“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 NKJV
What is authority?
Authority is having the power to direct, to command or manage something, it’s about taking control.
And who is the believer? The one who one day confessed Jesus as his one and only enough savior.
A Believer is someone who obeys, serves and believes in the Lord Jesus.
The thing that every believer must know is that we have authority over the Spiritual Kingdom.
But just knowing that is not enough. Exercising and practice is necessary.
Satan doesn’t want you to know your position of authority; he already knows you have authority, but he doesn’t want you to know about it.
In the verse we read Jesus said: “I give you authority.”
As believers who were born again, we all receive this power and authority.
Why do we receive authority and power?
“I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy” Luke 10:19
The word “Power” is used twice in this same text. It says: “Power to undo power”.
The two Greek words used in this verse are actually different in the original text. The first word used is “exousia” which means license or permission.
The second word here is ” dunamis” which means deeds, achievements.
If we translate these two words, the text is tremendous!
“I give you permission to undo the deeds of the devil.”
That means: I give you authority, permission over the power of the devil. “Oh Glory to God for that” hallelujah.
This is our authority, this is the authority given to all believers. This is for every believer, you and me.
Now you will understand what John said:
“For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.” I John 3:8 NKJV
Jesus came exactly for that. To destroy the works of the devil.
Let’s see what says Matthew.
“And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people. Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them.” Matthew 4:23-24 NKJV
Let’s now read from the book of Acts.
“how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.” Acts 10:38 NKJV
So brothers and sisters, we can step on snakes, step on the devil and his demons and nothing will do us harm. Amen?
Satan is the most powerful spiritual being on earth, but we have authority over him and his demons.
I have authority, permission given by God to undo any work of darkness, and every believer needs to know this and use this authority.
The authority of the believer does not come from the believer himself, it does not come from ourselves.
Example: The garda can stop cars at checkpoints, to check documents. They are people like you and me, but when a garda tells you to stop your car, you do it. Why does everyone obey a garda?
Because they have an authority that was assigned to them once they passed their training.
Authority means power that has been given.
See that this is exactly what the Lord Jesus did, He gave power, authority to his disciples.
“Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases.” Luke 9:1 NKJV
“Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.” Matthew 10:8 NKJV
That is, my authority comes from the Lord, and this power is IN HIM and it comes FROM Him. I don’t have any power by myself.
“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.”
Ephesians 6:10 NKJV
Once again here the Greek word for “power” is “Ischus” which means, “the only power”.
This means that the power granted to us is the only and greatest power, it’s the power of Jesus Christ.
Then through my faith in Christ, and by the Blood of Jesus, the devil must obey.
You and I can, in the name of Jesus, undo the deeds of Satan. Do you believe in it?
Destroy the power of disease, cancer, the oppression of the devil, we can cancel out all the work of the devil and his demons.
The believer’s authority is used in different ways.
1st In prayer. When we pray.
2° In the words we speak or announce.
3° In prophetic words.
4° In words of affirmation and confession.
When we pray we use our authority through our words.
You need to get into the habit of talking, and talking a lot with the spiritual realm.
Prophesying, speaking in the name of Jesus and declaring his victories by the blood of Jesus and in the name of Jesus.
Using your words is not positivism, it is synonymous with faith, and this is using your authority.
The spiritual kingdom is real, you are not crazy for talking to yourself, angels and demons are listening to you, so speak, use the name of Jesus, use the blood of Jesus.
Say things In the name of Jesus, in the name of Jesus say that, I declare in the name of Jesus “The blood of Jesus has power”.
Declare, speak, prophesy.. That’s why Paul says we must never stop praying.
“be unceasing and persistent in prayer” 1 Thessalonians 5:17 AMP
Why does Paul teach us to pray without ceasing?
Because we are in a constant war, a spiritual battle, we have to face our enemy.
Pray at your home, at church, at your work, in the car driving, at your school, in the hospital, on the streets of your city, in any environment you are in, pray and speak the word of God.
