Welcome to The Journey Church. I'm Pastor Paris Pasch.

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Last week Pastor Ben helped us see the vast difference between Jesus and Religion.  If you need more on that please see one of the pastors in their office or at coffee.

 

When I was young in my faith development, I always wanted to hear God’s voice in my ears.  I was hearing people I truly admired say things like “God told me…”.  I understood that the written word was God’s purest form of communication based on the fact that I could labor to understand it though good study habits and diligent testing, but I wanted to hear his voice in my ears.

 

One day I was in the shower and talking to God about a possible truth He want me to present at my next teaching opportunity and all of a sudden something amazing happened inside me.  No, my ears didn’t hear voices, but my mind and my soul heard a voice so clear I knew it must be God Himself.  I jumped out of the shower and began to write down what I was hearing in my core.

 

God was speaking to me about “The Authority Potential of Believers”.  It was as though I couldn’t write fast enough to get the message down.  Because it was in the early eighties it was long before we understood what a data download was but now, I see it more in that way.  I was so excited to have finally heard His voice, and I knew the rest of my life would be searching for this exact experience every time I longed for guidance from the Holy Spirit.

 

For the rest of my ministry this was the new gold standard.  I would read the Bible, study the Bible and memorize the Bible, but what I was genuinely after was the fresh, living, Holy Ghost download for the nugget God was instructing me to reveal to His people.  All I wanted was to hear God’s voice, so I began to listen intently and I chose to believe He was speaking.  I’ve spent my life inside that reality, with thousands of those downloads and with beautiful fruit to show for it.

 

Now let me get back to that first message because I’d like to download it into you today because that’s what God has asked of me for today.  So here goes.

 

In my childhood authority I was very clearly taught.  I actually understood authority because my father made it clear that he carried the lion’s share of it in our home.  If you didn’t believe him, he would help adjust your thinking.  I realized very young that working with authority was far better than bucking authority.  

 

I quickly began to seek for insights and understanding on how to navigate through this world of varying authorities.  I saw how authority could be abused and how it could be used in a godly fashion.  One of the first bits of knowledge was that I didn’t need my own authority if I simply found myself standing close and in submission to someone with authority.  I could coop their authority.  I could say I’m with him…. This worked its way through my life by a lifetime study of leadership and understanding how Godly authority worked in the life of a Christ follower.  My personal library is full of books on leadership because it’s critical for guiding people from point A to point B.

 

Romans 13:1–2 (NIV) Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2 Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.

 

If you read your bibles with this filter, you will see why those who knew they were walking under God’s command were fearless and bold because they were under authority.  This next text is one of my early favorites.

 

Matthew 8:5–10 (NIV) When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. 6 “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.” 

7 Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?”

8 The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 

10 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.

 

Jesus says no one among all God’s chosen had this simple understanding, but now I did.  God said it, so I believe it.  God said I could, so I can.  God said I was qualified, so I must be.  God said He would give me direction so I believe He does.  I had plenty of naysayers, but all I could hear was God’s voice saying believe and act on it.  So now here are a few authority basics I collected early on.

 

Do you fully grasp that you are each Children of God if you are born again followers of Jesus Christ?  God is your heavenly Father.  That’s not figurative or metaphorical it is a biblical fact.  We have the role of sonship and daughtership.

 

1 John 3:1 (NIV) See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

 

Galatians 3:26–27 (NIV) So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

 

So just like when our natural father or mother stood beside us, we felt assurance and confidence so we should feel those same sensations standing alongside our heavenly Father.  The Holy Spirit testifies.

 

Romans 8:14–16 (NIV) For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.

 

We don’t even need our own personal authority if we are children of God Himself.  We walk inside and under His authority as children.  Our Dad rules.

 

Next grasp this; we are children of The King.  Jesus is The King Most High.  He is above all and rules over everything.

 

Hebrews 1:3 (NIV) The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

 

Colossians 2:9–10 (NIV) For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10 and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority.

 

Let’s keep going and step up into this next one by hearing and receiving the fact that we are joint heirs in Christ.

 

Romans 8:17 (NIV) Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

 

God has deeded authority to us and in us, so it must be ours.  It’s His to give and He has given it.

 

Matthew 28:18–20 (NIV) Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely, I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

 

Luke 10:19–20 (NIV) I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. 20 However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

 

This is a warning to not become haughty or arrogant about authority.  In fact when you have to start telling people you are in charge you are probably not in charge.  You are a child of God.  You have been deeded authority.  

 

Matthew 10:1 (NIV) Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.

 

You gained all you possess because of someone else’s effort and sacrifice, so you have no room for boasting.

 

Colossians 2:13–15 (NIV) When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14 having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. 15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

 

No moment you take the credit for something is the moment you lose the reward.  Satan desired to be equal with God and so he instantly lost his position in heaven.  Satan operates around us so resist evil don’t dabble in it.

 

2 Timothy 3:1–5 (NIV) But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.

 

Use your authority potential as a believer and follow the boss’s directions.  Don’t shrink back or cower at Satan’s tricks and manipulations but rather use the authority you have been deeded as a believer.

 

James 4:7 (NIV) Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

 

Next week we look at why Sin separates us from God

 

For those of you watching online please feel invited to give us a shout by checking out our website, connecting with us will help us to see you as a known person rather than a Facebook data statistic.

 

Thanks For Joining Us

Connect with us at www.thejourneyhastings.church

 

Message Questions

1. What difference should it make in the way we view ourselves, our circumstances, and our mission to understand that we are “heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ”?

2. How can we tell when we are acting in God-given authority versus acting in our own authority?

3. How has God called believers to use the authority He has given us in our daily lives?

4. Why is submission to God essential to exercising the authority He has given us? How do submission and authority work together?