By What Authority?

Excerpts from the sermon by Lester Roloff

If ever I’ve let you enter the secret of my taberna­cle and be exposed to the innermost recesses of my soul, it will have to be in this particular mes­sage. The Christian becomes a misfit and misun­derstood as soon as he steps over into the will of God. For too long we’ve let the devil and tradition and the world bind God’s people—we must be set free!

I’ve preached in many churches and many jails, and I believe both places offer a glimpse of where our country is headed. This week has helped me reach some tearful conclusions about the future of our irreverent and ungrateful nation. Our fu­ture will be shaped by one question, and I believe it is a very old question: “Who has the authority?”

In Matthew 21:23-27, Jesus is asked where His authority came from. But after refusing to an­swer where John’s baptism had come from, the chief priests and elders silently retreated into their fancy offices of blind hypocrisy. What Jesus was saying was that He got His authority from the same place John got his authority, and that was from heaven. To soften the ministry of John the Baptist for those unwilling to change their minds would have been to compromise Heaven’s authority (Matthew 21:32).

I’ve been asked: “Lester, why don’t you compro­mise a little? It’s for the best.” This question is asked because of spiritual ignorance. Compro­mise is the killer. My only authority as God’s ser­vant is to do His work the way He wants it done (Mark 13:34).

In Luke chapter 4, we see Jesus pick up the Book of Isaiah and bring His first message (Luke 4:14-22). The people at the synagogue in Nazareth reject­ed Jesus’ commentary on the ministry of Elijah and Elisha (Luke 4:23-30) because they were hearing it from the mouth of “Joseph’s son.” Nazareth “won­dered at the gracious words,” but rejected His au­thority. Hearts were warmer in Capernaum. The people were “astonished at His doctrine: for His word was with power,” and they were amazed by His power and authority (Luke 4:32, 36). This chap­ter of great deliverance and healing ends with a powerful emphasis: “I must preach.”

The whole battle we face is centered on the Word. Churches are dead be­cause preachers are confused about how to exercise the authority given by the Word of God. After making a “small” compromise on God’s author­ity, King Saul was informed that he had compromised his own authority: “Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, He hath also rejected thee from being king” (1 Samuel 15:23). If only our hearts could remember that “to obey is better than sacrifice” (1 Samuel 15:22). Our rebellion and stubbornness would then submit to heaven’s authority!

I believe that the law of the Lord is perfect and is the safe rule for faith and practice for every Christian and every church and every home. The law of the Spirit provides safe lead­ership. The law of faith is the proper method. The law of love is the prop­er motive. When we love God and our fellow man as ourself, we are keeping the law. When we practice the Golden Rule, we fulfill the law.

Now then, where do we get our author­ity? It will be necessary for us to visit an open tomb. Then we must see the nail-scarred hands of our Savior from which the blood of the everlasting cov­enant flowed. Then we must hear the words, “All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth” (Matthew 28:18).

What is authority? It’s a crippled Ja­cob, finally leaning on the God of his father and grandfather. It’s a stuttering Moses, finally finding his voice in the Word of God. Choosing to live by faith, Moses “forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing Him Who is invisible” (He­brews 11:27). Flimsy pulpits bind the people of God, but when the Word of God is let loose, there is freedom.

My preacher brother, when we finally get our authority from “Thus saith the Lord,” we solve just about all of our pul­pit problems. Preach from the Menu! You have no more right to ask your church what they want you to preach than a shepherd does to ask the sheep where they want to be fed and watered. The flock doesn’t need opinions, they need examples! (I Peter 5:2-4).

We see the supreme and unlimited au­thority of Jesus in the land of Gadara, commanding the Gadarene’s libera­tion and dressing him up in a new suit and letting him sit in peace at Jesus’ feet. We see it on the storm-swept deck of the ship after Jesus said “Peace, be still.” We see it during His personal duel with the devil in the wilderness as He filleted him three times with the Sword of the Spirit.

Oh, my friend, let’s not surrender or swap the commandment of God for the tradition of men. Without author­ity, we are like a car without a motor, like a boat without a sail or a rudder, like a stove without a fire, and like a human body without a heart.

I want you to do what I did this morn­ing. I took a walk across the wheat fields and knelt in the shade of some beautiful trees. To the tune of bob­whites whistling and a gentle breeze blowing under cloudless sky, I prayed this prayer. And I want you to pray it today:

Our Father,

Give us hearts of submission and the Word of wisdom,
the gift of discernment and the power of the Spirit,
the love of God and the compassion of Christ,
the courage of Daniel and the boldness of the Apostles
when they said, “We ought to obey God rather than men.”

Give us, Lord, the tears of Paul and the tenderness of blessed John,
the faith of the Hebrew children and the patience of Job,
the conviction of Esther when she said, “If I perish, I perish,”
the loyalty of Jonathan and the humility of the prodigal son,
the forgiveness of Stephen and the sacrificial spirit of John Bunyan.

And dear Lord, most of all, give us the yieldedness
to Thy will that makes us available for service.
Lord, we pray that this message will be read with great profit.
In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

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