Our Spiritual Authority (Part 5) Exercising Our Authority In Practice

We will cover:
1, The Weapons Of Our Warfare
2, Defensive - Exercising Authority To Protect & Prevent
3, Offensive - Exercising Authority To Attack
4, Prayers, Prophetic Decrees And Actions
5, Corporate Power
6, Calling AAA – Assisting Angels on Assignment
7, Authority Gateways
Will cover 1-3 this Sunday and complete 4-7 next Sunday.

1, The Weapons Of Our Warfare
2 Corinthians 10:3-5
A, The Armor of God
Ephesians 6:10-18
B, The Word of God
Ephesians 6:17 The logos and the rhema
Logos complete, revealed, thought or reasoned speech
Rhema specific, quickened, spoken or inspired utterance

Revelation 19:15 We must speak the double-edged sword of the Spirit
Romans 10:8 (Deuteronomy 30:11-14)
Psalm 2:7 Psalm 149:5-9
C, Faith
Ephesians 6:16
1 Peter 5:8,9
Faith is both a defensive and offensive weapon.
D, The Blood of Jesus
Revelation 12:11
We declare what is ours through the blood of Christ.
E, The Name of Jesus
Mark 16:17 Luke 10:17
Our use of the name of Jesus is our exercise of delegated authority (the power of attorney).
F, The Anointing of the Spirit
Matthew 12:28 Isaiah 10:27
G, Proclaiming His Praises

Psalm 8:3 Psalm 149:5-9
Worship
Satan’s primary function prior to his fall was that of the anointed cherub being responsible for worship in heaven (Ezekiel 28:13,14), created completed with music built into his being. Lucifer was the anointed cherub. Cherubims were carriers of God’s glory and presence. No wonder satan want’s to rob the church of true worship of God and divert it to himself.
We use our weapons both to defend and to attack.

2, Defensive - Exercising Authority To Protect & Prevent
Raise a defensive shield of faith (a hedge of protection) around your life, family, work, ministry and everything that concerns you.
In Scripture we see the reality of a spiritual protective covering.
Exodus 12:13
Job 1:10 Job was consistent in his worship, offering of sacrifices, prayers and devotion to God and consequently had a spiritual protective fence all around him, which satan recognized and could not penetrate.
Psalm 34:7 Guardian angels fully surround us.
Psalm 91 When we dwell in His presence, we are under His protective covering
Terry Mize story

3, Offensive - Exercising Authority To Attack
Move forcefully to gain new ground in personal life, work, ministry and for the kingdom of God.
Here are some verbs that will help us understand some of the ways in which we exercise our authority over demonic powers. These are verbs – action words – used in various places in Scripture with reference to demonic powers. We include brief comments on each of these with some sample Scripture references:

“rebuked / commanded” – as used in Luke 4:35,36; Acts 16:18 and several other places. The usual way in which we counteract what the devil is doing is by issuing a word of command in the name of the Lord Jesus.

“cast out” – as used in Mark 16:17, Matthew 8:16; 12:28, etc. This has to do with evicting or expelling demonic powers from their immediate habitation. We use our God-given authority and force the demon(s) to leave a certain person or place where that demon(s) has been residing. Note, that we are not casting the demon(s) out of the earth nor are we sending them to hell (their place of torment – Matthew 25:41). That will take place at the appointed time. Jesus said that when a demon spirit is cast out of a person the spirit “goes through dry places, seeking rest” (Matthew 12:43). This implies that the demon spirit is not sent to hell when cast out of a person.

“bind” – as used in Matthew 12:29; 16:19; 18:18. We have the authority to “bind” a certain work, effort or strategy of the devil. To “bind” a work of the devil is as though we were “tying his hands” and making him inoperative for that particular task. For example, if there was a situation where you know that there was a definite attack of the devil at a certain time against your marriage, you as a believer can exercise your authority and “bind” the operations or efforts of the enemy in that particular situation. This will allow you and your spouse to work out or work though the marital problems, implying that you will still have to work out what ever issues there may be.
Now does this mean that the devil has been permanently bound off your marriage and you will never again face an attack of the devil in your marriage. We do not believe so. You bind the working or efforts of the devil in that particular situation at that particular time. This does not mean that those demons are permanently bound for ever and ever and that you will never again face a demonic attack in the future.

