YOUR AUTHORITY IN CHRIST
by Dr. Brenda Myree
AUTHORITY: Legal power, or a right to command or to act; as the authority of a prince over subjects, and of parents over children. Power; rule; sway. Warrant; order; permission. (By what authority doest thou these things. Mat. 21. Acts 9). Government; the persons or the body exercising power or command.
Authority. 2014. In Noah Webster's 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language. Retrieved April 19, 2014, from http://1828.mshaffer.com/d/word/authority
Acts 1:8 (KJV)
But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
Matthew 3:11 (KJV)
I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:
In Luke 4, Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit who led Him into the wilderness where He was tempted by the devil for 40 days. Jesus returned in the power of the Holy Ghost. He came preaching, "repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand." He came demonstrating the Kingdom of God through healing the sick and casting out demons. Just as Paul stated in his letter to the Church at Corinth,
1 Corinthians 2:4 (KJV).
And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
We, too, as believers, are to be demonstrating the power and authority of Jesus in the power of the Holy Ghost in demonstration of the Spirit. So many Christians today seem rather to confirm 2 Timothy 3:5 where it says they have a form of godliness but deny the power thereof. But, God is the same yesterday, today and forever. If He healed 2,000 years ago, He heals today. If He had power over devils 2,000 years ago, He still has power over devils today. God the Father gave Jesus a name above every name in heaven, on earth and below the earth. That at the Name of Jesus, every knee should bow and every tongue should confess that Jesus is Lord.
Philippians 2:10-11 (KJV)
That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Jesus gave us His power and authority so we can maintain what He obtained while He was here on earth. Unfortunately, many of us do not understand or worse, will not submit to authority. Everyone should be submitted to someone. Even Jesus humbled Himself and was submitted to the Father so why should we be any different? He only did what He saw the Father do and only spoke what He heard the Father say.
John 5:19 (KJV)
Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.
John 12:49 (KJV)
For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.
The Holy Spirit works through dead men/women, those who have been crucified with Christ and risen with Him. They have humbled themselves and are submitted to God. It is imperative that we be submitted to God so we may be in touch with the voice of the Holy Spirit in order to carry out His directions. We can do the same works and even greater works by speaking the Word only in the Name of Jesus!
Matthew 8:8-10 King James Version (KJV) (Emphasis mine).
8 The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.
9 For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.
10 When Jesus heard it, he marveled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.
For many years, I worked as a paralegal. One area of law I worked in was that of probate. This, of course, dealt with wills, trusts, estates and powers of attorney. At one time while preparing to teach on the "Authority of the Believer", the Lord instructed me to prepare a Power of Attorney.
A Power of Attorney is "a written instrument in which the principal (the person giving the power of attorney) authorizes another to act on his or her behalf. The instrument may be a blanket authorization, or may authorize the agent to represent the principal in one specific transaction. The person appointed is commonly called an attorney-in-fact." (Professional Secretary's Encyclopedic Dictionary, Mary A. DeVries, p. 339). This is just a brief explanation of what a power of attorney is. There are limited powers of attorney which limits the transactions the agent can perform as well as an irrevocable power of attorney which is one that cannot be revoked.
In this instance, Jesus, our King has appointed us, His Body, as His attorney-in-fact to carry out His will until He returns. He has given us an irrevocable power of attorney. This means we have the right and authority (exousia) to use His name to perform transactions according to His Word and He has given us the power (dunamis) to do it.
God gave all power over all things to Jesus and He, in turn, has given us His power and authority when he said in Luke 10:19 (NKJV) ,
Behold, I give you the authority (exousia and dunamis) to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
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. Luke 10:19 (KJV) (Emphasis mine).
Ephesians 1:19-23 (NKJV)
19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power 20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.
22 And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church,
23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
POWER OF ATTORNEY
ALL authority, all power of rule in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go then and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit; teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you. (Matt. 28:18-20, Amp.);
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Ephesians 6:12 (KJV).
