Your authority in Christ.
We are in the season of the Celebrating the birth of Jesus. Jesus came into this world for the redemption of sins and also to hand over the authority that Satan had taken from Adam.
Many of us Christians today ask/ pray to God to increase our faith as we face situations in life but like Christ answered the apostles, the solution is not getting more faith. The faith we have in sufficient enough to uproot a tree and cast it into the ocean. The Solution is how do we use our FAITH.
This is what I am going to be discussing today and I have titled the sermon as
Our Authority in Christ
Authority by definition means- The power to give orders and make others obey.
This is seen in everyday like. The policeman Teacher, Head of an organization etc. are who comes to our mind first when we think of people in Authority.
A policeman has authority for the position or the uniform that he wears. In plainclothes we might not recognize him. However, in Uniform everyone does and just by lifting his hand cars stop or at-least they slow down. He does not have the physical ability to force the car to stop. But the authority he has is what makes the car stop
Let us look from the Scripture and learn more about this subject. This is a very vast subject and today I am only going to scratch the tip of an iceberg. I would urge each of you to go back home and read through the scriptures and understand this better.
Three topics I will be covering today.
1 Do we have authority?
2 What types of Authority do we have?
3 How to use this Authority?
Years back I heard a man of God preach and he said that if you want to learn anything in the Bible, you should go back to the place where it is first mentioned and from there start the journey to study it. Let us also look at the Book of Genesis.
In the 1st chapter we see that everything God created was created by HIS WORD.
We also see that He created Adam and Eve in His image and likeness. Then we see that He gave them command to have dominion over everything on the earth. They had the power over all the earth. God had vested His authority to Adam and Eve.
But Adam and Eve gave this power over to Satan at the fall. Then came the Redemption plan through Jesus Christ. This same dominion over the earth is what we have today. “In His Likeness” when He created man, he vested in him the authority. He gave us the free will to decide what we can do. But we also have the ability to work like God did.
There was power in the words that God spoke to create everything. In the Old Testament references we can see that Elijah used this power in James 5 :17 to stop the rain. We can see Joshua stopping the Sun in Joshua 10: 12 .They did this by the use of the word that was given to them. Both of them exercised the power that was vested in them.
Moving to the New Testament we see the works that Jesus did. He Spoke to the Storm and it was still, he spoke and the lepers were healed, He spoke and the withered hand became whole He spoke and Lazarus came out of the grave. He Spoke and the fig tree withered away.
Let us look at Luke 10: 17-19
The Seventy Return with Joy
17 Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.”
18 And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
These 70 were not disciples. They were called lambs- younger ones. There is no mention of their name or any other details. - Yet they were given authority over serpents and scorpions. Remember these were not the chosen 12.
Further reading the same in Vs 23 we a read Jesus Rejoices in the Spirit
21 In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight.
Jesus rejoiced over the good report from the seventy.
When we go through the scriptures further, we read in John 14:12 The Answered Prayer
12 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.
When Jesus ascended into heaven, he has given us the holy spirit to permanently reside in us. He has given us Power and Authority over every power of the enemy. We can do more works with the help of the Holy spirit that is residing in us.
We will see more scriptures as we go on about the authority that He has given us.
Now that we know we have Authority.
Let us look at the types of Authority that is vested upon us I am going to just show three types of authority. You can define more as we read scripture.
A Inherited Authority
A couple of weeks back when Ps Abhilash was sharing the word, He talked about the Kingdom.
The Kingdom has a King, The kingdom as a territory, The Kingdom has subjects, there is a certain rules that govern the kingdom and I am adding one more to that . There is power in the word of a king.
In the natural realm we do not have many kings / Queens around today, but when Queen Elizabeth passed away the kingdom was inherited by Prince Charles, He now has authority over the lands and the regions and the people of the United Kingdom
We as believers in Jesus Christ have also inherited this authority.
ROMANS 8 14-15 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”
Only my son will call me Father , to the others I will only be uncle or Anna . That privilege of calling God Father is only given to us as Sons and Daughters. This was completed on the cross of Calvary when Jesus redeemed us. From bondage and gave us the ability to call GOD our Father. YOU HAVE BEEN ADOPTED INTO HIS KINGDOM.
Galatians 4:5-7
to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.
6 And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” 7 Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
we will inherit all that God has. As a son , we will only be able to inherit the physical land and house etc of what our earthly father has given to us that which is divided among all the siblings. . As a spiritual son, we have access to all of God’s promise. It is not given in pieces to anyone . The full measure of it is given to all of us.
Another familiar passage is ROMANS 8 16-17
The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.
We are called to be joint heirs. We are the SON and Daughter of the KING and we are called joint heirs
This is a crude example The Chief minister of TN has complete authority over TN He has a deputy and also a council of ministers. Each of those council of ministers are ruling over a portion of the kingdom. One is handling the finance one is handling agriculture and so on. Yet the whole authority rests with the CM.
