Listen! He speaks with authority

[0:00] Will we turn please to Matthew chapter 4. Listen to Jesus.

[0:13] He speaks with authority. That's Matthew's message to us here in these verses. I don't think it would be too much to say that there is mere total ignorance in our culture today about what the Christian message is really all about.

[0:33] And in large part, tragically, it must be said, that that is because of the staggering ignorance, whether it's willful or otherwise, the staggering ignorance about the Christian message that there is within the professing church of Jesus Christ.

[0:51] At our presbytery meeting this week, I very much doubt that if any apostle had been present in the audience, he would have recognized anything really specifically Christian at all about what was going on.

[1:07] Apart from the very beginning when we had the lovely testimony of an aged minister, Sandy Walker, who was celebrating his 50 years' ordination, and spoke warmly of the meaning of the gospel to him throughout his life and ministry.

[1:23] But apart from that, really, there was very little. I think if any Muslim or Sikh or Hindu had come into that meeting, they would have thought, with great reason, that while he was nothing more than a well-meaning, if rather feeble bunch of do-gooders, with a general message about being nice to everybody, not offending anybody, let's all getting together to march about third world debt, let's talk about this year as being a year of opportunity, as though Gordon Brown was the great saviour of the human race, and Tony Blair with him, with the great hope of our salvation.

[2:04] I don't say that to deprecate these men, but really there's a rather laughable naivety about all of that. But it's not even that, it's the fact that the consequent neglect of what the Christian message is really about, in all of that kind of talk, is so very damaging for the gospel of Jesus Christ in our church today.

[2:30] every distraction that leads us away from what the gospel is really about, from what's really true, is culpable, because it shuts people out from the greatest need that they have, the greatest need of all people in every culture, in all time, and that is to hear and respond to the gospel of the kingdom of God, the gospel of Jesus Christ.

[3:02] To bow the knee to the one great authority, the great king himself, Jesus Christ. Well, we must be very thankful then, that there are places that we can turn to hear about what the gospel really is all about, and Matthew's gospel is pre-eminently the gospel of the king.

[3:20] We've been seeing that already, haven't we, in our studies. He's the king of the ages, established by God. Look at him. That's what Matthew says. And he has his kingdom, so listen to him.

[3:31] Listen to him explain what it's all about. Listen to him telling us about his own kingdom, about how it's established in his decisive work, once and for all in history, and about what it means for us, what it means to respond to the message of the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ, now, in our own personal lives, in our own present day history.

[3:58] Now that's a message that the professing church desperately needs to relearn today. It's the message, and it's the only real message of importance for anybody living in Glasgow today, or living in Scotland today, or living in any part of the world today.

[4:13] It's the only thing that really matters. Whether you're from a Christian background, or whether you might be from a Jewish background, that's who Matthew was originally writing to, or whether perhaps you're a Hindu, or a Muslim, or a Sikh, or whatever you may be, let me tell you, Matthew is saying the only thing that really matters is that you understand the meaning of the gospel of the King, Jesus Christ.

[4:40] So what about Matthew's story? Well, in chapter 1 and 2, we've seen that he's introduced us to this King. He's talked about his birth. He's told us that his birth was in fulfilment of all things in the past, the law and the prophets.

[4:53] He's told us that his birth fulfills the promise way, way back in the beginning to Abraham. So if you're a Jew, it's important for you. The promise to Abraham that he would bless all the nations of the earth through him and his seed.

[5:08] He's promised that it's the fulfilment to the promise to David, that there would at last be one great shepherd king who would rule over God's people forever and ever. And in chapter 3, he's shown us the preparation for his coming.

[5:23] He's shown us the great confrontation that takes place when Jesus is made known. He explains the significance of what kind of king he's going to be, what his reign really means.

[5:34] John's message, remember, was repent. The day of the Lord is here. It's the day of judgment. That's what Jesus' coming means. But then, he also shouts, look!

