CONSTANT COMBAT
PART THREE
KNOW YOURSELF!
This is not theory! Kingdom Strategy is something very
vital, something that effects our lives. And not only
our own lives, but the lives of others also. Our third
essential is to
KNOW OUR SELF.
We must know our position in Christ; we must know our
participation in the Kingdom of God and what God is
doing in our life; and we must know the authority which
the Master has given to us. This knowledge will help
equip us for these end times.
RIGHT EVALUATION OF YOURSELF
If I ask the question, “Who are you?” you may say, “I am
man”, or “I am woman.” Yes, you are a man or woman, but
more - you are a part of the human race - a part of the
humanity that is under constant attack by evil forces.
If I ask, “WHAT
are you?” your response may be, “I am just a sinner
saved by grace.” Yes, if you are born again, you are a
sinner saved by grace. You’re scriptural, for we read in
Ephesians:
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and
that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.”
But, my saved friend, you are much more than a sinner
saved by grace! You are a person who has been justified
through faith; you have been cleansed by the precious
blood of our Lord Jesus Christ; you have been separated
by the Holy Spirit; and as we read in Ephesians 2:6, you
have also been
raised up
and
seated on the throne
of God
in association with the Messiah.
You are seated in
a place of authority!
(One warning is in order here. We must be wary of
superficial or deceitful ideas of ourselves. Let us not
be puffed up with ideas of ourselves. But let us know
our correct place, our
position
in the Kingdom of God.)
It is true, we should not think of ourselves more highly
than we ought to think. In one sense, we are nothing,
absolutely nothing. We readily confess this, and because
we are nothing, we could be inclined to do nothing. But
reader, you must not undervalue yourself. You are very
important, important to God, as we see in Ephesians
2:10:
“For we are His workmanship,
created in Messiah Y'shua for those good works
which God prepared beforehand that we should do and
walk in.”
You, I repeat, are very important to God, because He has
chosen you. He planned for you, and He has a definite
purpose for you. So don’t underestimate His purpose, and
your true value. Remember also, the Lord Jesus died for
YOU.
He died for the world in general, but He died for
YOU
in particular. As somebody said, “If I were the only
sinner on earth, Jesus would have come and died for
ME.”
Believer, we are redeemed, we’re saved. But as we are
beginning to learn, there is much more to our
participation in the Kingdom than simply getting to
heaven. As believers, we are intricately involved in
God’s plan. We are very much associated with our Master
who is the Source, the Creator, the King. We are
associated with
GOD.
And our need is to more clearly understand that
association, and our participation in His plan.
OUR PLAN AND STRATEGY
We have seen about God’s plan and strategy which is
absolutely spiritual. We have also seen Satan’s plan and
strategy which is absolutely evil. So now we might ask,
what is OUR plan and strategy?
My friend, we are not called to have a
plan and strategy of our own.
We are not called to make plans for ourselves. Our plan
must be God’s plan. Our strategy must always be God’s
strategy. And we must be on the alert as our hearts can
be very deceitful and can easily deceive us. Even with
really good intentions, we can make great plans that are
totally contrary to God’s plans. How often this happens
in the church. Carnal plans are made, but they are not
of God. We are not called to
ORGANISE;
we are called to
PARTICIPATE
in His plans. Our “organisation” must be the carrying
out of the Divine Will.
EIGHT PREPARATIONS
FOR EFFECTIVE PARTICIPATION
The process to effective participation in the Kingdom
of God involves a deep work of the Holy Spirit in us.
God’s intention for our lives is that we will be ...
1. Trained in Truth
2. Learned in Obedience
3. Liberated from Self
4. Prepared for the Master’s Use
5. Renewed in Mind
6. Proven in Faith
7. Conformed in Character
8. Filled
with the Fullness
The Spirit’s ministry in our “inner man,” setting us
free from self, sin and satanic schemes, and preparing
us for Fullness, is what Paul prays will happen to EVERY
believer.
“I pray that out of the riches of His glory, He
may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your
inner being so that the Messiah may dwell in your hearts
through faith in Him.”
(Ephesians 3:16-17)
1.
Trained in Truth
New believers must be established and trained in the
basic truths, including the need for a humble and holy
faith-life.
When a person - particularly a young person - comes to
Y’shua the Messiah, he usually is filled with enthusiasm
and before long he may feel that he is capable of
winning the whole world for Christ. But he has not yet
been trained in the
ways
of God. This is why Paul said, don’t appoint a novice to
a high position, or to leadership too soon.
