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Articles
Authority - From Heaven or Men?
In Matt.21:23 we read, "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?" The people ask two related questions in this text. They wanted to know by what authority and who gave him this authority to do the things he was doing. Jesus did not act like authority was a non-issue, that it wasn’t a big deal, it didn’t really matter. He did ask 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?" vss.24-25a. Jesus is showing that authority comes from either heaven or from men. The baptism of John illustrates this point the Lord was making. These folks would not give an answer to his simple question, for they would get themselves in trouble to answer either way, vs.25b-27. Of course if they had loved the truth, and wanted to do what was right, they could have answered it very easily. The things we practice in religion, does the authority come from heaven or from men?
So all the things people do in religion, have authority either from heaven or from men. If it is from heaven, we can give the book, the chapter, and the verse from the Bible that will prove it is authorized from heaven. But if we cannot, we must concede it is from men. Take for instance sprinkling and pouring for baptism, is this from heaven or from men? Answer, it is from men, for there is not authority from scriptures on this sinful practice. Baptism being an immersion, is this from heaven or from men? Answer, from heaven, Col.2:12, Rm.6:3-4. Praying to Mary, is this from heaven or from men? It is from men, nothing in the word of God to authorize this practice. Using instrumental music in worship today, is this from heaven or from men? Answer, it is from men, there are no verses in the N.T. to authorize its use in worship. Somebody says, Yes, but what about Psalm 150, doesn’t it authorize instrumental music? Answer, no, this is O.T. law, we are to listen to Jesus, not to Moses and the prophets, Matt.17:1-5.
Let’s look at few more examples. The clergy-laity distinction, is this from heaven or from men? It is from men, for Jesus teaches, "But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren." Matt. 23:8. We are all simply brothers and sisters in the Lord. What about baptizing babies and infants, is this from heaven or from men? We must answer it is from men, nothing in the word of God to support this practice. What about financially supporting men who preach the gospel, "paying the preacher," is this from heaven or from men? This is from heaven, I Cor.9:14, "Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel." (Read vss.1-13 and 2 Cor.11:8 also). What about the very popular practice of church social and recreational activities, church gyms, church ball teams, etc., is this from heaven or from men? Answer, it is from men, there is no authority from heaven to justify these endeavors. Understand beloved, things that are NOT authorized are termed as "iniquity" in scripture, Matt.7:23. And iniquity will cause us to lose our souls, 2Jn.9, Matt.15:8-9. Let us ever be busy seeking heaven’s authority for all that we do, Matt.7:21, Col.3:17!