And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it. Colossians 2:15 (KJV)
I tell you for certain that if you have faith in me, you will do the same things that I am doing; you will do even greater things, now that I am going back to the Father. (John 14:12, The Contemporary English).
I, JESUS CHRIST OF NAZARETH (the Anointed One and His Anointing), the "Principal", herewith appoints whosoever believes in Me as my attorney-in-fact, to act in my place and stead and with the same authority as I, myself, have to do the following:
I give you the authority (power) 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, NKJ).
In My Name:
You will cast out demons;
You will speak with new tongues;
You will take up serpents; and if you drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt you;
You will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover. (Mark 16:17-18, NKJ). (Emphasis mine).
Whatever you bind (declare to be improper and unlawful) on earth will be bound (declared to be improper and unlawful) in Heaven, and whatever you loose (declare lawful) on earth will be loosed (declared to be lawful) in heaven. (Matt. 15:19, Amp.)
And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name (according to My Word), I will do it. (John 14:13, NKJ). (Emphasis mine).
Whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you. (John 15:16, NKJ). (Emphasis mine).
(End of Power of Attorney).
One night while I was sleeping peacefully, I was suddenly awakened by a sound, a voice saying, "Say a command." I looked over at my husband who was trying to read the Bible on his Blackberry (could do this in the dark so as not to disturb me) but he accidently hit the "Voice Recognition" button on the phone and the first thing it said was, "Say a Command." We both got the revelation, almost immediately!
In Psalm 103:20, the Word says, "Bless the LORD, you His angels, Who excel in strength, who do His word, Heeding the voice of His word."
The angels do God's Word but they also heed the voice of His Word! How do they heed the voice of God? By us speaking forth the Word of God! When we speak God's Word, the angels heed to the voice of His Word.... they take action, they move on His Word which we have spoken! The angels recognize the voice of God through our mouths! This is God's voice recognition system! As set forth in Hebrews 4:12(a) which states, "the Word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edge sword..." The first edge is His Word, the second edge being His Word spoken through our mouths!
Hebrews 4:12 (NKJ)
For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Proverbs 18:21 states, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit." There is power in the words we speak, good or bad. We can speak death or life by the words that we speak. We will eat the fruit of our words or the fruit which our words produce. We can speak life to a situation or death to a situation by speaking what the Word of God says about that particular situation or circumstance! Jesus did this during His temptation in the wilderness. His response to all of satan's temptations was, "It is written."? The angels will heed the Voice you put to the Word of God to bring those words to pass.
David writes in Psalm 45:1 (KJV),
"My heart is overflowing with a good theme; I recite my composition concerning the King; my tongue is the pen of a ready writer."
Psalm 39:3 (KJV)
My heart was hot within me, while I was musing the fire burned: then spake I with my tongue,
As David mused or meditated on the goodness of God his heart burned and as he received revelation of God's goodness, grace and mercy, then he spoke. It is important that we meditate, day and night, on God's word until it becomes rhema to us. Once the Word has become rhema and we speak forth the Word, we will be able to speak with power and authority.
Our tongue writes things in the spirit. Jesus said in Mark 11:22-26,
"So Jesus answered and said to them, "Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses." (Emphasis mine).
Matthew 7:29 (KJV).
For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
Jesus taught and spoke as one having authority. We are to teach and speak in the same manner for as He was so are we in the world.
If we speak the Word (voice) of God to the mountains (situations and circumstances) in our lives, and tell them where they need to go and do not doubt in our hearts but believe that the Word (voice) of God has the power and authority through our mouths to move that mountain, it will be done!! Of course, there are a couple of conditions. We must believe that we receive what we say and we must not be in unforgiveness. We cannot be holding anything against anyone. We must forgive! Period! If we do not forgive those who have wronged us, God cannot forgive us of our sins. If we are not in right standing with God, our words will not bring forth the fruit or the results we desire. When we speak, our words must be in line with God's Word. Isaiah 55:11 puts it this way:
"So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it."
