All right, good morning. This morning we are going to be in Mark chapter 11 and we're going to be looking at verses 27 through 33. Mark chapter 11, 27 through 33. And the title of the message this morning is the question of authority. The question of authority. They came again to Jerusalem, and as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to him and began saying to him, by what authority are you doing these things? Or who gave you this authority to do these things? And Jesus said to them, I will ask you one question, and you answer me, and then I will tell you by what authority I do these things. Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men? Answer me. They began reasoning among themselves, saying, if we say from heaven, he will say, then why did you not believe him? But shall we say from men? They were afraid of the people, for everyone considered John to have been a real prophet. Answering Jesus, they said, we do not know. And Jesus said to them, nor will I tell you by what authority I do these things. Father, we just come to you this morning and we ask that you, Lord, open this up to us. This interaction between Jesus and the Sanhedrin here, these religious leaders, Lord, Help us to see what is behind this and help us to really enter in this morning to this concept of authority. Help us to draw near to you in your word and help us to see, help us to understand and help us to learn and grow. Lord, we thank you for these things in Jesus name, amen. So last week, we looked at a living parable. We looked at Jesus cursed the fig tree and sandwiched in the middle of that between him pronouncing judgment on the tree and then the disciples observing the next day that it had withered and died. In between that was this incident of Jesus overturning the tables of the money changers and running the livestock merchants out of the temple That was the message that we looked at last week. The purpose of a fig tree is to produce figs. In other words, to bear fruit. Fig trees grow fruit and leaves at the same time. And the tree that Jesus cursed was fully leafed out. It was giving the appearance of a fruit-bearing tree. However, it was bearing. This tree was a true picture of a hypocrite. That's what a hypocrite means. The word hypocrite is a Greek word, and you've seen in maybe literature, you see the pictures of the masks that the performers wore in the Greek theaters and the amphitheaters where they had their productions, their plays, and their dramas. Well, that's what a hypocrite was. It was that mask. It was giving the appearance of something other than what you really are. And that tree was a picture of a hypocrite. The nation of Israel and the Jewish religious system was the same way. It was covered up with leaves of dead religious trappings. There were all sorts of laws, rules. Sacrifices and endless religious rituals, washings. We've talked about washings as we went through more, but it was barren. There was very little in the way of fruit, love for God and love for humanity. The largest area of the temple in Jerusalem was the court of the Gentiles. Remember, I had the picture up on the screen. And there were 37 acres in the temple complex. And the greatest part of it was the Court of the Gentiles. The reason for this was that Israel was supposed to be a light to the nations, which is what the menorah is symbolic of. We've all seen the menorah, the big lamp stand with all the lamps on it. There was a huge one that they would bring out at the feast and light that thing, and it would be lit for, I can't remember how much time, but for like a week or two weeks, and you could see it from miles. standing there in front of the temple in Jerusalem. It was all symbolic. They were supposed to be a light to the nations, and they kept the lamps in the temple burning day and night, symbolizing that they're showing the people of the world the way to the one true God. Incidentally, that concept Kind of gives new meaning to Jesus saying, I am the light of the world, doesn't it? See, he is the true Israel. He is the one that lights the way for the nations to God. All the families of the earth were going to be blessed in the seed of Abraham, right? Well, they are now. But at this point, there wasn't much blessing going on. But the temple was intentionally designed with plenty of room for Gentiles. Rather than invite the nations into the temple to pray and worship, the Jews had brought in livestock and money changers in order to make a profit off of those who came to participate in the ritual sacrifices. There were lots of leaves, but there was no fruit. So Jesus, he shut down the Sanhedrin's little commercial operation, and then he began to remind the people of the real purpose of the temple from Isaiah 56. He said, have you not read? My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations. The chief priests and the scribes, they were upset, and they began seeking how to destroy him. This is very telling. It doesn't say they began seeking how to refute him. Isn't that interesting? Because they couldn't. They couldn't refute what he was saying and they knew it. They knew that he was right. They knew that what they were doing was wrong, but they fully intended to keep doing it. So what do we have to do? We have to get him out of the way. They began looking for a way to destroy him. They were engaged in willful unbelief. suppressing the truth and unrighteousness. On the next morning, when the disciples noticed that the fig tree had withered, pointed