he's not. But if we go against the authority of Jesus, what will we have in our lives? We will have consequences. There's a preacher that uses this line, I don't agree with everything he says, but he says this, it's either Christ or chaos. Now what does that word chaos mean? out of control. Christ or chaos. And when people reject Christ, they embrace a life of chaos, and their life gets out of control. So my question to you this morning is, have you accepted that Jesus is authority in your life? Because he does have authority, but are you, like with your parent, are you shutting the door on him and saying, you're not coming into my life, Because ultimately, you can pretend all you want, he's not in charge, but one day he's going to keep the door down. One day, he's going to, you're going to stand before him. And the question will be, did you live your life obeying Jesus Christ? And the first commandment to obey is to believe on Jesus Christ. To recognise that you have sinned, to say, sorry Lord, to turn away. And you have a saviour to believe in, who gave himself to save you. Now why do you accept your parents' authority? Why are you happy to accept it most of the time? Are we bad? Are your parents nasty people? No. Do they hate you? No. Do they want you harm? No. Do they want you to suffer? No. So why, most of the time, apart from when you just find yourself doing sin, but why are you genuinely happy to accept your parents' decisions and authority in your life? Because you know that we love you. You know that your parents care for you. You know that they want the best for you. And you know Jesus wants the best for you. You know that. And when he says repent of your sins, when he says say sorry and I will forgive you, it's because he wants the best for you. He wants you to be saved. He doesn't want you to face the consequences of sin. Jesus really wants your best. That's why he came into this world. The God so loved the world, he came and owned his own. So don't think that somehow coming to Jesus to obey him is going to make your life worse. So we have here puny, puny men. Men who claim to be know-it-alls, men who claim to be somebodies, men who think they have the right to lecture Christ, the Son of God. Coming to Christ and asking Him, who do you think you are to do what you're doing? What rabbinical school did you go to? Where did you get permission to teach the things you're doing, to do the things you're doing? Particular reference is most likely made to the cleansing of the temple. I mean, that really infuriated them. I mean, if Jesus was a pragmatist and he hadn't come to give his life as a ransom for sinners, if Jesus wanted to live longer than the time appointed for him, you could say that cleansing the temple was the worst thing he could do. Because that would have brought things to a head. He walks into the temple and he finds that rather than it being a house of prayer they're using it to make profit. They're fleecing people by selling sacrifices at a high exchange rate. so that the pilgrims coming for Passover have to pay more than they should to take part in the festival and it may even be the case that some were priced out. And much of this was also going on in the Gentile court of the temple and so the Gentiles weren't even able to draw near to God at the appointed place because it was a market and it was a distraction and therefore they were unable to know God. And so Jesus cleanses the temple and look at the reaction in verse 18 of Mark 11. You see you see how this was a tipping point. I mean, they have been trying to catch him out for a long time. They have been seeking to find ways to accuse him. But now they're like, we're done. This man has to go. Look what it says. The scribes and chief priests heard it and sought how they might destroy him. And so when you come then to Mark 11 and verse 28, you realize this question that they're asking is not a sincere question. You know when we're on the streets and the open air preacher's preaching and someone stands on the streets and says, does God condemn homosexuals? How you answer that question depends on the way it's being asked, doesn't it? See it may be that that person's asking because they're genuinely interested to know and actually they're open to what God has to say. But it may be that they're asking that question because they've got a tape recorder in their pocket and as soon as you say the thing they want you to say, what do they do? They call the police. These are men that are trying to set a trap for Jesus. And every elder and pastor who's been in the ministry has known what it is to have men in congregations try and set traps for them. They phrase questions to them that are designed to get you to fall into a trap, to say what they want you to say, so they can twist it, pervert it, and make a case against you. And that is what is going on against Jesus here. But what's fascinating is they do not deny his authority. Do they? They do not deny his authority. They ask him, by what authority are you doing this? They recognise he has authority. They want to know who gave it to you. That's what they're asking. And so that's my first point. Just a generic point. It's established at the very outset Christ's authority is without dispute. It's not out for question. You can't argue with the fact that Christ has authority in your life. in this church, in Eastbourne, in the United Kingdom. These men, if they could have made him look silly or said, this authority is all for show, it's not real, they would have done so. They know that they couldn't disprove what Jesus did. So the issue fundamentally, if you've got to find a way