We have Authority over Demons, Episode 5
Welcome to Conquering Our Unseen Enemies, I am your host, Dawn Simmons and today we are going to discuss the scriptural basis for the authority Jesus gave us. I felt like we needed some time with a topic more uplifting. This begins to lay the groundwork for building confidence to act in faith in our authority. We need to get this understood in our mind, body and spirit to be able to conquer and cancel the plans of the enemy, evicting him from our lives.
Before we start, I want to say something really important about authority. While we are going to discuss our authority laying the framework and foundation of how we have our authority scripturally, we first need to approach the subject with our hearts. All the reading and scripture in the world will do nothing to convince you if you need to be convinced. As we start this, pray and ask the Lord to reveal it to you in your Spirit. Then you must believe by faith that you have the authority. When we don't believe in faith, we limit our ability to operate with the authority Jesus gave us.
Alright let's get started. The first thing I want to say is that there is a misconception out there among Christians. It functions as an excuse to do nothing, and it is definitely a lie from the enemy. The lie is not everyone has authority. As if it is reserved just for pastors or for a special few. One thing that belief will do is keep someone from moving forward. Every believer has authority. Whether you feel like you have it, whether you exercise it, whether you understand it, we all have it. It was a gift given to us from Jesus. Remember that satan does not want us to learn about our authority because he doesn't want us to use it. He will fight us more on this issue than anything else in our lives. If it is that important for satan to want to keep it from us, we need to be that much more diligent to know about it.
Let's take a look at some scripture. I want to show the progression from God giving it to Jesus and then Jesus giving it to us.
We are going to start in John 3:31. Let me set the scene here. We are with John out in the Judean countryside, he is baptizing people. Now remember that John was given the Holy Spirit when he was in the womb, so he already has what is not yet available to anyone at that time, but what we have available to us now. Anyhow, John is explaining he is not the Messiah but was sent ahead of the Messiah. Now let's see what he says about Jesus specifically: 31 The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all. 32 He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. 33 Whoever has accepted it has certified that God is truthful. 34 For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God[i] gives the Spirit without limit. 35 The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. 36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.
I think this scripture gets overlooked. It is the Holy Spirit in John testifying to the relationship between God, Jesus and discusses the Holy Spirit being given without limit. It also tells us God has placed everything in the hands of Jesus.
Here are 3 places where Jesus is telling us the Father has given all authority to Him. Let's start with Matthew 11:27, “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
Now Matthew again 28:18 "Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. "
Here is another Luke 10:22, “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” Does that sound familiar? It confirms Matthew 11:27.
Here is Paul writing to the Colossians, explaining authority to them. Colossians 2:10: "and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority"
These scriptures give us the foundation we need to know Jesus has been given control of everything from God. There is no doubting that relationship, nothing missing, it's everything. The Creator of the Universe, the Great I Am, the one who Was before there "was" anything, or one of my favorite names for him, The Ancient One, put everything in the hands of Jesus. Now let's see what Jesus did with it.
As believers, we know that Jesus took our sins, sacrificed himself on the cross to redeem us for those sins. A lot of Christianity that is taught focuses on the cross and we get stuck there at the foot of the cross. Yes, we do need to come to the cross, nothing happens without that, but Jesus did not remain at the cross, and neither should we. He was resurrected and he ascended to be with his Father. When He ascended, He left us with gifts. He left us the tools we need to use in order to accomplish what He asked of us for Him and the glory of His Father.
Here is Paul again, describing what was done at the cross and where we stand now. Colossians 2: 13, " When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you[d] alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14 having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. 15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross"
So yes, the cross made everything possible, but Jesus triumphed over the cross. He didn't stay there. If he had, none of us would have the gift of life that he gave us. He had to overcome death. Paul describes it this way in Ephesians Ch 1:20, "I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength 20 he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. 22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way."
Complete Victory, that's what Paul is telling us here, Victory in the name of Jesus!
He goes on to say this in Ephesians Chapter 2:4, "But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God." Jesus then ascended to the right hand of God and God has raised us there with Jesus.
Recently I had lunch with a young woman. I am beginning to mentor her and we are starting with some baseline discussions. I need to understand who she is and where she wants to go with the Lord. The Lord gave me a word of knowledge about her situation, so I knew what she was experiencing started when she was about 3-4 years old. The Lord revealed to me the issue, but I needed to know how that impacted her so we could deal with all of it, not just bits and pieces. It broke my heart when she spoke, her spirit was wounded, you could see it, hear it and feel it. She appeared defeated, but I knew she wasn't. I watched her look down and move her falafel around (we were at a Mediterranean restaurant) and I'm having to wait to speak. I want to tell her she can overcome this, but I'm having to wait until the Holy Spirit tells me I can talk.
