THE AUTHORITY OF THE BELIEVER
SPEAKER: PS. DARIN BROWNE
We have been talking about our identity as believers, that we set free from the slavery of sin, we are adopted kids of the King, we are royalty, and ambassadors! So, we have His authority.
The authority of the believer is a spiritual truth based on Christ’s victory, meaning Christians are given delegated power in Jesus’ name to resist the enemy, heal the sick, and live in victory rather than defeat. There’s a continuum, from “Oh Lord, if it’s Your will” to “I decree and declare,” Where God’s own Word is used to manipulate Him to do what we want. I declare that I am healed, prosperous, successful! Where are the normal people? The authority of the believer is not for you, it’s all about Jesus, and for others.
WHOSE AUTHORITY?
Matthew 28:18-20
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Our authority comes only from Jesus, as per the Great Commission. But what does all authority mean?
JESUS GIVEN US ALL HIS AUTHORITY
Matthew 9:6-8
But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” – he then said to the paralytic – “Rise, pick up your bed and go home.” And he rose and went home. When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.
Jesus gives His authority to men, that’s you and I. Obviously we can’t forgive sins, but He can. We can share the gospel with people and lead them to this point. We cannot heal sickness, but He can, and He shares that authority with us. You cannot trample serpents or drink poison or cast out demons, but He can, and He shares that authority with us. He has power over Satan and demons, and He shares that power with us. This is awesome, and amazing!
WHAT DO WE HAVE AUTHORITY OVER?
1: AUTHORITY OVER THE POWER OF THE ENEMY
Luke 10:17-20
The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
According to Luke, all the power of the enemy. Tread on serpents and scorpions refers to satanic activity, and this could include any evil we see in our world today. Sickness? Yes, that’s satanic. Oppression? Yes. Poverty, injustice, misery? These all have their root in the evil one. So according to the seventy-two, we have authority over these things.
And here is where the problem arises. Read between the lines of our text this morning and you will see Jesus say, “Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” Our natural human tendency is to rejoice in what? That we can order demons around! We love the power! We love to have all the authority. But Jesus said, rejoice in your salvation, not the authority, the works you can do.
2: WE HAVE AUTHORITY OVER SATAN
Romans 16:20
The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
Satan himself is legally under our feet, so we need not live in fear of him. If someone holds a gun on you, whether the thing is loaded or not is a big issue. Satan points his gun at us, but it is loaded with blanks. He cannot destroy us, he can only affect us to the limit that God sets, so it’s all smoke and mirrors. I’m not saying you should watch horror movies and have a séance, but we need not fear him.
3: WE HAVE AUTHORITY TO ACT ON BEHALF OF CHRIST
John 17:18
As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.
2 Corinthians 5:20
Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
Our great joy and privilege is to act on behalf of, as an ambassador for, Jesus the King. When we understand what His authority really means, we can appropriate it as our authority, the authority over Satan and evil things that He gives to us.
THE MISSING LINK…WHY DOES IT GO WRONG?
As I said, so many people who preach on the authority of the believer stress that you can command health, wealth and success using His authority. I have had some tell me that if we quote the right verse, God must give us what we ask for.
Matthew 21:22
And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”
So, what’s the relevant thing here. Faith. So, if you pray for a miracle and don’t see it, who is to blame? Somebody’s faith? I think this is not only incorrect, but it is cruel, especially when applied to sickness. They say the Jesus healed all diseases…
Matthew 4:23
And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.
If Jesus healed all their diseases, and we have His authority, shouldn’t we be able to heal 100% of all diseases all the time? This is how the logic goes, so when it doesn’t happen, there’s a glitch. We know we have the authority, so it is probably your faith that is letting the miracle down here, right?
Jesus went to the Pool of Bethesda. The pool was like an invalid hospital.
John 5:3
In these lay a multitude of invalids – blind, lame, and paralysed.
Jesus healed one man. Only one? In the end, God is still God, folks! Jesus probably walked by the lame man that Peter and John healed at the Gate Beautiful. God’s timing.
WHAT ARE WE MISSING?
I hate to see good people destroyed by bad doctrine, and overzealous believers. What’s happening here is that preachers are taking odd verses from the Bible out of context. There is a disconnect, a missing link and it’s this: we need to ask Jesus, we need to abide in Him. If we don’t, we re guilty of the sin of presumption.
We see this often in God’s people, success leads to arrogance and being presumptuous. In Joshua 7, after the great victory over Jericho, Joshua thought a lesser force could easily take the tiny city of Ai, there was sin in the camp, and he had just presumed he would win, without asking God.
Psalms 19:13
Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression.