of questioning where he gets this authority from, the source. Friends, when you hear the word authority, maybe you recoil. I think this is a particular truth that the modern church just can't stomach. Because one of the marks of the last days, according to Paul to Timothy, in the last days, it says perilous times will come. One of the marks of the last days, among a whole list of others ungrateful to parents, is a despising of authority, a disobedience. And we are living in a nation that hates authority. Do you remember that Black Lives Matters movement? Do you know, the real issue, if you went on their website at the very time, they quickly took it off when people spotted this, but on their website, one of their policies was to defund the police. They were anti-authority, they were Marxists. And this movement has great popularity in the country. and we are living in a day where it's fashionable to despise authority. On the right and on the left, in any political spectrum, it is fashionable to despise authority. I was listening to someone on the right the other day who was saying exactly the same, confirming my point. He said, I tell my children, basically, despise authority. That's what he was saying. Question authority all the time. Don't trust anyone in authority. Now, there's some wisdom in that. You should always not be blank. Don't give blind trust to power. But the implication being that your default position is, I'm not going to obey you. That's the starting point. And he made a joke and said, when I told my kids to tidy up my room, they said, well, why should I? I'm questioning authority. We are living in a day where authority then is seen as a bad thing. But the reality is, you cannot escape authority. You just can't. You cannot escape authority. Authority structures are all around us. And yeah, suppose that movement that's popular in the Western world to defund the police. What will happen is they'll defund the police, you'll have anarchy on the streets, and then you'll have mob rule. They become the authority. There's always an authority. In fact, one of the things we know in New York is when the police began to dismantle the mafia in New York, there was actually initially an increase in crime. Because actually, even among the Mafia, there was a level of authority within the Mafia. They actually controlled crime as it suited them. It's why this whole idea of utopia, the communist dream, the Marxist dream, where we dismantle every single hierarchical structure so that everyone could be equal. The problem is, how do you keep everyone equal when someone wants to rise above the others? So then you have to have a bunch of cronies, like Stalin did, whose job is to keep everyone in their place. So you have everyone suffering on the breadline whilst there are an increasing number of bodies above them who are keeping them in place. You cannot ever escape authority. You can have good authority or you can have bad authority, but authority will always be there somehow. Even in the gangs and the knife gangs, if you were to go to a knife gang, there will be hierarchy. There will be someone who has the hold and sway over all the others. When I used to go to Chelsea games and mix with very rough, hardened people who got involved in football violence, there were certain individuals, everyone knew them, you didn't mess with them, you did what they said, they were the ringleaders. There is authority then, everywhere. Authority is something you can't get away from. And authority is good. Because without authority, it would be every man to himself. In fact, one of the reasons we are seeing a rise in crime is not just, obviously the root cause is sin, in the heart, but one of the jobs of the magistrate, according to Romans 13, God's servant, is to be a terror to evil. To put that in very plain street English, the government are meant to deal so severely with evil that it scares the pants off everyone from doing those things. That when someone murders another person, they are hanged for their crimes, and so someone who's tempted to murder someone will think twice about it, because they will understand, if I do this, that could be my end. We've become a society that is afraid from asserting authority. But you need authority, otherwise you have lawlessness. And as we see a decreasing of authority, as the government has no longer the confidence to assert authority to restrain evil, what will you have? Evil will rise. Now, of course, we all know because governments and rulers and magistrates and men can be evil themselves, they can abuse that authority and innocent people can be killed. We all know that. But the abuse of the principle does not mean the principle is wrong. I was listening to a man who's moved to England from Lebanon. He's fully embraced British culture. He's actually converted to Catholicism. He actually is arguing, as a Lebanese man living in Britain, that we need to control our borders. One of the things he was saying was, he says, it might sound trivial, but I'll tell you one thing the English aren't prepared for if they keep having millions and millions of people coming from the Islamic world, is it's going to change your roads. He said, I went back to Lebanon to see family recently and it just suddenly struck me how different English driving experience is to Lebanese. He says, there are no rules in Lebanon. It's each man to himself. It is literally like there are no lines in the roads, there are no parking bays, there are no policemen, there are no speed cameras. He said, it's absolutely chaos and sometimes you can get held up for four or five hours because there's been a horrific