It’s important that we learn how to walk out of our new creation man (born again spirit) in the realm of faith, or by faith in the grace of God to empower us.
And if you’re to walk in the spirit, you must learn how to release that which God has put in your spirit.
A walk with God is a flow of the Spirit. We must learn how to draw the life of God, so that if flows into our spirit and then through our spirit into our soul.
Faith is a substance. It’s not a mental attitude. It is power. It is a form of the energy of God. It is a substance.
To walk in the Spirit, God wants his thoughts to be your thoughts. When his thoughts become your thoughts, then we can have fellowship and walk with Him, walk in faith, walk in authority, walk in the things of God.
Everything is established upon the fact that His thoughts must become our thoughts, and if that’s not the case, we’re working purely out of our soul.
Our soul has no spiritual value at all when we just walk with the soul as the source.
The Father (YHWH) wants His thoughts to become our thoughts, and then in cooperation with Him, we learn to flow with Him, walk with Him, do the will of God together with Him through the Holy Spirit.
In this message I want to deal with the new creation man (our born-again spirit) and spiritual authority.
Most Christians do not understand the nature of spiritual authority. If we’re going to be effective in spiritual warfare and in that which God has given us to do, we must learn how to move in authority.
Luke 9: 1 Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases. 2 He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.
First, he called twelve and then 70 and he gave them two things power and authority.
The power was to heal the sick, and the authority was to deal with the devil. We do not want to get these mixed up or we are going to get into big spiritual trouble.
Power was to cure diseases, heal the sick, and authority was over devils.
Mark 1: 27 Then they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? What new doctrine is this? For with authority, He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him.”
The scripture talks about two different things, power and authority. And we need to define those two words so that we understand them.
The word power comes from the Greek word dynamis. And it is power. It is a force. It is a divine force. It is miraculous power, the power of God.
It’s not just a concept; it is a substance. It is energy. It is an outflow of God Himself, the power, the dynamis, where we get our English word dynamite from. So, it talks about that kind of explosive power. It’s a force, a divine energy.
The other word we need to understand is authority. The Greek word is exousia, which means the right or permission.
Authority means to have the right or permission to act in a certain way.
Now, these are two very different words. They’re not even similar.
One has to do with the divine flow of energy, the power of God, divine energy.
The other is the right, or the permission to flow in.
Now, Unfortunately, quite often in our English Bible, particularly the King James, but some of the other versions too, the King James Bible gets them mixed up. The translator’s kind of mixes those two words up. This is why we need a bible with the strong numbers or an interlinear bible.
Luke 10:17 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.
Behold I give you permission, I give you the right, it is not talking about power.
Jesus is saying I’m going to give you authority over the power of Satan.
Jesus said I’m going to give you authority over the power of the enemy. That word over, in the Greek word, is epi, it means superimposition in time, space, and order.
Superimposition is the placement of us in Christ, over the demonic realm in Authority, even though their power is still present, if Christians agree with their lies.
The demonic realm still has power, but not over us if we know our legal position in Christ.
In other words, authority over all the power of the enemy, superior to it in every way, higher in rank in the spirit world, a higher position.
Behold I give you authority over all the power, the dynamis of the enemy.
Let’s explain the difference a policeman in our state has authority, but has very little power except for his gun, but he has authority.
A policeman can stand in the middle of the road and stop a Mack truck coming down by just standing in the road and raising his hand.
Now that Mack truck has got a lot more power, but the policeman has authority. And he has tremendous authority. He has the whole of the police force behind him.
And so, he exercises his authority over power. The problem is where the analogy differs in that the backup can be too slow. For the policeman, sometimes the backup is not they’re quick enough, where in the kingdom of God we have backup at the speed of light. Angels can assist us at the speed of light.
Sometimes it might take quite a while for that policeman to receive backup to help him in any given situation, but he has authority.
The policeman doesn’t necessarily have power, but he has authority and he exercises that authority.
Authority is not power as we understand it, power is a flow of energy it’s a power.
We understand electricity as a power a flow of energy, we’re talking about the dynamis of God or the dynamis of the enemy. We’re talking about a power, a flow of energy and the Bible makes it very clear that God has given us authority over the power of the enemy not over his authority.
Jesus disarmed the enemy, but they still have authority if people agree with them, either willingly or in deception.
Authority is not power it is the right or permission that God has given us.
It is to do with your rank or the position of your new creation man in the spirit realm.
You know that policeman can have had a hard day. He can have major problems at home. It can be having all kinds of things, but it still doesn’t affect his authority.
Now you’ve got to understand this because Christians get deceived all the time. They don’t feel worthy to exercise authority.
Authority has nothing to do with worthiness, it’s to do with your rank in the spirit realm.
Whether you have a good day or a bad day, that position never changes.
See, it’s important to understand this because the enemy will work on your emotions.
You have a bad day, you feel, well, you just don’t have any authority. It’s got nothing to do with it.
