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SPEAKING WITH AUTHORITY "And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes." (Mat. 7:28-29) The immediate reference is to the sermon on the mount that Jesus had just preached, Matthew chapters five through seven, but he really didn't preach any different here than at any other time, so I believe we can all agree that Jesus ALWAYS spoke with authority, and not as the scribes. Let's take a little tour today through the gospels and try to grasp a better understanding of just what it means to speak with authority. Some seem to think that it means just yelling or screaming while preaching, while others evidently believe it means to be rude and unkind with people. Jesus was far more sound and balanced, and, as we are about to see, speaking with authority involves a great deal more than most realize. We're going to take a closer look at some of the characteristics of Jesus' preaching and teaching, and in doing so, we'll see first-hand what it means to speak with authority. I. SPEAK SCRIPTURALLY In John 3:34, John the Baptist said, "For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God . . .", and in Matthew 8:8, the centurian said, ". . . speak the word only . . .", so Jesus made it a habit to quote and reference scripture. Three times in a row while being tempted by Satan in Matthew 4, Jesus said, "It is written . . . it is written . . . it is written . . ." Then it says, ". . . the devil leaveth him . . ." In that same passage, Jesus said, "It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." (Mat. 4:4) See that? He's not just speaking ABOUT God's word; he QUOTING God's word. There's great power in that, and that's what we must do, if we are going to speak with authority. Scholar's Crossing says that in the four gospels, 180 of the 1,800 verses that record Jesus' words are either Old Testament quotes or allusions to Old Testament scripture. That's TEN PERCENT! That's verbal tithing while preaching! No wonder he spoke with authority! II. SPEAK WHOLEHEARTIDLY In Matthew 12:34, Jesus said, ". . . out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh," and we know this is true with the preaching of Jesus. People often prepare good words and fair speeches that might not always reflect the true abundance of their heart, but you never get that impression with Jesus. He fully believed every word he spoke, straight from the heart. Nothing to appease or flatter anyone, and no false humilities. The words of Jesus Christ were 100% pure and from the heart 100% of the time. They worked overtime to catch him in his words and reveal some element of heresy or hypocrisy, but in the end all they had were false accusations. Why? Because he was genuine and spoke nothing but truth from the heart. Even Pilate said, "I find no fault in this man." (Luke 23:4) That's authority, right there! III. SPEAK INTERESTINGLY In Luke 19:48, we read, "for all the people were very attentive to hear him." That means Jesus was not a boring preacher. He used scripture and illustrations that would interest people, things that people understood and would make sense to them. He spoke not to impress, but to edify. He said that a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without your Father knowing it and that you are more valuable than many sparrows. That's profound! Anyone can relate to that! He told people that if the blind lead the blind, they'll both fall into the ditch, implying that the Jewish leaders of their day were not worth following. That interested them, since a great many had already suspected that anyway. He asked the Pharisees, "What think ye of Christ? whose son is he?" (Mat. 22:42) When they answered, "The Son of David," he then hit them with, "How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool? If David then call him Lord, how is he his son?" LOL! That's interesting! That'll make 'em think! It shut 'em up too. Jesus spoke with authority, and that includes being an interesting preacher. IV. SPEAK INTELLIGENTLY Let's get John 7:15: "And the Jews marvelled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?" They were impressed with his intelligence, with his superior knowledge of the scriptures. That means he spoke substance, not just religious buzz words and catch phrases. He made people THINK. Through personal reading and study of the scriptures, Jesus had become highly intelligent in the word, and it showed in his teaching and preaching. We should follow his example. V. SPEAK BOLDLY John 7:26 says, "But, lo, he speaketh boldly, and they say nothing unto him . . ." To speak boldly is to speak what needs to be said without holding back. If the woman at the well needed to hear him say, "Thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband", then that's what he said (John 4:18). Others might have remained silent about that, but it was a sin issue, so Jesus addressed it. Nicodemus needed to hear about the new birth, so Jesus said, "Ye must be born again." (John 3:7) He wasn't rude, but he was bold enough to say what needed to be said. The righteous are bold as a lion (Pro. 28:1), and no one is more righteous than the Lord Jesus Christ, so he spoke boldly. VI. SPEAK UNIQUELY Look at John 7:45-46: "Then came the officers to the chief priests and Pharisees; and they said unto them, Why have ye not brought him? The officers answered, Never man spake like this man." Look at that! Jesus had a way of speaking that commanded a unique respect, so people were taken back by him and feared him. Even Pilate noticed something unique about Jesus when he found no fault in him and kept trying to release him and then refused to change the inscription on the cross, by saying, "What I have written I have written." (John 19:22) The words that Jesus spoke were unlike the words of other men. One hundred percent of the time he was conscious of the fact that his duty was to speak for his heavenly Father above, so that always brought unique words from his lips. Speaking with authority means speaking uniquely. VII. SPEAK CONVINCINGLY John 8:29-30 says, "And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him. As he spake these words, many believed on him." They knew he was right! They knew that they did NOT always please the Father, yet his life backed up his words. He was very believable because he said things that made sense and had substance. Most preaching that I hear today is nothing more than copycat preaching that sounded good when the preacher heard it from someone else, so he's going to use it as well. There's nothing wrong with some of that, but a man should still use his own words and his own style and reason that can come across convincingly. VIII. SPEAK PLAINLY Mark 12:37 says, ". . . And the common people heard him gladly." That means Jesus spoke in common, everyday language. They didn't have to carry a dictionary around with them in order to look up lofty words that they didn't understand. He spoke of lilies, and they understood him. He spoke of vipers and foxes, and they understood him. He told them to obey the scriptures that the Pharisees gave them, but to not follow the hypocritical example of the Pharisees. That was plain preaching, and it made sense to them. Jesus never uttered a single word about hermanutics, catechism, pneumatology or eschatology. Proverbs 8:9 says that God's words ". . . are all plain to him that understandeth, and right to them that find knowledge," so Jesus used plain words, as should we. IX. SPEAK WISELY Look at Luke 20:22-26: "And they asked him, saying, Master, we know that thou sayest and teachest rightly, neither acceptest thou the person of any, but teachest the way of God truly: Is it lawful for us to give tribute unto Caesar, or no? But he perceived their craftiness, and said unto them, Why tempt ye me? Shew me a penny. Whose image and superscription hath it? They answered and said, Caesar's. And he said unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar's, and unto God the things which be God's. And they could not take hold of his words before the people: and they marvelled at his answer, and held their peace." That was wise. He could have easily been trapped by their words, but instead of giving a hasty and careless answer, he gave a wise answer. Matthew 21 also has a good one. Look at Matthew 21:23, down through verse 27: "And when he was come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto him as he was teaching, and said, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority? And Jesus answered and said unto them, I also will ask you one thing, which if ye tell me, I in like wise will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, whence was it? from heaven, or of men? And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say unto us, Why did ye not then believe him? But if we shall say, Of men; we fear the people; for all hold John as a prophet. And they answered Jesus, and said, We cannot tell. And he said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things." That's some godly wisdom, and that's part of speaking with authority. We should spend time with God and get some of that wisdom, else our words will come across as no different than anyone else's. X. SPEAK GRACEFULLY Finally, look at Luke 4:22: "And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph's son?" When your authority is God, your words must also be gracious, because God is gracious. God is authoritative, powerful and bold, but he's never carelessly rude or unkind. He's perfectly balanced, so Jesus was perfectly balanced in his preaching and teaching. We too will seek that special balance, if we truly seek to follow Jesus and speak with Biblical authority. Friend, we owe it to God to speak with authority and not as other men, and we will do so, if we follow the example of Jesus Christ.