As a sidenote, there is baggage we carry around, most of us for years, and it becomes a part of us, shapes our personality and affects our relationships. I would say we generally have more than one piece of baggage we are carrying around. A lot of times, I have found the biggest piece of baggage is the one we started carrying first and then the smaller ones came after as a result.
Ok, back to the story, finally, after she said all the things she needed to say, I understood why I needed to wait. She laid out all the places where demons had been attacking her and confirmed how it affected her generationally. When I was able to reveal to her what the Lord told me, she completely lit up. You could see this belief sprouting and the deeper we spoke about how the Lord can remove this from her life, the lighter her countenance became. She was more than happy to do the homework she needed to do so we can deal with all of it, not just the bits and pieces. An eviction notice is coming!
Exercising the authority that Jesus gave us isn't some ethereal discussion. This really should be our everyday conversation among believers. This is something we need, something we use, something that defeats the enemy and kills his plans, activities, tactics and evict him from our lives. This is how we conquer our unseen enemies. That's what we need, so let's get back to what Jesus has to say about giving us authority in His name.
In Matthew 10:1 "Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness."
In Luke 10:19 Jesus tells us "I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you."
Jesus had all the power from God, and he delegated that authority to us to use against satan. We need to know that satan coming against us is real. We see it every day in our schools, in our government, regardless of which side you are on and unfortunately in our churches. Peter tells us in 1 Peter 5:8, "Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour"
Jesus tells us the same thing in John 10:10, the enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy.."
Because satan's attacks are real, we need to have these conversations out in the open and know your authority. Jesus expects us to use it and to do so without fear.
Mark 16:16 tells us, "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”
We know from 1 John 4:4 "You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world."
As a result of sin, Adam gave satan the right to rule this world. Adam didn't give satan the right to rule over us. I have heard so many times how we are helpless here until Jesus returns. I have even heard someone say that after they've been told the authority is theirs. That attitude and belief is nonsense. You can't help people who don't want to believe. We need to believe and know we are victorious because Jesus is victorious. And 1 Corinthians 6:17 tells us, "But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit". We are seated with Christ.
A few things about authority I want to be clear about.
· Our authority rests entirely in the name of Jesus, so when you use it, we need to be very clear on that and say the authority is in the name of Jesus. Leaving Jesus out will result in no change.
· We only use our authority in places where Jesus would use his authority, for kingdom purposes
· Our authority is only over satan and his demons. We cannot wield authority over others, including other households or to control behaviors of someone we don't agree with. Attempting to use it as manipulation is witchcraft.
· We can stand in the gap for others who are baby Christians and not yet spiritually mature enough to use their authority
· We should not continually stand in the gap or pray for someone not willing to pray for themselves. God expects us to walk, grow and start doing things for ourselves.
· Anyone, believer or non-believer who states the authority believers have in Christ is not real or does not work or is dead is speaking contrary to the Word and ultimately calling God a liar. As a believer, we would simply rebuke that lie from satan.
· We cannot use our authority to direct angels what to do
· Most importantly, we must always depend on the Holy Spirit to direct us in using our authority. He may give you a word of knowledge or give you a specific action to follow.
There is a lot more we can discuss on authority. Our authority in Jesus complements and supports Spiritual warfare principles, so we will continue to build on our foundation of authority when we discuss the Armor of God. I hope this has helped to built your faith as we continue to focus on conquering our unseen enemies and evicting satan from our lives.
Ok, we are ready for our recap.
Top show points for episode 5 are:
· Every believer has authority in the name of Jesus
· Scriptures which illuminate God has given all authority to Jesus are: John 3:31-36, Matthew 11:27, Matthew 28:18, Luke 10:22, Colossians 2:10
· Jesus redeemed us at the cross, but we need to remember he didn't stay there and neither should we. We aren’t meant to remain at the foot of the cross to bring glory to God's kingdom.
· Scriptures that reveal Jesus is no longer at the cross: Colossians 2:13, Ephesians 1:20- 23
· Jesus is seated at the right hand of God and so are we. Ephesians 2:4
· We should be discussing our authority with believers everyday
· Jesus gave us His authority to be used for God's kingdom in His name. Matthew 10:1, Luke 10:19
· Satan is here to destroy us: 1 Peter 5:8, John 10:10
· Jesus expects us to use his authority Mark 16: 16-17, 1 Corinthians 6:17
· Clarification points of our authority and ways we should use it and ways we should not try to use it and its limitations
We encourage you:
· To have an active Bible reading plan, it will be helpful in gaining wisdom and understanding and it is required for the gift of spiritual discernment
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