Understanding Power and Authority Part 1
Scriptures: 1 Timothy 1:18-19; 2 Timothy 3:1-5, 7; Acts 19:11-17
Introduction
I grew up in Tennessee and before I left home I stood over 6 feet tall and weighed 180 pounds. My father was shorter than me and probably weighed 30-40 pounds less fully dressed and soaking wet. However, when I think back to my days of living with my parents, I learned what it meant to have authority. Although I was taller, heavier and younger than my father, I did not question what he told me to do. Even if I wanted to argue about something, I’d do it under my breath because he had authority. Now I had power in my size and could probably take him in a fair fight (I say fair because daddy always told me he would not fight fair if I ever wanted to try him), but my power was no match for his authority. His authority had absolutely nothing to do with his size; it was his presence and his position. Not only did he have this authority with his children, but our cousins were terrified of him especially when we all got in trouble. My parents gave me my first insight to what it means to walk in authority.
When I first left home, I left to go into the Air Force. I was 20 years old and it was the first time that I had been away from home. While in the military, I learned a lot about power and authority. My first interaction with authority came when the bus arrived at basic training and this short sergeant screamed at us to get off the bus. This sergeant probably weighed less than my dad but he had authority. There were guys on my bus who were bigger than me who almost cried when this short sergeant got in their face screaming. Anyone of us based on size alone could have taken him out, yet we were scared of him. When he spoke, we listened. When he gave a command, we followed it. You see, it was not about size or power with this sergeant or my dad, it was about this “something” that they had that when they spoke, you knew they meant business. That “something” was authority. There is a difference between power and authority and as a Christian, it is important that we understand both. We have a powerful enemy, but as powerful as he is, he must yield to our authority in Christ, if we understand that we have it and choose to walk in it.
So let’s define power and authority.
• “Power” is defined as the “the ability to do or act; capability of doing something.” By definition, power has to do with one’s ability. In the example that I gave earlier, I was referencing the physical strength that comes with size as physical power. To have power means to have the ability to do something.
• “Authority” is defined as the “the power to determine or settle issues; the right to control; persuasive force.” To have authority has nothing to do with your ability or your capabilities. To have authority means that the “power” has been bestowed upon you, whether you have the ability or not is not relevant. This is where Satan fools a lot of Christians. He wants us to get into a power struggle with him based on our own strength and forget about the authority that has been given to us through Christ Jesus.
Although we as Christians have been given power and authority through Christ, many Christians do not allow themselves the opportunity to walk in it. We mistakenly measure someone’s spiritual power by their outward show – much of which is not reflective of what is on the inside. We judge people by their outward show. In Church, if someone sings well, or shouts or are very vocal of their faith walk, we judge them as being “strong, powerful Christians”. The sad thing is that many of these outward focused Christians have shipwrecked faith and what they show in public is all that they have. Many Christians get tired of fighting the good fight of faith and over time begin to lose that which they have. Paul told Timothy in 1 Timothy 1:18-19 to ….fight the good fight, keeping the faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith.”
There is also another group of Christians that believe they are walking in faith yet still without power. This group of Christians believes that everything must come through the Church leaders or the Pastor. They do not want to know about what they can do, they just want to be spoon fed their faith. Their lives are riddled with fear, confusion, anger and sins of the flesh. In all of their spirituality, if you pull back the glitter and show, you will see that all that remains is a person who knows of Christ and nothing else. They profess Christ, have accepted Him, but have done nothing more but go to Church every Sunday and get their praise on. These Christians appear to walk in power and authority, but in truth they do not. Some would call them hypocrites because they are professing one thing in public while knowing that they do something else in private. I believe that there are some genuine hypocrites out there, but I also believe that many who seem to be that way are really just confused as to what it truly means to walk in faith, authority and power as a Christian.
In this series I will walk us through what has been given to us through Jesus Christ. This series will line up beside what we are discussing in Bible Study so in a sense this is an extension of that ongoing discussion. At the end of this series and our Bible Study lesson on demonic spirits, we will know that our struggle does not have to lie within our own abilities, but in the power and authority that has been given to us. Our foundational Scripture for continual reflection through out this series will come from 2 Timothy 3:1-5 and verse 7. It reads: "But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious, gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God: holding a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; and avoid such men as these…..always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth."
Through out this series and during Bible Study you will repeatedly hear me speak of those who have a form of godliness and no power…who are always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” These are people that we know, people that God knows and even more concerning, people that Satan knows. We can fool each other, but when it comes to whether or not we are able to walk in our authority, we cannot fool God and Satan will call our bluff which we will see shortly.