crash because two people played chicken and none of them backed out. He says, when you come to England, you suddenly realise, like, oh, this driving is quite a nice experience. We complain of... But what will happen is, if you have people that do not disregard authority, they will introduce that way of driving into your world, into your country. Without authority, you have murder, theft, rape, and lawlessness. And people who say that we don't need authority will end up becoming the authority. And you can't also evade the influences of authority. You know, the Chancellor of the Exchequer raises your taxes. I'm not paying my taxes. Well, you'll get in trouble. You can't. You might not like it. You might not agree with it. But you have to pay. If you don't pay, you'll face the law. If sleeping policemen are put down on our Victoria Drive road, you can say, well, I'm going to drive like they're not there. Or you wait till you go for your MOT and you realise you need new shock absorbers front and back and new bushes. You will suddenly realise that you could disregard that authority all you like but it's going to come to a rude awakening when you get your repair bill. Ignoring authority doesn't change the fact that authority is there. At some point you will confront authority. So we need to step back and ask why are there authority structures in the world and why are there even in revolutions which claim to say, oh we want to get rid of all these bad authorities, why is it always, as I was saying, as we've seen in Russia in the last century, in China and all these places, why is it that always new authorities arise that sometimes are more tyrannical than the previous ones? Why do we always fall into authority structures? Because we were made in the image of God. All man's problems are coming from the neglect of failure to understand Genesis 1.1. In the beginning, God. God. He is a God of authority. And therefore, as he's made us in his image, he's made us, if you like, to actually exercise delegated authority on his behalf in the world. That's why rulers and magistrates are called God's servant. Now they cannot act as God's servant, so Khiastama is God's servant. He has been put there to do the will of God. Now he might say, I don't want to do the will of God. I want abortion on demand. I want to disobey, disregard the moral laws of God. But that doesn't change the fact of who he is and what he is. And it's the same in our families. Husbands are heads of their homes because God has made them so. Now a husband can refuse to accept that responsibility. He can get his wife pregnant and then have an affair and run off. But it doesn't change the fact that he's accountable for how he's used that authority or abused it in that case. We have authority in the world and in our lives because we are made in the image of a God who exercises authority. God has authority over creation by the very fact that he created the world. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. He spoke it into existence. It's self-evident to any reasonable person who's not blind that all things didn't come, that nothing couldn't make all things, that something made all things. And by the very creature-creator relationship, we are the creatures, He is the creator. We are the clay. He is the potter. He has authority over us. People talk about laws of nature as if somehow laws of nature are self-appointing. Our laws of nature are appointed and designed by God. And he is the one who sustains them and ensures they continue at his good pleasure. The Bible says that all things hold together in Christ. He upholds the universe by the words of his power. You can ignore this, but beloved, every one of you this morning, let me say this as clear as I can, you are alive at the good pleasure of God. The Bible tells us that he's appointed the days for us, we cannot exceed them. And when the Lord says tonight your soul is required of you, you can't say, excuse me, I have a bit longer and a bit more I want to do. You will find that you are unable to resist the call of God when he calls you to account. He has authority over the world, he has authority over providence therefore, and he has authority over our lives. He also has authority as the lawgiver. There is a moral law. a universal, unchanging, binding standard. It was revealed to Adam. Romans 2 tells us that the work of God's law, the work of God's law was written on the conscience of man. It was reissued to Israel at the covenant of Sinai. Adam broke it. Israel broke it. But Christ was born under the law to redeem those under the law. He is the lawgiver. And every single person demonstrates there is a lawgiver when you nick their bag and you say, you stole my bag. Hang on a minute, who cares? It amazes me that people talk about human rights. People talk about protecting minority groups, protecting weak groups. But if we are consistent with Darwinian evolution, the logical thing to do is to kill off the weak. to kill off the vulnerable. That is what Darwinian evolution does. That if people were to be consistent with the worldview, which they're not, they would have to actually say, it's perfectly reasonable if someone has an illness that they can't recover from and they become a burden on the taxpayer, let's just deal with them. But no one says that, at least most people don't say that, because people deep down have the work of the law written upon their conscience which says, thou shalt not murder. You shall love your neighbour as yourself. You shall do to others as you have them do unto you. God is a preserver. God is a protector. God is a carer. And so we should care for life because