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Power and Authority
OVERCOMING IN THIS LIFE.
A. The key to overcoming in this life as a Christian is understanding authority and power in three realms.

(1)God’s power and authority

(2)satin’s power and authority

(3)Man’s power and authority

B. In the new testament there are six words translated from the Greek for the word Power. Let’s examine the meaning of three of those..
1. Dunamis.
2. Kratos.
3 Exousia.

1. Dunamis:- GOD’S power. AUTHORITY

2. Kratos; GOD’S power AUTHORITY

3 .Exousia MAN’S power AUTHORITY FROM GOD. Satan only has exousia. We give him that exousia power over us with our mouth or sin in our lives.

1. DUNAMIS
a). Miraculous power, that which manifests God’s power; power or ability residing in a person or God’s power in action; force.

b) .(English words - dynamite, (explosive power) dynamo; (power, to be able)
Dunamis power belongs to God, (man does not have Dunamis power).

2. Kratos means power. An example of this is God gave Adam dominion. Adam gave dominion to satan, but Jesus took that dominion back from
him.
LUKE 1:5 And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, showed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.

Luke 1:6 And the devil said unto him, All this power (Kratos; ) will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.
7 If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.

GEN 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

1. Hebrews 2:14 Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power (kratos) of death, that is, the devil,

C. Satan does not have "dunamis" or "kratos;" only "exousia".
Satan only has "exousia". We give him that exousia power over us with our mouth or sin in our lives.
He no longer has "kratos" or strength - it was taken from him by Jesus.

Kratos; GOD’S AUTHORITY

3 Exousia authority; freedom of action; the right to act.

Exousia MAN’S power AUTHORITY FROM GOD
2.Luke 10:19 (NKJV) Behold, I give you the authority (exousia) to trample on serpents and scorpions. and over all the power (exousia") (demons ) of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

Jesus has given us ALL authority over ALL power of the enemy.

3. Therefore the only kind of power that Satan now has is "exousia" or "authority", and it comes only through the authority that he is given by men; therefore his only "strength" or kratos comes from the "exousia" or authority that we give him. If we don’t give him any, he doesn’t have any!

D understanding of authority is absolutely crucial in order to be effective in overcoming in this life as a Christian, and helping others to be set free.

E. It is only through the Name of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit that we have authority over the powers of darkness.

What does the word (EXOUSIA) POWER authority mean?

EXOUSIA ( POWER) which means "privilege".

Other words used in this same capacity are as follows:
Permission, Justification, Power, Permit, Testimony and Witness.

When a person is given any authority then he/she has been given the permission or permit or power to carry out what he/she is supposed to do.

Jesus gave His disciples authority over demons.

An example is when a person takes up a position as a Sergeant or some sort of Commander in the armed forces. Certain authority is expected to be carried out within the boundaries of this position.

The authority that the armed personnel have is the amount of stripes on their shoulders.
It is by these stripes that the enlisted personnel know that an officer has the authority to carry out certain commands, and the lower ranked personnel are expected to carry out the order.

James 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Therefore when we are born again, we are made joint heirs with Jesus, and we take on the authority He gives to us. Our authority can then be defined as the permission, power and permit Jesus gives us to use to destroy the works of the devil.

15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AUTHORITY AND POWER

Let’s define the difference between Authority and Power before we go any further:

Authority is our legal right to do something, while our power is the ability to back up that right. Using the example of a Police Officer, his badge shows his authority while his gun is his power source to back up that authority.

In Romans 15:19 Paul says that he only ever preaches the gospel of Jesus Christ in power, and all the signs and wonders were produced by the power of the Spirit of God.

Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

We have to always remember, it is not us doing things, it is the Holy Spirit working through us. God wants us to open ourselves up to be used as channels for the Spirit to move through, and for us to always give Him the glory.

The devil and his demons surely know when a Christian is speaking in authority. So the more we build ourselves up in the spirit and in the Word of God, the more we build up our confidence in our authority.

Ephesians tells us to put on the whole armour of God. Why would God want us to put on armour and tell us to take up the sword of the Spirit, if He didn’t intend for us to go into battle?

John 8:31-32
"Then said Jesus to those Jews who believed on Him ‘If ye continue in My word, then are ye My disciples indeed And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free".

When we continue in His Word, that is, we meditate in the Word day and night, we are engrafting the Word within our hearts, and increasing the strength of our spirit man. This in turn increases the confidence in the authority within us.