Does your position in the heavenlies change because you had a bad day?
Did your position in the heavenlies change because you made a few mistakes? Because you’re still dealing with things wrong in your life? No!
Your authority never changes. It’s there, it remains because it has to do with your position in God the position of the new creation man (the newborn spirit) and what we have to be careful about when we deal with the enemy is that we’re dealing with spirit forces or the power of the enemy.
We do not match power with power because if you just start to do that, you’ll be beaten every time. Some of these demons or fallen angels have great power but they don’t have authority over you.
If you try to match power with the power of the enemy you’re going to get into a contest and probably you will be beaten unless you carry a real great power anointing and not many people do
When you exercise authority over the enemy the whole backup of the kingdom of God comes into play and God will use whatever means necessary to deal with that situation to back up your authority.
There have been Christians trying to deal with the enemy, with demons with power and they get into trouble.
The Bible didn’t say Jesus’ gives us power over the enemy he said he gives us authority, the right, the permission to bind to loose, to deal with.
Once you start to exercise authority angels can be on the scene at the speed of light, the power of God can be released at His prerogative into that situation, but you are not matching power with power.
Authority is not power it’s a very different thing. We deal with the enemy based on spiritual authority.
If we have an anointing of power upon us, we do not use it to come against the power of the enemy. We do not match power with power.
If you come against demons of great power. And match them with the anointing of power upon you, they would probably have beaten you. Because certain demons have very great power, and they can release power, which can affect you emotionally, physically, your nervous system in every way. But we don’t deal with them with power, we’re dealing with them with authority.
You have authority, you have the right because you are a new creation in Christ and you have a higher rank than any other spiritual power in this universe do you believe that?
You were raised up together with Christ and are seated on a throne in the heavenly places legally in Christ, that is the whole of the spirit realm.
You’re not exercising an outward anointing of power that will come upon you and lift off you, you’re exercising authority.
When you know your legal position in the Christ, you’ll learn to exercise authority.
If you don’t know your position in Christ, you won’t begin to exercise it.
Matthew 28: 18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
Jesus was saying now behold I have authority over every power in the universe in heaven and in the earth, I have the highest rank in the spirit realm.
So, Jesus has all authority in the universe but now he transfers that authority to the church, the new creation people in the earth.
Luke 10: 19 Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power (dynamis) of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
Luke 9: 1 Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases. 2 He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.
Jesus called the twelve and he gave them two things, power and authority because they had two tasks ahead of them.
He said “I want you to cure all diseases and I want you to cast out demons”
So, he gave them authority to deal with the demons, and he gave them power to heal the sick.
You need power to heal the sick, that’s a flow of energy whether it comes in the gifts of healings or whether it comes in pure faith in God’s Word.
You need power to heal the sickness, it is a power that heals, it is energy, it is a flow of power, it is a flow of life from the Lord, and it cures all diseases.
But you also need authority to cast out devils. So, he gave them two things. Because they had to cast out demons, for that you need authority, but they had to heal the sick and that required power.
People who have a real ministry of healing carry what we call a power anointing that heals the sick or it operates in the gifts of healing and that is a power flow which heals the sick.
So, he gave them authority over the devil and power to heal the sick and unless that sickness is caused by demonic activity in which case you use authority to cast out demons and then power to heal.
You do not match power with power. In the occult world they match power with power.
If you go in some mission fields, you find they have occult wars where they match power with power and it’s a flow of life energy and eventually the one who loses will probably get sick and die.
In Indonesia, in the occult world there are great power wars. But Christians don’t operate on that level, they use authority and bind that thing. They’re not going to match it with power because they may not be carrying the same level of power as these occultists are.
In the kingdom of God, we have authority over them, and we speak a word and bring it to an end. And the whole of the kingdom of heaven backs up that authority and stops it.
Christians don’t understand this, but all power comes from God. The occult is a misuse of power called witchcraft. When Satan fell, he fell with the power that God gave him.
Satan had great power, but he fell and then used it for evil which a lot of charismatics do, it what we call charismatic witchcraft. But it is still power.
Now charismatic witchcraft is spiritual manipulation in which you move out of the kingdom flow of God and into the kingdom of darkness flow.
Spiritual manipulation whether you be a charismatic Christian or not is purely witchcraft. You’re calling on spiritual power to bring to pass your ends, which is called witchcraft. In the kingdom of God, we move in the will of God for His purposes and His will.
All the power (dynamis) comes from one source YHWH. Satan began to misuse that which was given to him for evil.
But God said I gave you authority over all the power that the enemy is using. The word you speak brings an end because you have authority.
SPIRITUAL LAWS OF AUTHORITY
Matthew 8: 8 The centurion answered and said, “Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 10 When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!
It doesn’t say what was wrong with his servant (probably an adopted son), but he said he was grievously tormented which means there was a demon grievously tormenting him.