A person who enlists in the army is not quickly made a
Colonel. He has to be thoroughly trained. And we must be
thoroughly trained in the ways of God. It’s not a
four-year theological course that trains us in those
ways. It’s a school of training over, sometimes, many
years. The Master must train us, firstly, in the
basics
of the Kingdom of God - the
FUNDAMENTAL TRUTHS,
the fundamental message of the Word of God. And we all
know, I think, that truth as a doctrine, is not enough.
We must also learn to
APPLY
and
PRACTISE
those truths.
Secondly, the Master must train us in the
DEPTHS
of the Kingdom of God - the
DEEPER TRUTHS
of the Word. And He must teach us to
PRACTISE
the Word of God in a deeper way. He must take us beyond
a shallow, paddling stage in our practice of the Word of
God.
2.
Learned in Obedience
We are told that Messiah Y’shua Himself learned
obedience in His life, through suffering.
(Hebrews 5:8).
How much more
we
must learn obedience! We are to walk in His steps.
You will agree, we must be totally loyal to our King;
and we must maintain a total prompt obedience to our
King. We know that, but to
do
it, is usually our problem. To teach us, the Spirit of
God uses a process in which He brings us to an end of
ourselves.
i. We must come to an end of
DIVIDED LOYALTY;
of trying to serve both God and mammon; living for God
and yet living for ourselves; having one foot in the
Kingdom of God, and one foot in the world - as though
that were possible. We must be brought to an end of
divided loyalty.
ii. We must also come to an end of our
SELF-RELIANCE
- of our relying and trusting in ourselves. Our faith
must always be in God. Self-confidence is not enough; in
fact, it can be quite counter-productive. In
all
situations, our faith, trust and reliance must be in the
living God.
iii. We must also come to an end of
SELF-AMBITION,
which, of course, is double-mindedness. Sometimes we say
we want to serve God, but actually, our motive is
self-ambition. ‘I want to be an evangelist.’ Why do you
want to be an evangelist? Because I want to build my own
kingdom! Or it may be that I feel, “I am God’s man for
the job.” All types of ambitions or motives are
possible. God must bring us to the end of our
self-ambitions, so that we have no ambition other than
to be, and to do, what God wants.
God will allow all types of experiences to enter our
lives, to bring us to that place of obedience where we
can say, like the Lord Jesus did on earth:
“I do not seek My own will but the will of Him who sent
Me.”
(John 5:30).
“I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.”
(John 8:29)
3.
Liberated from Self
God knows all about us? Right! And when we come to
Christ, He commits Himself to working in our lives, to
make us what we should be. The process to effective
participation begins the moment we believe in the Lord
Jesus. And then, as we surrender our lives, confess our
sins and failures, and walk in fellowship with Him, the
process continues, step by step, effecting a liberation
from sin and self, and leading us to a point of
TOTAL SURRENDER
to Christ - a surrender of everything that we are, and
everything that we have, to His control.
The process involves a breaking - a breaking of our
resistance to God’s will, of our self-life, so that the
life of Christ is released within us. This, God has
committed Himself to do in our lives.
Take a wild horse; he may be a beautiful beast. Lasso
him; bring him to the King. Will you invite the King to
ride on this unbroken horse? No, that horse is no use to
the King. Rather, it is a very great danger to him. The
horse must be broken in, and then trained over a period
of time, so that he will, if he is a good horse, do
exactly what his master says. And so it must be in our
lives.
Brokenness is a continual process - not a one-time
experience. The Master may need to break us again and
again because we are so prone to forget the lessons. But
always remember, when God breaks us, He
NEVER
destroys us! Sometimes you may feel God is bringing you
to the end of everything. Not everything! He is bringing
you to the end of
YOURSELF,
to the end of your self-reliance and self-ambition. And
when He brings you to the
END
of yourself, He also brings you to the
BEGINNING
of Himself. God never destroys His people. He may
chastise them; He may send all types of trials; but
always to fulfil His plan in their lives.
When God breaks us, He brings us to a glorious
liberation from our wretched self-life. You realise
don’t you, that our ego, our self-life, is a great
problem? It creates havoc in God’s Kingdom. Our life is
unruly, and must be brought under the complete control
of the Spirit of God. Our ego controls our bodies and
our emotions and if it is not surrendered and broken, we
will be a great hindrance to the King, and not a great
help.