[5:48] Look! Although you are everything you can never be, although you are nothing that you ought to be, you must repent in fear at the coming of this judgment. Nevertheless, look at him.

[5:58] He is, he's everything you could never be. And he is that for you. He stands in your place for sin at his baptism. He stands in your place through his trying and testing in the wilderness and he comes forth victorious and triumphant.

[6:17] And that's for you too. He's in your place for sins. He's in your place for holiness. So look to him. That's what it means to say he came to save his people from their sins.

[6:31] He came as a substitute for sin. He came also as a representative of the righteousness you couldn't have. But now you see in verse 12 of chapter 4 having paved the way by introducing us to Jesus as king, now he's saying listen.

[6:52] Listen to the king himself. Listen as the king himself begins to teach us about his kingdom. He now must be the final authority. He alone is the one who explains what it's all about.

[7:06] Not Moses any longer. Not any other prophets any longer. Not even John the Baptist, the greatest of the prophets. Listen to him. He's the king and he must tell us about his kingdom.

[7:20] So if you want to know about the Christian gospel, if you want to know about Christ and his kingdom, what it all means, if you want to know what the true message is about, Matthew says listen to him.

[7:30] And when people in the church want to make the focus of the Christian message all about earthly things, all about economic things, or politics, or social matters, that's because they're not listening to Jesus explaining what his kingdom is really about.

[7:54] That's not to say, of course, the church has nothing to say on these matters. Clearly, of course, it does. There are many things through the scriptures that can be said. But, these things are not the gospel of the kingdom.

[8:09] These things are not ever the primary focus of the church's task, which is to proclaim the gospel of the kingdom. Remember, in Jesus' temptation, the very things he resisted was to make his mission a mission of the material, of the social, of the political.

[8:30] No! As if God's people were called to achieve his purposes by the means of this world. No! No, we must listen to Jesus' explanation of the kingdom of heaven.

[8:44] And that's what the whole of the rest of Matthew's gospel is all about. Explaining, Jesus himself, explaining what his gospel is all about. He comes to do two things. He comes, first of all, to establish his kingdom, to inaugurate it, to bring it into being, in history.

[8:59] And that's why Matthew accords the events of Jesus' life. And those events, let it be said, are all focused and emphasized towards the end of his life. Almost everything goes into that last week of Jesus' life.

[9:12] The whole climax, the focus of the events of his life is his death and his resurrection. Only on the cross in Matthew's gospel does Jesus receive a crown, a crown of thorns.

[9:24] Only on the cross is it openly proclaimed, this is the king above his head. Jesus comes to establish, to bring in his kingdom and he does it through his work on the cross.

[9:39] But secondly, in Matthew's gospel, the mission is to explain in Jesus' teaching the significance of his kingdom, how it comes to be through his work on the cross, but also what it means to be in it.

[9:53] Also, how we're to respond to it. And together, those two things are what make it into a gospel. Remember we've said the events plus the explanation makes it revelation.

[10:10] The events of God, the work of God in history and his own definitive authoritative explanation of it, that's what makes it the revelation of God to us.

[10:21] So Matthew's message is authoritative because it comes to us already interpreted by Jesus. Because he records for us Jesus' own interpretation of what he's doing and what his kingdom is all about.

[10:38] And so in this final part of chapter 4 that we're looking at today, we begin to see Matthew introducing the whole of the rest of what follows. He's unfolding Jesus' mission and his teaching. And what he's doing here is drawing our attention to the authority of Jesus as the teacher of the kingdom.

[10:56] Listen, he says, listen to this man. Listen to him because he speaks with authority. He is the full authority, the final, the ultimate authority because he's from God himself.

[11:10] And that's his message simply in these three sections this morning. each one of them flags up the authority of Jesus as the Messiah, as the king, as the one who alone can explain the meaning of history.