When demons give in, it is not to us that they are submitting, but to the one who is in us. (Jesus)
“He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” I John 4:4
“And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.” I John 5:4
Satan knows that in each of us dwells the Spirit of Christ, who is the Holy Spirit. And that every believer is full of the power of Jesus.
Let’s read another verse.
“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 6:12 NKJV
Paul states that there is a literal struggle, a spiritual war in the spiritual world. Every believer in this war, is either a warrior, or a prisoner.
Satan is the prince of this world, he controls this world, everything is under his government.
Let’s see.
“Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, “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 4:5-6 NKJV
The governments of the world, all nations, cities, television programs, movies, music, the Internet, are controlled by satan, he implants his lifestyle as he likes and how he wants.
But the church of Jesus is the greatest problem for Satan. Do you know why?
Because Jesus rejected the offer of Satan, his offer of authority over this world, and was subjected in obedience to all the authority of the Father. And what was the result?
“And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” Matthew 28:18 NKJV
That’s why, for many years, Satan’s main target is the destruction of churches.
Satan has been working to stop the advance of the church, to close the churches, provoke scandals in church , get people out of the church.
Satan will do anything to prevent you from coming to church, because he wants to destroy you, because it is the church that makes you strong and empowers you to fight against the devil.
Christianity alone is different from all other religions, because it is responsible for undoing the works of darkness. Only Christians were given power over the power of darkness.
Only Christians were given authority, weapons and armour to fight against Satan.
“For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds,”. II Corinthians 10:4 NKJV
It is the devil who provokes wars, divisions, violence, destroys families, marriages, divorces, adulteries… He destroys dreams, destroys young people through drinking and drug addictions.
Why all this?
Because Satan has legality over this world, over the children of disobedience, and over those who live in the practice of sin.
That’s why Satan said to Jesus. “All authority was given to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.”. Lucas 6:4
And what must we do to have victory over our enemy?
1st Subject ourselves to the authority of Christ and of our leaders (the Church of Christ)
Let’s read what a centurion once said to Jesus.
“For I also am a man placed under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”” Luke 7:8 NKJV
Because the centurion was a soldier under the authority of his commander, he had authority that came from his leader.
You also have authority in the spiritual realm when you submit to authority! And satan knows who has authority and he has to obey those who are under authority.
2nd Prayer and fasting.
That’s what the Lord Jesus said to his disciples.
“However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.””
Matthew 17:21 NKJV
We have to teach our church to pray and fast, to teach our Cell to pray and fast, to teach our family to pray, to teach our children to pray.
Last week we learned through our pastor that prayer is the most talked about subject but the least practiced!
That’s why we have 5 days of prayer meeting in the church per week, and a 12-hour day of prayer and fasting every month of the year.
A well-known pastor said:
“The problem is not the presence of the devil, but the absence of God” Hernandes Dias Lopes
Satan is not a myth or a legend, but he is also not a fallen god, but a fallen angel.
Our focus is Jesus, He is super powerful, “He is powerful to do infinitely more than we ask or think through his power that works in us.”
Paulo states that “our struggle is not against human beings.”
Why is it important to understand this?
Because sometimes in the face of so many struggles, we come to the following conclusion:
Such a person is my problem, such a situation is my problem.
Apostle Paul makes it clear that we have to focus on the real problem, and on the real enemy. Our enemy is the devil, and because we don’t understand this, we hurt, hurt people and are hurt by them.
We turn our enemy (devil) into a friend and our friends into enemies.
When we think that our problem is people, they become enemies, and the devil’s friend.
Our goal in this war and in this city of Monaghan is to plunder hell and free people from the power of Satan.
Bringing them to conversion, which is taken them from the power of darkness to the kingdom of light.
Let’s read the last verse.
“To open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God” Acts 26:18 NKJV
We need to wake up spiritually and use the authority that God has given us. Satan hates you and wants to destroy you, wants to take you out of the church, wants to destroy your faith, your family, your health so we must use the authority that Jesus granted us.