A life that is not controlled by the Spirit of God, will
be wide open for Satanic strategy. A carnal Christian
life has so many cracks in it that the serpent has no
problem in influencing that life. Remember, Satan has a
strategy to destroy your life; or at least, to put you
out of action. And if you hold anything back from God,
you leave yourself wide open to that strategy. That’s
why I say, we need to go into the depths, not only of
the basic truths but also of the practice of the Word of
God.
Again, a soldier needs to be disciplined and
surrendered to the king’s command. If you take some raw
recruits, give them automatic weapons, and immediately
send them out to fight, they will be far more dangerous
than helpful. So it is with the believer. If he is not
broken; if he is not surrendered; if he will not
surrender up his own sword to the Lord, and should he be
given the power of God, he would use that power for
self-exaltation. Or he would try to use the power of God
to make business, like the man, Simon of Samaria. When
he saw the disciples moving in the power of God, he
said, “Give me the same power. I will pay you for it.”
Evidence of the unbroken, unyielded life is seen in our
egotism, worldliness, ungodly living, our pride, and in
our self-protectionism. How quick we are to present
OURSELVES,
and
OUR
viewpoints on how right WE are. And how quick we are to
justify our own sin and carnality.
Why does God say, “Do this,” and “Don’t do that?” Why
does He say, “This is right” and, “that is wrong”? Did
God somehow make a snap decision and say, “Well, we’ve
got to have some rules. Let’s think up a few rules for
these people?”
No! When God commands something, it is because He knows
what is right and He wants to save us from the things
that destroy or hinder the fulfillment of His plans. If
God says don’t do a certain thing, it’s because that
thing, whatever it is, is a hindrance to God’s ministry
in our lives. It is called sin because it is both an
affront to God’s holiness, and a great danger to our
personal peace and effectiveness in God’s service.
4.
Prepared for the Master’s Use
Isn’t it true that often we are more keen to
serve
God than to
be
what God wants us to be? But more important than our
service is what God is doing in our lives; because
unless He makes us into prepared vessels, then we cannot
be of real service to Him. You know, I’m sure, that it
is not the amount of activities we do; it’s the degree
to which God is able to use us, that is important.
Of ourselves we can do nothing of spiritual value. When
the Messiah said:
“You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon
you”
(Acts 1:8),
He was not saying that the power of heaven is yours
simply for the taking and abusing. The reason we are
“half-victorious”; the reason why we are
NOT
continuously filled with the Spirit, is because we are
not prepared vessels. We may be willing to
USE
God’s power, but we are not willing to be humble,
prepared instruments, to channel that power. Unless we
are broken and prepared, the Master must withhold the
fullness of His mighty power from us.
We must be prepared by God; God wants us to
BE;
to be Spirit-filled and Spirit-controlled. Then we will
be victorious; then our actions will be supernatural;
then we will be saved from our carnality - the carnal
life which is not much different to the natural life of
an unbeliever.
5.
Renewed in Mind
It is a fact, the Spirit of God dwells in all born-again
believers. He dwells in our spirit, within our body. Now
we must deliberately choose to surrender our life to His
control. Our mind must decide, for it has the power of
choice. And to choose aright, our whole thinking
processes must be reshaped by the Spirit of God.
In Ephesians 4:23, as also in Romans 12:2, we read that
we should be renewed in the spirit of our mind. Our
minds have been influenced in varying degrees by the
world, and so they need to be renewed and brought into
line with the Word of God.
How to renew your mind? Not by going to college, not by
watching television, reading newspapers, and surfing
the net! Renewing of your mind is through
the Word of God.
To read the newspaper, watch television and search the
internet, while neglecting the Word of God, can cause
the world’s standards to become our standards. We need
much more of the Word of God than we do the world’s
news.
We are living in such an evil world that our whole
thinking processes are being subtly influenced by evil.
Our consciences, which can be deadened by the corruption
around us, must be continually
re-sensitised
by the Word. And our minds, our emotions, our bodies,
must be brought under the control of God. Satan controls
his people and uses them in an
EVIL
way. But God controls His people to use them in a
HOLY
and righteous way.
6.
Proven in Faith
Without faith you cannot enter the Kingdom of God;
without faith you cannot progress and effectively
participate in the Kingdom; without faith we may as
well pack up our Bibles and go back to the Broad Way. If
we are not going to practice the principle of faith,
then we are not going to succeed in the Christian life.
