Matt 10:1
You’ve got no authority
Andrew Hoseason  10/1/2001

Having summoned His twelve disciples, He gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.(NAS)

Two Sundays ago I couldn’t sleep – a common thing, let me tell you!  So I got up at 3am and went downstairs. By chance I picked up a political video called Dave and put it in the player.  Then by chance it would seem I selected a book for teens and young adults by James Dobson called Life on the Edge and began reading it while also watching the film.  Meanwhile I was also musing over the scripture 
1 Tim 2:8-15 – that’s the one about domineering women spoiling the worship meetings.  
There then occurred one of those astounding flashed glimpses – an entire message so to speak, in one instant.  Praise God it stayed with me long enough to put it down on paper.

Rodney spoke about the Post Modernist society two weeks ago.  I’d like to pick up on that a bit.  Perhaps you are not aware of the changes that have swept this country in the last hundred years.  I’d like to focus on just one aspect.  Today, schoolgirls can legally be prescribed contraception without their parent’s knowledge or despite their parent’s wishes.  
This terrible situation is completely at odds with anything similar a century ago.  I am suggesting to you here that over the last hundred years the authority of the family has been worn away and replaced by the rule of the state.  In fact, in some circles now the word “family” is seen as a derogatory and offensive term.  
I would suggest to you also that over the past hundred years the priceless role of women in the home has been undermined and devalued.  Might I remind you of the line of thought I gave in my wedding speech when I said, “A mother of quality is one of the greatest foundation stones of a culture.”  
I believe today that both women and men are being encouraged in secular culture to abandon responsible parenthood and embrace self, and the concept of employment as a God.
I would suggest to you that this is not within the will of God.

In his book Life on the Edge, James Dobson gives this account  

Bricklayers know they must be very careful to get their foundations absolutely straight; any unevenness in the bricks at the bottom will create an even greater tilt as the wall goes up..  So it is with life.
This momentous journey through the critical decade from age 16 to 26 reminds me of a trip our family took to Kenya and Tanzania a few years ago.  The highlight of our tour was a visit to the Serengeti, a magnificent national park where legendary African animals roam wild and free.  
It had rained all day before we arrived and the unpaved roads were extremely muddy.  Before we had driven fifteen miles into the park, our car slid into a ditch and became bogged down to its axles in the thick mud.  We would have certainly spent the night out there in the savannah if it had not been for a native in a double wheeled truck who gave us a hand.
	Late that afternoon we came to a stretch of road that was even more torn up and muddy.  There it divided and ran parallel for several hundred yards before merging back together.  It was obvious that drivers earlier that day had forged a new trail to get around a mudhole but we had no way of knowing on which side it lay.  
We sat there for a moment trying to decide which road to take.  
If we made a mistake, we would probably get stuck again and have to sleep in the car – without dinner, toothbrushes, bathroom facilities, or even water to drink.
	Our 17 year old son Ryan then volunteered to help.
	“I’ll run ahead and look at the road,” he said.  “Then I’ll wave to let you know which way to go.”
	I said, “Uhm, Ryan, I don’t think that is a very good idea.  You just don’t know what might be in the tall grass.”
Eventually we chose what looked like the best road and were indeed able to get through.  But when we reached the place where the two trails came back together, a surprise was waiting for us.  A huge male lion was crouched in the grass off to one side.  He rolled his beg yellow eyes toward us and dared us to take him on.  Large cats like that consider humans to be just another easy dinner.  They can cover one hundred metres in less than three seconds and wouldn’t hesitate to devour any city dweller who was foolish enough to tempt them.  
	Ryan looked at the lion and agreed that he probably ought to stay I the car.  He had done well to follow his parents instruction.

I’ve chosen this example to illustrate something about authority.  Clearly the parents in this example did have authority in regard to their son, and they served their son well by using their authority to ensure his wellbeing.
Now imagine if the son had been exposed to the philosophy that says, “hey you are 16.  You’ve left school.  You have authority over your own life, your parents have no right to interfere.  You have the human right to freedom of choice – use it!  Go out when and where you want.  Do your own thing; hang with your massive and live life!  Take chances.  Use your own responsibility.”

Clearly if the son had been brought up to take notice of this increasingly popular message, the Lion would have been very grateful.

Let me tell you about the film Dave.
An actor called Dave who looks like an American President is asked to be the President’s double.  To do simple tasks such as leaving buildings and getting into cars.  Having made one appearance, Dave learns that the President has gone into a deep coma.  Dave is asked to secretly become the “President” full time for a while.  Now the question here is, what authority did Dave have?  While pretending to be the President, he was assumed by others to have great authority because of what he was supposed to be.  

I think this is a very relevant illustration.  I am proposing that authority is given to a person by someone else.  Dave did not have this authority because he had earned it or bought it. If people had known he was not the true President, he could have pretended all he wanted but it would have counted for naught.

My question for you now is this.  What is authority according to the will of God?

Consider an Elder in the church.  We don’t have any Elders yet, but don’t let that bother you.  An Elder has authority within the church.  Of that there is no doubt.  An Elder also has spiritual maturity and displays spiritual leadership.  

