How does Christ exercise real authority over your life right now?

You stand in judgment and criticism over the apostolic testimony, but yet you still have

Christ as your authority.

So where do you find that authority?

I had an interesting conversation a few weeks ago and Philadelphia with an old friend.

I went to college with, we were very close in college, we used to study the scriptures

together by previous arrangement agreement privately, two of us or three of us would meet

almost every night to spend some time in examination of the scriptures and then personal devotions

prayer and that sort of thing and we had a very close personal relationship as we were

growing as young and zealous Christians etc.

Then we left college, we went our different ways.

I went on to study theology, he went on to a life of career work in the church, he went

on, got a seminary degree and we hadn't seen each other for 15 years and we got together

a few weeks ago.

There was an interesting get together because in spite of the fact that we hadn't seen

each other for 15 years there was instantly that sense of warmth and understanding and fellowship

and brotherly love that we had spent so many years building together.

Yet it was obvious after we had taught for five or ten minutes that where he was theologically

and where I was theologically was on the total different ends of the theological spectrum.

Yet because of the intensive relationship we once enjoyed we were able and a room and

cordial and charitable spirit we were able to dialogue through some of these things and

I wasn't interested after all these years, after all the debates I've been in theologically

...