“loose” – as used in Matthew 16:19; 18:18, Luke 13:12,16, Hebrews 4:15. In Luke 13, we read about a woman who had a “spirit of infirmity eighteen years and was bent over” and could not straighten herself up. Jesus said that “Satan has bound” her. When the Lord Jesus exercised His spiritual authority to set her free, He said to the woman, “you are loosed from your infirmity”. To “loose” someone from the work of the devil is to set them free from some form of bondage or captivity. You are exercising your authority to bring release or freedom into that persons’ life.
You are “proclaiming liberty to the captives” and setting “at liberty those who are oppressed” (Luke 4:18). You issue a word of command as “In Jesus name you are loosed from this bondage” or you say “Devil, in Jesus name I command you to lose this person and let him/her go free from...”. You address that specific area in which that person may be in bondage, say some sort of addiction, sickness, fear, depression or other oppression.

“allow/disallow” – In the earthly ministry of the Lord Jesus, when confronting demonic powers, we see that at times “He did not allow the demons to speak, because they knew Him” (Mark 1:34, 3:12, Luke 4:35, 4:41 etc.). The Lord Jesus would issue a command as “Be quiet and come out of him!” (Luke 4:35). At least in one recorded
instance, we see that the Lord Jesus granted a specific request made by the demons, when He allowed them to enter into a herd of swine (Luke 8:31,32). The exercise of our authority to allow/disallow certain specific activity of demonic powers is quite similar to binding and loosing as discussed earlier. We are confronting a very specific activity being performed by demonic powers and we exercise our spiritual authority to allow/disallow that activity.

“destroy” – as used in Hebrews 2:14, 1 John 3:8. The Greek word translated “destroy” in Hebrews 2:14 means “to render entirely useless”, “to become of no effect”, “to bring to nought”, “to make void”. The word “destroy” in 1 John 3:8 comes from a different Greek word which literally means “to loosen”, “break up”, “dissolve”, “melt”, “put off”. The Lord Jesus “destroyed” the devil through His work on Calvary’s cross. Today, we the people of God enforce Christ’s redemptive work by destroying the works, doings and schemes of the devil when we exercise our spiritual authority. Isaiah 10:27 teaches us that the yoke of the oppressor will be destroyed because of the anointing. The operation of the anointing of the Holy Spirit in combination with the exercise of our spiritual authority enables us to destroy satan’s oppressive works over people’s lives.

“remove” – as used in Isaiah 10:27 and indicates that by the anointing we can remove or take away the burdens and yokes of the oppressor off from people’s lives.

“resist”, “give no place”, “stand against”, “withstand” – as used in James 4: 7, 1 peter 5:8,9, Ephesians 4:27 and Ephesians 6:13. This indicates that there will be times when we will have to use our authority to defend our God-given territory and counteract any efforts of the enemy to enter in. Satan is like a thief coming to “steal, kill and destroy” but we are not helpless against his efforts. Our God-given authority gives us the ability to successful stand against him.

“wrestle against” – as used in Ephesians 6:12. The word wrestle implies a continued, intense and personal conflict against the devil. As believers, we will have to contend against and oppose demonic works all the days of our earthly life. Each individual believer will have to “fight the good fight”.

“quench all fiery darts” – as used in Ephesians 6:16. This teaches us that with the spiritual weapons we have we can nullify or make of no effect every attack of the devil “overcome / prevail” – as used in 1 John 2:13,14; 4:4; 5:4 and Matthew 16:18. These Scriptures indicate that as believers we can live a consistent life victory over the enemy. We can consistently prevail, conquer and subdue demonic works in our daily lives.

“pulling down” – as used in 2 Corinthians 4:4. Through the authority and the weapons that God has given us we are able to pull down or tear down strongholds. Strongholds are places of power or dominance. This could apply either to an individual, a group of individuals or geographic areas, etc. We know that a stronghold has been pulled down when satan and his demons no longer have the same level of control, power, influence and dominance in that person(s) or place.