Kingdom Authority

If you could please turn your Bibles to Luke 9, we're going to be examining verses 1 -6 this morning.

Luke 9, starting in verse 1, please do stand for the reading of God's Word.

Here he, the word of the Lord this morning, he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases.

He sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. He said to them, take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money, and do not have two tunics.

Whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart. And wherever they do not receive you, when you leave that town, shake off the dust from your feet as a testimony against them.

And they departed and went through the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.

This is the word of the Lord. You may be seated. Join me in prayer.

Gracious Father, we come before you asking that you would help us in this moment to lay aside all of the mundane things of this world, to have our hearts empowered by your

Spirit to hear and to receive thy Word this morning. God, grant his eyes to see, ears to hear, hearts to receive that which you've laid before us in thy

Word. We pray, God, that you'd grant in us even now this kingdom authority to be proclaimers of your kingdom for the glory of your

Son's name. Amen. It says in verse 1 again, as he called the twelve together, he gave them power and authority.

Dear Christian, know this about your life.

Know this about you. If you know Jesus, if you serve

Jesus, if you are a member of his kingdom by faith, you've been endowed by the

Spirit of God. The Bible says you are a new creation. The old is gone. Behold, the new has come.

Those of us who are part of this new creation order have been given power and authority to be kingdom proclaimers.

God has chosen a people distinct in this world, in this age, to proclaim the excellencies of his grace.

We come gathered together on the Lord's day, in the name of the Lord, to proclaim this gospel, this kingdom proclamation, this kingdom message.

It starts with a central theme, the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

I want you to turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 10 for a moment. I want to see what

Matthew's gospel, I'd like for you to see what Matthew's gospel, his account of this same story, has to say to us this morning.

In Matthew chapter 10, it says in verse 1, he called to him his 12 disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits to cast them out and to heal every disease and every affliction.

And then he goes on to call the 12 apostles. And then it goes on saying in verse 5, these 12,

Jesus sent out instructing them, go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the

Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel and proclaim as you go saying, the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Jesus, just in the prior chapter, in Luke chapter 8, is confronted with demonic forces.

And he demonstrates his Lordship over the forces of darkness by casting out the unclean spirits.

Also in chapter 8 of Luke, we see that Jesus goes and heals a young woman.

And he's able to demonstrate his authority, his Lordship, even over sickness and diseases.

And what does he do next? In chapter 10 of Matthew and in chapter 9 of Luke, he calls his 12 together.

He gathers them and he gave them authority and power over what?

Demons, unclean spirits, and over diseases, sicknesses.

He is demonstrating his complete Lordship and authority, sovereignty over unclean spirits, demonic powers, and even over sickness itself.

All that which the curse of sin and of Adam has touched, Jesus is demonstrating authority and power and dominion over such things.

And then he hands such authority and dominion over to his 12 apostles, to his 12 disciples.

Church, Jesus is Lord over all. He has all power, dominion, and authority.

And Christ in Luke chapter 8, he delivers a man who is possessed by a legion of demons.

He healed a woman of her sickness and even raised a child from the dead.

Jesus in Luke chapter 9 is about to send out his disciples to begin doing the work that he has done and has already modeled.

Jesus is now sending his 12 as kingdom envoys, endowed by the king with power and authority to demonstrate that the reign of this new king has begun.

So if you're following along in today's teaching in the bulletin insert, Jesus gave his apostles what?

Power and authority over the very powers of darkness and even sickness.

Why does Jesus hand his disciples power and authority? It is to demonstrate and to vindicate the ministry of Jesus Christ, the incarnate one.

Jesus is going forth and he's doing these things. He's done them before as he's demonstrated in chapter 8 of Luke, but now he's going a step further.

He's demonstrating that his kingship, his lordship, is not just one of him reigning and ruling from his throne, but he is now giving kingdom authority even to those who follow him, even to his most closest associates so that others may see that the new king has arrived.

The new king of Israel has come in Jesus Christ. What we see now in verse 2 of Luke 9, he says this, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal.