[11:25] Let's look at the first section then, verses 12 to 17. And Matthew's message here is that scripture itself authenticates Jesus' authority. Matthew's pointing us to the place and the manner of Jesus' public ministry in order to proclaim to all Israel and to proclaim to the world the authority of Jesus as God's messianic king, as his Messiah, as the one who has come at last in accordance to promise.

[11:55] And he points us to scripture as the great authenticator of his authority. Verse 12 tells us two important things. First of all, it tells us that this happened after John's arrest.

[12:06] Christ. We already know that John was the preparer of the way, the Elijah who was to come just before the day of the Lord, just before God himself appeared on earth.

[12:20] And now we're told in verse 12 his ministry is over. And therefore it must be time, mustn't it, for the kingdom to begin in power. Do you remember we read in chapter 11, don't look it up, but chapter 11 verse 12 Jesus said, all the prophets of the law prophesied until John.

[12:40] And since then the kingdom has been forcefully advancing. And what Matthew is doing here in verse 12 is signalling that change. Everything before John has now passed.

[12:52] Now the kingdom is beginning. Second thing that we note there in verse 12 is that Jesus we're told withdraws to begin this ministry.

[13:03] He withdraws from Judea to Galilee verse 12 and from Nazareth his hometown to Capernaum verse 13. That word withdraws is interesting.

[13:14] It's used a number of times in Matthew's gospel always in response to the hostility that arises to Jesus' message. It's not that Jesus is withdrawing in fear but it's that he's withdrawing in judgment.

[13:27] he confronts God's people with his person. And all the way through the gospel we find that the official representatives of Israel the nation are against him they oppose him and they reject him.

[13:48] And yet it's the wonderful mysterious providence of God that somehow it's in this very rejection of the Messiah by Israel by God's own people it's in this very rejection of their saviour that salvation comes to all the nations to the whole world.

[14:09] the great mystery that takes Paul up in Romans chapters 9 to 11. But that's what Matthew's flagging up for us here you see Jesus is already even at this beginning being rejected by his own people he's going from Judea to Galilee of the Gentiles he's being rejected from his own town he's going to Capernaum and that signifies you see the beginning of God's salvation going out way beyond Israel to all the peoples of the earth to all the nations that's why he makes a point of quoting this prophecy and you see verse 15 Galilee of the Gentiles and what Matthew's saying is it's not that Jesus is running away it's not that Jesus being rejected somehow or other is a failure no this is all according to the plan of God was prophesied in scripture this happened verse 14 so that what was spoken of the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled remember we've seen that again and again through Matthew chapter 2 what's fulfilled well the very words that we read in Isaiah chapter 9 that the gloom and the darkness would be dispelled that in the latter days the latter time the light would shine upon the people walking in darkness how?

[15:32] well because of the child who would be born the child who would be wonderful counselor mighty God everlasting father the one who would have all authority the one whose kingdom would never end the one who would be established forever and ever and ever you see Matthew saying well here he is now Jesus of Nazareth that's him it's all in fulfillment of scripture he was born in fulfillment of scripture he was tested and came out as gold in fulfillment of scripture and now his rule is beginning all in fulfillment of the prophetic scriptures scripture itself you see authenticates Jesus Christ as the one who has authority he will rule forever and so you see from verse 17 from that time on Jesus himself begins to proclaim to herald his kingdom and notice that his gospel his message in verse 17 is exactly the same as John the Baptist repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand same as

[16:45] John's message in chapter 3 verse 2 very important that you see because Jesus' gospel the New Testament gospel is the same as the Old Testament gospel the same as the prophets gospel no difference calling people to repent because the day of the Lord the day of judgment is upon us not anything different from what went before but but there is something new do you remember Matthew's saying the whole gospel he's presenting is continuous with the Old Testament but it's also the climax it's what everything was pointing to for John the Baptist you see and for all the Old Testament prophets the day of the Lord the latter days the day of judgment was to them one great day of all the same thing it was the day of vindication of God's people and the day of judgment punishment of his enemies they saw it all as one great future event the latter day the day of the Lord but now you see with Jesus coming something new is being revealed there's a greater clarity it's rather like when you're hill walking and you see a mountain range in the distance and it just seems to be one great mountain and the contour is just single but as you get closer and closer you begin to see there's definition there's more than one peak there's valleys in between as you get closer still you discover that there's a great gap between where you are and the final peak and that's just exactly what's happening here you see because only when you come right up close to the fulfillment of these prophecies can you see with absolute clarity and Jesus message was that this day of the

[18:28] Lord that you've been longing for well it's going to be a much longer day than you expected it's beginning now sure it's inaugurating it's starting right now with my coming but in the mercy of God it's going to be a day that extends it's going to be a day of great salvation and during the extension of this day the salvation of God is going to go out to all the nations of the earth it's the day of fulfillment that's been promised all along when the promise to Abraham that all the world should be blessed through him is going to come true it's going to happen through Christ's redeeming work on the cross and it's going to happen through the proclamation of that redeeming work to every tribe and tongue and people and nation and it's crucial that we grasp this because it's one of the biggest issues that

[19:28] Jesus had to deal with in his teaching in the New Testament that his kingdom would be established and begun now but not yet consummated and complete until the last of the last days when he will come to reign and even his disciples find that very very hard just as today people find it very hard you see don't you find people saying that well if Jesus was victorious on the cross as you say he was and conquered sin and evil well why is the world as it is why are we facing wars and famines and droughts and strife if what you say is right and Jesus conquered sin and satan and all evil on the cross why am I still a sinner why can't I still not not sin and the answer is you see because the day of the Lord has begun but not yet ended we've got to grasp that we must grasp that otherwise otherwise we're very likely to despair in our

[20:35] Christian life we're very likely to fall prey to the kind of deceptive teaching that wants to offer us things which are not on offer until Christ comes again even John the Baptist found that hard to grasp in Matthew 11 when he comes to Jesus or sends his disciples and says are you really the one who is to come why was he doubting well because there was no judgment if the day of the Lord had begun why was he in prison why haven't God vindicated all his people and judged his enemies and you see Jesus has to devote much of his teaching in the gospels to explaining exactly that when we come to Matthew chapter 13 the parables of the kingdom you see all of those parables are saying look it doesn't look like much now there's coming a day when it will all be revealed now it just looks like a little mustard seed but there will come a day when we see it taken over the earth now it might seem to the world that finding

[21:44] Christ and his kingdom is of no value at all it's just a little thing it's pathetic but there will come a day when it will be revealed that it's the pearl of great price in chapter 24 he talks about the coming of his kingdom finally and he says the day of the proclamation of his kingdom to our world has begun but it's only going to be complete when the end comes by the way if we long for the coming of the Lord Jesus if we long for the work of his gospel to increase if we long for the world to be as it ought to be the apostle Peter tells us don't just sit there do something about it speed its coming by proclaiming that message through the earth Jesus says in Matthew chapter 24 that the gospel of the kingdom must be proclaimed to all nations and only then can the end come so you see right at the outset of his ministry

[22:47] Matthew is telling us listen to Jesus scripture authenticates his authority this is the beginning of the end this is the beginning of the latter days that all the prophets promised and Jesus himself begins to proclaim to herald his kingdom verse 17 it's very interesting that word herald I looked up the theological dictionary of the new testament and it says something very interesting the response the response being looked for from a herald is not comprehension alone it's faith Jesus you see isn't coming along presenting just a teaching just a philosophy to be thought about he's got a message and it's a message that calls for repentance it's a message that calls for faith for discipleship the gospel you see is not just an offer not just something to be considered the gospel is a command must be obeyed kings don't come along and make feeble requests and say give us a chance would you no kings come along and they issue a decree the issue of a royal summon that brings us to the second section you see which tells us more about