it out to Jesus, he told them, have faith in God. He wasn't giving them instructions on how to kill trees or change the geography. He was telling them how to bear fruit. We aren't able to bear good fruit on our own. From a human perspective, it's impossible, but all things are possible with God. And that brings us to our text for today. So let's read verses 27 and 28, and we'll get right into it. They came again to Jerusalem, and as he was walking in the temple, The chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to him and began saying to him, by what authority are you doing these things? Or who gave you this authority to do these things? So understand that this is the next day after Jesus cleansed the temple. Jesus and the disciples had started back toward Jerusalem. They were spending the night at Bethany. They start back toward the temple. They stopped and talked about the withered fig tree on their way back into town. And then they went on to the temple. And that is when the chief priest and the scribes and the elders come to Jesus and they challenge his authority. In the immediate context, These things that they're asking him who gave him the authority to do were the things he did the day before. Putting a stop to their money making enterprise and then teaching the people that it was wrong. But this brings up a topic that we really ought to take some time to look into and that is the topic of authority. Where does authority come from? What is it? I think this is really important because there are masses and masses of people that believe lots and lots of things, and they couldn't tell you why they believe it. They couldn't tell you where their authority comes from. They don't know what makes the thing right or wrong. When Jesus had concluded the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 7, 28, and 29 says this. When Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one having authority and not as their scribes. So what does that mean? What is authority and where does it come from? You know, some, maybe most, people think authority is agreement, consensus, consent. I've seen quotes about it like that, that, you know, a government is only going to do what the people it's governing will consent to. or they'll rise up and put a stop to it. So authority comes from consensus, consent, agreement. That's kind of the way things work in our democratic republic. We delegate authority by consent of the majority. Other people would say that authority is derived from power. I can say or do anything I want as long as I am more powerful than anyone who might be of a mind to oppose me. to not go along with me. Other people might argue that education, knowledge, allows us to speak and act with authority. We're an expert in a subject, so we can speak with authority on it. That's closer to the truth, I think, but But what that typically means from a human perspective is that someone who has learned a certain amount of information that is generally agreed on to be true is considered to be an authority on any given subject. And that just falls right back under the first category of consensus. If we agree that a certain amount of information is generally, you know, historians rewrite history all the time. History that's taught is what, I actually had a college professor tell me that historians have been actively rewriting history since World War II. Changing it. Deconstructing it and reconstructing it different than what it was before. Is that where authority comes from? See, that's the way the scribes taught. They would all sit around and they'd talk about the scriptures and they'd say, well, I think it means this. Well, I think it means this. You know what? We can all agree that it means this. So that's what it means. That's the way they taught. That's why the people were amazed at Jesus. He didn't teach that way. He didn't ask the scribes what they thought. You know, that's not authority. Something is true or right because we all or at least most of us agree that it is. Jesus taught is one actually having authority. Consensus is not authority. I speak authoritatively from this pulpit. Is there Only authority behind what I say if you all agree with me? Of course not. You could all agree with me and we could all be wrong. On the other hand, you could all disagree with me completely and what I'm saying could still be 100% authoritatively true. That's not based on consensus. Power doesn't grant authority either. The ability to force someone to go along with you or bow to your will is not authority. That's just power. And Jesus avoided that, even when it was offered to him. After the feeding of the 5,000, the people wanted to take Jesus and make him king and give him the political and military power to enforce his will upon the nation. He could have done that at any time. Whenever he would perform some great miracle or sign, the people would have fell right in behind him. And if he had just stayed in politics and left religion alone, the Sanhedrin would have joined in. Everybody would have been happy. But he would put a stop to it every time it came up. So where does authority come from? We here at Heritage Baptist, what would we here say is our source of authority? The scriptures. But you know what? There are a lot of people who say that their authority comes from the scriptures and they don't agree with each other. There's a lot of people that don't agree with us that would say their authority comes from the scriptures. Let me ask