The Lion's Armyનમૂનો

The Lion's Army

DAY 3 OF 4

Way #2: Authority

Jesus, God the Son, gives us authority.

The Lord Jesus grants and delegates to all believers the permission to use His name, giving them the right to act on His behalf.

"And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 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.” —Matthew 28:18–19

"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." —Luke 10:19

"If you ask anything in My name, I will do it." —John 14:14

Approval from the Father is the right to be. Delegated authority from Jesus is the right to act. The Lord Jesus grants all believers permission to walk in the Spirit with authority. Where does this spiritual authority come from? It comes from Jesus! Where did He get it? On the cross. There, He defeated Satan for us; then, He rose from the dead for us and gave us His authority.

When God created the human race, He endowed it with spiritual and physical dominion on the earth.

Then, through Adam and Eve’s fall, Satan was able to usurp their spiritual authority and use it against them and their descendants. When Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness by showing Him the kingdoms of the earth, he boasted, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish” (Luke 4:6). Satan stole that authority from Adam and Eve and thus became the god of this world—but that’s god with a small g. The great I Am, the one eternal God with a capital G, is outside time and already had a plan in motion to take back what Satan stole. But He had to do it legally.

Jesus didn’t refute what Satan said in the wilderness; He refused to be tricked into worshipping the deceiver. (See Luke 4:1–15.) Jesus understood God’s plan of salvation and chose to die on the cross and rise again. Through His obedience He broke Satan’s power off all who would receive Him and His saving grace. Through salvation, spiritual authority was restored to believers. “Therefore, submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).

It’s important to realize, however, that spiritual authority covers much more than resisting the devil.

Jesus taught His evangelistic team that His church would be able to bind the unlawful works of Satan on earth while at the same time loosing Jesus’ lawful works in their place. (See Matthew 16:19.) Jesus cast demons out of people, yet He also healed the sick, raised the dead, walked on water, calmed storms, multiplied food, and set hearts free. Jesus used His authority in all areas and then told us, “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” (John 14:12).

Our Lord and Savior is known by one name expressed with different spellings in innumerable languages—Yeshua (Hebrew), Iēsous (Greek), Jesús (Spanish), Gesu (Italian), and so on. Jesus answers to every one of those spellings and pronunciations because they all are Him. Satan and his demons are paralyzed, cast out, and defeated by Jesus’ name, because it releases the authority He delegated to us.

In whatever language it’s spoken, the precious name of Jesus represents His entire character, as well as His position and power.

To say His name in faith is to call upon who He is in all His glory. He gave His name to us for that very purpose. Mark’s Gospel says it this way: “Everyone who believes me will be able to do wonderful things. By using my name, they will force out demons, and they will speak new languages. They will handle snakes and will drink poison and not be hurt. They will also heal sick people by placing their hands on them” (Mark 16:17–18, CEV).

We are entitled to walk in the Spirit authoritatively; Jesus gave us the right to act on His behalf.

દિવસ 2દિવસ 4

About this Plan

The Lion's Army

Did you know that every member of the Trinity empowers your walk with the Spirit in very specific, unique ways? In this 4-day reading plan, Mike Thompson explains the three essential means in which God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit influences you: approval, authority, and anointing.

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