[24:09] Jesus' authority tells us that Jesus authoritative summons to people to follow him authenticates his ministry and his authority Matthew pointing to the power of the word of Jesus summons to say to us look this man has authority to call people into the kingdom if this is the beginning of the rule of the Messiah King if this is the beginning of these latter days that have been promised well what does that mean what exactly does it mean that the light begins to shine in the darkness what was the prophet talking about well according to Isaiah and we read on and read these words what that means is the beginning of the drawing together from all the corners of the earth of God's people the reunification into one into his holy redeemed people forever and ever the root of Jesse will stand as a signal for the peoples we read but him shall the nations inquire his name will be exalted among all the peoples of the earth and Matthew says that's what's beginning here do you see he's started to call his people he has the

[25:22] Messiah calling his subject into his kingdom notice several things in this little section see how deliberately inclusive Jesus mission is he begins it in Galilee Galilee of the Gentiles it's further emphasised by the names of these men they've got Greek names Andrew is a Greek name Simon is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Simeon in other words Jesus begins his mission in an area that's mixed culturally and ethnically it is the deliberate purpose of Jesus call it's not just follow me it's not just a call to obedience and obedience is the evidence of true faith it's not just that it's follow me and join in my messianic mission you see Jesus calls them to be fishers of men to belong to Jesus he's saying means that the concerns the priorities of the kingdom of God totally overtake all other things now even good things verse 20 you see they left their nets they left their livelihoods their careers their financial security verse 22 they left their boots left their father the social and family security their very identity and that's implicit in

[26:49] Jesus command you see he's saying follow me or follow these other things but now that I've called you it can't be both maybe nothing wrong with these things at all per se of course there isn't but once Jesus has called you to choose then to choose these other things above his call means that you are making those things into gods and idols that you're worshipping instead of him see most important of all verse 19 he's calling them to be fishers of men that's because the kingdom age is all about gathering people into the kingdom and he's calling every member of his kingdom to be part of that task it's a rescue mission it's literally fishing people out of the sea of judgment chapter 13 he tells a parable about that the kingdom of heaven is like a net going down and pulling up fish and the last day will be a day of sorting notice

[27:53] Jesus isn't saying to these men I need some fishermen and I need a lot of spectators to watch he's saying to them you see this is discipleship true disciples make disciples Christianity according to Jesus you see is not a spectator sport just worth us pausing for thought here just thinking about that all the way through the gospel you see Matthew is really implicitly posing us a question he's saying are you really a disciple of Jesus and his challenge is really very searching much more searching than I like much more searching I suspect than many of us like the end of the sermon on the mountain chapter 7 he says something very very striking not all who say to me Lord Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven

[28:53] Matthew 7 verse I think it's 21 who will those who do the will of my father in heaven now it's not just the heroes of the word but the doers those are the people who are like the wise men who built their house on the rock very very shocking isn't it what Jesus says is you could have sung worship songs about me all your life Lord Lord or if it's a modern song it would be Lord Lord Lord Lord Lord Lord Lord Lord Lord Lord you can have sung those all your life and he won't just say on the last day I have no idea who you are he'll say depart from me you workers of iniquity isn't that shocking not having a tilt against worship songs or hymns any kind of lip service to Jesus he says you can prophesy in my name you can preach the gospel in my name you can cast out demons you can do mighty works you can have a spectacular ministry and at the last day

[30:06] Jesus might say I have no idea who you are isn't that shocking Jesus is not impressed by those things what impresses him what is it that builds a rock solid hope for the future well it's chapter 7 verse 24 the one who hears the word of mine and does them and here's Jesus words that need doing to these disciples follow me and I'll make you fishers of men to become a disciple means become a disciple maker and that's what being in Christ's kingdom means that's what he's saying that's what a Christian is it's someone who's heard Jesus call who's left behind all the entanglements of this world's existence and become somebody for whom the only thing that counts is that the kingdom age is here and now is the time for gathering the nations into his kingdom that's what a Christian is very clear and plain isn't it

