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The-Believers-Authority-Study-Guide

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The-Believers-Authority-Study-Guide Content 1. Using our Authority under Jesus 2. Spiritual Laws of Authority 3. A New Level of Faith 4. Using our Authority Responsibly 5. Exercising our Spiritual Authority 6. Ministering in Authority 7. The Spirit of Prevention 8. Spirit of Witchcraft/Christian Witchcraft 9. Spirit of Jezebel 10. Spirit of Python 11. Spirit of Leviathan 12. Weapons for Overcomers Jesus’ Authority Under the Father Lesson 1 Jesus came with all authority His Father’s name would bring. Jesus knew that He had His Father’s authority, and that His right to use it was contingent on His maintaining intimacy with His Father. “I can do nothing on my own authority…because I am not trying to do what I want, but only what he who sent me want” John 5:30 “The Son can do nothing on his own; he does only what he sees His Father doing” John 5:19 “I do nothing on my own authority, but I say only what the Father has instructed me to say” John 8:28 Jesus was a man under authority. The source of His authority was his intimacy with the Father. He spent hours in prayer with the Father, cultivating a precious relationship. He kept his will lined up with the Father’s will, seeing to it that He always obeyed him and that he did nothing except with the Father’s agreement. Jesus’ intimacy with the Father enabled Him to both maintain His authority and to get God’s instructions concerning what the Father wanted Him to do. Our own authority is powerless without intimacy with the Father. Intimacy and hearing God are linked together. Jesus was always listening for what the Father wanted to do. For us to walk in this authority, we must be continually in communication with the Heavenly Father. The Holy Spirit came on Jesus at baptism and he started to minister in authority and power beyond anyone’s expectations or understanding. Luke 4:36 say, “What kind of words are these? With authority and power this man gives orders to the evil spirits and they come out!” “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth.” (Matthew 28:18) From the authority given to Jesus from the Father as a result of his obedience, this authority has been commissioned to us. Therefore intimacy is essential for us to fulfill this commissioning. “Go then, to all people everywhere and make them my disciples; baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teach them to obey everything I have commanded them.” (Matthew28: 19-20) Authority is the God-given right to receive and use God’s power that flows from the indwelling Holy Spirit. Jesus gave His followers the Holy Spirit (Luke 24:49), the source of His power, and advised them to keep close to Him (John 15:1-17) A. Authority is based on our position in Christ and not our feelings. B. Authority is not based on a personality type or a gifting. It is given to everyone and is rooted in our position as members of God’s family. Jesus wins this authority for us legally through His victory on the cross and from the tomb. C. Authority should be seen as something that belongs to us. God entrusts it to us and we are to manage it. “A person who is put in charge as a manager must be faithful” (I Corinthians 4:2) We are to treat this authority as something precious, something we do not own but are trusted to manage, lent us by the One to whom we have committed our lives. We dare not consider it a right or legacy with which we can do anything we want. Status Authority is authority delegated to those in positions such as head of family, head of church, head of state, teachers, or those in leadership positions. They carry with them God-given authority that is proportionate with the responsibility those positions have to carry out their duties. Often we grant authority to those who have wealth, schooling or high status, and those prominent in business, education, athletics, music, politics, or in the medical field. We grant a certain amount of authority to set standards or influence us and God gives a certain amount of authority and responsibility automatically to those in such positions. (James 3:1) Genesis 1:28 seem to indicate that everyone has been given a certain amount of authority over creation. Personal intimacy authority is directed from God and unrelated to status. This type of authority is “God-ordained and God-sustained.” Richard Foster says in Celebration of Discipline, “When people begin to move into the spiritual realm they see that Jesus is teaching a concept of authority that runs completely counter to the thinking of the systems of this world. They come to perceive that authority does not reside in positions, or degrees, or titles, or tenure, or any outward symbol. The way of Christ is in another direction altogether: the way of spiritual authority. Spiritual authority is God-ordained and God-sustained. Human institutions may acknowledge this authority or they may not: it makes no difference. The person with spiritual authority may have an outward position of authority or may not; again, it makes no difference. Spiritual authority is marked by both compassion and power. Those who walk in the Spirit can identify it immediately. They know without question that submission is due the word that has been given in spiritual authority.” Fellowship with God is crucial. We need to be in constant communion with Him as there is an important intimacy requirement for those who care this authority. Like Jesus, we need to learn, during times of intimacy with God, what He wants us to do with His authority, and then go out as Jesus did to exercise that authority in the world. 2 We must distinguish between authority that is naturally built into the position and the presence or absence of this special God-given authority we as believers have been granted. David refused to attack King Saul because of his God-ordained position as king even though Saul’s behavior showed he neither deserved the position nor retained the special spiritual authority that comes from closeness to God. He continued to have status authority but not the personal intimacy authority that servants of God are meant to exercise. David possessed the personal intimacy authority but not yet the status authority of the position of king. Personal intimacy authority comes from spending time with Jesus. This relationship is reflected in John 15:5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him, will bear much fruit; for you can do nothing without me.” This authority does not come from position or a title but from the towel. We are called to serve. (Matthew 20:26-28) A leader with spiritual authority knows God and his ways and demonstrates this in his life. “A leader does not seek spiritual authority, a leader seeks to know God.”1 Ten Commandments of Spiritual Authority2 1. The ultimate source of authority is God. He it is who provided this “power base” to undergird ministry. 2. This authority is delegated to God. We are only channels for it, not owners of it. 3. We are responsible to God for how we exercise the authority He gives us. 4. True Christian leaders will recognize God’s authority whenever it is manifested in life situations, whether through themselves or through others. 5. Persons in authority are subject directly to God, not indirectly through other authority figures. 6. Refusal to obey others in authority over us is actually rebellion against God, not just against the human instruments of that authority (Romans 13:2) 7. If we are rightly subject to God’s authority, we will seek and recognize other spiritual authority and be willing to be subject to it. 8. We are never to exercise spiritual authority merely for our own benefit. 9. If we are truly working in spiritual authority, we do not need to insist that others obey us. That is their responsibility before God. 10. God himself can be depended on to defend our spiritual authority. We do not need to assert it in such a way that we are defending ourselves. Activation: Determine to implement one aspect of your spiritual life that will help you know God better. Write down ways you are recognizing your authority that God has given you. 1 Clinton, Dr. J. Robert, The Making of a Leader (1988) Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress 2 Kraft, Charles H., I give you Authority (1997) Grand Rapids, MI: Chosen Books p90 3 Spiritual Laws of Authority Lesson 2 God does not violate our free will. God doesn’t control your life without your consent or agreement. He will not make you receive what he has already provided for you. Rather he chooses to move in your life through cooperation and agreement. You cannot pray for something, act in a contrary way, and expect God to answer your prayer. 1. Obedience gives us greater authority. Knowledge for knowledge sake does not give you authority. It gives you position. 2. Obedience comes from time spent with God because the closer we come, the more that is asked of us. This brings us closer to the throne. We have to have current obedience to do regardless of what appears in the natural. 3. Jesus suffered out of obedience. It gave him more authority. We are taught that suffering is a lack of faith.
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