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Sermon of the Week 
Sunday, June 18 2017

You can have the power to do something but not have the authority to do it. Power used without authority is Lawlessness. Prisons are filled with people who had the power without the authority to do what their power wanted to do. 

Little Sammy, who was 5 years old, got lost at the West Point Naval Academy. He wandered into the women's locker room, where the women began screaming and running and grabbing towels to cover themselves. Little Sammy just stood there in the confusion and shouted out, "What's the matter, haven't you ever seen a little boy before"!!!

Sammy had the power to be there, but he wasn't authorized to be there Power without authority can get you in trouble!!!!

We must balance power with authority and authority with power. Power with no authority is anarchy. Lack of authority can render the power you have useless and of no effect. And Authority with no power, gets nothing accomplished and achieves very little. 

One of the greatest abuses of power in the Christian world is a disregard for areas of disignated authority. 

You can call it "taking liberties" that are not yours to take... Manipulation, where you give something so that you can get people to do what you want.

Psylogical bullying is taking advantage of people's good nature, and pushing the boundaries and get them to do what they would not otherwise do or go where they would not otherwise go.  

George Orwell said “He who wears the mask of hypocracy, will find that his face will eventually grow to fit it.”

Albert Einstein is quoted as saying, “To punish me for my contempt for authority, God put me in a position of authority so I could have contempt for myself.” 
Aleksandr Slozhen-itsyn....“Power is a poison well known for thousands of years. For those who have faith in a God that holds dominion over all of us, power is not fatal,  but for those, who cannot accept boundaries, there is no antidote for the poison.” 

On the subject of authority, Jesus marveled at A Centurion who came to Him for his sick daughter. He marveled that the Centurion understood the principle of power that operated  under proper Authority. The Centurion recognized in Jesus, a person who had power, because of His authority and he said...

Matthew 8:9  "I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man,Go, and he goes and to another, Come, and he comes and to my servant, Do this, and he does it". v10  When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in all Israel". 

Jesus is comparing faith that is under authority, to power.....

Faith under authority equals power!

Jesus is telling us that in order for our faith to be the most effective and be demonstrated in power, it must operate under authority....

Patterns of Sin in our lives, will cancel our power, because when we come under the power of sin, we are out from under God's authority. Saten will keep shoving that apple in front of our face....When we habitually sin, we have chosen to come under Satan's power, and he has a legal right to exercise power over us, until we repent. Take a moment and use this time right now to repent before God and restore your power.....

James 5:16 declares, "The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man has great effectiveness (or has great power)." This verse points out that power is given to the righteous who are under God's authority. Rightousness is simply a place of rightness.                                                                 So then, Are we right with God?

God will give more power to those who are diligent to live under His principles and kingdom values and become militant about sin not tolerate it in their family's life while they are under our care.

Dad, Mom, you have power with God concerning your family when you hold fast His instructions which He gives us in His word. 

We have to be under authority before we can exercise authority. If we as children are rebellious toward our parents or the authority of those that God has placed over us, (our bosses, law inforcement, or the leadership of the church), we won't have much authority over the evil one and the destruction he wants to send against us.

In many ways, King Saul was more qualified than David, and even though David fell into sin a number of times, he was quick to repent, come back under authority, and stop the pattern of sin. 

Ignorance is no excuse, because ignorance is a choice we make. God's word says "study to show yourself approved before God".... Ignorance means we have rebelled against God's instructions to know His word and walk it out. How can we pray that His will be done, when we've not bothered to study His word to find it out!                                                               In Hosea 4:6, God declares, "'My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.'" Ignorance has cost the people of God their power.                   Facing the Lions is about facing the things that rob you of your power….Daniel did it and you can do it too!!!

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 states, "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ."

To a believer who is walking in God's authority, Satan is like a toothless lion. It is not that Satan doesn't have real power--he does. But he only has the power that we give him when we come out from under God's authority. 

 

When David confronted Goliath, Goliath began to compare his physical power, experience, and size, with David's. Goliath was insulted that the Israelites would send a mere teen-age shepherd boy against him.

However, notice that David didn't compare himself with Goliath; he compared Goliath with God. God was so much greater than Goliath that the match was over before it had a chance to begin. Goliath came at David with power, but David came against Goliath under God's authority!

 

Unbelief is another symptom of being out from under God's authority which results in powerlessness in our lives.  

The man had it right in Luke 9:37 when he cried out to Jesus, "Lord I want to believe, please help my unbelief."