God cares for life. He has authority over the destiny of our souls. And let me tell you this, if someone says, I do not believe this, they're lying. I know everyone knows that they were given account to God because I saw it in COVID. Everyone was terrified of dying. even in the church actually which was distressing to see because Christ has taken the sting out of death. Why is everyone afraid of death? Why does everyone live in lifelong fear of death? Because their conscience has accused them and they know that deep down they will stand before God and have to give an account. and the standard they've used to judge others for stealing, for lying, for being unfaithful, for being unkind, that very standard will be measured to men and women, and they will be without excuse. You will be without excuse. Every mouth will be silenced. So people can pretend that Christ is not king, People can pretend that God is not in control. People can live their lives without reference to his authority, but they will not be able to avoid the consequences of doing so. The Bible says, blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. Righteousness exalts a nation. So when a nation, even outwardly, when a nation says, the laws of this land are going to come from this book, that will lead to blessing because the laws are good and they lead to human flourishing. Even if you keep them outwardly, it's still better than not keeping them at all, right? I don't understand Christians that say, well, why would you want that? Because, you know, it's about the heart. Let me ask you this. If your spouse had a sexual desire for someone else, you would still prefer it if it stopped at that point and didn't go to full adultery, wouldn't you? The outward deeds do still matter massively. You would still prefer it if people weren't killing people outwardly, even if they were having murderous thoughts. We don't deny that before God, that's not enough, that God looks at the heart. But we are saying that when a nation pays regard for this, regard for God's authority, it will lead to human flourishing. But when a nation shakes their fist at God and says, we want to get rid of this and we want to invent our own laws, the nation will groan. England is groaning very hard, isn't it? And I believe the groaning has only just begun. England is groaning under evil regime, evil rulership. Men and women who think it's great to kill babies up until delivery. Men and women who cheered when the legislation was approved in the Commons to kill those regarded as terminally ill. The Bible says in Acts 17 30 that he has appointed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he has ordained. And he has given assurance of this to all by raising him from the dead. One of the big goals then of Mark's gospel is to demonstrate the authority of Christ. To demonstrate the authority of Christ. You read Mark's gospel from chapter one and to be honest, you're just out of breath. Have you ever tried to read, I'll tell you what, good homework, you can read Mark's gospel through in about, well, in a few hours, actually, it's quite an easy gospel to read. Have you ever tried to read through, Peter Masters once said to men studying at his seminary, which I attended online, he said, if you're feeling discouraged in the Christian life, sit down and read Mark's gospel in one sitting, and you will suddenly realise that there's nothing that Christ cannot do. Because you come to Mark chapter 1 and straight away you're confronting his authority. Verse 21, he casts out an unclean spirit. And then verse 29, as soon as they had come out of the synagogue, he then heals Peter's mother-in-law. And then verse 40, now a leper came to him. It's just the language, it's the intensity. And he heals this leper. And then in chapter 2, he has authority to forgive sins. And he demonstrates that authority to forgive sins by saying, take up your mat and walk, which is easier to say, take up your mat and walk, or to say your sins are forgiven to you. But so that you may know the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins, I say to you, take up your mat and walk. And the paralytic walks. He's authority. He's authority over our health. He's authority over our bodies. He's authority over our lives. He's authority over the demonic powers in the world, the devil himself. And then you come to chapter 2 and verses 23 to 28 and the Pharisees, the law keepers, those who are the guardians of the law, those who claim to teach the true meaning of the law and Jesus does something that you're not meant to do if you keep the fourth commandment while he heals on the Sabbath day. Can you believe it? He healed a man on the Sabbath day. And they went berserk. And Jesus says the issue is not the fourth commandment. That's always binding. The issue is not that I've come to overthrow the law. I've come to fulfil the law. I've come to show you what it really likes to keep the law. And I tell you what Sunday should look like, the fourth commandment should look like in practice. Doing good to the souls of men. Seeking the good of men and women's bodies and souls. That's what the Sabbath day is for. It's why we go into the care home. It's why we have preaching of the word. These are the good things that God calls us to do. And he gives an example from the Old Testament. Have you never read verse 25 of chapter 2, what David did when he was in need? He's like, well of course they've read it. Yeah, but you haven't understood it. David is confronted with a dilemma. In the Jewish law as a whole, the law said that it's not lawful for anyone but the priest to eat the showbread. So David's coming