Likewise in the kingdom of GOD you are placed as an heir to have dominion over the time and the place that you have been placed in. your workplace, your locality, your street your apartment complex. You have been placed there to have dominion over that land. Are we exercising this authority over where we are placed now?
Another aspect of the inherited authority is seen in Ephesians 2 : 4-6
Ephesians 2:4-6
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
We have been given a new address. Many of us would have shifted home etc, what are the things you will do when you change your address?? ASK CONGRETATION
We need to update our new address first in the Aadhar card, then bank, --etc.
You are informing the WORLD that you have a new address. Here we are given a new address we Need to PUBLISH IT TO THE WORLD. Our old address where we lived in Defeat where we lived in bondage is no longer our address
We have been ushered into a new address where there is no bondage. There is no fear. Christ defeated Satan and put him beneath His feet. You are also seated at the right hand of God with Satan as a defeated foe under you. You should in no way keep a window or door open for him so that he can sneak in and come to destroy you.
How did we get this new address?
Romans 5:17
17 For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)
This is a big GIFT given by Jesus to his children. This is the gift of righteousness that we have received.
B DELEGATE AUTHORITY
Mathew 10: 1 ,7-8
And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.
7 And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. 8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give
We see Jesus here delegating the authority to the disciples and sending them out. They are sent out with a specific command. And what was the command?? – power over unclean spirits, heal all manner of sickness and disease.
We also read about being an Ambassador for Christ
An ambassador is one who represents his or her country in a foreign country. They have been delegated from their country to a new country to act on behalf of their country
We are also delegates of heaven , sent to a foreign country – right now each of us are in Tamil Nadu chennai. We are called to act on his behalf as a representative of the kingdom of Jesus Christ.? How do we do it ? let us read Mark 16 :17-18
And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
IN MY NAME- This is a Badge of Honour given to us to represent Jesus on this earth. This is a very BIG responsibility God has given us the POWER OF ATTORNEY FOR representing HIM on this earth in the place you live and work. You have been made the LEGAL Heir to the kingdom of GOD. What would you do if you were passed on the legal heirship of a very large and profitable firm. How would your lifestyle change ? Will you walk with the same drooping shoulders thinking of all the bills to pay or now will you walk with your shoulders upright and straight. ( wait for answer)
IN HIS NAME also means that I am here representing Him , Standing in His place, to act on HIS behalf, and DO exactly what HE would do.
Repeat the above ( pay close attention to this )
As you read this on the screen, please read It out LOUD with YOUR NAME instead of I George is here representing HIM ,
George is Standing in HIS Place
George Is acting on HIS behalf and
George is doing exactly what He would do.
Think about what you just said – We need to act on behalf of Jesus and act just as He would have acted if He were here today.
What did Jesus do , when he saw the sick, he healed them. He spoke to the storms and it was calm, He would comfort those who are depressed, THINK back Are you really representing Jesus in your daily walk of LIFE
This is a very big authority that is been passed on to you , many of our prayers is “ If it is God’s will I will be healed “ If it Is God’s will it will work for me. ‘ God’s will for your life is that you prosper and be in good health and be a blessing to many.
He has completed His work. On the cross of calvary and now it is left to us to work in His Authority.
The last type of Authority
The Authority vested in us through the Anointing of the Holy Spirt -
Jesus was full of the Spirt when He was performing miracles on this earth.
Acts 10: 38
38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.
Jesus exercised his authority over all forms of sickness and Demons by the spirit that was in Him. The same Spirit is what enabled Peter when he healed the lame man as we see in Acts 3 : 4-6
Acts 3
And fixing his eyes on him, with John, Peter said, “Look at us.” 5 So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. 6 Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.”
We see this at work here. Peter did not pray to Jesus before this, Peter exercised the Authority given to him and he Spoke the healing into the lame man and the lame man received his healing in his legs and he was praising God.
He exercised the authority vested on him by the Holy Spirit
There are so many examples of the working of the holy spirit though the apostles.
Another one that we often read is Acts 14 :7-9 Paul, observing him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed, 10 said with a loud voice, “Stand up straight on your feet!” And he leaped and walked.
In both these examples we see that Peter and Paul , who were filled with the Holy Spirit are performing miracles. They used the authority that they received by the power of the holy Spirit. They did not wait and ask God what has to be done. Nor did they pray to God and confirm if the miracle will happen. They knew that they power was inside of them and hence they spoke it out
The book of acts records more such instances where the apostles performed miracles of Healing, Chains breaking off etc.
By the power of the Holy Spirit which is within we also are called to exercise this authority
Acts 1 : 7-8
And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
This is the power that is within us today for us to exercise
2 Corin 1 : 21-22
21 Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, 22 who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.
3 How to use this Authority?
It is good to know that we have authority. But how , where when, do we use it ?
