The authority of a Disciple of Christ

Ezekiel 13:2 Ezekiel, the lord said to Ezekiel "Son of man, condemn the prophets of Israel who say they speak in my name, but who preach messages that come from their own imagination. Tell them it's time to hear my message. I, the LORD God, say those lying prophets are doomed! They don't see visions--they make up their own messages! "

It is vital that what we preach and what we teach is the truth and is saying only what God is saying and nothing else .

Luke 10:16 Jesus said to his disciples, "Whoever listens to you listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me; and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me." Listen! I have given you authority, so that you can walk on snakes and scorpions and overcome all the power of the Enemy, and nothing will hurt you.

It was an eye-opening experience for the disciples to discover that the demons were subject to them in Jesus' name. Subject (hupotasso) is a military term meaning 'to arrange under'. It pictures a group of soldiers snapping to attention and following precisely the orders of their commanding officer.

Perhaps the disciples suffered under the same misconception that blinds many Christians today. We see God and His kingdom on one side and Satan and his kingdom on the other side. Both kingdoms seem to be very powerful, and here we are, stuck in the middle between the two, like the rope in a tug of war. On some days God seems to be winning and on other days the devil appears to have the upper hand. And we don't seem to have anything to say about who wins the battle.

But the disciples came back from their mission with a new perspective, a true perspective. Spiritual authority is not a tug of war on a horizontal plane; it is a vertical chain of command. Jesus Christ has all authority in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18); He's at the top. He has given His authority and power to His servants to be exercised in His name (Luke 10:17); we're underneath Him. And Satan and his demons? They're at the bottom, subject to the authority Christ has invested in us.

Why, then, does the kingdom of darkness exert such negative influence in the world and in the lives of Christians? In a word, its a lie. Satan is not an equal power with God; he is a vanquished foe. But if he can deceive you into believing that he has more power and authority than you do, you will live as if he does! You have been given authority over the kingdom of darkness, but if you don't believe it and exercise it, it's as if you didn't have it.

Authority is the right to rule based on position. You have the authority to do the will of God because of your position in Christ. It's an authority you could never have independent of God, so you need to remain dependent on Him to live victoriously.

I praise You, Lord, for the inexhaustible supply of power to defeat the enemy, which You have provided for me in Your Son, Jesus Christ.

This is the end of the main part of this website's journey through discovering more of what it is to be a Disciple of Jesus but it is not the end of your own journey Not at all! You are on your journey of exploring more and more of it is to be a Disciple of Jesus. Don't stop building on what you have started. Below are more pages on this website that may be of interest to you. Whatever you choose to do Keep connecting with Jesus.

Read John 15 www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+15&version=CEV

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