What was accompanied by the early ministry of the apostles, the early ministry of Christ was this vast shift from the ministry that we saw under the rulership of Israel in times past and what you're now seeing with the new king.

All that has come before Christ failed miserably in accomplishing true peace, true deliverance, true solutions to mankind's problems.

The same is true even today. When you look at the world and the state of the world, the affairs of the world, we see that every world leader falls woefully short of meeting the mark.

Even just what's happened in the media recently in Israel where you have this massive invasion from Hamas into the borders of Israel, a massive failure of intelligence on the part of Israel, a nation known, renowned for its intelligence agencies and being able to deter attacks such as what has just happened.

Every world leader, every nation will fall short of protecting its own.

But Jesus comes into this picture and unlike those who's come before him and those who've come after him,

Jesus has the power and the authority to protect his own and to empower his own to fulfill the work by which he has called them.

Jesus is sending out his disciples in this context in Luke chapter 9. He's sending them out for a particular purpose and the particular purpose is this, to proclaim the kingdom of God.

That's the purpose of the church. That's the purpose of the disciples.

That's the purpose of the Christian is to proclaim, to witness, to teach, preach the kingdom of God.

I want you to know this and I want you to ask yourself even this question.

What is the mission and the purpose of empowering the disciples here in Luke chapter 9?

What is Jesus' purpose here? What's he trying to accomplish? This is what he is trying to accomplish.

This is what he is doing by empowering the disciples so that they, the disciples, could proclaim the kingdom of God.

That is why he empowered them to be messengers, to be envoys, to be ambassadors of this kingdom.

I want you to write this in your notes if you haven't already. What is the mission and purpose of empowering the disciples so that they could proclaim the kingdom of God and to bring healing?

We live in a social media age and any kid with a

TikTok account is trying to learn how to go viral. Everyone wants to go viral.

Everybody wants that next big thing, wants to be that next, hit that next big wave, whether it's in finances and getting the right investments at the right time or whether it's making social media content that will go viral.

But I want to tell you this morning that there is a viral movement in the church and it's the kingdom of God.

Christianity is inherently a viral movement. It's bigger and it transcends political movements, religious movements.

It transcends national borders, time eras, religion and culture. God's kingdom transcends every single trend that comes in one day and is gone the next.

God's kingdom is truly viral in that it goes and penetrates even the human heart.

It transcends all cultures, all fads, all these things that are here one moment, gone the next.

God's kingdom transcends them all. Luke's gospel is pointing us towards this kingdom message, this gospel virality in that Jesus is this promised king of the

Jews and not only will he be the king of the Jews, his kingdom is actually otherworldly and reigns over every earthly kingdom and institution.

You see, Jesus' reign isn't just for a period of time, but it is indeed everlasting.

Those who have decided to follow Jesus and to be his disciples are given a message to preach, a message, a code to live by, and this is it.

This is what you are to do if you are a member of this viral movement called

Christianity. Your job, your responsibility is to preach the kingdom.

This is not the job of only the preacher. This is not the job only for the pastor.

This isn't the job only for the elders. This isn't the job only for the deacons. This is the job of every spirit -born -again believer.

If you are in Christ, you are indeed a new creation and you are a messenger of the new creation, the kingdom of God, and it is your responsibility as ambassadors of Christ to go before an unbelieving world and beg, implore, proclaim

God's message of reconciliation through the shed blood of the

King, Jesus Christ. This is your duty. This is your responsibility.

On that great day when you stand before him and you will be judged for the things done in the body, whether good or evil, it will be your account and your account alone by which you will stand, and you will have to say, why?

Why didn't you do what I asked you to do? You said you were a believer. You said you believed in me.

You said you adhered to these things. Why didn't you proclaim? You can't say, well, because I paid the pastor to do it for me.

You pay the pastor not so that he can be the Christian for you by proxy, but you pay the preacher so that he can implore you to do this very work alongside him.

The work of preaching is that which the Bible refers to as the work that we do together shoulder to shoulder, not that pastors are lords over your faith as it says in Scripture, but rather we are fellow workers for your joy.