Now he asks Jesus to do something about it, and Jesus said I’ll come to your house. At that point the centurion stopped Jesus and said you don’t have to do that. Lord, I’m not worthy that you should come to my house, but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed, for I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. He understood authority because he was in the military.
When Jesus heard this, He marveled and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great a faith. No, not in Israel.
Jesus commented on the level of this man’s faith. This guy is a Roman. But he is commenting on the level of his faith. This man’s faith, you see, was centered on the fact that he understood the nature of authority.
Now this is in the scriptures so that you and I can understand authority. How did he get that level of faith? How was he operating in that? He understood the very nature of authority.
He said you just need to speak the word, he understands this for he was a man under authority.
He understood that when someone above him in rank in the Roman army gave him an order, he had to obey it. If he didn’t, he would probably be executed. So, they were good at obeying orders.
And he had over him the next rank above him in the Roman army. He said, “I understand that”. When I get an order from up there, I do it. I understand authority. He said, and I’ve got soldiers under me. And he said, when I tell them to do something, they do it.
To exercise authority, you must be under authority. The level of our submission to the Lord determines what level of authority we can operate with on the earth (this is vital redemption). Legally we have authority and that will never change (this is the legal aspect of our redemption).
To exercise authority, you must understand the nature of authority. We get our authority from the one above us (Jesus).
Just like in the Roman army, the centurion’s authority came from the person who ranked higher than him. So, authority came down the chain of military leaders.
This Roman centurion saw that Jesus had authority in the spirit realm and all he had to do was speak the word and the spirit realm would obey him.
This Centurion put the principle straight into the realm of spirit because he had seen Jesus operating in that realm.
He looked at Jesus and he said this guy has got authority in the spirit realm, he’s got a very high rank in the realm of spirit, and he said Jesus all you have to do is speak a word and it will be done.
And Jesus just spoke the word, and it was done. Now this is in scripture to give us an understanding of how spiritual authority works and you see Jesus was under authority. Whose authority was He under? The Father’s. He would do nothing without His Father’s Permission.
What is authority? The right or permission. Jesus was under His Father; He did only those things He saw the Father do. He didn’t work independent of the Father. So, His authority had to be exercised under someone of a greater rank than Him-the Father.
Now the same applies to you and I. Jesus was under authority. Jesus’ authority came from His rank and His relationship with the Father. And although He had very high rank in the spirit realm, He was still subject to His Father.
The Lord does not just give you authority to use it any way you like. You don’t get that in the army; you don’t get it in any realm of authority. You just can’t use the authority anyway you want; you must be under submission to the Lord ship of Jesus over your spirit, soul and body.
We need to understand that Jesus’ authority came from His rank and His relationship with the Father. He had very high rank, but He was subject to the Father in the exercise of His authority. He would never exercise it independently.
Now John G. Lake, great man of God. God called him on a fast and he began to fast and pray and seek the Lord, and this went on for a long time as he was fasting and just seeking the Lord.
One day the Lord appeared to him in this fast and he said from this day on I give you authority, I give you authority over demons and to cast out demons.
Now he was getting permission. So, every time he met a demonic spirit, he just spoke the word.
He went into the insane asylums. In the end, they began to bring all the insane to him. And he would just speak a word and their minds became normal.
He was in Africa and they had this guy in a cage and this guy was so wild they had to put him in a cage, and he’d been there many years just totally wild and out of his mind and John knew the authority that the Lord had given him through personal encounter.
I want to say this authority is not automatic, you’ve got to receive it from the Lord even though it is legally ours, the exercise of that authority comes from the Lord and encounters with him.
So, nobody would go near this guy, and they put him in the cage and closed the door behind him. And so, John is in there, he’s in the cage with this guy. This guy is just going to rip him to pieces. He spoke a word and the guy was in his right mind in an instant. Now that is authority.
There’s coming a generation, called the 42 generation who are going to learn how to exercise all authority under Jesus as Lord.
We understand our legal position in Christ through the Word of God, and we receive permission to operate through encounters with Jesus, the vital side of redemption.
In the realm of authority, you receive permission to operate through personal encounters with Jesus, now this doesn’t go over well in the faith movement. But it is the truth. You seek God, and walk with him, and He will give you ever-increasing permission to exercise authority in different realms, but it comes out of an encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Just like John G. Lake had an encounter just like the disciples had an encounter with Jesus, he said from today on I give you authority over demons and from that day on the twelve and then the seventy had authority over demons and would exercise it. They had the right to exercise it from that day on.
Christians think it’s all in the Word we just must believe it but that is the legal aspect of redemption. The vital side is that we need encounters with the Lord, we need to be sent by Him, we need to be commissioned by Him, which are called mandates.
Not everyone is commissioned, a lot of people are in the process of being called. You can be called but being commissioned or elected is another thing.
You might have all kinds of callings in your life but to be commissioned into them comes with authority. When you’re commissioned, authority comes with it.