you this. Where do the scriptures get their authority? Is the law of Moses, the first five books of the Bible, is that authoritative? Is the book of Isaiah authoritative? Are the Proverbs authoritative? And if so, what is it that makes them authoritative? Is it because they all agree perfectly on every single thing? Is that it? Is it consensus? I know you're beginning to wonder where I'm going with all this, but bear with me. I want us to be good Bereans. I want us to think about these things. I want you to know why you believe the things you believe. I want you to know what your authority is and where it comes from. See, the truth is that if somebody were to ask me what our source of authority is here at Heritage Baptist, what is my source of authority as a preacher of the scriptures, of the gospel, I would answer that our source of authority is the scriptures as they are interpreted by and fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ. That is authority. That's our source of authority. This is a major hermeneutical and doctrinal distinctive. It's really what makes us New Covenant Baptists is this belief that just saying scripture alone isn't really sufficient because you can take, we've talked about this in Sunday school, you can take scriptures and you can prove anything you wanted to prove. And you say, well, it's scripture, it's authoritative. But that's not good hermeneutics. Hermeneutics is the lens through which you understand things and interpret things. Authority, the authority of the scriptures comes from their fulfillment in Christ and their interpretation by Christ. By who he is, what he taught, and what he did. So now let's look at how Jesus handled the Sanhedrin. And hopefully, I can show you what I mean by all this. So, the reason they had asked Jesus where he got the authority to do and say the things that he was doing and saying, beyond the fact that they didn't like what he was doing and saying, was that they were the religious authorities of the nations. or of Israel. They were the ones who said what is right, what is wrong, what is true, what is not. They're the ones that determine what happened. Jesus himself recognized their authority in Matthew 23, verses two and three, when he told the crowds, the scribes and Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses. Therefore, all that they tell you Do and observe. Do it. Observe it. So these religious authorities, they knew that they hadn't given Jesus the authority to do the things that he was doing. He wasn't getting them from, they hadn't approved him. He didn't graduate from their seminary. They weren't giving him permission to do the things he was doing and teach the things he was teaching. They also knew that he claimed to be the son of God. They knew that he claimed to be the Son of Man from Daniel 7, the Messiah who was given an eternal kingdom by the Ancient of Days. See, if Jesus answered them that he was acting on God's authority, they could accuse him of blasphemy, because he's obviously a man. If he answered that he was acting on his own authority, they could state that he had none, because they were the authorities and they hadn't authorized him and they could condemn him for that. You know, at this point though, they really should have known better than to approach this the way that they did. Let's look at verses 29 and 30. And Jesus said to them, I will ask you one question and you answer me. And then I will tell you by what authority I do these things. Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men? Answer me. Of course, Jesus answered their question with a question. Of course. He always did that. And not only did he answer their question with a question, he asked them a question that if they answered it truthfully, would give them the answer to their question. They would actually be the ones answering it themselves. And he did it very graciously and accommodatingly. Answer my question, and I will answer yours. So, verses 31 and 32, they began reasoning among themselves, saying, if we say from heaven, he will say, then why did you not believe him? But shall we say for men, they were afraid of the people, for everyone considered John to have been a real prophet. See, they immediately knew they were trapped. I'm sure that I would have loved to have seen the looks on their faces when he asked that. They knew they were trapped because either way they answered, they were going to be in trouble. In verse 31, they reasoned, if we say from heaven, he will say, then why did you not believe him? See, our first instinct when we read that is to impose on why did you not believe him? Why did you not receive his baptism? But they weren't reasoning why did you not receive his baptism, were they? It's not what they were reasoning. You see, what Jesus was asking them was whether they believed John was a prophet speaking on the authority of God or just a religious huckster speaking on his own authority. That's what Jesus was asking them. When he said, was John's baptism from heaven or from men, he was saying, was John acting on behalf of God? Was he speaking with the authority of God or was he just out there on his own authority? That's what he was asking them. So what might John have said that they didn't believe that would have been directly related to Jesus' authority and would have answered their question as to His authority, to the authority He was asking on, He was acting on. Well, to answer that, I'm gonna read three passages. I'm gonna read one