We have the authority of Christ, over every evil thing, but we arrogantly presume to know God’s will, every time. We try to use the Bible as an offensive weapon to manipulate God into doing what we think should happen! The missing link is simply this…ask God! Many believers’ desire authority but neglect intimacy. We want the power of Acts without the prayer life of Acts.
I was once praying with a team for a lovely young woman who had a terminal brain tumour. The team prayed vigorously around her bed for her total healing. But I stopped and asked God, and He said, “Darin, I’m taking her home. Offer her words of encouragement.” She was in a coma, but when I whispered the words God gave me in her ear, she opened her eyes, looked directly at me, smiled, nodded, and then passed out again, dying a few hours later. I stopped and asked God instead of presuming and found that He’s not waiting for my leading.
HERE ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF TRULY BIBLICAL AUTHORITY
1: AUTHORITY BEGINS WITH ABIDING
John 15:4-5
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
Jesus never taught His disciples to pursue power. He taught them to remain close to Him. The Holy Spirit empowers those who continually yield themselves to Christ.
Relationship comes before ministry. Communion before commission. Presence before power. Character before charisma.
2: OUR AUTHORITY IS DELEGATED
Matthew 28:18-19
Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.”
The authority belongs to Jesus. We simply represent Him. Like an ambassador, we speak with authority only because we represent the King. Whenever we move beyond His will, we move beyond His authority.
3: AUTHORITY FLOWS FROM OUR UNION IN CHRIST
Ephesians 2:5-6
even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved – and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
We are positionally seated with Christ, and our authority comes from our position in Him. Understand this, we don’t stand beside Christ exercising our own authority, we live hidden in Christ.
The moment we think authority belongs to us, we become vulnerable. Why? Because the devil doesn’t fear us, He fears the Spirit of Christ in us!
4: AUTHORITY IS EXPRESSED THROUGH SERVING
Mark 10:45
For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Jesus demonstrated His greatest authority not by demanding a throne, but by washing His disciples’ feet. Kingdom authority serves. It builds people up rather than personalities or ministries. It heals, restores, delivers and proclaims the gospel, and the more we serve, the more we abide in Him, the greater our authority!
HOW CAN WE LOSE AUTHORITY?
We can lose spiritual power and effectiveness when we abuse or misuse our God given spiritual authority. When we start using our authority for our own ends, to big ourselves up, to achieve whatever end we think is best, however good that end might be. Pursuing this kind of behaviour, independent of the Spirit of God, will ultimately end in disaster, for us and for our witness. Pride is like hallatosis…everyone can detect it except the one who has it.
The seven sons of Sceva tried to cast out a demon, using the name/authority of Jesus…
Acts 19:15-16
But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognise, but who are you?” And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.
The only way we can have Jesus’ authority is by abiding in Him. Instead of praying for what we think He wants, why not stop and ask Him? Instead of learning pertinent Bible verses to try and manipulate God, why not spend time in His presence, learning growing, hearing the beat of His heart?
Sometimes, for reasons unknown to us, God is doing something different. Fiona was struggling with a heart condition last year that saw her faint and collapse regularly. We prayed and prayed, got more desperate, but kept believing. Then, after a sequence of events happened in January, she was totally healed at the end of January. Why not earlier? God had a plan, unknown to us.
HOW TO HAVE AUTHORITY
I believe God heals and I believe He prospers us. I believe He can preserve our lives. But we must never stop abiding in Him. I will pray for healing until either they are healed or God tells me otherwise. Phil was given two weeks to live. We prayed; he survived another six months. But he still died. God was doing many things. We must trust Him and abide.
Here is how you can have the authority of a believer…
- Don’t be Self Reliant – If you think you can solve everything, you won’t get His authority
- Spend Time in Prayer Until Your Heart Aligns with His – The more you humbly pray, not offer a list of demands, but humbly seek His heart, the more authority you will have.
- Meditate on Scripture – God never contravenes His Word, but don’t just memorise the verses to use as an offensive weapon to make God do what you want Him to do! Read, learn, meditate, that means chew on His Word.
- Walk in Repentance – Unconfessed sin hinders your authority.
- Be Continually Filled with the Holy Spirit – Every moment of the day, listen to His voice.
- Serve with Humility – Love people deeply.
- Exercise Faith Through Obedience – Go on, pray for big things, healing and breakthroughs. If you abide in Him, you have His authority, to have faith according to How will.
- Surrender Your Will to His Will
- Stay Accountable within the Body of Christ – Lone Ranger Christians are never ok. We were made to be in community, to have accountability. Abiding in Christ means abiding with His people.
ABIDE IN HIM