My mentor always talks about this example of a young man who learnt various forms of Karate and he received gold medals and certifications in all. However, one day when a thief entered his house, he was thinking which form of martial art to use and by the time he could make up his mind, the thief had already tied him down and taken away his valuable. Knowledge about authority is good but we need to exercise it.
The Bible reminds us to be DOERS of the word and not listeners only - You too can exercise this authority let us look at how do we exercise this authority
A) By Prayer.
A few weeks back Ps Chad was speaking on the “ASK “and receive We need to ASK God for guidance to use this Authority in our daily walk and be in alignment with his will for our lives. As Ps mentioned whatever we ask should be in the will of God.
Prayer is also to be used for us to resist the viles of the enemy, it is in situations of life that we face that the devil sneaks in and plants seeds of doubt and despair. These times we need to rely on God more.
B) BY WORDS
In the beginning of this sermon, I had mentioned about Elijah and Joshua who used their words to stop the rain and the sun. The bible reminds us to bridle out tongue in James 5: 6
6 If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless.
Bridle means to have control. It is not only about restraining our mouth from speaking bad things but also to speak good things. A bridle means to train to speak what God wants you to speak, Speak words of Authority over your situation. Train yourself to speak TO THE Situation., Speak to the mountains, and it will be moved. This is not something that we can change overnight, - we need to learn to bridle our tongue.
In Matthew 18:18-20
18 “Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
We have been given authority to bind and Loose
What do we mean by these two terms
BIND meaning to tie the hands of a person and make them inoperative We need to learn to BIND Sickness, Addictions, Learn to bind all these and cast is out. Jesus has already won the victory and defeated the enemy He is already a defeated foe, but he is always trying to see which window or door is kept open for him to enter in. Once in he will Deceive , Divide and Destroy.
LOOSE - TO free people of the Bondages and Oppression from the enemy . Bondages could mean, Fears that people have, Corruption, Habitual sins, Cast out demons and
You are authorised to BIND and LOOSE on earth, what is bound and loosed in heaven What God permits – within HIS will is what you are authorised to bind and loose.
Jesus asked us to speak to the mountain and it will move, When we speak we need to speak to the problem, This will take a time for us to get used to , We have been used to speak about the problem or sickness, Our tongue is very powerful, we need to train it to conquer over the enemy and his schemes
Death and Life are in the power of the tongue.
This is what is exercising our faith. We should bridle our tongues to be under the power of God’s word. God’s word says In Duet 28: 13 And the Lord will make you the head and not the tail; you shall be above only, and not be beneath, if you [d]heed the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, and are careful to observe them
We are not exercising our authority when we pray if it is your will. Or pray please heal me. I am not saying that we should not visit hospitals or doctors. They are definitely needed. Infact a study in the US among doctors and their patients have revealed that patients who had higher faith levels have recovered much better and faster.
“If it is God’s, will I will be healed” what we are indirectly saying is God wants us to be in pain and agony, that is not what God wants for your life. We are created in His likeness and image. In His likeness there is completeness. We are living in a fallen world and the consequences of Sin is all around us.
Jesus has paid the price for our sins He shed his blood and redeemed us. His work is already over and we have been given authority to speak to the sickness and command it to leave our body.
Disclaimer- We are here talking about Binding and loosing sickness, demons etc. This is not applicable if we have a rude boss and we want to bind him. That is not what the Bible teaches us to do.
C BY our actions
Our lives should be a testimony of the power of God vested in us. We are surrounded by people of different faith. How are we exercising our faith in the office? How are we handling situations ? Are we
A prayer that we hear commonly is about finances and asking God for finances, God is not in the Money printing business, that is illegal, that is to be done by the governments. People are the ones who give you money. You should pray for people to come into your business or pray for the situations to improve in your office for a bigger bonus. If you are self employed you should ask God to help you do your work more efficiently, or give you ideas to make it more valuable for your customers, thereby you can make more money.
I recently heard a testimony of a person who lost a large sum of money through a WhatsApp scam. An impersonator sent a whatsapp message as his boss and asked for money to be sent to collect gifts for the office staff. He send money and then when the imposter asked for more money, he borrowed from colleagues and sent. By the time he realised he was being scammed, he had already lost one and half lakhs. He informed the office and the office chided him for being careless. His wife and my friend continued in prayer for a solution. About a year and a half later, the company decided to reimburse the money to him This is how God’s provision works.
Ps Abilash mentioned about being Yoked with Christ two weeks back. Only if you are Yoked with Christ- walking in Sync with God will you be able to exercise the authority that God has given you .
You cannot be behind him or before you , you need to be with HIM. Remember you are a Son and Daughter of the most high God. I would urge you to go back home and read through the scriptures to understand more about the authority that God has given you and exercise it daily in your life.
1 John 4:4
4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world
Let us pray
you can reach out to me on gpkoshy@yahoo.com for any details regarding the above sermon.
