.gif)
Higher Authority (Part 1) | Pr. Samson Mathew. I English Message.
the book of acts
greet you all in the name of our lord and savior jesus christ uh this is the first worship english worship service this year of 2022 we
welcome you all those who have come here and all those who have joined in this platform in the name of christ jesus this is being broadcasted and this worship service
is being held in mumbai india the previous two sundays we could not hold english services because of certain restrictions and of certain lack of resources because of the
governmental controls in the state because of the raging pandemic but right now it's slightly opened up we thank god for the time that god's giving us this morning as we are
in god's presence the spirit of god has put in my heart to minister in the month of january 2022 in the english church on the topic of
higher authority higher authority can we rediverse from the scripture the gospel according to sorry i'm so sorry i'm so sorry the book of acts the book of acts i know i am on the live platform i'm so sorry the book of acts chapter 9 the book of acts
chapter nine verse one and two it says like this meanwhile i read it from the new international version meanwhile saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the lord's disciples he went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues
in damascus so that if he found any there who belongs to the way whether men or women he might take them as prisoners to jerusalem saul was a jew an israelite born
and brought up in tarsus studied under the tutorship of gamaliel a phrase and a roman citizen by birth that's all and he was so
zealous for the things he understood from the law before coming into saul let me just give you a background of this israelites
abraham he came to canon he stayed there and then after a period of time his uh the generations after abraham rather after the third the fourth generations went from
cannon to egypt because of certain circumstances and they were held captive there or rather they were under slavery there after 430 years moses rose up
delivered the israelites from the yoke of captivity through the slavery brought them out of egypt through the journey in
wilderness of 40 years crossing red sea crossing river jordan they came to the land of canon and they they started staying there in the land of canon and they stayed there in the land in that particular land for a long
time but as the time progressed they started you know worshipping other gods many a time god the father jehovah god yahweh god send them warnings told them send them
prophets do not worship other gods but they kept on disobeying the prophets of the lord and ultimately what happened was that during the time of nebuchadnezzar that's an entire king he came up he came from
babylon conquered israel and god allowed that to happen as a punishment for the disobedience that israelites had done that's committed and they were they were
scattered all across in fact they were taken captives the city was burned down that temple was destroyed and israelites for 70 years they were not occupying the land of cannon the land of palestine or rather the land of canon after 70 years under the
leadership of israel and all those figures israelites slowly started coming back to the land of canaan and they built a temple over there and even after coming back to
the land of canon even after coming back to the land of canon the entire jewish diaspora or the entire jewish population the entire
israelites they did not come back only a few of them came back and occupied the land of palestine or light of canaan a vast majority was still staying outside the land of israel
outside the land of canaan and that was the circumstance when jesus was born that was a situation when jesus was born into this earth there is a group of people in israel
living under palestine under the roman uh under the roman leadership but the majority of israelites they were living elsewhere now there was a discrimination between those jews between those israelites living inside
palestine or inside the land of canon and with the other jews living outside the land of israel there was a discrimination that the jews living within israel within palestine
within canaanites within the land of canon at that time the entire land of canon was not under their control only the palestine area palestine that was under them with them so the jews living in palestine they consider the other jews they are called the hellenistic
jews who who resides outside the country outside the area of israel slightly lower in grain when you read the book of acts this book of acts chapter 2 we understand we
find that the day of pentecost and during the celebrations the foreign the jews staying outside israel they are all gathered to
celebrate the feast of pentecost they used to come and then they used to go back now during the time of jesus christ the jews residing in palestine occupying the land of palestine they considered themselves
superior and the hellenistic jews the jews who were residing outside palestine they were considered slightly inferior and then there are a third group of people slightly down on the hierarchy not gentiles the
gentiles who have believed on god of the god of israel and they are called in the bible god fearers lot many times sam say all those who fear the lord all god fearers that doesn't mean abortion that that doesn't imply
israelites they mean those god those gentiles who have trusted god and have started living as a jew according to the customs and traditions laid down in the in the old
testament so the hellenistic jews in fact the hellenistic jews the jews who were residing outside they had a different synagogue they had different synagogue maybe they were not permitted or they were not allowed i
don't know it's not clearly defined but still there was a different synagogue for the jews who were staying outside of israel that's what's written in the uh in the sixth chapter of acts chapter 6 and verse 9 it says
opposition arose over from the however from the members of the synagogue of the freedmen as it was called jews of irene and alexandria as well as the provinces of cilicia and asia so these jews who are staying
outside they were having a different synagogue a synagogue it is called the synagogue of freedmen the synagogue of jews residing outside israel now saul coming back to saul saul is not born and bought up
in uh in palestine in fact he himself says i am from tarsus tarsus and when opposition arose for the first time in jerusalem the very beginning of his ministry that disciples sent him back to his homeland of tarsus so paul i