Faith is
BELIEVING
what God says,
TRUSTING
God, and putting it into
PRACTICE.
Without faith we cannot please God; without faith we
cannot help anybody else, without faith we will just be
as any worldly person.
I am not talking about an abstract faith. I am talking
about
FAITH IN GOD.
There is a very subtle teaching going around the world,
even in the church these days that says, ‘if you simply
have faith, all things are possible.’ There is a verse
to that effect,
(Mark 9:23),
but the correct interpretation of that verse is, if you
have faith
in God,
all things are possible.
The teaching that’s prevalent today however, says that
if you simply have “faith,” that is, faith in something,
faith in faith, faith in your self, or in your mind
power, then you can succeed and do anything. That is a
counterfeit. Our faith is in the Messiah, and this faith
develops as we walk with our Master.
Often we will trust God, to a certain extent, and then
trust ourselves for the rest. Sometimes we say, “I’m
trusting God,” and yet we will run off to someone else,
for the counsel and help. It’s very possible that we
trust our friends
more
than we trust God.
(Counsellors! Be extremely careful. When God is working
in a person’s life and allows trials to come into that
life with the view of bringing that person to the end of
his own self-reliance, if we, as counsellors, come along
with all good intentions, and superficially relieve the
person in his trials, we may rob that person of God’s
intention and ministry. Counselling needs the wisdom and
guidance of the Spirit of God. When you are counselling
somebody who is going through a trial, don’t spoil God’s
work; but in your counselling, seek to bring that person
to a realization of God’s intention so that he is able
to see beyond you as a counsellor, and to come to the
place where he or she really trusts in God.)
The process which God uses to break us, to remake us,
and to test our faith involves all types of trials and
experiences. Now somebody may ask, “If God made us and
wants good for us, why does He allow us to go through
severe trials? If Jesus died to save us, why should He
allow us to suffer?” Because there is no instant
maturity! We must be prepared, through the process that
God chooses to use in our life. That’s why Peter says,
“Don’t be surprised if fiery trials come.”
How does God break us, and remake us? What process does
He use? He has a thousand ways, but always the process
seeks to bring us to an end of our self-reliance. God
allows the trials and various situations to come into
our lives, so that in the midst of these circumstances
we learn to
TRUST
Him. God wants to bring us to
“Point T & P.”
(T for Trust and P for Praise). At point “T & P” we are
at the place where no matter what happens, we
TRUST
God and we
PRAISE
Him.
It happened in Job’s life. Job could say, “Though He
slay me yet will I trust Him.” But Job had to go beyond
that place, to a point where he no longer relied on his
own righteous life. He came right to the end of himself
and abhorred himself. He was utterly broken. From that
moment on, God moved into his life in a new way. Job’s
faith had been tested and approved.
You may be saying, “Oh I wish I had greater faith.” Then
ponder of these six points:
SIX WAYS TO INCREASE YOUR FAITH
i.
Spend more time reading the Word
- reading it more thoroughly. Faith comes by
hearing and hearing by the Word of Christ.”
(Romans 10: 7).
The experiences of others in the Word, helps us increase
our faith.
ii.
Exercise the faith
that you already have. God has gifted all believers with
faith. As we exercise that faith, as we obey His Word,
our faith increases.
iii.
By acceptance of trials,
knowing that they are sent to test and approve our
faith. Rejoice amidst trial. Rejoicing, praising
the Lord, helps to increase faith.
iv.
Listen to the testimonies
of other believers. Read biographies of men and women of
God.
v.
By prayer, develop an intimacy with the Master.
Pray through the Satanic barriers. When you DON’T feel
like praying THAT’S the time you especially need to
pray.
vi.
Obedience to God.
Sin weakens faith, destroys faith, disintegrates faith.
But obedience increases faith.
7.
Conformed In Character
What sympathy you express when you see a person who is
20 years old, but who possesses the body of a small
child. Or a person whose body has matured, but whose
mind has never grown up! If it is your child, how
disappointed you are.
What about God when He sees some of His children never
growing up? His intention, as Paul explains, is that
each of His children should grow …
“to a full-grown, mature, perfect man, to the measure of
the stature of the fullness of Messiah.”
(Eph. 4:13).
“We are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the
Head – the Messiah.”
(Eph. 4:15)
“For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be
conformed to the likeness of His Son.”
