Then He called His twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils and to cure diseases. Luke 9:1
Half a dozen men arrived at a work site to build a new garage. They quickly went over the plans and determined what to do. They were experienced carpenters, so they began immediately to assemble the materials and begin the construction. A short time after they arrived, a small man with a big hat arrived and began checking out the project. He ordered the carpenters to change several things, and to build different walls from what they had begun to work on. But the carpenters laughed at him and told him to go away, continuing as they were. The did not recognize in the little man anyone who had any authority over them. So they ignored him. No one had given him any authority. No one has given us any authority today over things that the Lord Jesus gave His disciples on occasion.
Some would erroneously look at today’s text and declare that God has given us all authority to cast out demons and to heal diseases. He has done no such thing. Some of the apostles in the book of Acts had some of this authority, but only for a short time. Nowhere in the New Testament epistles do we find any mention of having or using this authority. In fact, when the Lord Jesus was giving His disciples their great commission, He declared ‘All power is given unto Me’ (Matthew 28:18). He alone has been given all authority. We need to be careful that we do not take to ourselves authority that the Lord does not give us.
We do have authority to preach the Gospel and to witness for Christ, and to baptize the converts (Matthew 28:19). But we do not have authority to save the souls. That is God’s prerogative alone, and we should neither take credit when souls are saved nor accept blame when there is no blessing. We are also given authority to teach the Word of God to the Lord’s people (Matthew 28:20). But we do not have the authority to place those same people under subjection to ourselves, because it is our place to serve them, not to be served by them. We have the authority to perform good works among the world (Matthew 5:16). But we do not have the authority to get involved in the world’s good works (2 Timothy 2:4).
All power and authority belongs to our Lord. We have been given limited power, and within those limits, we are responsible to exercise our authority. – Jim MacIntosh