Hebrews 3:12 also calls unbelief sinful because it limits the power of God Unbelief is so serious that Matthew 13:58 tells us that  Jesus himself, did not do many mighty works (in His own home town) because of their unbelief. 

We can measure the level of our belief or unbelief by asking ourselves, "Do we really believe that Jesus said what He meant and He meant what He said."....

Paul's solution to this is found in Galatians 1:15 "But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace, v16  reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen,  I did not consult with flesh and blood". 

Folks that don't want to come under authority love this verse, and they quote the last part "I did not consult with flesh and blood"..... but not the first part where Paul is talking about being under God's authority! He said, "When it pleased God".....

You can't ignore the fruit of the spirit, love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, and say that you are under God's authority!

You can't be a self-centered, sour faced, power grabbing, manipulating, know it all, position climbing, money grabbing, stingy, foul mouthed, people hating, condemning, gloom and doomer, ....... and say you're under God's authority!                                                                                                               But please, please, don't let the hypocrites keep you from coming to church, we've always got room for a few more......

Have you ever heard the expression “face the music”? The term means to be responsible for what you have done....Here’s how that phrase came about.

Many years ago, a man wanted to play in the Imperial Orchestra, but he couldn’t play a note. Since he was a person of great wealth and influence, however, he demanded to be allowed to join the orchestra so that he could perform in front of the king. Even though he couldn't read music, he was given a flute, and when a concert would begin, he would raise his instrument, pucker his lips, and move his fingers and he went through all the motions of playing, but he never made a sound. 
This deception went on for two years. Until a new conductor took over the Imperial Orchestra. He told the orchestra that he wanted to personally audition all the players.
Frantic with worry when it was his turn, the phony flutist pretended to be sick. The doctor who was ordered to examine him, however, declared that he was perfectly well. The conductor insisted that the man appear and demonstrate his skill. 
Shamefacedly, the man had to confess that he was a fake. And that was the day he had to “face the music.” He couldn't hide anymore....

Next, Everything you've ever wanted is on the opposite side of fear. Please understand that you can't be walking and living in Fear and say that you're under God's authority.                                                                              Second Timothy 1:7-8 declares, "God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind".                                                             It is so clear that this verse is telling us that one thing is the polar opposite of the other. 

Fear paralyzes us and keeps us from wielding the authority we have in Christ to bring healing, encouragement, and deliverance to others, because we are overly occupied with ourselves.

Luke 10:19  "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. v20 Never the less, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject unto you, but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven (you are under the authority of God). Your power comes from being under authority.

Some people have suffered backlash from the enemy when they were obedient and now they are afraid, because they failed to operate the two deminsions of authority. Now they are stifled and stunted by fear.

You must stand in the offensive posture, when you stand up and take power back from the enemy. Then there is the defensive posture, when you set up bullwarks against him. That's what binding and loosing is all about. It is the two deminsional battle plan. We use authority to loose or release and take back what he has stolen and we also bind his power, because he is not authorized to have that power just like he is not authorized to have what he has taken.

If we experience a negative backlash after all of this, then we need to use our authority to declare and decree that something good will come out of it, something that is bigger and greater than the backlash that has happened. 

That's where we stand on Romans 12:19 "Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather, continue to walk in love, for it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will compensate, says the Lord. v20 Therefore if your enemy hungers, feed him, if he thirsts, give him drink, for in blessing him, you shall bring the full weight of God's redemptive authority upon his head. v21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good". 

Next, You can't neglect Prayer in your life and be under God's authority. Luke 18:1 establishes the importance of prayer: "Then Jesus told His disciples a parable to show them that they should pray always and not give up". The parable He gave them was about the incessent friend who refused to stop knocking on his neighbor's door, until the nwighbor came out and gave him bread for his family who had come to visit unexpectedly. 

We are further told in Ephesians 6:18 "Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints."                                                      The Holy Spirit has been reminding me that I need to pray all the time in the Spirit, to keep my spirit sensitive to God's voice and direction. Paul tells us that by doing this, we keep our senses exercised, so that we are open to the nudgings and quiet whispers of the Spirit. 

Listen men, Hebrews 5:14 "But strong meat belongs to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of constant use, have had their senses exercised to spiritually discern both good and evil". 

