Authority

Authority

 Matthew 8:5-10 NKJV [5] Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, [6] saying, "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented." [7] And Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him." [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!

What is Authority?

 AUTHORITY meaning: 1 : the power to give orders or make decisions the power or right to direct or control someone or something; the power to determine, adjudicate, or otherwise settle issues or disputes; jurisdiction; the right to control, command, or determine power to influence or command thought, opinion, or behaviour the president's authority. b : freedom granted by one in authority : right Who gave you the authority to do as you wish? 2a : persons in command specifically : government the local authorities of each state. What we can deduce from the above definition is that authority surpass power; because you must possess authority to acquire power.

Authority determines how power is distributed, who gives the right and who has the supreme authority over certain areas or above all. God has authority over everything in the universe because he created everything by his power. When we are given authority, what it simply means is that we have power in that area. For example God in Genesis said he has given man dominion over all the things on earth. You cannot exercise lawful power if you do not have the authority in the first place to exercise that power. For example a police officer cannot come into your home to search it without a search warrants. That warrant is the authority of the courts to exercise such powers. A police officer cannot arrest anybody if there is no authority given on how to arrest or whether they have the power of arrests in the first place. A traffic warden cannot make an arrest because he does not have the authority to make arrests. Therefore, authority is greater than power, because the power you exercise is based on the authority you possess to do what is required.

Understanding authority has a Christian is very important, because when you know who has the ultimate authority over your life you know who has the power over you.

Matthew 21:23-27 NKJV [23] Now when He came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted Him as He was teaching, and said, "By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority?" [24] But Jesus answered and said to them, "I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things: [25] The baptism of John-where was it from? From heaven or from men?" And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say to us, 'Why then did you not believe him?' [26] But if we say, 'From men,' we fear the multitude, for all count John as a prophet." [27] So they answered Jesus and said, "We do not know." And He said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

Matthew 28:18 NKJV [18] And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Luke 4:36 NKJV [36] Then they were all amazed and spoke among themselves, saying, "What a word this is! For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out."

John 12:49 NKJV [49] For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak.

Matthew 10:1 AMPC [1] And Jesus summoned to Him His twelve disciples and gave them power and authority over unclean spirits, to drive them out, and to cure all kinds of disease and all kinds of weakness and infirmity.

Luke 10:19 NKJV [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.

To adhere to authority is to also submit to and obey the one who gave you that authority in the first place. Therefore, God has given you the authority to make decisions , but he expects you to make the right one always and where its difficult, then you ask for wisdom in order to make the right decision. If we accept that authority denotes power; then Jesus has given us authority and power over the powers of the enemies, over sickness and all manners of diseases. Yet as believers we still struggle in this area of freedom. We seem not to understand that authority gives the right to do whatever God instructs us to do.

If you are a lawyer you have the authority to defend your client in the law courts as given to you by your professional body and the law. But you don’t then say I cannot defend my client or unable to defend my client because I don’t have the authority when you clearly do; either as a public defendant or a private attorney. The same is true of a Christian, where you have been given authority over sickness or demons, yet you find it hard to exercise that power because you feel you don’t have the power or you are not aware of such power.

That’s why the bible says my people perish for lack of knowledge. Why? Because they fail to understand that power resides with whom has the authority and the one who has the ultimate authority is God and this has been given to us through Jesus Christ by regeneration and renewal of the spirit.

That’s where faith comes in,

what is faith?

Hebrews 11:1 define it as the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. You need to exercise your faith to make the power given to you to work. A police officer trust that his gun can get him out of any tight situations and he rely so much on that gun. What happens if he forgot to take his gun with him in a dangerous situation. Does he run or surrender to the assailants? Likewise, if he depends on his officer’s badge to get him to ask questions or seek assistance it will be useless to him if he fail to take the police badge with him. Same is true of a believer in Christ, who fail to rightly discern the word of God and is not using their faith to access spiritual powers given through the authority that is in the name of Jesus Christ.

How then do you exercise power given to you?

- Keyword jurisdiction; the area of influence or control. The secret things of God belong to God but that which has been revealed to us is ours and our descendants. Deu 29:29 -

Trusting in God’s word without doubt will ensure success and empower you to overcome - You don’t fight the fight that is not yours to fight in spiritual terms - Because you are under the control of the Holy Spirit you have the power to control all things on the earth. Joshua spoke to the sun to stand still and the moon not to show up until he has defeated the enemy of Israel Josh 10:13. That is using his God given power. Power resides with the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit determines the gifts he wants to give to you as a believer though you could request for more or all but the decision on that is with the Holy Spirit. Remember that the Holy Spirit is God. Acts 5:3-4 NKJV [3] But Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself? [4] While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God."

Acts 5:12,15-16 NKJV [12] And through the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people. And they were all with one accord in Solomon's Porch. [15] so that they brought the sick out into the streets and laid them on beds and couches, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them. [16] Also a multitude gathered from the surrounding cities to Jerusalem, bringing sick people and those who were tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all healed.

Ecclesiastes 8:4 AMPC [4] For the word of a king is authority and power, and who can say to him, What are you doing? God Almighty has given us the power and authority through the Holy Spirit to take charge of our situations and to overcome our adversaries. But in order to exercise authority, you must possess power and that power comes from the Holy Spirit. As a born again Christian you already have that power because God lives inside of you and your body is the temple of the Almighty God. Fear is the enemy of faith. When we do not have faith to overcome or do great things then fear of failure has taken over.

Matthew 17:16-20 NKJV [16] So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him." [17] Then Jesus answered and said, "O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me." [18] And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour. [19] Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not cast it out?" [20] So Jesus said to them, "Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. When the disciples of Jesus could not heal the sick boy, the father of the boy went to Jesus and complained that they were unable to cure him.

Jesus after healing the boy told his disciples that they were unable to heal the sick boy due to unbelief; that is they were lacking faith and therefore their authority and power to heal the boy had been eroded by fear. Fear is what makes people do so many stupid things which always leads to bad judgment. Furthermore, Jesus said faith like a mustard seed; a mustard seed is one of the smallest seed on earth. Jesus here is saying you don’t really need too much faith before you can exercise power, you just need a small amount. Just like a small amount of yeast makes the dough puff up so is it that a tiny amount is more than enough for take authority.

Hebrews 1:3 NKJV [3] who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, Jesus has finished his work and now is seated at the right hand of God the Father. God has also finished his work of creation on the sixth day and has rested.

Why not rest from your labours and give everything else to God to handle for you. It’s a small thing for God to make changes in your life. The promises of God also makes it clear that what God has said in his word or promised you he is duty bound to uphold it. 1 John 5:14-15 NKJV [14] Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. [15] And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.

Since we know from the above scriptures that whatever we asked the Father, he will do it as long as its in accordance with His will. And his will for us is clear in Jeremiah 29:11 “ For I know the plans I have for you, the plan for good and not evil and to have an expected end.

Authority is a God given right to his children. He declares it in Genesis and said to Adam take dominion over all things on earth but Adam lost it to satan. Howver, Jesus has restored that right again. Just submit to God, be obedient and you shall eat or have the best of the land. In fact according to

Micah 4:4 NKJV [4] But everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree, And no one shall make them afraid; For the mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken.