Kingdom Authority (4 of 4) Mike Connell 22.07.2007 am
Okay, I want you to open your Bible with me. We're going to carry on in the word. I want to build a bridge today just between where we were looking at the mandate, the kingdom mandate we have, so we'll pick that up now in Matthew 28. I want to just bridge over to where the church is moving on the John Bevere series Under Cover. So let's just have a look here. We want to carry on, we look at Kingdom Authority, Kingdom Authority - so Matthew 28. I love this, the great suggestion Jesus gave the church. Here we go, it says in verse 18 through to 20: And when they saw Him they worshipped Him, but some even then doubted. Imagine that, a man's risen from the dead and you're looking and talking to him and you're still full of doubt. And it says here Jesus came and He spoke to them, saying all authority - how much authority? [All.] All authority. That's the power to govern and rule - all authority and power to govern and rule. All authority is given to Me. How did He get it? He got it by obedience to the will of the Father. He now is positioned where all authority - so everything is subject to Him.
We don't see that yet. We see and live in a world where not everything is subject to Jesus, but one day will be and so in the meantime He has all authority. He's the absolute Lord over all of the creation. He's the one who holds absolute rule; no one can restrain Him. No one can challenge Him and say why do You think You're doing this? No one can even hold back the day of the death, no one. He has absolute and total authority. He is a king and He has a kingdom and we are part of that kingdom. We're born into His kingdom, we are sons of the living God. Fantastic! So He's the absolute Lord and He came of course to reveal what the Father is like and then to restore to us our relationship and our understanding that as a son and a child of God, He calls us to make a difference in the world. You're called to make a difference. You're called to bring something of heaven into the earth. The character, what God is like, and also the life and power see?
And so it's a fantastic thing. Now notice here what He says. He gives a great mandate. Now He spoke to them and He said all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth; now go. Go therefore and make disciples of a handful of people in each region in New Zealand. He didn't say that did He? He didn't say go and have a small thing. He said go and have a real big thing, real big. God is really big. Go and disciple all nations. That's a big vision - all nations, all peoples, all countries. Next year I go up to Mongolia, so we'll be going out to another nation. Mongolia's situated between China and Russia, and at one time Mongolia ruled all of Asia. Now it doesn't rule, it's a kingdom that is diminished and now will be receiving something of the kingdom of God. It's going to be wonderful. This is the vision God has, all nations. All nations. All nations. See the problem is we get a mindset and we think in terms of church, of a handful of people; God is thinking of nations, multitudes, big, big, BIG!
You've got to keep thinking big! If you think this is big you're not thinking big enough, definitely not. There's 120,000-odd people in Hawkes Bay and if there are 500 or 600 here, it's not definitely not big. See, big is when you've got most of the people in the region saved. That's big. It says in Paul's day all of Asia heard the gospel. That's big, see? We've got a real challenge - so all nations, so baptised - He said go and speak and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe or obey all things I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always. Now notice this, that Jesus is given a mandate. The mandate is to go. The church is called to go, go, go! You've got to watch out that we don't have a message come, come, come. The church's message is go, go, go! Go into the schools, go into the government, go into the areas of art and culture, go into the media, go into every area.