mean saul paul was a name which was given to him later on saul was not a jew born and brought up in palestine he was a member of the freedmen synagogue and that is why stephen was being stoned by the members of the freedom and synagogue as we read the book of chapter i mean the
chapter six of the book of acts chapter six chapter seven and the first two verses chapter eight these synagogue members stoned stephen and paul being a member of
this synagogue paul just because of the fact saul just because of the fact that he was born and brought up in tarsus and being a member of this synagogue he gave
permission he gave authority for stephen to be killed that's what in the in the chapter eight of the book of acts the first verse says like this and saul approved of their killing stephen killing him it was not in the other synagogue it was in the synagogue of
freedmen of which saul is a member and saul approved the killing higher authority higher now we need to understand something soul is having authority saul is having authority in the free man's
synagogue saul is having he can approve he can disapprove he can permit he can prohibit he can you know he can say yes he
can say no because he is having authority in this particular synagogue this is where he belongs to this is where from he derives his authority paul is having authority in
freedman's even inaudible i say paul or saul both are one at the same time saul was the first name and and the name paul was given to him or rather he utilized he started using the name paul when he became a
member of the church of jesus christ so saul he has got knowledge he is zealous for the law he has got so many understanding about the old testament rituals traditions doctrines saul has got so much of knowledge
education according to the old testament pattern which says yahweh god how to worship him and saul considered jesus the way those day those days it was not called christians it was called members of the way
way so saul considered members of the way to be enemies of the old testament he could not understand it he did not believe that jesus rose from the dead he did not understand he did not acknowledge that
jesus was the son of the living god he did not understand he did not believe that jesus was the messiah so he was having knowledge according to what he had learned so when he did not understand when he did not acknowledge when he did not uh uh
believe in jesus christ and when he saw the old testament pattern is being disrupted and when he saw that many jews were now becoming part of the wave he wanted somehow to destroy the newfound the
church or what you call the new found way with jesus christ somehow he wanted to destroy that because based on his knowledge based on his understanding he wanted to do something now the parameters of his authority is restricted to the freedmen's
synagogue but the christian church the followers of jesus christ are not restricted to the freedmen synagogue now they are all elsewhere they are in the other synagogues as well they have they are in samaria they
are in damascus they are in anti i mean they might not have been anti-yoke but then they were scattered elsewhere so paul if they were in free trans synagogue paul has got
the authority to destroy them restrict them persecute them torture them do anything what he wants but since they are not a part of this particular synagogue and they are not in the land of palestine paul is not having
saul is not having authority what you call to enhance what you believe in the other areas where the followers of the way are found so
what did paul do what it's all do but it's all so what he did he went to those people who are having authority he went to those people who can give him permission and took their authority he tried to get delegation delegate i mean he tried to get the delegated authority from those who are having authority so
when paul is all understood there are followers of the way in damascus there are christians there are people who follow jesus christ in damascus and he wants somehow to destroy them somehow to persecute them
and i am not having authority but there is somebody who is having authority and he found out the high priests they are having authority so what did saul do saul went to the high priest that's what it's mentioned in the reverse the key verse we read
meanwhile saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the lord's disciples he went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues of damascus because his level of is restricted to the freedmen's authority treatment
synagogue he cannot go and you know do whatever he likes in the synagogues of damascus so the person who is having authority over the land of over the
synagogues of damascus is the high priest so when paul when saul wanted to do something what did he do he went to the high priest and got the delegate authority that is why it is written he asked for letters
to the synagogues of damascus so that if he found anyone belonging to the way whether men or woman he might take them as prisoners to jerusalem or saul if he goes
alone nobody will nobody will acknowledge him nobody will obey him nobody he cannot take anyone as prisoners but then since he has got the delegated authority
since he has got the delegated authority by way of letters what it's all do solvent to damascus now saul is going to damascus he's on the horseback going to the damascus with a letter secured i hope
everyone is here with the letter secured and he is traveling on the house back to damascus but en route end route to
damascus saul understood something it's all understood you know what it's all understand saul understood that i am having authority the delegated authority from the high priest
but there is someone having higher authority there is someone having a higher authority than the authority i possess that that there is someone on the way he
encountered the presence of the lord and he understood something i am having authority in freedman
citadel the high priestess having authority maybe over all the synagogues but there is someone more than the high priest he is having authority he is having authority that is why paul asks
in the fifth verse of chapter nine who are you lord who are you lord i i know my authority the levels of my authority i know the authority the authority levels i don't
know the authority level of you who are you lord who are you lord you know jesus once said in the in the gospel of luke it's
mentioned the gospel of luke chapter 11 and verses 21 to 22 it says like this when a strong man fully armed guards his own house his
possessions are safe but some when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up his splendor
what does that mean there is a strong man there is a person with authority there is a person with power with strength but then when a stronger man comes more than the strength that this strong man is having he overpowers him that's exactly what