in with his men, they're all hungry, they're literally starving, and there's this showbread. But the law says, you shall not eat the showbread. But the priest gave them the showbread. Why? Because the law was not one entity, it composed of different elements. And there was a moral law that had a higher weight than the civil and ceremonial laws, which basically says thou shalt not murder negatively, but what does that mean positively? At all costs you preserve life. And so when the priest is confronted by, do I give them bread to keep these laws about the temple, which are important, or in this situation, when confronted with this dilemma, is keeping the moral law and preserving life more important than this law about only the priest and the bread? And he concluded the latter, the former, sorry. And so Jesus shows his authority even over the Word of God. He alone is the Scripture's true interpreter. He alone exposits for us what the truth is of Scripture. And then you come to chapter 4. He just with a word says to the raging storms, doesn't he, be still. Oh Christian, if you could lay hold of the authority of Christ over nature, As the hymn writer says, the seas still know the voice which calmed them here below. There's nothing in your life so disordered and chaotic that Christ cannot deal with, that Christ cannot bring order to. He is the God who brings order out of chaos, and Christ here has power and authority over nature itself. If any of you were to go up onto the beach ahead and say to the raging sea, be still, we would be saying, we better get this person to a lunatic asylum. And what did they say? When it gives such power, who is this? Verse 41. That even the winds and the seas obey him. And then he has authority over the human condition. You come to chapter 7. And the Pharisees again, we meet them again. They're all about external cleanliness. You need to wash your hands before you eat. Again, there's a degree of truth that that's good. But obviously, if you forget to, well, you're unclean. You're ceremonially unclean. You're unfit for God. And more than that, they gave great emphasis on on external religion? Will Jesus come and say to them, these people honour me with their lips, quoting from the Old Testament, but their heart is far from me. He says to them, it's not what goes in a man that defiles them. But what comes out of a man that defiles them? Out of their hearts proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, fests, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy. These are the things that defile you. You see as authority to recognise the human condition. Well, I don't think that's wrong with the world. Well, fine. You can ignore it, but it is what's wrong with the world. What's wrong with England is the heart is sick. Many women's souls are dying in sin and decadence and depravity. That's the problem. And Jesus has authority to say, I know the problem. And then how does the Gospels end in Matthew 28? This is, as I was thinking about it this week, I've concluded, and I didn't realise this until I thought about it, this is the most comforting statement for a Christian. All authority. on heaven and on earth has been given to me. What a blessed thought. The one who gave his life as a ransom for my soul. The one who poured his soul out unto death and bled for my redemption and for my forgiveness. The one who made atonement for my transgressions. The one who lived for me and bore reproach for me. The one who persevered for me. and the one who went to Calvary for me, and the one who rose again for my justification. This one holds the reins of the universe and my life. And the one thing he wants more than anything else is for me and you, Christian, to be safely where he is. And so you can be sure nothing can come into your life that can undermine and put a delay on his purpose for you, Christian. It is that truth, His authority over all things, over our lives, that gives a comfort to us when everything goes out of control. My blessed Redeemer, my Shepherd, my Saviour has allowed this in my life. If it wasn't good for me, if it wasn't working out His purpose for me, He wouldn't have allowed it. I don't have to know how, I don't have to know why, but He has. This text, the authority of Christ, is the reason why we always have hope and we never need to despair. Christians, Church, Eastbourne Great Baptist Church, beloved brethren, we need a renewed confidence in the authority of Christ. It was said by a Dutch theologian, I've mentioned this before. There is no square inch under heaven where Christ does not say mine. This world is his. Eastbourne is his. We do not have to prove his authority to people. He simply has authority. You're driving a car with someone, you say to your spouse, you know, you better slow down because you're breaking the speed limit. The authorities say this is the speed limit. Well, prove it to me, where are they? Where's the sign? I can't see a sign, because you haven't learnt the highway code, and I can't see any. Prove it. Well, you'll find out when the speeding ticket comes through your door, because there was a camera hidden in the bushes. You can't avoid the authority of Christ. Now, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, interestingly, when he was invited to speak at the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students, he addressed them three times on the issue of authority. And Lloyd-Jones had this burden that the church needs to rediscover the authority of Christ. Because why is no one listening to the church at the moment? There's lots of ways you can answer that question, but I think, as Lloyd-Jones is