from Matthew, one from Luke, and one from John. I'm gonna start in Matthew chapter three. Matthew chapter three, verse 11 through 16. John the Baptist speaking, he says, ask for me, I baptize you with water for repentance. But he who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I'm not fit to remove his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will thoroughly clear his threshing floor, and he will gather his weed into the barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. John speaking of Jesus in Matthew 3. Then Luke chapter 3. Luke chapter 3 verses 15 through 22 says, now while the people were in a state of expectation, And all were wondering in their hearts about John, as to whether he was the Christ. John answered and said to them all, ask for me, I baptize you with water. But one is coming who is mightier than I. And I'm not fit to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand to thoroughly clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn that he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. So with many other exhortations, he preached the gospel to the people. But when Herod the Tetrarch was reminded by him because of, was reprimanded by him because of Herodias, his brother's wife, and because of all the wicked things which Herod had done, Herod also added this to them, he locked John up in prison. Now when all the people were baptized, Jesus was also baptized, and while he was praying, heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came out of heaven, you are my beloved son, and you I am well pleased. And then from John chapter one, This is the testimony of John when the Jews sent to him priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, who are you? And he confessed and did not deny, but confessed, I am not the Christ. They asked him, what then? Are you Elijah? And he said, I'm not. Are you the prophet? And he answered, no. Then they said to him, who are you so that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself? He said, I am a voice of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord, as Isaiah the prophet said. Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. They asked him and said to him, why then are you baptizing if you're not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet? John answered them saying, I baptize in water, but among you stands one whom you do not know. It is he who comes after me. The thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie." These things took place in Bethany beyond the Jordan where John was baptizing. The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. This is he on behalf of whom I said, after me comes a man who has a higher rank than I, for he existed before me. I did not recognize him, but so that he might be manifested to Israel, I came baptizing in water. John testified, saying, I have seen the spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and he remained upon him. I did not recognize him, but he who sent me to baptize in water said to me, he upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon him, this is the one who baptizes in the Holy Spirit. I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God. This is what they didn't believe. that John said. John said that he was the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make ready the way of the Lord. Make his path straight. And John was talking about Jesus. And John was a prophet sent from God. If his message was from heaven, then this is the authority by which Jesus cleansed the temple. Listen to Malachi chapter three. If they admit that John's ministry was from heaven, if he was a prophet speaking upon the authority of God, what he said about himself was true, that would mean that what he said about Jesus was true as well, and this is the authority with which Jesus cleansed the temple. Malachi 3, one through three. Behold, I am going to send my messenger and he will clear the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. And the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. But who can endure the day of his coming and who can stand when he appears For he is like a refiner's fire and like fuller's soap. He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the Lord offerings and righteousness. So the authority that Jesus was acting on was his own authority. So the religious leaders refused to believe in Jesus. There was no way that they could affirm John the Baptist without also affirming Jesus. But they were afraid to speak against John because the people all considered him to have been a real prophet. So that brings us to 33. Answering Jesus, they said, we do not know. And Jesus said to them, Noel, I tell you by what authority I do these things. So they gave the safest answer they could think of. We do not know. Now for us, sometimes we don't know is a good answer. Sometimes I don't know is a good answer. Sometimes, you know what? I'm not sure. I'll see if I can get back with you on that. And I'll do some research. Sometimes that's a good answer. But for them, it was a cop out. It was a cop out. They did know. And of course, they knew what Jesus' answer was by the question He asked them. He was a master at that. He answered their question without giving them a single thing they could accuse Him of. But since they refused to be honest and straightforward, Jesus didn't give them the answer they were looking for. Now, to look a little further into this question of authority, though, I want to submit