His Authority

But the LORD shall endure for ever: he hath prepared his throne for judgment.
~ Psalm 9:7

The LORD is in his holy temple, the LORD’S throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men.
~ Psalm 11:4

But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.
~ Psalm 115:3

Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens;
~ Hebrews 8:1

For the LORD most high is terrible; he is a great King over all the earth.
~ Psalm 47:2

Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
~ Ephesians 1:21-22

Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
~ Philippians 2:9-10

Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.
~ 1 Peter 3:22

God’s Absolute Authority, by Stephen Charnock.

The LORD hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all.—Psalm 103:19

God is sovereign Lord and King and exerciseth a dominion over the whole world, both heaven and earth. This is so clear that nothing is more spoken of in Scripture. The very name Lord imports6 it…He is frequently called “the Lord of hosts” because all the troops and armies of spiritual and corporeal7 creatures are in His hands and at His service. This is one of His principal titles, and the angels are called “his hosts” (Psa 103:21), following the text—His camp and militia. But more plainly, in, God is presented upon His throne, encompassed with all the hosts of heaven standing on His right hand and on His left, which can be understood of no other than of the angels that wait for the commands of their sovereign (1Ki 22:19). [They] stand about, not to counsel Him but to receive His orders. The sun, moon, and stars are called His hosts (Deu 4:19), appointed by Him for the government of inferior things.

He hath an absolute authority over the greatest and the least creatures, over those that are most dreadful and those that are most beneficial, over the good angels that willingly obey Him, over the evil angels that seem most incapable of government; and as He is thus Lord of hosts, He is the “King of glory,” or a glorious king (Psa 24:10). You find Him called “a great King,” the “Most High” (Psa 92:1); [He is] the supreme Monarch, there being no dignity in heaven or earth but what is dim before Him and infinitely inferior to Him; yea, He hath the title of “only king” (1Ti 6:15). The title of royalty truly and properly only belongs to Him. You may see it described very magnificently by David at the freewill offering for the building of the temple: “Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all. Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all” (1Ch 29:11-12). He hath a [superiority] of power or authority above all. All earthly princes received their diadems from Him, yea, even those that will not acknowledge Him, and He hath a more absolute power over them than they can challenge over their meanest vassals. As God hath knowledge infinitely above our knowledge, so He hath a dominion incomprehensibly above any dominion of man; and by all the shadows drawn from the authority of one man over another, we can have but weak glimmerings of the authority and dominion of God.

There is a threefold dominion of God: 1. Natural, which is absolute over all creatures and is founded in the nature of God as Creator. 2. Spiritual or gracious, which is a dominion over His church as redeemed and founded in the covenant of grace. 3. A glorious kingdom at the winding up of all, wherein He shall reign over all, either in the glory of His mercy, as over the glorified saints, or in the glory of His justice in the condemned devils and men. The first dominion is founded in nature; the second, in grace; the third, in regard of the blessed, in grace, in regard of the damned, in demerit in them and justice in Him.

He is Lord of all things, and always in regard of propriety:8 “The earth is the LORD’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein” (Psa 24:1). The earth with the riches and treasures in the bowels of it [and] the habitable world with everything that moves upon it are His. He hath the sole right, and what right soever any others have is derived from Him. In regard also of possession: “The most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth” (Gen 14:22), in respect of Whom, man is not the…possessor, but usufructuary9 at the will of this grand Lord.

We must know the difference between the might and power of God and His authority. We commonly mean by the power of God, the strength of God, whereby He is able to effect all His purposes; by the authority of God, we mean the right He hath to act what He pleases. Omnipotence is His physical power, whereby He is able to do what He will; dominion is His moral power, whereby it is lawful for Him to do what He will. Among men, strength and authority are two distinct things. A subject may be a giant, and stronger than his prince, but he hath not the same authority as his prince. Worldly dominion may be seated, not in a brawny arm, but a sickly and infirm body, as knowledge and wisdom are distinguished. Knowledge respects the matter, being, and nature of a thing; wisdom respects the harmony, order, and actual usefulness of a thing; knowledge searcheth the nature of a thing, and wisdom employs that thing to its proper use. A man may have much knowledge and little wisdom, so a man may have much strength, and little or no authority. A greater strength may be settled in the servant, but a greater authority resides in the master; strength is the natural vigor of a man. God hath an infinite strength, He hath a strength to bring to pass whatsoever He decrees; He acts without fainting and weakness (Isa 40:28) and impairs not His strength by the exercise of it. As God is Lord, He hath a right to enact; as He is almighty, He hath a power to execute. His strength is the executive power belonging to His dominion. In regard of His sovereignty, He hath a right to command all creatures; in regard of His almightiness, He hath power to make His commands be obeyed or to punish men for the violation of them. His power is that whereby He subdues all creatures under Him; His dominion is that whereby He hath a right to subdue all creatures under Him…

God hath interwoven the notion of His sovereignty in the nature and constitution of man in the noblest and most inward acts of his soul, in that faculty that is most necessary for him in his [living] in this world, either with God or man. It is stamped upon the conscience10 of man, and flashes in his face in every act of self-judgment [that] conscience passes upon a man. Every reflection of conscience implies an obligation of man to some law written in his heart (Rom 2:15). This law cannot be without a legislator, nor this legislator without a sovereign dominion; these are but natural and easy consequences in the mind of man from every act of conscience. The indelible11 authority of conscience in man, in the whole exercise of it, bears a respect to the sovereignty of God; clearly proclaims, not only a supreme being, but a supreme governor; and points man directly to it, so that a man may as soon deny his having such a reflecting principle within him, as deny God’s dominion over him and, consequently, over the whole world of rational creatures.

All authority over rational creatures consists in commanding and directing. The duty of rational creatures, in compliance with that authority, consists in obeying. Where there is therefore a careless neglect of those means which convey the knowledge of God’s will and our duty, there is an utter disowning of God as our sovereign and our rule.—Stephen Charnock

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