To begin understanding the power and authority that has been granted to each of us as Christians, we must first recognize its source. Our power and authority comes through one man, Jesus Christ. If you do not accept this fact, you will be unable to walk in your authority. No other man has the ability or the right to give this to us, it only comes through Christ. So let’s go back to the beginning and answer the question “Why Is Jesus the Only Way?”
I. Why Jesus Is The Only Way
The question has been asked by many “Why is Jesus the only way to salvation?” This question often arises when people think of good people, who are not Christians, going to hell because they do not accept Christ. It is difficult to imagine someone going to hell because they refuse to accept Christ, but if we fully understand the nature of Christ and what He did for us, you begin to understand how this plays out. Understand, I am not talking about someone who never heard of Christ, I am talking about a good person who chooses not to accept or believe in Him. I have received questions through the years as to why Buddha or Muhammad could not lead one to salvation. I have also been asked questions about the other religions within the world that do not acknowledge Christ. You must remember that being “religious and/or spiritual” is not the same thing as being a Christian. Also, not every Christian is equal. We have been given the same authority, but some chooses not to accept or walk in it. It is much easier to stay where we are with what we know than to give than up and take on something new. One thing is for certain, it is impossible to walk in the authority of Christ if you do not believe that He is the only way. If you do not believe that Christ is the only way, and the only source for our authority, then you are left to believe that any prophet of any other religion has the ability to give their followers the same authority that Christ gave us. This is not the case as we will explain in this series. And along this same line comes the realization that if you do not accept Christ, you cannot have the authority that comes through Him. Let me give you an example. We are currently studying demonic spirits in bible study and soon we will be studying demonic possession and oppression. The authority that we have that gives us the power to cast out demons comes from Christ, not any other man. Remember how I have told you that you must have a relationship with God and that relationship comes through Jesus Christ? Well it is that relationship which gives us our authority and if we do not have the relationship, it will be impossible to have the authority.
In the book of Acts the nineteenth chapter, a story is recorded about the seven sons of Sceva. These brothers after witnessing the miracles done through Paul in the name of Jesus (which included casting our evil spirits) decided that they too should get in on this. Here is what is recorded in Acts 19:11-17: “God was performing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that handkerchiefs or aprons were even carried from his body to the sick and diseases left them and the evil spirits went out. But also some of the Jewish exorcists, who went from place to place, attempted to name over those who had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, ‘I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.’ Seven sons of one Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. And the evil spirit answered and said to them, ‘I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?’ And the man, in whom was the evil spirit, leaped on them and subdued all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. This became known to all, both Jews and Greeks, who lived in Ephesus; and fear fell upon them all and the name of the Lord Jesus was being magnified.”
These seven brothers did not know Jesus nor did they have a relationship with Him. Because they did not know Him nor had a relationship with Him, they had no authority to cast out that demonic spirit. Now notice the response that the demonic spirit gave them when they said “I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.” The demonic spirit said that it recognized Jesus and knew about Paul. Notice the difference in wording here. The demonic spirit recognized Jesus, meaning that it knew Jesus. The definition of recognize is “to be aware of as known before; to know by some detail, as of appearance; to accept as a fact.” The evil spirit basically said that it knew Jesus, was aware of him because he had interacted with Jesus before. The spirit had no question about who Jesus was because it had interacted with Jesus before Jesus took on human form. Jesus was present when Satan and his angels were cast from heaven so the evil spirits (formerly known as angels) would have known Jesus in heaven. Remember the incident that is recorded in Matthew the 8th chapter verses twenty-eight through thirty-four? In that incident Jesus came into the country of the Gadarenes and two men who were demon-possessed met Him as they were coming out of the tombs. As soon as they saw, Jesus did not even speak to the men, the demons cried out. This is what they said in verse 29: “What business do we have with each other, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?” They recognized Jesus because they knew Him from when they were all in heaven. In their recognition of Him, they knew the authority that He had over them and that is why they asked Him if He was there to torment them before the time. Their recognition of Jesus is the same as the recognition of Him that the evil spirit in Acts the nineteenth chapter had. Let me finish this story so we can move on.