Paul begins this lesson, in verse 11, by saying that those who are immature in their Christian walk, are dull of hearing, then he tells us that the remedy is to pray in the spirit (exercise our spiritual senses) so we become better at discerning good and evil.... 

I can't count the times that Winnie and I, went into the kid's rooms and prayed and declared over them while they were asleep.... That God would give them wisdom and discernment, and place His call upon their lives. We would walk around their rooms and declare that they would not fall into the traps that the devil was always laying for them... and we would pray for their children and children's children as well. 

How many understand that God didn't make Satan. But He did create Lucifer, a wonderful, glorious, powerful, godly angel, but it was mankind who allowed Satan to become what he is. There is a difference between creating and making. Adam and Eve made Satan by giving him the authority to operate in this world, even though God left them in charge. By handing their authority to him, they came out from under God's authority and placed themselves, through disobedience under the power of the forces of darkness and evil. 

This could revolutionize your whole approach toward the devil. Satan isn’t using some superhuman, angelic authority against us; he’s using the authority and power which he stole from us, that was given to US by God. Therefore, Satan can’t do anything to us without our consent and cooperation. As we learn to operate the power that comes from being back under God's authority, we can kick him out of our garden, and take it back!!! Hallelujah!

Evangelist Winkie Pratney once told a story about a pastor's wife who was jogging one day when she saw a man dressed in white standing in a cornfield. The pastor's wife had been going through a difficult trial, and when she saw this man, whom she recognized as Jesus, He said to her: "Do you know who I am? When you know who I am, you'll know who you can be." 

When you know who He really is, because you have come under His authority, you will know who you can be..and things are not really as hard as we might think."

There is a lesson here for all of us. When we know who God is and the authority He has, and when we know who we are in Christ, having faith is not that difficult. And when we have faith, we will begin to operate in the spiritual authority necessary to walk in obedience and see His signs, wonders and miracles.

Next, notice that our giving is really not about the money at all, it is an issue of being under God's authority. We have been given the power to be in charge of what we give, and as we do, we are operating a divine principle that God has built into the fabric of everything....and God then is bound by His own word, to release what we are to receive. 

Luke 6:38 "Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that you give, it shall be measured to you again". We have the power to determine how we receive, by how we give. 

This topic of Power under authority is like electricity. The power company generates the power and delivers it to your house. It’s not your power, but it’s under your authority. You don’t call the power company and ask them to turn the lights on. No! They won’t do that. They generate the power, but it’s under your authority. You simply flip the switch on the wall and command the power to work. 

Does this mean you are the power source? Certainly not! You can put a light bulb in your mouth, and it will never come on. You aren’t the power source, but you are the one in control of what that power does. You can plead with the power company all you want, but they won’t flip the switch for you. You have to assume your authority and acknowledge the power that is under your command.

And last, just think, we have been authorized with the power to choose which door we will step through into eternity when our earthly lives are over and done. The blue door of heaven with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, or the red door, seperated from God forever, because we rejected the salvation which Christ offers. We choose where we will spend eternity. God has placed in our grasp the power of His salvation and authorized us to use it. 

It's the Salvation switch that we simply have to turn on. We can't save ourselves, that light bulb won't turn on!!! But we can flip the switch of God's power, by confessing Jesus as our savior, and receive Him for the forgiveness and cancelling of the sin that seperates us from Him. It works because we are using power that is under His authority! 

Just like the switch connects the electricity with the light bulb when we operate it, belief in Jesus death and resurection becomes the switch that connects us to His full salvation!

What is Salvation....The Hebrew word for salvation is YESHUA, which is JESUS, and Greek word for salvation is SOZO, which is an action verb, defined as deliverance, victory, saved, healed, rescued, renewed, restored reconciled, and spiritual, emotional, physical, social and financial prosperity! 

The complete package has been made available to us, but we have to operate the power within it by the authority given us in Christ. 

John 11:40  Jesus said, "have I not told you, that, if you would just believe, you will see the glory of God.? 

What is the glory of God?.... God’s glory is who He is and it is the source and sum of all that He does. The glory of God is the infinite beauty, the incomprehensable greatness, the overwhelming majesty of His manifold  perfections, character, attributes and worth. He shouts His glory with the mystery of the clouds. He shouts it with the blue expanse of the skies. He shouts it with the golden, radiance of the sunsets.  He shouts it with the expanse of galaxies and stars. He is shouting. I am glorious! We were made for His glory, it is why we exist. And this is only ashes compared to what is coming for the child of God. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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