going to say, one of the reasons is the church comes across like she has no authority. She's so apologetic to the culture. And we do that when we're afraid to mention Bible words like hell and perdition and judgment and wrath and sin and we're afraid to call someone depraved and vile. We're almost apologetic for God, aren't we? Don't hate me, just take it up with the God who said it. We're so apologetic for God. We do not understand the weight and the power of his authority. God doesn't need clearing in a court of approval. What did Spurgeon say? You don't defend a lion. What do you do? You let the lion loose. We don't see enough conversions and trophies of grace because preachers and Christians are afraid to let the truth rip. They're afraid to, well I might lose the relationship. You might lose the relationship, that's true. They might hate you, that's true. But they might also be converted. They might also go home and say, I am a sinful wretch. Oh, Lord, what must I do to be saved? Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner. Laura Jones says, quote, if I understand the modern religious situation at all, this whole question of authority is one of the most important problems confronting us. As such, it demands our careful study. There is no doubt that things are as they are in the Christian church throughout the world today because we have lost our sense of authority. We are faced by the fact that the masses of the people are outside the church. They are there, Lloyd-Jones says, I suggest, because the church has one way or another lost its authority. As a result, the people have ceased to listen or to pay any attention to its message. A great search for what has been lost characterises many of the church's activities at the time. So, what does that look like in practice? We're not going to go out and call people to repent. We're going to put on craft at church. Yeah, lots of knife crack and we're going to have a Bible story and the person doing the story is going to dress up as a cow or a sheep because we don't actually believe the truth will convict us of sin anymore. We don't actually believe that God accompanies his word with the Holy Spirit and the Spirit brings into existence the things which are not. All of these things are a symptom of a deeper problem. We've lost our confidence in the authority of Christ. And when you preach the gospel, unbelievers know it has authority, even if they reject it. Why is Christ hated by Islam, by the woke-ism, by every-ism? Why is Christianity hated everywhere? Because it's true. And everyone is trying to reject the authority of Jesus Christ. You remember Herod when John the Baptist is thundering, he's preaching. You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath of the come, there's a man that believes the truth has authority. Repent, be baptized for the remission of sins. And he looks at Herod. Herod, you fox, it is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife. and it says that Herod feared John but he had him beheaded, oh he did, he wanted to silence the voice of conscience but he feared John because he understood that his conscience could not argue with his preaching. Another example was Felix And it says Paul was preaching in Acts 24 on reasoning concerning righteousness and judgment to come. It says Felix was afraid. I've known what it is to walk in a room where people will know I'm a Christian and people to get up and leave. Was it something I said? Was it the way I looked? Was it the way I dressed? Is it as well the Lord says, they don't hate you, they hate me. and they hate you because they hate me. Christians should walk around with, I don't mean an arrogance, let's be clear about that, but a humble sense. I am an ambassador of the king of kings, I do not need permission to do the will of God. And that will scare people because you're confronting them with his demands over their life. What did Paul say concerning the Thessalonians? Our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, in the Holy Spirit, and in much assurance, as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake. For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it, not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe. Did you ever read Paul trying to persuade people that you can trust this as the word of God? Did you ever read Paul giving an apologetic, well, I'd like you to know about the Dead Sea Scrolls, or I'd like you to consider with me the amount of magic. Now, those things had their place in strengthening the faith of God's people, but did he ever do that? No, what he did was just preach the words. I became a Christian, my conversion story, and this should be yours if you're a Christian, is a miracle, it's a marvel. Like, I grew up in a home which paid sort of some regard to the scriptures. They weren't central in our lives, we didn't read them every day, but they were there, and we knew they were important. But the Word, to me, the occasions I did read it, it was just a book. I didn't believe it was the Word of God. I might have said, my dad believes it's the Word of God. But I didn't read it as the Word of God. I read it as an optional thing I could take or leave. Well, what changed? Did I discover the trustworthiness of the manuscripts, which they are trustworthy, if you're interested. But no, the Word of God pierced my heart. I read it and it read me. I came to stand in judgment over this and the book judged me. And I heard the voice of the Holy Spirit in the scriptures telling me, you are the man, you are a sinner, you are what God says you are, and Christ alone is the only one that can save you and he is