Now the spirit had also heard about Paul. In this term the spirit may never have interacted with Paul, but it heard about him. What the spirit had heard was that Paul was now walking in the authority of Christ and it needed to be aware of him. There is a big difference between recognizing and knowing someone because of previous interactions with that person versus knowing about someone because you had heard things about them. Now look at what happens next. The spirit tells the seven brothers basically that it did not know them and proceeded to give them the beating of a life time. After this happened Christ’s name was magnified because people recognized that it was Christ from which deliverance came. I feel sorry for any person who will try and cast out an evil spirit in Rodney’s name or any other name besides Jesus Christ. As we have seen from the example in Acts, to walk in this authority and subsequent power, you must have a relationship with Christ and it must be real, not one just for the public and for Sundays.
So what is so special about Christ that He becomes the only way to salvation? Why can’t salvation come through anyone else like the Buddha or Muhammad? Let me share with you a few Scriptures that will explain why Jesus is the only way and through Him comes the authority and power we need to operate in this world. Lets start with the book of John. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with god. All things came into being by Him and apart from him nothing came into being that has come into being.” John 1:1-3
In these verses John tells us that Jesus existed “in the beginning” and was very active in the creation of all things. In the verses above, the “Word” that John is talking about is Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Jesus existed before the world was made and was involved in the world being created. No other man who has walked the earth ever made this claim. Jesus made a choice to leave heaven, walk the earth as a man without His divine power, and die for the sins of the world. No one else has ever been born by a decision of their own. All of us have been born because of an act of our parents. Jesus was born because He decided to leave heaven, come to earth, and become the perfect and last sacrifice that man would need in order to have a relationship with God. Jesus said “And now, glorify Thou Me together with Thyself, Father, with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was.” (John 15:5) which speaks of His existence before the world was made. There has been no one else who has these credentials.
The next point that needs to be made is that He was born of a virgin having God the Father as His Father. Jesus is the only man to walk the earth who had a natural mother and a Spiritual Father. We know the story of Mary’s conception and some of the other religions accept the fact that she was a virgin when she gave birth to Jesus. Romans 8:3 speak of God actually sending Jesus to the earth. It says “For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did; sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh.” Jesus came as a sin offering for us. In order for Him to be the perfect offering, He had to take on a fleshly body, be subjected to everything we are subjected to, and not sin. Remember that during the Old Testament times all of the sacrifices consisted of animals without a blemish, they had to be perfect. Jesus lived a sinless life and there has not been another man ever who could make this claim.
One final point, every man who has lived and died has either been cremated or placed in a grave, except for Jesus. Jesus went into the grave, but He did not stay there. There have been others who have risen from the dead, and one who came up out of the grave (Lazarus), but they all eventually died and went back to the grave. When Jesus rose from the grave, He did not return. What He did was show Himself to His disciples and to others so that they would believe and would go forth in His power and authority. It was only after Jesus rose from the dead and showed Himself to His disciples that they came out of hiding and began to preach the gospel of Christ without being in fear of their lives.
As all of you know, there are a lot of people who call themselves Christians and on the outside they look just like that. They dress right in public, they act right in public and they seem to do all of the right things – in public. The problem is that what they do in public may not be who they really are. Although we cannot tell without some investigation, God knows and Satan knows. Just like those seven brothers, the demonic spirit knew immediately that these men were not walking in the authority that comes through Christ. Although they “used” Christ’s name when they tried to cast the spirit out, they still did not possess the authority that only comes through a relationship with Christ. Paul told Timothy that “men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious, gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God: holding a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; and avoid such men as these…..always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth."
We have people among us who have a form of godliness but no power. When we look at what it takes to walk in the authority and power of Christ, you can’t do it if you are deceitful, lover of self and money, ungrateful when someone does something for you, malicious, gossiper, no self-control, etc. All of these things are of Satan, within his domain, and yet we try to claim “victory in Christ” while we are operating in Satan’s domain. In order for us to move forward in our authority and remain in it, we must refuse to accept what Satan is offering – all of those things I just mentioned. In the last sentence of that Scripture, Paul says something that amazes me. He said they are “always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” We have people who are always learning but they never seem to get to the point of where their knowledge leads them to the truth. These Christians have a form of godliness without the power.
As I have told you before, Satan does not care how spiritual we think we are; he does not care how holy we think we are; he does not care how often we come to Church cry and shout and “get our praise on” for the show of others. None of these things concerns him. What concerns him is when he sees a Christian who starts asking the question “What are my rights as a Christian?” and then once they get the answers, start walking in those rights. Next week we will start looking at what authority and power we have been given. Until next week, God bless.
