Spiritual Authority

Jesus demonstrated spiritual authority by overcoming temptation in the wilderness and casting out evil spirits. He relied on the word of God as his weapon and emphasized that the kingdom of God had come. Paul also highlighted the importance of spiritual authority and the power of the Holy Spirit in his ministry. The book of Acts shows the fulfillment of spiritual authority through the demonstration of spiritual gifts. Jesus gave his disciples authority over the power of the enemy. Believers have the authority to resist the devil and stand firm in Christ. Through his death and resurrection, Jesus destroyed the works of the devil, enabling believers to walk in spiritual authority. Today we're talking about the subject of spiritual authority. When Jesus started his ministry, around the age of 30 years old, he was led by the Holy Spirit out into the wilderness. You can read about this in Matthew chapter 4 and Luke chapter 4. And he went out into the wilderness and he was tempted of the devil for 40 days. And he overcame all the temptations that the enemy threw at him. He constantly would reply to the temptations of the enemy by saying, it is written, it is written, it is written. So he overcame through the word of God, which is the sword of the Spirit. And which reminds me of Paul's listing of the whole armor of God in Ephesians chapter 6. You can read about the whole armor of God. Paul lists for us the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, the shield of faith, the preparation of the gospel of peace as our shoes upon our feet or our boots upon our feet, our belt of truth, our breastplate of righteousness, our helmet of salvation. But spiritual authority, Jesus, a lot of times when Jesus was casting out evil spirits, casting out devils out of people, the religious leaders began to accuse Jesus of casting out devils by the power of the devil or the power of Beelzebub. Of course, Jesus replied to this accusation with very simple logic, that if Satan casts out Satan, then his house is divided. A house divided against itself cannot stand. And so he said, but if I cast out devils by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God or the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Another thing to point out too is in Jesus' ministry, when people saw Jesus healing people and casting out devils, they knew this was a demonstration of true spiritual authority. They recognized the hand of God upon the Lord Jesus' life. Part of the biblical definition of spiritual authority is outlined for us in Mark chapter 16, where Jesus says that those who believe in him and who follow him, they will cast out devils, they'll speak in new tongues, they'll take up the serpent and it will not harm them. If they drink any poison, it will not hurt them. And we see some of this happening in the book of Acts, where a snake tried to bite the apostle Paul and he just shook it off in the fire. And we see also the speaking in tongues throughout the whole book of Acts, where people were baptized in the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues. So we see the fulfillment of the spiritual authority being demonstrated in the scriptures. And a lot of times Paul would say that the kingdom of God is not a matter of words, but a demonstration of the power of God. And he often would tell people that he did not come to preach with the wisdom of man's words, but with a demonstration of the power of the Holy Spirit. And so how do we know? The book of Acts tells us how we can know when we're seeing the Holy Spirit moving in people's lives. And that's by the demonstration of the spiritual gifts. Now, of course, we know the enemy will try to counterfeit the spiritual gifts. But if the enemy is counterfeiting spiritual gifts, he doesn't counterfeit something unless there is actually a genuine real article. Nobody's going around counterfeiting a $3 bill because such a thing doesn't exist. People counterfeit what is real. They may counterfeit a $20 bill. They may counterfeit a $100 bill. But they're counterfeiting something that is real. So we know that in the church today, in the world today, there are true spiritual gifts and spiritual authority. Now, that's one side of spiritual authority. There is another side to spiritual authority that I won't get into here in this particular video. But we just want to cover our spiritual authority against the powers of darkness here. So let me look up a couple of scriptures here. And I'll read to you some of these scripture verses about spiritual authority. Luke chapter 10, verse 19. Jesus is sending out his disciples. And he says to them, Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Notwithstanding, in this, rejoice not that the spirits are subject unto you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven. So the Lord Jesus gives us as his followers, as his disciples, he gives us authority to put the enemy underneath our feet. So we don't have to allow the enemy to browbeat us. We don't have to allow ourselves to live under the oppression of the enemy because the Lord has given us authority to put Satan underneath our feet. So we need to know who we are in Christ. That if any man is in Christ, he is a new creation. That we are in Christ Jesus. And the Lord has given us the authority over the powers of darkness. Because the scripture says that he spoiled principalities and powers, making a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. Colossians chapter 2 verse 15 says, And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. And also the scripture says, For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. When Jesus was going to the cross, he said, The prince of this world cometh, but hath nothing in me. And that he would drive out and destroy the works of the devil. So we know that through what Christ has accomplished upon Calvary, that he has destroyed the works of the devil. Through his death, through his crucifixion, through his death, through his burial, through his resurrection, the Lord Jesus Christ destroyed the power of Satan. And as long as we abide in the gospel, and we continue to abide upon that sacred ground, of the finished work of Christ, then we also can walk in the authority that the Lord Jesus has given to us. The scripture says, They have no temptation taking you except that which is common to man, but God is faithful. He will not suffer you to be tempted above that which you are able, but will whip the temptation, also make a way of escape, that you may stand up under it. That's 1 Corinthians chapter 10 verse 13. Also another good scripture to remember, James chapter 4 verse 7. Submit yourself therefore to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you. The Lord give you peace.