to you that Jesus is the source of all authority. Matthew 28, 18, he told the disciples, all authority in heaven and upon earth is given unto me. And then he tells them, go in this authority. Go in the authority, my authority, and make disciples of all the nations, teaching them to observe Everything which I've commanded you. So, go teach them the scriptures, go teach them my word, and you're doing it under my authority. It's my authority that makes those scriptures authoritative. It's my authority that makes the gospel authoritative. Go and teach in it. All authority belongs to Him, and it all comes from Him. Listen to The scripture that we started the service with today is in Deuteronomy chapter 18. I'm gonna read it to you again, and then I'm gonna read to you from John, something that Jesus said about himself in John chapter 12. Hopefully we can tie some of this together. So in Deuteronomy 18, verses 15 through 19, Says, the Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me, this is Moses speaking, from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him. This is according to all that you asked of the Lord your God in Horeb on the day of the assembly, saying, let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, let me not see this great fire anymore, I will die. The Lord said to me, they have spoken well. I will raise up a prophet from among their countrymen like you, and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. So now, listen to what Jesus says about himself in John 12, 44 through 50. And Jesus cried out and said, he who believes in me does not believe in me, but in him who sent me. He who sees me sees the one who sent me. I have come as light into the world so that everyone who believes in me will not remain in darkness. If anyone hears my sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. He who rejects me and does not receive my sayings has one who judges him. The word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day. For I did not speak on my own initiative, but the Father himself who sent me has given me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak. I know that his commandment is eternal life. Therefore, the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told me." You know what Jesus said? He said, I'm that prophet from Deuteronomy 18. The words that I speak, they come from the Father. They're authoritative. God is speaking to you. If we continue on in Deuteronomy 18 and we read verses 20 through 22, Moses tells us that the true test of a prophet as to whether they're speaking with the authority of God or as to whether they're not, is whether what they're saying happens or not. It's whether what they're saying happens or not. I'm not gonna read it, but that's what it says. If what they prophesy is true, then they're a prophet. Now listen to what Jesus said about his relationship to the scriptures. I wanna read it to you from Luke chapter 24. I'm gonna begin in verse 44 and read through 48. Jesus is, this is after the resurrection, Jesus is speaking to the apostles in the upper room. He says, now he said to them, these are my words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled. Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures and he said to them, Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in his name to all the nations beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. Do you know how we can know that the prophecies of scripture are true? We can know that the scriptures are authoritative and true because Jesus came and interpreted and fulfilled them all. That's how we know it's true. We know it's true because Jesus is the fulfillment of all of them. Jesus is the living word. He's direct communication from God. He's both the prophet and the fulfillment of all the prophecies. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. There's a reason why John calls Him the Word. He is the communication of God to man. No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him, declared Him, made Him known. God in the past has spoken through the prophets to the fathers in many portions, in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son. Hebrews 1, 1 and 2. See, it was the Spirit of Christ speaking through Moses and the prophets. And Christ in His incarnation fulfilled the prophecies that He spoke through Moses and the prophets. And we have communion with God and each other in Him. That's authority. Our authority is in Christ. Christ is our source. The scriptures are words on a page. But they're authoritative because they tell us about Jesus, and they're true. That's what makes them authoritative. It's not the words. You know, we've been accused of worshiping a book. We know this is a book. The power of this book is that it's about Jesus. Jesus is the subject of it, and He's the fulfillment of it. That's authority. And that was Jesus' authority to cleanse the temple, that was His authority to save His people, and that's His authority to command us and we obey, because we know that it's all true. Amen. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for this Word. We thank you for your grace and mercy. We thank you for speaking to us through your Word and for giving us authority that we can stand on, that we can count on. Help us to understand that Christ is our source. That all of these things are are real and true because he is real and true. Help us to know why we believe what we believe. Lord, we thank you for these things in Jesus name. Amen.