God's Word spoken through the Body of Christ shall not return void but will accomplish whatever it was sent forth to do. It shall prosper in the thing for which it was sent!
Romans 4:17(B) (KJV), "and calleth those things which be not as though they were."
We call, declare or call into existence the desired result. Instead of confirming the current circumstance, we demand the current circumstance to be nothing and call into existence the desired result, according to the Word of God. We can speak to a situation, can call it what it should be rather than what it looks like.
Job 22:28(A) (KJV):
"Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee."
So we are to speak the Word of God with the Voice of God. Decree and declare a thing according to His Word and it shall be established. Call those things which be not as though they already were.
1 Corinthians 1:27-28 (KJV):
"But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are."
We can call those things which are to become nothing and speak them out of our lives and bring into our lives, the things which currently are not.
In Esther 8:7-8 (The Stone Edition Tanach, The Torah/ Prophets/ Writings), after Haman had been hung, the king had given Esther and Mordecai the authority to write a letter reversing the letter or command of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. Something took off in my spirit and I began to read and study the scripture
Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and Mordecai the Jew, Indeed, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and they have hanged him on the gallows because he tried to lay his hand on the Jews. You yourselves write a decree concerning the Jews, as you please, in the king's name, and seal it with the king's signet ring; for whatever is written in the king's name and sealed with the king's signet ring no one can revoke. (Emphasis mine).
We are kings and priests in the earth. First Peter 2:9 tells us we are a chosen generation, a "royal" priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of Him who hath called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. Kings decree and priests pray.
I used the Torah as I really like the wording of this scripture. It made it very clear and easier to study out. This is my paraphrasing - I have inserted words within the scripture to stretch out and make clear the meaning and the revelation I received from God. Esther 8:5-6, 8 (The Stone Edition Tanach, The Torah/ Prophets/ Writings)
5 She said, "If it pleases the king, and if I have found favor before him, and the proposal seems proper before the king, and I be pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to countermand (To revoke (a former command); to cancel or rescind, to prohibit; to forbid; to reverse, to annul, invalidate, overrule, abolish, neutralize, declare null and void the command, judgment or decree by giving an order contrary to one previously given; ) those dispatches, (a letter with expedition, by a messenger express; or a letter on some affair of state, or of public concern; or a packet of letters, sent by some public officer, on public business) the scheme of Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, [in] which he had written to exterminate the Jews who are in all the king's provinces. 6 For how can I bear to witness the disaster which will befall my people?! How can I bear to witness the extermination of my kindred?
8 You may write, (decree, statute, ordinance, enactment, legislation, proclamation, edict, law, order, standard, paradigm, prototype, precedent [(Law) a judicial decision which serves as a rule for future determinations in similar cases; an authority to be followed; forms of proceeding to be followed in similar cases. something done or said that may serve as an example to authorize a subsequent act of the same kind; an authoritative example]), concerning the Jews whatever is favorable in your eyes, in the name of the king, and seal it with the king's signet, for an edict (law) which is written in the king's name and sealed with the king's signet may not be revoked." (Emphasis Mine).
That being said, we have the authority in Jesus' Name to revoke, cancel, rescind, prohibit, forbid, reverse, annul, invalidate, overrule, abolish, neutralize, declare null and void every dispatch, plot, plan, scheme, command, judgment or decree of the enemy, towards ourselves, my household, my family, those I am in relationship with, and the Body of Christ. Anything and wherever we exercise our realm or sphere of authority.
Jesus has given us the authority and the power through the Holy Spirit to decree and declare, proclaim, legislate and set in place a new law, edict, order, standard, paradigm, prototype, and precedent against all the plots, plans, schemes, snares and traps of the enemy and declare them null and void within our sphere of authority. No weapon formed against us shall prosper in the name of King Jesus, signed and sealed with His blood (signet) which may not be revoked!
As Jesus is, so are we in the world today. We, as His body and ambassadors of the Kingdom of God, are to walk in the power and authority of Jesus Himself.
by Dr. Brenda J. W. Myree
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