who he says he is. Just think, again, the joy of being a believer Because what people think is if they come to Christ, maybe this is you, especially young people, you think to yourself, I don't want to come to Christ because I want to have fun, because I want to be happy. There's no happiness in sin but sorrow. The Bible calls sin the passing pleasures of sin. Sin is beautiful to the eye, sweet to taste, bitter to swallow. There is no pleasure in sin, there is no pleasure in the world, and ultimately, there is a way that seems right to a man, and its end is death. Happy is he whose God is the Lord. Happy is he who is under the authority of God. Because God is good. God is gracious. God is kind. God demonstrates his love for us in this, that whilst we were still sinners, Christ died for us. What is there not to like about saying, Lord Jesus, reign over me? Lord, reign in me. What is there about that statement that's so distasteful to you? What is there about Christ that turns you off so much? The man who heals the sick and heals the lame and identifies with sinners, the man who eats food with tax collectors and prostitutes, and the man who seeks the salvation of souls, The one who didn't come into the world to destroy his men's lives, but to save men's lives. The one whose spirit is worth life and blessing. And the one who only went about doing good. What could possibly go wrong? What harm could possibly come to you by being under the reign and rule of Jesus Christ? I don't believe in democracy. I believe in the potentate of Jesus Christ. He is the only potentate to whom we would never want to vote out of office. 17 years I've served my Christ, and not once have I been disappointed with his reign and rule over my life. He has always done right. There are some things he's doing in my life I don't yet see the purpose to and there are some things he has done and I haven't yet fully comprehended why he did that. But I know because of what he's done in my life and the goodness and the blessing and the grace I have received that I would never want my life to be in anyone else's hands. We can't distrust one like Christ, can we? What is there to fear in Christ? And Christian, When this pulpit challenges you, I mean, I don't know about you, maybe it's my temperament, Catherine and I have always wanted to be under challenging ministry. I'm not saying we don't need encouragement, but we've always wanted that. I'll tell you why, because I know my heart. Cold is my warmest thought, prone to wonder, prone to leave the God I love. Unless I'm constantly being stopped and beckoned back, repent and believe, repent and believe, I'm just going to drift. But the point is, it comes back to, who is the one challenging us? Who is the one making you uncomfortable? The Saviour who loves you. Your shepherd. And what's he doing in your life when he does so? What's he doing in your life when he challenges you, convicts you of sin? He's saying, I really want to lead you beside those still waters, Christian. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He leadeth me beside still waters. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. Sheep, it's like, look, the food is here. Come on, come here. He knows where the green pastures are. He knows where the blessing is. And so he comes to us and he challenges us. He says, let me take you where you need to be, in the will of God. Jesus said, my food and drink is to do the will of him who sent me. We would be far happier in the will of God. Blessed is the man whose meditation is the law of God. What would it look like? I've run out of time so I'm going to save the next bit. I'll have to do some work this afternoon and work out what to do. Because I don't know what time I started. Did any of you look at the time? No. I'll definitely stop then because I have no idea what time I started. But what would it look like? If Christ's authority was accepted in every part of our life, my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Take my yoke upon you. The commandments of God, they're not burdensome. What would it look like for your marriages? I'll tell you what it would look like. Your marriages would flourish. If two people, look, I don't know where you're at, maybe some of your marriage is literally on the rocks. One thing I've learned in the pulpit is never assume that everything's okay in the pew. I have been shocked by things I thought were okay and then things have come out. So let me just say, just in case, maybe some of your marriages are literally on the rocks. But if both of you humbly come to the feet of Jesus Christ and say, we want to be under your authority. Teach us what we should do. You stop blaming one another. Each of you take responsibility for saying, this is God's word to me. This is what I should be as a husband. This is what I should be as a wife. It won't happen overnight, but I'm telling you with the authority of the word of God, that your marriage will be fixed. It will. And you can apply that to any other area in your life. Maybe you're just flustered, you're doing too much, you're busy, you can't. So then you need to come to the Lord and ask Him, Lord Jesus, what in my life needs to go? They may be good things. But you need to come to that realisation that God has given me enough time today to do what I need to do. What needs to go in my life? What needs to change? Maybe others won't like that change but you need to be attentive to his authority. Think what it would look like for your children if you took seriously obeying the scriptures in terms of disciplining your children. I don't like doing it. I hate physical discipline. I hate