We're to work shoulder to shoulder with you so that you too may be adequately equipped to be proclaimers of this kingdom.

Jesus gave his apostles. He gave his disciples power and authority so that they may proclaim this kingdom message, so they may demonstrate to the powers and principalities, both seen and unseen, that the king reigns, that this new king who is coming to the world is indeed the promised one of Israel and is indeed the one who shall inherit the nations.

And we today in this room are a living proof that Jesus is indeed reigning over the nations.

Because in this room, in this very building, under this very roof, there are those amongst us who are

Jew and Gentile, those amongst us who are from every tribe, every nation, every tongue.

Here in this room is a microcosm of God's kingdom, that Jesus is indeed ruling the nations.

Even now, there's an eschatological teaching that I believe is false and it misses the mark of Scripture that says that Jesus is yet to begun his rule, that we are waiting for a future enthronement of Jesus, maybe even literally in Jerusalem.

But I say unto you that Jesus is reigning now. He is king today, so much so that even when

John the Revelator sees the exalted Christ, he says he is the king of kings and Lord of lords, not just tomorrow but today and yesterday and forever.

He is even now ruling in the midst of his enemies and he is subduing them through the kingdom proclamation of the gospel.

Jesus reigns now. And that's the point of Luke chapter 9, verse 1 and 2.

He's demonstrating that he is ruling as king today and now, even then, by giving his disciples authority and power over sickness, over diseases, and over the spiritual powers of darkness.

There's a new sheriff in town, there's a new king in town, and it's Jesus Christ. Jesus is demonstrating again his power, the power that he has to go viral into the hearts of human beings, into the hearts of nations, and changing people from the inside out so that he may also bring healing in his wings.

Part of the ministry of the early church, of the early disciples, and of Jesus Christ himself is not only to proclaim the kingdom of God but also to bring healing.

Now, I believe that healing looks a little bit different for us today, but here's the point that I want to bring out that I think we can all be in agreement on, and it's this.

Where the people of God are, where the people of God gather, where the people of God exist, there should be healing.

There should be healing. Too often amongst ourselves in Christendom, maybe particularly here in the

United States, there is a view that the church does more harm than good, and maybe some of that is warranted because the church, even though Christ has endowed it with power and authority, we are still made up of imperfect human beings.

You and I, as great as we like to think of ourselves, we are still fallen products of Adam and Eve, and we're in need of grace, and we're in need of extending grace to one another.

What is important here, brothers and sisters, that we recognize who our master is, and our master is

Jesus, because men, the person sitting next to you, the pastor and the preacher that you're hearing this morning, will inevitably, because we are fallen, we will let you down.

We will let each other down. We'll sometimes even hurt each other, maybe on purpose or not on purpose, but we will let each other down, unfortunately, because we are still sinners.

But what separates Christianity and what should separate the church from maybe the disappointment that you'll see in the world, because it's not a matter if the world is a better choice because you think the world is also immune to these things, by no means.

It's even worse out there, but what should always bring us together is the tender, brotherly affection that we share in Jesus Christ, that in Jesus, we have this command, should your brother sin against you, how many times should

I forgive him? Seven times? No, seven times seven, all the times that is required for the glory of this gospel to go forward into the world.

When we sin against each other, when we fall, when we fail, let us give each other grace and space and be a place of healing.

God's people should be the place of healing, and this is the message that the disciples went and carried along with them.

They proclaim the kingdom of God and the power to heal. Whether that healing is literal or figurative today,

I think what we should focus on most is the healing that we can all share and have in common through faith in Jesus Christ.

First and foremost, spiritual healing, the healing of the infirmities of the soul, that the answer is truly the gospel, and also the healing of the tender affection of the brotherhood.

This is the key to Christian harmony. This is the key to peace even within the church.

Not that our eyes are fixed upon the preacher, but our eyes are fixed upon Christ, that our gaze is upon Christ perpetually, and that this kingdom message brings healing.

It inevitably brings healing wherever it goes. And so as kingdom proclaimers, as messengers of the kingdom of God, we should always have healing as our aim.