[31:10] Jesus call has a very deliberate purpose notice also the deliberate and clear authority of his call verse 20 immediately they left everything and followed him verse 22 immediately they left and followed followed the gospel is the age of Christ's kingdom at last having come in history the latter days the last days mean that the days of calling all nations to come into the Messiah's kingdom are here and either you've seen that or you haven't and according to Jesus that means either you're a Christian or you're not now if verses 19 and 20 describe you then you are like the wise man who's built his house on the rock who's heard God's words and are doing them but if you're not if you're not a fisher of men well then it's time to ask ourselves big questions it's the same for a church fellowship as well you see it's a big challenge what this is saying to us is that the only thing that matters now that Jesus

[32:28] Christ has come that his kingdom has begun that we're in the last days the days of calling the only thing that matters is that we are fishers of men to fill that kingdom everything else everything else must give way to that priority that's what the New Testament church exists to do to proclaim the gospel of the kingdom to preserve that message of the kingdom for the world to come to train others to be callers into the gospel of the kingdom tomorrow and next year and next generation of course that does mean many sacrifices doesn't it it means that many things have to be left behind in our minds and in our lives it might be personally all kinds of things that are very dear to us many traditions many ways of doing things many comforts but Jesus says the kingdom is here open your eyes what we turn pleased to matter may be and there very often are personal resentments that we have to get over and leave behind

[33:31] I'm not appreciated in this church nearly as much as I ought to be that sort of thing we all feel like that don't we Jesus says the kingdom's upon you there are nets to be filled with a perishing what are you thinking about corporately we might have to get over all sorts of very dear things good things that we've loved in the past boats and nets and families but once Jesus has said follow me join to my team join in my mission you can't cling on to those things that becomes idolatry Jesus summons of power authenticates his authority when the king says come join in my mission you listen you come at the end of Matthew's gospel in chapter 28 he says all authority has been given to me now you go make disciples of all nations teaching them to obey everything I've commanded you but you see that means that first of all we must have obeyed what he's commanded us to do third this final section here shows us that Jesus on ministry authenticates his authority the whole of the rest of the gospel explains Jesus' own exposition of his kingdom in word and deed and so when the king himself explains the gospel well you listen and we've got no right to ignore his interpretation and substitute our own one verses 23 to 25 you see here really summarise the whole of that ministry and at the same time they introduce us to the next section of Matthew's gospel tells us two very important things what was Jesus doing verse 23 teaching and proclaiming the kingdom that really summarises the next two chapters that follow chapters 5 to 7 the sermon on the mount teaching and proclaiming the kingdom at the end of chapter 7 we have these words in chapter 7 verse 28 and when he finished saying these things the crowds were astonished at his teaching because he taught as one with authority but then the second part of the verse tells us the other half healing every disease and every affliction and that's really chapters 8 and 9 the reading goes about healing every possible kind of disease and affliction at the end of that chapter 9 verse 33 they've never seen anything like this before and chapter 9 verse 35 is an exact replica of chapter 4 verse 23 they both act as bookends holding in between these two things two chapters of Jesus' proclamation two chapters of his action summarising his ministry

[36:23] Jesus teaching with authority Jesus workings with authority they proclaim his identity to the world they manifest his presence in the world and so Matthew says listen, listen to him as he himself unfolds this gospel of the kingdom that's what the rest of Matthew's gospel does he does these two things simultaneously as we've said he shows how Jesus brings in his kingdom through his work and he shows how Jesus teaches us about that kingdom in his words and the events and the explanation together form the revelation that we have and these two things actually dictate the structure of Matthew's gospel there are two clear sets of markers that if you're reading through Matthew help you to see the way first of all if we take Matthew's interest in the progress of the king bringing in his kingdom we see that the first four chapters present to us the king told us who he is by his birth what he's come to do they've told us what he fulfills he's come to bring in his kingdom and in verse 17 from that time