it. But I know the Bible tells me he who spares the rod hates his son. There's an element to which what is uncomfortable is good and the culture's telling you all the time that when you discipline your children that you're not loving them. But look what's happening to society with generations of adults now who never ever had a spank. They were never ever taught right from wrong. They're entitled, they're spoiled, they're selfish and they're demanding. Well what would happen if our children learnt to respect parents? Respect teachers, respect policemen, respect what would be the blessing in their lives? If we were to, he is Lord, but if we allow every aspect and arena of our lives to come under the authority of his word, That's why the world is as it is, that's why people's lives are as they are, and that's why my life is such a mess, because I have a confession to make. Not everything in my life has been brought under subjection to its truth. That's why I'm having to read the Word every day, to be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Our thoughts, our desires, take every thought captive and make it obedient to the Word of God. So maybe you're here and you're going, I'm not sure I can come to Christ. You lack assurance. You don't know if you're saved. And my feelings are telling me it would be presumptuous to come to Christ. Well, why do I have to come? I want to know I'm elect. The problem is God hasn't told you that you need to know you're elect. God has said, whoever comes to me, I will not cast out. All you who are weary and laden, I will give you rest. And so what does it look like to obey the authority of Jesus Christ, reject your feelings, obey his word, and then live in the light of what that means? It means you're saved. You've come, you've called on him for salvation. What people should look at when they look at our lives is they should see with increasing measure the influence of Jesus' authority in our lives. is to see it as a good thing. Sometimes parents say to us about our children that aren't Christians, like, your children do this and they do that and it's really good, why is that? And you're like, it's nothing to do with me. And actually you're only seeing a nice side to them, but it's because we've had the benefit of knowing the word of God. And we're imperfectly and sometimes even sinfully, but we're trying to implement the principles of his word in their lives. And what you're seeing is the fruit of that in their lives. It's what we need, dear friends. Is Jesus your king? Is he your king? It was very popular many years ago, some of you won't know this, some of you will remember this, there was a very popular movement in the church, probably still exists, but it's a little lost momentum, called Lordship Theology, have you heard of that? Where Christ can be your saviour but not your Lord? No he can't. If he's not your Lord, he's not your saviour. It's everyone who confesses that Jesus Christ is Lord And it doesn't just say it outwardly, but what one confesses with the mouth, one believes in the heart, and out of the heart will come the fruits of that belief and conviction. Is he your Lord? Because he is Lord. And just think about what this means. You know when you pray, and I'm gonna close on this, wouldn't it change the way you pray, Christian? Like, I know we all like the whole Jesus is my friend. He is. Some lovely hymns. What a friend we have in Jesus. All our sins and griefs to bear. But the only reason it's great having a friend in Jesus is because our friend is king. We all remember those blokes at school, those lads at school, who were right little wotsits, but they had a big brother. And they could always, you knew you couldn't touch them, you knew you couldn't say anything to them, because they'd get their big brother on you. And that's what we have. We have an advocate in heaven who is Lord of Lords and King of Kings. We have one who is intimately involved in our lives, who listens to your prayers. You have a permanent audience with the King of Kings. If I got an invitation to say, tomorrow you're standing before King Charles, I would still be shaking in my boots and I don't even like him as our king. But because of his office, because of his authority, I would be like, wow, and I would bow and I would be like, your majesty, because he's our king. I respect the office of the king, even if I think the king on the office is a godless man. I'd be blown away. I, in prayer, have an audience. with him whom the angels worship and veil their faces, him before whom John fell as though dead. He loves you, and he likes you, and he's for you, and he's working all things together for your good. Christians, we should be happy, joyful, we should never despair, we should always hope, because we have every reason to hope when God in Christ Jesus is working all things together for our good. And I ask you again, if any of you are in Christ, what does it look like to enlist as a follower of Christ? The first thing you have to do is own your rebellion. Jesus is waving a white flag and he's saying, I am willing to bring you into my kingdom. You need to repent of your sins. You need to say sorry and mean it. And that sorry and apology also carries with it a resolution with his help to turn from a life of sin. And you need to believe that the only basis upon which you have a right to be in that kingdom is because God's eternal son suffered and died on the cross 2,000 years ago, bearing the punishment you deserve. And by believing that and repenting of sins, you become part of the family of God. and you begin a life of following the lamb wherever he goes. What a privilege.