To see the nations healed is the eventual fruit of the tree of life that we see in the book of Revelation.

In Revelation, you see this final picture of this new heavens, new earth, and there's trees that are growing on each side of this river, this river being the river of life that's flowing from the very threshing floor of the throne room of God.

And the fruit that these trees produce is the healing of the nations. All things come in full circle.

All things come fully in this combination in Revelation chapter 22. And the healing of the nations is the gospel message.

It's this gospel message. So you have within your possession the fruit that will bring healing to the world.

There's conflict in the Middle East, there's conflict in Congress, there's conflict in our backyard, there's conflict maybe even in our homes.

What's the solution? What's the answer? It's the kingdom of God. It's the gospel message.

This is the answer that brings healing to the nations and to our lives.

In verse 3 and 4 of Luke 9, He said to them, take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money, and do not have two tunics.

And whatever house you enter, stay there and from there depart. What is

Jesus doing here? What is He accomplishing? What is He asking of His disciples? On the surface, it almost seems like Jesus is telling them not to be prepared.

But what He's actually doing is that He is preparing them in a unique way.

You see, the disciples were instructed to take nothing with them on their journey to demonstrate faith in action.

I want you to write this in the notes. The disciples were instructed to take nothing with them on their journey to demonstrate faith in action.

You see, the apostles had heard the preaching on the mount where Jesus challenges everyone to full dependence upon God.

And now He's sending them out, not just to hear it, but now to do it.

I want you to turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 6. Let's turn to that Sermon on the

Mount for a moment, in Matthew chapter 6. And in verse 25, it says,

Jesus says this in the Sermon on the Mount, therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on.

Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, they neither sow nor reap nor gather in the barns, yet your heavenly

Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you, by being anxious, can add a single hour to a span of life?

And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow, they neither toil nor spin.

Yet I tell you, even Solomon, all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But what if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you,

O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, what shall we eat?

What shall we drink? What shall we wear? For the Gentiles seek after all these things, but your heavenly

Father knows that you need them all. And this is the key. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Notice how Jesus preached these words, and as listeners, as hearers, we can hear them say, that sounds great.

That sounds wonderful, Jesus. It sounds almost too good to be true.

It sounds very idealistic. But what does Jesus do? He is, by the way, the grand rabbi, the great teacher.

He not only proclaims these things to His disciples, but now in Luke chapter 9 and Matthew chapter 10,

He is now giving His disciples an opportunity to put into practice the things that they had heard preached.

What does it look like to put the kingdom of God first, to proclaim the kingdom of God? Well, He goes on to say again,

Luke chapter 9, verse 3, take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money, and do not have two tunics.

All the things that cause earthly care and anxiety, for instance, where you're going, the things needed for travel, your bag, your bread, your food, your money, all these things are important for you to have sustenance, all these things that are valuable in order to get the job done.

He says, what is required of you most and foremost is to trust in the one who is sending you out, to trust in Christ, to trust in the master who sends you, and whatever house you enter, stay there and from there depart, demonstrating and giving the disciples an opportunity to live out this life of full dependence upon Christ.

He's wanting the disciples to live out the Sermon on the

Mount, to live out and demonstrate faith in action. This is what it looks like, friends, to have full trust, dependency upon God.

Where they were to depend upon God even for their next meal, for their needs, their earthly cares, all the things needed for the journey,

God would miraculously supply. Just as God asks

His ancient people, Israel, to walk by faith in that great wilderness and yet they constantly failed to meet up to that standard, they constantly murmured against Yahweh.

God is calling even you today to walk by faith. Did God not grant

His people in ancient times bread and manna from heaven? Did God not grant them sustenance and meet their every need?

So much more, He shall meet the need of His new covenant people. He shall meet the need that you and I have because of Christ and in Christ and for Christ and for the glory of Christ's message, the kingdom of God.

Trust in Him, depend upon Him. He is reliable. He goes on to say in Luke chapter 9 and verse 5, whatever and wherever they do not receive you when you leave that town, shake off the dust from your feet as a testimony against them.