happened here that is exactly what happened here paul was a strong man armed with a delegated authority but a
stronger person a stronger power a stronger authority came down to saul and told us all so look you might be having authority but there is someone else who is having more
authority than the authority you possess you know soul understood one thing as jesus said it's all understood something that the authority i am having can kill the body but the one with the greater authority can keep the body and the soul with the authority i
am having i can persecute the church with the authority i am having i can make the life miserable for the followers of the way but then i cannot kill the spirit because because there is someone with more authority in
control of your spirits are you all here this morning are you afraid are you scared of people in authority of course you need to respect them but then there is someone there is someone with higher authority
every authority in this world is subject to the higher authority that is why you know uh paul says i went with the delegated authority the letters of the high priest to persecute the followers of the way in
damascus now when he comes to the epistle to galatians paul writes like this it's really you know it's really thought worthy galatians chapter one and verse one paul and apostle sent not from men nor by a man but by jesus christ when he was going to
damascus he was sent by a man when he was on the way to damascus he was going on the authority of a man but now he is not going with the authority of a man rather he is going by the authority of jesus christ hallelujah the the one with the higher
authority and the one with the higher authority gave him a mandate and that's written in the first chapter of galatians 16 i mean
chapter 1 verse 16 galatians chapter 1 verse 16 the mandate that god gave saul was to reveal his son in me so that i might preach him among the gentiles that was that was the mandate given by based on his
knowledge he took authority from the high priest but when the higher authority manifested himself to him himself to us all the higher authority gave him a fresh
mandate a fresh family it was not limited according to the knowledge he was having it was it was it was infinite or rather it was it was it could be extended according to the knowledge that god is having and what
happened when the higher authority gave him a mandate verse 16 continues like this my immediate response was not to consult any human being when he was having small authority when he was having limited
authority he went and consulted the high priest he secured the delegate their authority he got the delegated authority but when the higher authority gave him a mandate he says i did not consult any human beings because
they don't understand the higher authority this morning church all those people who are tuning in listening to this message if the higher authority
has given you a mandate do not confer with flesh and blood they will not understand the mandate that god has given you because
because because you know they were having i mean their happiness disciples understand but their level of authority is not as per the level of the highest authority jesus said i need to wind up in half an hour it's one of the resolutions i've made we are having only 30 minutes rather local
churches we are having more time but then i wouldn't want to go beyond a stipulated time jesus said in the gospel of matthew
chapter 28 and verse 18 it says like this then jesus came to them and said all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me so you are having authority high priest you are having authority but jesus says i am having all authority all authority and the way high priest delegated the authority jesus
delegated the authority all authority in heaven and earth has been given to me therefore you go i give you the authority delegate we are in this earth in this world in this globe with a delegated authority the authority of the highest order and what happened in the gospel of mark the last
chapter chapter 16 and the last verse verse 26 like this then the disciples went out and twisted everywhere and the lord worked with them gospel of matthew chapter last verse says i shall be with you you know you should understand something high priest they gave the letters of the authority and
saul went along but here jesus gave the authority and he said i am with you till the end of the age the one who gives the authority he accompanies you and when he accompanies you he does what you preach
it's not like the authority the world gives you amen philippians chapter 2 and verse 9 says jesus is exalted we will read that the book of uh the episode of philippians chapter two and verse nine it says like this therefore god exalted him to the highest
place the highest authority and it is it doesn't stop there when we come to the book of the episode ephesians chapter 2 and the book of ephesians chapter 2 and verse 6 it says like this and god raised up us with christ and seated us with him in the
heavenly relevance where is jesus now in the highest position and where am i now i too i am seated with jesus in the highest position church be excited this morning church you are having the authority the highest authority you are having the
authority more than any king any president any prime minister of course i respect the prime minister i respect the president i respect those in authority but i understand something my god is above all the
authorities and i am seated with him and just because i am sitting with him i have got that authority delegated with me and he accomplished me this morning the highest authority higher authority all the authorities in this world isaiah chapter 6 verse 1 says in the year when usaid died the authorities in
this land may come and go in the year um i saw the lord sitting on the throne what does that indicate the kings the the kings the ruling authorities they come they grow but
then the one on the throne about the highest authority he's on the throne from everlasting do you want authority do you want to
become a part of the group which is having authority accept jesus christ as your lord and savior he died for you he was buried for you he rose up for you so that he that you and i you and i could possess the same authority that he is having he wants to share the
eternal life with us and he's coming back again to rule the world he's coming back again to take us to the place where he is living can we bow down our heads in prayer this morning wherever we are this morning all this week always remember we are
God bless you
Umn ministry Chennai
.gif)
.gif)
.gif)
