Calling Authority

Calling

Authority

We follow Jesus to understand the message of the Kingdom of God

And share it with others 

When we share this message of the Kingdom

We will find people believing the message

As faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God

God will honor that faith because He honors His Word

And the miracles of God will confirm the realities of the Kingdom

Be a daily disciple of Christ

Grow in the Knowledge of God

And you too will be given authority over evil spirit and heal the sick

Our authority does not come in our faith in miracles   

Your authority comes from understanding the message of the Kingdom

And faith in that message

Authority

In Matthew 10, we are given the names

of twelve men from various walks of life

who heard the call to “Follow Me”.

These men became disciples…

Sitting under the teaching of Jesus and

observing the daily life of the Son of God.

These dedicated men who were with Jesus

 lived what we read in the four Gospels.

When we read the four Gospels, we see them

differently than the men who lived with Jesus.

I have studied the Gospels all my adult life and

I find it is impossible to fill in the gaps, the timing,

the conditions of political and economical climate.

 

Our lack of the unknown does not change

history or the truth of the Gospels.

It is the lack of information that should open

our minds to think deeper about what we read.

As we read through the Gospels, we find even

the disciple who sat under His teaching and walked

with Him had questions and lacked understanding.

Like the time they did not understand the

difference between spiritual bread and natural bread.

Or, trying to stop Jesus from going to Jerusalem.

The calling of a disciple is a call to think and pray.

The twelve were to think about what

Jesus was teaching and so should we.

This thinking process will create questions,

lots of questions.

The life of a disciple is a life of questions.

The approach of our questions is very

important if we are to get the right answer.

To be a disciple is to trust the teacher.

Our questions should not question

the integrity of the teacher.

Jesus gave a lot of hard sayings.

Jesus many times spoke in parables.

  These are the things that make a good

student or follower of Jesus, “Pray”.

It is our job not to quote scripture

but to understand it.

In Matthew 10…

 He called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.

Matthew 10:1

When Jesus calls, He gives authority.

Here in Matthew 10:1 is the word exousia 

meaning privilege, authority, jurisdiction.

 

I think it is important to realize the authority

to drive out evil spirits and heal the sick is

intended to go hand and hand with the

message of the Kingdom of God.

As Jesus called the disciple to go,

He said in Matthew 10:7,8…

As you go, preach this message: 'The kingdom of heaven is near.'

Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons.

 Freely you have received, freely give.

We see Jesus modeled this

as recorded in Matthew 4:23…

Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.

Miracles do follow disciples who are sharing

the Good News of the Kingdom.

We do not follow Jesus to learn how to do miracles.

We follow Jesus to understand the message

of the Kingdom of God and share it with others.

 

When we share this message of the Kingdom,

 we will find people believing the message…

As faith comes by hearing and

hearing by the word of God.

God will honor that faith because He honors

His Word and the miracles of God will

confirm the realities of the Kingdom.

Be a daily disciple of Christ.

Grow in the knowledge of God and you too

will be given authority over evil spirit,

and heal the sick.

Our authority does not come in our faith in miracles.

    

Your authority comes from understanding the

message of the Kingdom and faith in that message.

 

Scripture Reading

Matthew 10:1-9 NIV

10:1 He called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.

2 These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

5 These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: "Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. 6 Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. 7 As you go, preach this message: 'The kingdom of heaven is near.' 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.