(Romans 8:29)
Conformity to Christ - to the character-likeness of the
Messiah. Or you can put it this way - it is
Christ-likeness. It’s the life and beauty of the Saviour
developed in the believer. It’s the holiness of God
expressed in the life of the one born of God. It’s the
grace and characteristics of the Lord Jesus, displayed
in His followers.
Christ-likeness must take hold of our character, of our
personality. It is maturity, so that our walk is
possessed by Godliness. It is a maturity that enables a
believer to fulfil the work of God; to teach the deeper
things of the Word; to build up the Body of Messiah; to
equip His army and to lead the saints in triumph over
powers of darkness.
The work of turning a “raw recruit” into a conformed
Christian (Christ-like-one) is a life-long process.
Tragically, some believers frustrate that process
through selfish living. It must be our constant goal,
“to be like Jesus”; and to fulfil that goal, we must
surrender ourselves totally to the ministry of the
Spirit who leads us on, through each one of these steps,
to Fullness.
8.
Filled with the Fullness
Paul prays in Ephesians 3:19; that we might …
“… know the Messiah’s love which surpasses knowledge,
that you may be filled up with all the fullness of God.”
The Amplified Bible puts it this way:
“That you might become a body
FILLED
and
FLOODED
with God Himself.”
This is the intent behind Paul’s statement also in
chapter 5 verse 18:
“Be filled with the Spirit.”
He is not encouraging us to “get more power,” but to be
a
channel
for the Spirit of power. He’s saying, “Become a body
filled and flooded with God Himself.” You say, “That’s
impossible!” For an unbroken Christian, it is
impossible; for a carnal Christian it is impossible; for
an unsurrendered Christian it is impossible. But if we
will yield our life to God; if we will say, “Oh God,
here I am. Take me and do whatever is necessary in my
life. Do it, Father,” it
is
possible.
But are we not often half-hearted in our response to
God? We say, “Lord, here are my bits and pieces. Use
them if You can.” But the Master is not interested in
our bits and our pieces. We say, “Oh, but I give a 10th
to the Lord.” The Master is not interested in our tenth.
He says, “Present your body, and everything that you
have as a living sacrifice unto God. If you will take Me
at My word; if you will understand what I am doing; if
you will give yourself to Me, I will
FILL
you and
FLOOD
you and
USE
you to the maximum.”
My friend, an unbroken Christian is never victorious.
And unyielded Christian will be predominately carnal - a
little spiritual but a lot of the time the living is “in
the flesh.”
Reader, we must be willing for all God is willing and
waiting to do in our lives, even though the process
sometimes seems very painful. He must train us, renew
us, break us, remake us, and fill us with His fullness.
And in dealing with us, the Messiah is preparing us to
reign with Him in life, in the power of His authority.
THE AUTHORITY OF THE BELIEVER
After His resurrection, Y’shua told His disciples:
“All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on
earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the
nations.”
(Matthew 28:18-19)
The Messiah was not promising muscle power, or electric
power; he was not offering even nuclear power. He was
talking about
AUTHORITY
- His authority, which He would share with His people.
This authority is based on
HIS
position, and is delegated to His people so that they
might fulfill His kingdom’s strategy. But it is only
those who are Spirit-controlled who will rightly
understand and apply that authority. A believer who is
carnal, with his “mind set on the flesh,” will not
understand it, and neither would he choose to exercise
that authority. The carnal man will always want to do
things in his own way - in a natural, worldly way.
It is important then, that we make progress in the above
“preparations” at the same time as understanding our
“throne rights,” for if we are not obedient, renewed,
liberated from self and controlled by the Spirit of God,
divine authority will be out of order. Don’t think
however, that you must reach “spiritual giant-hood”
before you can start applying the authority of Christ.
No! Even a new believer, if he understands what it is,
can apply the authority through the faith he has. But we
do need to grow to greater maturity and become more
experienced and effective in Kingdom Authority.
Another authority promise given to us as disciples is:
“Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon
serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the
enemy, and nothing shall injure you.” (Luke
10:19)
Serpents and scorpions represent demonic forces. And
notice, it is not only the Messiah who has bruised the
serpent’s head; He is teaching His disciples, in
real-life combat, to tread down the works of darkness.
To understand our authority, it is essential to first
understand the authority of our Master. In Ephesians
one, we read that the Lord Jesus was raised and seated
in heavenly places:
“These are in accordance with the working of His mighty
strength which He exerted in the Messiah, when He raised
Him from the dead, and
seated Him at His right hand
in the heavenly places, far
above all rule and authority
and power and dominion, and every name that is named,
not only in this age, but also in the one that is to
come.”
(Ephesians 1:19-21)
As you know, the Messiah ascended to heaven. But He did
not only
ASCEND;
He was also
EXALTED
and
SEATED IN THE PLACE OF AUTHORITY
in the heavenly places. This does not mean that the Lord
Jesus simply took a chair in the heavenlies. He was
exalted to the
THRONE
of God. A King does not simply sit on a chair. He
occupies a throne.
Y’shua ascended to the Throne, not just because He was
the Son of God, but because He was the
Victor-returned-victorious. He was exalted because of
His Victory through the blood of His cross – His
redemptive work. He is in the place of authority because
He triumphed over demonic powers.
(Colossians 2:15)
Associated
with Christ
Now we must realise that we, as a part of the Body of
Christ, are intimately involved in all the activities of
the Master. You know that when Y’shua died,
you
were there on the cross. Do you believe that? Yes; but
how was it possible when you were not living 2000 years
ago? It was because Y’shua was your Representative. As
your representative, He died in your place, so that you
can say
YOU
died on the cross of Calvary. When His body was placed
in the tomb,
YOU
also were put in the tomb. And because you are now
associated with the Messiah, when Y’shua came out of the
tomb, you also came out of tomb. This is your
POSITION,
in virtue of being “in Christ.”
You may say, “That’s all theory,” Ah! But it is related
to the practical, to what you experience in your life
now, because when you came to the Lord Jesus, you
experienced a death, burial and new birth miracle. You
came to life, a new person “in Christ” – “in the
Messiah.”
Now read Ephesians 2:4-7:
“But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love
with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our
transgressions, made us alive together with the Messiah
- by grace you have been saved - and raised us up with
Him and
made us to sit with Him in the heavenly realms
in the Messiah, Y’shua, so that in the ages to come He
might show the
immeasurable riches
of His grace in kindness toward us in Messiah Y’shua.”
In the
Messiah, the Believer is on the Throne
Let us go a step further. This is the fact I want you to
remember; When Y’shua ascended to heaven,
YOU ALSO ASCENDED,
and
YOU ALSO WERE SEATED
on the throne of God in the heavenly places. This is
your spiritual position in Christ - raised above all
powers, and seated on the throne of God, in the place of
AUTHORITY.
It is not because of what you are in yourself, but
because of your
ASSOCIATION
with your King. Read Ephesians 2 again.
“But God being rich in mercy, because of His great love
with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our
transgressions,
made us alive together with the Messiah
(by grace you have been saved) and
raised us up with Him, and made us to sit with Him in
the heavenly realms
in the Messiah, Y’shua.”
(Ephesians 2:4-6)
My friend, never see yourself apart from your Master.
Always see yourself as
in Him
– you are linked to Him. We are in the place of
authority because of the Messiah. We have not earned the
right, but through faith we are part of Him and in Him
we are on that throne. My reader, you and I, as
believers in Y’shua, Jesus, are saved by grace, cleansed
by the blood, separated by the Spirit of God, raised
again, lifted up and seated in the heavenly places, and
have authority with the Messiah. We now have
“throne rights.”
But only when we are broken, remade and filled with the
Spirit of the Lord, will we know how to exercise those
throne rights correctly. Thus it is vital that we have a
right evaluation of our King; and a right evaluation of
ourselves.
Truth Must
be Applied
It is very important to know the truth. But you must
agree that it is not enough to know doctrine; we must
APPLY
it in our lives. Because our feet are still very much
upon the earth, and because there is warfare raging on
this earth, we must first know our position, and then
exercise the authority given to us. Can you imagine a
President who says, “I know I am the President; I know I
have been given authority - but please don’t expect ME
to act like a ruler?” If he fails to exercise the
authority of President, then he is going to end up a
very disappointed and defeated man, and bring tragedy on
his nation.
Authority must be applied by faith. We must act, speak,
fight and bind the enemy, on the basis of the conferred
authority, and our position with Messiah on the Throne.
We must act, we must exercise the authority, we must
reign with the Messiah. This will involve
taking authority over the
activity
of the strong man and his evil forces.
This is a tremendous authority and responsibility the
believer has, but is it not true, we usually say, “Well,
all we can do is to pray about it. Then we must leave it
to the Lord”? We fail to exercise the authority,
thinking we are little, unempowered no-bodies.
