We have Power and Authority

Did you know that as Christians we have the same power and authority Jesus had while He was here?
Did you know that we are seated with Him in the Heavenly’s?

Before Jesus was crucified, He gave the power and authority to His disciples – and to the seventy – to cast out demons and heal the sick.

• Matthew 10:1 – And when He called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease.
• Mark 3:14,15 – Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, and to have power to heal sickness and to cast out demons.
• Luke 9:1 – Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases.

In each case the disciples went out with the power and authority, and healed the sick, cast out demons and preached that the Kingdom of God was at hand.

In Luke 10:1, Jesus appointed 70 others and sent them out in two’s and in verse 17 they came back all excited, all trying to tell Jesus what they had done. I can just see Jesus saying, “Hold on now, one at a time please!” The seventy told Jesus that “even the demons are subject to us in your name”. Jesus’s reply is found in verses 18 and 19:

And He said to them “I saw Satan fall like lightening from heaven. 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.”

What Jesus did was give his disciples and the seventy a power of attorney. A power of attorney is a legal document giving the person receiving the power of attorney, the power and authority to act in the person’s name giving the power of attorney. In other words, the person receiving the power of attorney can do anything that is listed in that document as if the person giving the power of attorney was physically present. Jesus then gave notice to the heavenly powers – that is, both angels and demons – that the twelve disciples and the other seventy have all the power and authority of His name. Let’s go back to verse 19. Jesus told them that He gives them the authority over “ALL THE POWER OF THE ENEMY”!! Jesus was telling them that they have power over Satan himself!!

I had called a friend one day, but he told me he couldn’t talk right then due him going through some things with his ex-wife and kids. I told him no problem, and that I will call back at a later time. The Holy Spirit pressed on me that I needed to call him back and bid Satan from their lives. I argued saying that he couldn’t talk at that time. Of course I lost, so I called my friend back, apologized, and told Him that I wanted to pray with him. So I prayed with him and in the name of Jesus I bound Satan and told him that he has no power or authority over children of God and that he had to leave. A couple of days later, this friend called, and he mentioned that immediately he noticed a drastic difference in the attitude in his ex-wife and kids. This is the power we have in Christ. Now I don’t tell this story to brag on what I did, – as it wasn’t me, but the Holy Spirit – but as an example of what we as Christians can do when we use the power and authority we have in Christ through the Holy Spirit, when prompted by the Holy Spirit.

Paul writes in Ephesians 2:6 that we have been raised up with Christ, and are sitting in the heavenly places in Christ . Obviously, Paul isn’t talking about sitting with Christ physically, but spiritually speaking we are seated with Christ in the heaven’s. In Ephesians 2:20 Paul says that Christ is seated at the right hand of God, above (v21) all principality an power and might and dominion. So, we being raised up together, and seated with Christ in the heavenly places, then we – spiritually  speaking – are also above all principality and power and might and dominion.

He told His followers in Acts 1:8 that they will receive power when the Holy Spirit had come upon them. So we see here that when we receive Christ into our lives, the Holy Spirit will come upon us and we will receive power. The Holy Spirit is Christ’s Living Power of Attorney to us!

How do we know that we have can cast out demons, and heal the sick in Jesus name? Jesus told His disciples in John 14:12 that the works I do, he shall do also – talking about those who believe on Him – and greater works than these shall he do.

• Jesus healed the sick of the palsy – Matthew 9:6
• Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead – John 11:43
• Jesus walked on water – Matthew 14:25
• Jesus cast out legion – Mark 5:13
• Jesus told Satan to get behind Him – Mark 8:33

There are many, many other works that Jesus did while on earth. Jesus said that we shall do all of these things, and greater things. It just blows my mind trying to think of greater things than what Jesus did, that we shall do.

So how can we use the power and authority we have in Christ?

First we need to be continually filled with the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 5:18 says not to be drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit. What Paul is saying here is that we need to be continually filled with the Spirit. This is not a one time filling, but a day by day, moment by moment filling. When we are continually filled by the Spirit, we are more able to live in, and use the power and authority Christ has given us.

Secondly, we need to act in faith. When we act in faith, we are believing that the thing we are acting on will come to pass as long as it is in the will of God. In Matthew 17:19-21 we see that through the disciples unbelief, they could not cast out a demon (v20). Jesus then tells the disciples that if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will be able to tell a mountain to move to another place. Mountain in this verse in the original Greek word oros means a literal mountain. In Matthew 13:31 and 32, we find that a mustard seed is the least of all seeds, and yet, it is the greatest of all herbs. If we don’t have the faith, living in and using the power and authority will be a whole lot harder. This is where Satan wants to keep us. Satan does not want us to use the power and authority because he knows that if we do, him and his mafia will not be able to come against us.