Here's what I want you to know. Not everyone will respond favorably to our witness.

I want you to write this in the notes. Not everyone will respond to our witness, yet we must continue to be bold even in the face of rejection.

Now, if you're like me and if you're like anybody else, you probably don't like rejection.

Rejection doesn't feel good, yet it is an inevitable reality when preaching the gospel.

As a church, we've accomplished a great feat recently in knocking on every door in Lakewood Village community.

But, is it not true that of hundreds of doors, we receive more rejections than we did invitations?

Yes. Rejection is an inevitable part of our kingdom work.

It is not up to us whether someone accepts or reject. Our duty, our responsibility, our commission is to simply proclaim.

To proclaim the truth, but also to proclaim it in love. We do not want to add any more offense to this offensive gospel that says humankind is indeed inherently wicked and sinful and is in need of a savior.

We need to trust in Christ even in times of rejection.

Now, fear of rejection is one of the main reasons many believers are afraid to even share their faith, yet with the fear of God, we can overcome the fear of man.

So, the question for us will be this, will we be obedient to Christ regardless of the outcome?

We must have our spiritual priorities in proper order. You can fear man or you can fear

God, but you'd be hard pressed to fear them both. You must choose your fear.

Will you fear the one who is your creator, your maker, your owner, or will you fear man?

Whose rejection do you fear more, man's or God's? Church, may we fear

God and may the fear of the Lord be our stronghold. And may the fear of the

Lord be the beginning of wisdom and knowledge for God's elect. Fear Christ and obey him.

Have your spiritual priorities in proper order. Now church, in verse six, it says, and they departed and went through the villages preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.

You may ask yourself this question this morning, what is exactly the gospel? I've heard you say it,

I've heard Christians use this term often, but what is the gospel? The word gospel simply means good news, and the good news is this, that God in various times has spoken to us by the prophets, by his word.

But in these last days he has spoken to us by means of his son, who he brought into the world in the fullness of time, born of the

Virgin Mary, to live a holy, perfect, set apart life on our behalf, live a sinless life, never sinned, yet was treated and counted among sinful man.

And this man, Jesus Christ, the righteous one, lived perfectly, yet on account of the sinful nature of man and the seedfulness of man's heart, was counted among the unrighteous and was crucified among sinful men.

And upon that cross, this one, this Jesus, bled and died for you and for me.

This Jesus who preached about the coming kingdom, who said, behold, the kingdom of God is nigh it's near, was himself the one who ushered in this new kingdom reality.

And through his shed blood, he opened a new and a better way. But thanks be to God, the

Father, this Jesus did not stay in the tomb in which he was put in, but instead on the third day he rose again, demonstrating authority over death itself.

And he is now ascended and is seated at the right hand of God the Father, where he lives now today, interceding on our behalf.

And he has given us, the church, his spirit and his great commission to go ye therefore into all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the

Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, to teach them to observe all that he commanded.

For behold, this Jesus promised, he shall be with us even until the end of the age.

This is the kingdom message of Jesus. This is the good news, the life, death, burial, resurrection and ascension of our

King, Jesus Christ. That's the gospel. That's the message.

This is what we've been given, and this is what we are to proclaim. The great commission is the preaching of the gospel by the followers of Jesus.

This is your duty. This is your call. This is your job, and this is why the church has been given kingdom authority, is to proclaim the excellencies of him who called us out of darkness and into his marvelous light.

If you are a born -again Christian, that means you are under the dominion and lordship of Jesus, therefore under divine command and obligation to fulfill the great commission of Matthew chapter 28.

It isn't a great suggestion. These are indeed our marching orders.

It isn't simply for the clergy, but for all who profess the lordship of Jesus. Christianity is not a spectator sport.

It requires your participation in expanding this kingdom of God. And this is not figurative.

This is not a figurative kingdom. This is a real, true, vibrant kingdom of which you and I are members of.

All believers, therefore, must be heralds, ambassadors, preachers of Christ and his kingdom.

Now as a pastor over the several years, I've heard many objections to a message like this, one of them being something akin to this.

People say, pastor, that's not my calling. That's not my calling.

I'm not called. I'm not equipped to be a preacher. I'm not called or equipped to share my faith.

Well, that is true if you're not a Christian. If you're not a

Christian, then surely it's not what you've been called to. But if you are a

Christian, you have surely been called to this work. And if he didn't call you, then you're not a

Christian. Another objection I've heard is, pastor,

I'm just, I'm too shy. Well, let me admit this. I'm also fairly shy, naturally an introvert.

I don't necessarily do well in large gatherings or in large places. I'm easily intimidated to some degree.

That may be a surprise to you, but that is my natural inclination. But you know what makes me bold?

Is it my oratory skill? Is it my seminary training? It's the gospel.

The gospel makes me bold. You know why? Because a lot of things in life that I'm unsure about, there's a lot of things about the world that I'm not totally sold on or know everything about.

But you know one thing I know? It's the gospel. And I'm sure of it. And because I'm sure of it,

I know I have this boldness in Jesus to proclaim this to be true because you know what?

The good news is that this is true. All of it, it's true.

Therefore I can boldly stand before you as a proclaimer of this gospel and of this message because this book is true.

So if you're shy, so am I. I'm an introvert. And as Moses and other naturally timid individuals throughout the narrative of the

Bible have demonstrated, God gives boldness and the boldness necessary to do his work.

The third thing I've heard as a pastor often as a response to this teaching, they say,

I'm not equipped to tell others about Jesus. Now of all the complaints, this is the most legitimate objection because tragically in many circles, it's true and it's the fault of the church.

People aren't properly taught how to share their faith.

Poor discipleship and lack of Bible training and education has created weak, ineffective and theologically ignorant

Christians. How can we rectify this issue and make fruitful and effective disciples?

Well church, we first start by going back to basics and going to the source, which is the word of God.

We must teach it. We must preach it. We must proclaim it. But then we also must put it into practice.

Notice what Jesus did. He preached the great sermon of the mount. He preached a great message of dependence upon God.

And then what does he do? He provides opportunity for his disciples to actually live it out. Here we want to do likewise.

We want to teach and preach the word of God and the whole counsel of God. And then we want to give you opportunities to exercise these things and to exercise this kingdom work and authority.

Therefore church, if you want to be a Christian who loves the word and who lives it out, you're in the right place.

And if you're a person who has not dedicated their lives to this gospel work or to a local church, we invite you to do so now.

Because I promise you this, there is no greater work under heaven than this work of being a messenger, an ambassador, a proclaimer of the kingdom of God.

This is the most exciting work under heaven that you can be a part of. Greater than any political cause, greater than any entrepreneurial cause, this is indeed the greatest work among men and under heaven.

Therefore, come and be part of this kingdom work and come under the kingdom authority of Jesus Christ.

With that, let me pray. Lord Jesus, we thank you that you are indeed the great ambassador who came at the right time in human history under the perfect and eternal plan of the

Father in the fullness of time to be born of the Virgin, to live the life that we could not live to that depth that we deserved so that through faith in you and by your shed blood, you may make all things new and bring us into perfect fellowship with the triune

God and give us peace, peace with God and peace with one another. Lord, we thank you for this gospel, for this good news that you have given us that is true, that is alive in us.

Give us now boldness, supernatural boldness as your people through your spirit to proclaim the excellencies of your grace.

Truly, Lord Jesus, your grace is sufficient. Lord, may we not take for granted these things and these truths and help us,

Father, and help us to proclaim these things and to live it out in a way that is authentic, in a way that draws glory and attention to Jesus Christ.

Lord, we thank you even when we fall short that we are reminded that this power is not from us, it is not intrinsic to our humanity, but rather it comes from above.

Help us, Lord, to not only hear the word, but to put it into practice so that we may not deceive ourselves, but Lord, that we bring joy to our

Father who art in heaven, our true master and the hope that lies within us.

We pray these things unto the glory of the Son, Jesus Christ, to whom be glory.