Listen to what Jesus said to Peter:
“And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven;
and whatever you bind on earth
will be bound, having been bound in heaven, and
whatever you shall loose on
earth will be loosed, having been loosed
in heaven.” (Matthew
16:19)
And a little later, Jesus said to
all
the disciples:
“Again I say to you, that whatever you shall bind on
earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you
loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven. Again I
say to you, that if two of you agree on earth concerning
anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by
My Father who is in heaven.”
(Matthew 18:18-19)
And this is what He expects us to do today - to bind the
activity
of demonic forces, and to loose captives from sin and
Satan’s clutches.
If we are confronted by a demon-possessed person, we
know that we have authority to take authority over that
evil spirit and to cast him out. But satanic activity
does not always come in the form of a person throwing
his arms around and convulsing. Satan works in a
thousand ways, and mostly in very subtle ways. So we
have to be on the alert for his schemes. But in
whichever way it operates, we have authority to bind
that activity.
Our authority is expressed in five words;
The Name, The Blood, The Word, The Spirit,
and
the Testimony.
1.
THE POWER OF HIS NAME
Our authority is applied firstly, in the Name of Y’shua
the Messiah, Jesus Christ. The Name of Y’shua is
authority, because of
WHO
He is, and the fact that His Name is above every name,
and that all authority has been conferred on Him by the
Father. Moreover, Y’shua is Master. He is not a defeated
Master, He is not half-victorious, but absolutely
victorious, and His plans will be totally fulfilled,
including the ultimate and absolute containment of
Satan and evil.
“Therefore (because He humbled Himself), God
exalted Him to the highest place, and gave Him the Name
that is above every name.”
(Philippians 2:9)
“And Y’shua came up and spoke to them, saying, ‘All
authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth’.”
(Matthew 28:18)
But my reader, don’t try to use the name of Y’shua or
Jesus, as a magic word. We are not magicians, and the
Name of the Y’shua is not a mantra or magic. It is
authority!
2.
THE POWER OF THE BLOOD
The blood of Jesus is also authority; not magic! Don’t
try to use the expression “the blood of Jesus Christ” as
a magic formula. The shed blood of Jesus is the very
basis for the liberation of souls from the tyranny of
Satan. If there was no shed blood of Jesus, not one
person would be saved. The shed blood stands for the
atoning, redeeming, liberating work of the Messiah, and
it is that work that spells defeat for Satan.
“In fact, under the Law, almost everything is purified
by means of blood, and without the shedding of blood
there is no remission - no release or forgiveness of
sins.”
(Hebrews 9:22)
The blood of Jesus, moreover, is the “defence system”
against evil, because His work cleanses and restores.
“But if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the
light, we have fellowship with one another, and the
blood of Y’shua His Son, cleanses us from all sin.”
(1 John 1:7)
The Blood of Jesus means His life, for “the life is in
the blood.”
(Leviticus 17:11).
The pure life-blood of the Lamb of God produces an
“immune response” in the lives of those who trust in the
Lamb. Because of His victory at Calvary, “the Blood”
fights against the sin virus that has produced death in
our lives.
The redemptive life-blood of Y’shua is the tremendous
power that defeats evil.
“And they overcame him because of the blood of the
Lamb.”
(Revelation 12: 11)
3.
THE POWER OF THE WORD
The third aspect of authority is the Word of God. This
is not an ordinary word, but the Word of the living God.
It’s not magic, it is the Word of the Eternal One, and
we must use the Word authoritatively. When we speak the
Word, we speak it as authority. Remember, it was simply
by the Word that everything was created. The Word of God
is so powerful. Yahweh only needs to speak the Word, and
worlds come into being; and that is the same Word that
we have in our Bible. That Word is powerful, but it must
be
APPLIED BY FAITH
and with
THE AUTHORITY OF THE ONE WHO GAVE US THE WORD.
Never use the Word of God in a vague way. You do not
need to apologise for it. Rather your confidence should
be absolutely firm. This Word is what God says!
“For the Word of God is alive! It is powerful,
active and sharper than any double-edged sword; it cuts
right through even to the division of soul and spirit,
and of joints and marrow; and it judges the
thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
(Hebrews 4:12)
It is “The sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of
God.”
(Eph. 6:17)
4.
THE POWER OF THE SPIRIT
The Holy Spirit in the life of the believer is the power
of God that enables him to apply the authority of
Christ, and that gives him the “thrust.”