[37:26] Jesus began to preach and from there right through to the end of chapter 16 verse 20 we have the proclamation of the kingdom from Jesus himself in word and deed notice verse 17 from that time on that's a markupost that tells us that it reappears again in chapter 16 verse 21 from that time on Jesus began to explain that the Christ must suffer we have the passion of the king all that leading to the inauguration of his kingdom so three parts the presentation of the king then his proclamation and then his passion laid out like that three markuposts but then fitting in with this story of the progress of the events of Jesus bringing in his kingdom we have all Jesus teaching and Matthew arranges that very carefully as well there are five teaching blocks each ended by that little verse just as we saw in verse 28 of chapter 7 as he finished saying these things we have five blocks of Jesus teaching the sermon on the mount and then chapter 10 then chapter 13 24 and 25 and so on and just as

[38:36] Moses had five authoritative books the Pentateuch so here Matthew is saying look here's the ultimate Moses the one that Moses only foreshadowed the one who really speaks with authority from heaven he is the one to listen to listen to him as he teaches and speaks with authority and he tells us what his kingdom means and he tells us so so clearly through the gospel two things it's about the kingdom of heaven it's about eternal salvation that's what the sermon on the mount is all about it's not about matters of just this earth now but he goes and points very clearly that now it's about suffering it's about poverty it's about a reward that's in the future and we've got no liberty at all to abandon Jesus' explanation of his kingdom and insert our own to make it merely a matter of temporal things about relieving poverty or social things or political things

[39:40] Jesus says no it's the kingdom of heaven listen to him that's what the gospel is about and the kingdom comes about secondly through the gospel of the cross people enter the kingdom through the work of Christ on the cross for them and you enter his kingdom by taking up your cross and following him in the way of the cross by losing everything by the world's standards but gaining everything the pearl of great price and we've got no liberty at all to abandon the goal of our very existence as the church of God which is to call people into that kingdom which is to proclaim this eternal gospel of repentance and faith and following Jesus the kingdom doesn't come any other way than by the proclamation of this message doesn't come by political liberation doesn't come by social liberation doesn't come by sexual liberation it comes by liberation from sin and from death through the message of the cross of Christ so Matthew says listen to him he knows what his own gospel is about

[40:56] Jesus' own ministry and teaching authenticate his authority to speak to us just as we close look in these last few verses there at the scope of Jesus' authority it's cosmic isn't it geographically do you see he went through all Syria through all Galilee people came from Decapolis from Judea from Jerusalem from beyond the Jordan from everywhere from all over the earth his authority is cosmic ethnically not just Jews it's Gentiles it's everyone his authority is cosmic spiritually every disease is subject to him every illness every demon every spirit do you see what that means this is not a guru a teacher of just one religion this isn't just an ethnic hero or a national god this isn't an earthly king at all seeking political glory and power this is the god of heaven and earth

[42:04] Matthew's saying this is the creator of all things who has power over all things this is the ruler of the cosmos for all eternity that's who he is he's come to usher in a kingdom of glory that will never ever end of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end he will reign to establish justice and righteousness yes but not just now for this time forth and forever that's what the prophet said that's the cosmic scope of Christ's authority that's the gospel of the kingdom of God no other it's an eternal gospel of an eternal cosmic king and friends because that is his authority when he ascended to heaven he said to his church his people you go and proclaim this message to all the nations calling men and women and boys and girls from every ethnic background from every religious background from every geographical place on earth calling them to obey the Lord Jesus

[43:27] Christ as king that's the gospel of the Christian faith there's no other so Matthew says listen he speaks with authority don't just be a hearer or be a doer not everyone who says to me Lord Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven but the one who does the will of my father who is in heaven follow me and I'll make you fishers of men let's pray doer to to be a who who