With Authority (Mark 1:22)


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There have been many great preachers throughout history. God has used men like George Whitfield, Jonathan Edwards, Charles Spurgeon, D. L. Moody, and Billy Sunday to proclaim the gospel to millions of people. But there is no greater preacher than the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Living Word who proclaimed the written Word like no one else has.
Many things set the preaching of Jesus apart from others, but one of the first things that people noted was the authority that Jesus preached with. They were not used to someone declaring the truth without hedging or hesitancy. The religious leaders they were accustomed to hearing always seemed uncertain and left the door open for other possibilities than what they thought might be true. Jesus, on the other hand, boldly declared the Word of the Lord as absolute, unwavering, undeniable truth. That truth was to be believed and not questioned, cross-examined, or factchecked by bookworms who put more emphasis on what man said God said rather than what God actually said. Things are not all that different in our day. We have an abundance of so-called Bible teachers and preachers who will happily tell you all the ideas scholars have come up with about the meaning of scripture, but it is rare for someone to declare in simple faith, “This is the truth.” Christ taught with authority, and if we are to be faithful followers of
Him, we must have the same boldness in proclaiming the truth. From the preacher in the pulpit to the soul winner on the porch, Christians must be firm in their faith and authoritative in their witness.