“But you shall receive
power
when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.”
(Acts 1:8)
The Holy Spirit is also called
the Spirit of Christ
(Rom. 8:9).
It is He who
“forms Christ”
within the believer
(Gal. 4:19),
and who fills and empowers him for combat.
In our warfare, when we come up against insurmountable
problems, strongholds of evil, and torrents of
opposition, it is the Spirit of God
in
us, who translates the doctrine into experience. It is
He who makes our position, our faith, our authority, a
reality. And we are assured, not only that nothing can
separate us from the love of God, but that the One
within us is the Almighty God, and that He is greater
than any problem, satanic opposition, discouragement,
heartache, distress or peril that we encounter.
“Test the Spirits … you are of God, little children, and
have overcome them; because
greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.”
(I John 4:1, 4)
You can list all the forces arrayed against you, but
greater is the Spirit of Messiah in you, than all of
them combined.
So don’t be overly-impressed with the works of the
devil. When we imagine the oppression, the persecution,
the roadblocks are terrible and overwhelming, we are
forgetting that,
“Greater is He who is in you, than he who is in the
world.”
Nothing in this whole world is bigger than Messiah in
you!
This we must constantly remember, and believe!
5.
THE POWER OF A HOLY TESTIMONY
The word of our testimony is an essential backup to our
exercise of throne rights. In Revelation 12:11, we read,
“They overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb, and
because of
THE WORD OF THEIR TESTIMONY.”
Our effective testimony as believers is to the power of
the Name, the Blood and the Word in our lives. It is a
testimony to Y’shua the Messiah. Our testimony is not,
“Oh, I
think
Jesus may be this and that.” Our testimony is to
who
He is,
to what He has done on the cross,
and
to what He has done in our own lives personally.
If we don’t have a testimony, then of course, we can’t
display it.
If we are not walking worthily, then our testimony will
be weakened. That’s why Paul says in Ephesians 4:1:
“Walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you
have been called.”
And if you read through Ephesians, you will see
exhortation after exhortation, to walk as mature sons of
God. This has to do with our testimony.
Don’t Sell
Your Throne Rights!
It’s sobering to realize that any sin will prevent us
from exercising our throne rights. Sin effectively
robs us of our throne rights!
And any unholiness, any sin at all, will open up a door
for Satan’s strategy. Remember Esau, that careless man
who sold his birthright for a plate of food? We
criticise Esau. We say, “What a crazy thing to do?” But
many believers “sell their throne rights” for some
trivial thing.
Some believers trade their throne rights for a few coins
or crumpled notes. Even a little amount of dishonesty or
underhandedness will rob you of authority. Yes, you may
have financial pressures, but if you resort to
dishonesty and money manipulation, you shelve your
throne rights and authority. One can become spiritually
ineffective because of a few paltry pence, cents or
rupees. In the same way, for a few moments of
self-gratification, we can “sell” our authority. For a
few moments of pleasure, we yield up our authority; for
some selfish ambition we forfeit our authority; for some
fleeting ambition, we allow our hair to be cut off. As a
result, like Samson - our strength has gone, our
authority has gone, and we become weak like any carnal
man.
Yes, any type of sin will rob us of authority. But
praise God, our loss does not need to be permanent.
Esau; yes, he lost his birthright forever. He could
never regain it. But we
CAN
regain the authority that we have lost through carnal
reactions and practice. We can regain our authority
through repentance, and through the cleansing of the
blood of Christ.
The ministry of the Spirit of God always seeks to bring
us to a place of confession, whenever we have gone
wrong. When we fail the Master, we must come back to the
“fountain filled with blood.” We need to be cleansed,
and then take our position again by faith in the risen
Messiah and accept His authority once more. We can then
go forward boldly in the mighty Name of our Heavenly
Master.
My reader, go deeper into the Word of God, and learn
more of His ways and principles. And as you learn,
remember, you are an important part of the strategy of
God. Recognise that you are a soldier and must be
trained. Exercise the authority and weapons God has
given to you. Be determined to follow the Master. Don’t
let Satan rob you of your authority, and never lay your
weapons down. Take your stand boldly, in the Name of the
Messiah, and go from victory - His victory - unto
victory, keeping your eyes on Y’shua, the Author and
Finisher of your faith.
4th AND
FINAL CHAPTER –“KNOW YOUR WEAPONS”