Whenever we come up against the enemy, we
use our authority against him. We speak the Word of God with power and authority, and destroy the works of the enemy.

WHERE DO WE BEGIN TO LOOK?

By now, we know what authority is, and how to get and strengthen our grasp on it. This next question is quite simple to answer. We look for our authority in the Word of the Living God.

In the first chapter of John’s Gospel, it tells us that the Word was in the beginning, that the Word was with God, and that the Word was God. It goes on to say that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:1-14).

When we are taking in the Word, we are literally taking in Jesus, and when we use the Word of God against the enemy, we are using the authority we are given, in the name of Jesus.

In practical terms, what we are doing is standing fast and presenting Jesus, and His authority. We defeat satan not in our own authority or strength but in His!(Christ's).

As we grow in revelation of our position in Christ, then we exercise more of our authority.
Our faith for authority comes from hearing and knowing the Word of God on authority.

James 1:5 5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

WHEN CAN WE USE IT?

Our authority, which is within us, is to be used whenever we need it. This means we are to show it in our everyday Christian walk. Jesus tells us that we are to take up our cross daily, and follow Him. (The cross symbolises Jesus’ authority which we have been given).

Mark 8:34
"And when He had called the people unto Him with His disciples also, He said unto them, whosoever will come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross, and follow Me".

WHY DO WE NEED THIS AUTHORITY?

If you look back to creation, man was made in the image of God. In other words, man was made in the image of the Trinity - God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Man is a spirit, he has a soul, and he lives in a body.

When Jesus was twelve years old, He showed signs of authority, because the Bible tells us that when He taught in the synagogue, He taught as one with authority. From then on, no matter what part of His ministry you look at, you see that Jesus had authority and used it.

When He was in the desert for forty days, and the devil tempted Him, He took His authority, and defeated the devil every time. He never gave in. What He used against the devil was His authority in knowing the Word of God. Every time the devil tempted Him, He would draw His sword out and cut the devil down.

Matthew 4:3-4
"And when the tempter came to Him, he said, If thou be the Son of GOD, command that these stones be made bread
But He answered and said, IT IS WRITTEN, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God".

If Jesus needed authority to walk on the earth, and if we call ourselves Christians (Christ like), then we too need that same authority.
Jesus gave His twelve disciples power over unclean spirits;

Mark 6:7 And he called unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two; and gave them power over unclean spirits;

Mark 6:12 And they went out, and preached that men should repent.
13 And they cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them.
Luke 9:1
"Then He called His twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases.

Jesus gave seventy power over unclean spirits;

Luke10:1After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come.
Luke 10 9 And heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.
Luke10:17 And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name.
Luke10:18 And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.
Luke10:19 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.

Matthew10:1 And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.

Matthew 10:7 And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.

Jesus gave ALL BELIEVERS power over unclean spirits;

OVERCOMING IN THIS LIFE

A. "The key to overcoming in this life as a Christian is understanding authority "and power
In the following scriptures Jesus commands us to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In His Name We will cast out devils …and shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
And the works that Jesus did We will also do and greater works than these because He has gone to The Father.
We must understand our power and authority and the name of Jesus before these scriptures can work in our lives.

John 14:12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.

13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.

Mark 16:15And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;

18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

19 So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.

20 And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.

So we can say that when we become born again, we are instantly given power authority, just by the fact that we have accepted Jesus into our hearts. He has given us His authority to fight, and to stand triumphant over the devil. We do this by showing the devil and his demons our credentials, which is Jesus.

The Word says that every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Our credential in Jesus is His name, that every time we take authority in the name of Jesus, the devil will flee.

SUMMARY

It is important for us as Christians to be Christ like. If we are to do as Mark 16:15 says, that is to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, then we certainly need to walk in authority. That is why I believe that one of the first areas new Christians should look at when first born again, is the area of knowing who we are in Jesus Christ. Searching the Scriptures, meditating on them day and night, learning how our Lord walked and how we can be just like Him. There are many stories that can be told of how people have come up against the enemy, and how they have succeeded in beating him by standing and using the Word of God, with authority and the power of the Holy Spirit.

Hebrews 13:8
"Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever".

2 timothy 2:15 Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed,

Study 5 - Authority of the Believer

Mark Trent