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© 2007 Times of Refreshing Ministries. Material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without T.R.M. permission. 1. Authority of the Believer in Deliverance Ministry BELIEVE THIS IS ONE OF the FUNDAMENTAL TEACHINGS that all believers should understand and then take action both in their own lives in the lives of others.
In order to ‘set the captives free” with authority through Jesus Christ, we need to know and understand both what authority is and how it is to be used. John 8: 32 says “And you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free” It’s ONLY truth that is KNOWN that will set people free. JESUS IS THAT TRUTH, therefore, we need to KNOW HIM. With our study into Inner Healing and Deliverance, it should be obvious that there is an Enemy of mankind who wants to destroy mankind and his relationship with God. The enemy is the Devil and his demons. In John 10:10 it speaks of the devil as being a thief. There will always be a thief who wants to take away what belongs to you. Thieves do not break into a house that is empty of contents and the Devil knows you have something worth stealing. In Deuteronomy, God gives us a very encouraging promise regarding the enemy. Deut. 28: 7 “The Lord will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways”. This is what happens to an enemy who is faced with a stronger authority, he withdraws in panic. We are not called to be afraid of demons, but to have dominion over them. Jesus said in Luke 10:19 “Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” Deut. 28:10 “… (Your enemy) shall be afraid of you” and v 13 says “and the Lord will make you the head and not the tail; you shall be above only and not beneath, if YOU heed the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, and are careful to observe them”. Therefore, with obedience to God’s Word i.e. TO KNOW TRUTH, we can prevent defeat in our lives and in the lives of those we seek to help. In Deut. 28:1-2 the Bible states that with obedience come ALL of the blessings of God. Jesus confirms this in Matt. 6:33 “But seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things (PROVISIONS) shall be added unto you”. The Blessings –When the Church walks in authority, the whole spiritual and physical climate will be changed! As a practitioner, you are given permission by your client to help them break through and overcome a defeated enemy. Authority –In Matt. 8: 5-13 we read of a Centurion who understood authority. In V9 “For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me and I say to this one, ‘Go’, and he goes and to another, ‘Come’, and he comes… ”. The centurion understood his authority and also he understood the authority of Jesus. This knowledge of the truth (Jesus) was able to give him faith resulting in the freedom he was seeking. The faith in our authority comes through reading and hearing the Word of God. When we hear the Word it gives us faith to use our authority. Rom. 10:17 “So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God”. Hos. 4:6 “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” We have authority over Satan!Col. 1:13-14 “He (God) has delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love”. A basic understanding of English will tell us that this scripture was written in past tense. We have been delivered and have been transferred. Therefore, if we are delivered, then when attacked we do not need to be redelivered. If we know this, then we can stand in the truth of the word placed in us and rebuke the attack. Recognise it for what it is, an attack on a stronghold, therefore, “Be strong and of good courage”. Josh. 1:6 Faith is required to believe in God and His Word. We cannot believe in one without the other. 2 Peter 1:1 clearly says that we have faith like that of the apostles, “To those who have obtained like (the same value) precious faith with us (Apostles)”. In Matt 8:2 we read of a leper who had a different level of faith to that of the centurion “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean”. Jesus’ response was to first give him assurance of His will and then act with authority. V 3 “I will; be clean”. As a practitioner, it is your primary role to bring the client to a place of recognition and assurance of God’s will. At this point, deliverance becomes easy. The will of Jesus is the same as the will of the Father, therefore it is the Father’s will to cleanse, heal and deliver! Back to Authority….. Ps. 8:5 “ For You have made him (MAN) a little lower than the angels”. According to our understanding of the original Hebrew text this word ‘angels’ seems to have been wrongly translated. The Hebrew word for ‘angels’ is ‘malak’. In the original Hebrew, this word translated in Psalm 8.5 as ‘angels’ is the word ‘elohim’ meaning ‘deity’. So the verse should read “For You have made him (MAN) a little lower than deity”. In 1 Cor. 6:13 Paul says that we shall judge angels (aggelos). It is encouraging to note that Satan is a fallen angel and we were created above him in authority. Ps. 115: 16 says “The earth was given to the children of men”. (Not Satan) So where did he get his authority to be called the ruler of this world?Gen. 2:15 “Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it” To ‘keep’ is not to multiply, grow or cultivate. It means to DEFEND – from what? Satan was upon the earth after his expulsion from the presence of God. So Adam was to defend what God had given to him from Satan – letting Satan into the garden was his main mistake. He should have used his God given authority to command him to stay out. But Adam allowed Satan to stay in the garden where Satan deceived Adam and consequent to that, Adam lost his authority to Satan on the earth. Satan, therefore, became the ruler of this world (John 12: 31). As Christians we can give authority to the enemy when it is not necessary to do so, “do not give place to the devil”. Eph. 4:27. How do we get back our authority?We don’t, because Christ has already won it back. Eph. 1:21-22 “Who is far above all principality, and power, and might and dominion, and every name that is named… .” V22 “… and put all things under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things the church”. Note that Jesus put all things under his feet and gave the ‘church’ authority over all things. The scripture in Ephesians is all PAST TENSE. Christ has accomplished it for us ONCE and FOR ALL. Jesus always referred to Himself as the son of man – He had to come as a man to take back the authority which man lost (The second Adam). Phil. 2:8-11 “And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God has also highly exalted Him and given Him the name, which is above every other name. That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven and of those in earth (includes Satan) and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father”. Eph. 1:15-23 assures us that our inheritance has been placed far above all principalities. However, Satan is still a god of what the bible calls ‘this age’, but if we KNOW our authority in Christ he cannot harm us – 1 John 5:18 “… but he who has been born of God keeps (DEFENDS) himself, and the wicked one does not touch him”. Like Adam, we are now to defend ourselves, our Eden, (Spirit, soul and body) from Satan. When he tries to come into your life, command him to leave!!! When God commands, Satan obeys! This is not a battle of good versus evil. There is no competition. Jesus said that “The things I do you shall do also”. (John 14:12) He has given His authority to the CHURCH (Eph. 1:22); the authority that He has over the Enemy. This authority is stated in Eph. 1:21 as “far above all principalities 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”. The authority that Jesus has, was demonstrated many times during Jesus’ ministry. Many demons were cast out of people by Jesus and when the people saw it. Luke 4:36 “They were all amazed and spoke among themselves, saying ‘What a word this is!” for with authority and power his commands the unclean spirits, and they come out”. Jesus said that we can cast out evil spirits also. Mark 16:17 “And these signs will follow those who believe, in my name they will cast out devils… .” Let us, in the ministry that we are called to do, cast out evil spirits (unclean spirits, devils) in HIS NAME. Mark 16:17 tells us that we can use the name of Jesus to heal the sick and to cast out devils. Phil. 2:9-11 “God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow (including devils) and every tongue will confess Jesus Christ is Lord to the Glory of God the Father”. When we suspect an evil spirit is present due to occult activity or through ‘giving’ place to the devil because of the works of the flesh, it is essential that we remove that demonic presence. We simply command the spirit that is operating in the life of a person to leave in the name of Jesus Christ. For example, perhaps a person has given place to the devil because of a sinful act of the flesh, like hatred. When the reason for this hatred is unveiled, and repentance and forgiveness carried out, then deliverance can be done.
The Prayer for Deliverance “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, I command the spirit of (name the spirit; e.g. spirit of fear) to be bound and to leave this person now, in Jesus name”. By first binding spirits, we ensure that they cannot manifest their characteristics before they leave. If you bind them in the name of Jesus Christ then they are powerless to show their nature. Matt. 16:19 Jesus said, “Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven”. Therefore, we can bind demons and loose them from the people on whom they are inflicting their presence. It is important to recognise that there could be a group of spirits present in a related category. For example, with hatred there may also be anger, resentment, bitterness, rebellion, murder etc. Please note that it’s also important not to disturb or unduly worry the client by saying words like ‘demon’, ‘devil’ or ‘evil spirit’. It may be helpful to tell the client that you will remove hatred (if hatred is present) with Jesus’ help. You can drop the word ‘spirit’ from your prayer (Jesus and the devil know who you mean). However, if you are confident that your client is comfortable with the word ‘spirit’, then use it. |
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ŠTimes of Refreshing Ministries, 265 Woodstock Road, Belfast, BT6 8PR, Northern Ireland | Charity Number XR11651 |
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