Now imagine if you will that someone within this Elder’s family gets very ill and he has to resign from being an Elder to care for them.  
Would there be a change in his position within the church.  I would suggest to you that there would be.  Now make no mistake, the man would still be spiritually mature.  There is no doubt he would still exhibit spiritual leadership, but the reason for his authority would have gone.  He was no longer an Elder.
The same is due in the secular world.  The Prime Minister has political authority along with political maturity and political leadership.  However with any luck in the election he will loose that political authority, whilst still keeping his political maturity and political leadership intact.

I began this talk with a scripture from the Bible,  Matt 10:1
“Having summoned His twelve disciples, He gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.”(NAS)

Jesus gave the disciples their authority.  

In the Bible, parent’s authority over their children is taken for granted.  Within the family parents are given by God authority to care for and serve children.  Children are encouraged with these words:   Col 3:20
“Children, be obedient to your parents in all things, for this is well-pleasing to the Lord.”  (NAS)

Listen to this proverb:  Sirach 3:1
“Listen to me your father,  children, and act accordingly that you may live in safety.   The Lord honours a godly father above his children, and he confirms the mother’s right to authority over her children.  
Those who respect their mother are like those who lay up treasure.  
Those who honour their father will have joy in their own children; and when they pray, they shall be heard.    Those who respect their father will have a long life; and those who honour their mother are obeying the Lord.  Children must  serve their godly parents as their masters.   Honour thy father and mother both in word and deed, that a blessing may come upon you from them.   For the blessing of a father strengthens the lives of children; but the curse of the mother uproots their foundations.   Do not glorify yourself by dishonouring your father, for your father’s dishonour is no glory to you.   
The glory of a child is the honour of his father; and it is a disgrace for children not to respect their mother.   Whoever forsakes a father is like a blasphemer, and whoever angers a mother is cursed by God.

This is a powerful piece of scripture and there is a lot I could bring out of it.  However I would like to concentrate for a moment on one line “Those who respect their father will have long life, and those who honour their mother obey the Lord;7 they will serve their parents as their masters.”
This is a line that on first encounter might seem to be a little overbearing or harsh to us but if we delve deeper into the godly framework of authority we find that Christians are told they must be in a master-servant relationship with God. 
Matt 20:25-28
“Jesus called the disciples to Himself, and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and {their} great men exercise authority over them.  It is not so among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve,”
How similar then we should expect to find each other relationship of authority within the Christian framework. 
God & Christ, 	Christ & disciples, 	
Masters and slaves, 	Teachers & students, 
Men & women, 	Parents & children.
In each example there is an issue of authority.  In some cases it is purely physical such as between Masters & slaves.  In other cases it is purely god-ordained such as between Men & women.  
In the case cited by the proverb just read, children must serve their godly parents as their masters.  

Serving.  Now that’s an unpopular subject these days.  People don’t seem to warm to the idea.  Everyone wants to be an equal!  
Now equality is a funny thing.  Jesus is hardly our equal yet he was willing to serve us, as though we were his masters.  He served us by providing for us a redemption against the penalty of death for sin - for our sins - through his death. 

But serving those in authority is the only way as we see from Jesus’ speech just read.  And those in authority; well, they can only be in authority if they serve the others.!!!
I remember reading once in a book for supervisors, it was said, you are there to serve the staff, to facilitate them.  They are not there for you.

Mark 10:42-45
“Calling his disciples”, Jesus said to them, "You know that those who are recognised as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them; and their great men exercise authority over them.  But it is not so among you.  Whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant; and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all.  For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."(NAS)

 These scriptures reveal clearly that godly authority is completely different from the image of power we often are encouraged to see. 
This reading refers foremostly to physical authority.  Spiritual authority has a different format. God has set the rules.  They are these.  

•	God has spiritual authority over Christ but they are equal within the trinity.  
•	Parents have spiritual authority over their children but they are all equal in the sight of God.  
•	Men have spiritual authority over women but they are all equal in the sight of God.  

At present we are studying the role of men and women in the church and part of that is to look at physical and spiritual authority.  To look at the difference between spiritual authority, spiritual maturity and spiritual leadership.  I have not made reference to the specific texts in question.  The time for that is in our afternoon meetings.  It is an important subject for the whole church to determine.

Together with the whole breadth of the Bible, today’s  reading from Proverbs portrays the role of women within the family and the home as being vital, important and necessary.  It screams insults at the modern world’s requirement that everyone must “be in employment” in order to be relevant in the world.   The most important job in the whole of creation is the running and stabilisation of the home and family.  
I believe anything which goes against that sentiment does not come from God.

 Conclusion
This is what I have said.  Authority within the secular world and the church are different.  In the world authority is given but is based on power.  In the church authority is also given but is about serving.
Present day culture has undermined the authority of the family and has replaced it with local government and lawyers.  There is a fundamental difference between spiritual knowledge, spiritual maturity, spiritual leadership and Godly authority.  

May God grant us the wisdom to see the truth and live it.