Tuesday March 18 Exercising Authority Compare the following passages: Mark 6:7–13, Matthew 16:14–19, 18:17–20, 28:18–20, John 20:21–23. What do these verses tell us about the kind of authority that Jesus’ disciples had? What does this mean for us today? ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ “Peter had expressed the truth which is the foundation of the church’s faith, and Jesus now honored him as the representative of the whole body of believers. He said, ‘I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.’ “ ‘The keys of the kingdom of heaven’ are the words of Christ. All the words of Holy Scripture are His, and are here included. These words have power to open and to shut heaven. They declare the conditions upon which men are received or rejected. Thus the work of those who preach God’s word is a savor of life unto life or of death unto death. Theirs is a mission weighted with eternal results.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, pp. 413, 414. As the Father commissioned Jesus, so Christ commissions His disciples. Through the Spirit, the Father invested Christ with divine power. Through the Spirit, Jesus likewise invests His disciples with divine power commensurate with their earthly assignments. No follower should fear that Christ has shortchanged them. Every necessary skill, talent, capability, and strength has been supplied. Sometimes human leadership fails to recognize the principles involved. Whenever leaders assign tasks without extending commensurate power, failure is predictable. Often leaders’ insecurities surface through controlling behaviors that subjugate the thoughts, God-ordained creativity, and individuality of others. Thus emasculated, the subjugated disciple fails to be effective. Such behavior would look like a conductor attempting to play every instrument simultaneously instead of conducting a symphony. Jesus’ example speaks volumes here. If anyone ever possessed the right to withhold authority and dictate behavior, Christ certainly did. Instead, He invested others with authority, commissioned them to labor outside of His presence where His only influence would be His instruction and examples and sent them to minister and witness.
Posted on: Tue, 18 Mar 2014 05:52:14 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015