Spiritual Authority

The authority that the Lord is seeking to give to His church is spiritual authority. This authority is NOT over those in the natural realm but rather it is authority in the spiritual realm. It is this kind of authority that Jesus possessed in His earthly walk.

Matthew 8:
5 And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him,
6 And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.
7 And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him.
8 The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.
9 For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this [man], Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth [it].
10 When Jesus heard [it], he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.

The teaching here is that as the centurion was a man who IN THE NATURAL had the authority to tell those under his authority what to do and were to go that Jesus had the authority IN THE SPIRITUAL REALM to command demons to flee and at His command they had to obey and flee.

From this it is evident that there is RANK in the spiritual realm that is given BY THE FATHER. The spiritual realm differs from the natural realm in that there is no FREE WILL in the spiritual realm. All things are done according to rank and order.

Ps 119:89 For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.

Rank or authority is given BY THE FATHER as He wishes and is a BYPRODUCT

of our faithfulness to obeying His commandments.

Ephesians 1:3 Blessed [be] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly [places] in Christ.

Notice here that the blessings are:
1. In heavenly places
2. Are in Christ Jesus

These are two very important "constraints" placed on this scripture that make the "blessings" relevant in time and space. That word blessing is derived from the Greek word [2127] eulogeo and means to invoke blessings, to consecrate a thing with solemn prayers, to ask God's blessing on a thing, pray God to bless it to one's use, and pronounce a consecratory blessing on. God's "blessing" is His APPROVAL or SEAL or ANOINTING. So the spiritual blessings are His approval or authority given to us. That approval or authority IS ONLY in heavenly places or in the kingdom of God. It is NOT in the natural realm or OUTER COURT.

We often ask for God's "stamp of approval" on our ministries. This can only happen as we enter into the kingdom of God which is in heavenly places. The kingdom of God is the HOLY PLACE that is within the temple of God. All who wish to enter into that kingdom or place of TRUE WORSHIP must lay down SELF RULE for only One rules in that Holy Place and that is King Jesus.

John 4:
23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
24 God [is] a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship [him] in spirit and in truth.

The word kingdom is "the King and His dominion". So in order to enter into that "dominion" which is ruled by the King we must first OBEY the kingdom principles of that kingdom. For sake of time I will not go into detail on this but an excellent book by Joe Nieves called "Kingdom Principles" covers this in much detail. In the kingdom there is DIVINE ORDER which MUST be obeyed. Those who refuse are called "lawless ones" or "workers of iniquity" biblically. So God's blessing is in His divine order and more specifically as we WILLINGLY SUBMIT to it.

This is the difference between the natural and the spiritual, the outer court and the Holy Place. The outer court has no COVERING and is illuminated by NATURAL LIGHT. There is no ANOINTING or AUTHORITY or BLESSING from the Lord in the outer court because His divine order does not exists there and Jesus does not reign as king there. Anyone can enter and leave as they wish there and do as they wish. The Holy Place has a COVERING over it and is illuminated by the ANOINTING OIL from the golden lampstand and has shewbread as spiritual food. To enter into this

REALM costs because no man can abide there unless he is willing to obey the laws of that realm. The anointing is in that realm because Jesus rules as King in the Holy Place.

Notice also that the spiritual blessings are "In Christ". This phrase occurs many times in the new testament and places a further restriction on how or were the "blessing" or "approval" or "authority" rests. Christ is derived from Christos and means "anointed one" or "anointing".

So the blessing of God or His approval is only as we abide in Jesus. Jesus taught us:

John 15: 7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

So the authority (ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you) happens as we abide in Christ. To abide (dwell or remain) in the Lord's presence CONTINUALLY we are required to begin to count the cost of discipleship and lay down those things which will hinder our walk or relationship with Him.

Luke 9: 23 And he said to [them] all, If any [man] will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.
24 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.

So to come after Him is to dwell or abide or walk with Him. To do this will cost. Divine visitations are temporal and is God reaching down to us in His love and mercy. These are OUTER COURT EXPERIENCES! Discipleship is eternal and costs more and more as we continue to walk or dwell with Him.

So we now see that spiritual authority comes as we choose to come UNDER the authority of the King. As we are faithful and come under His kingdom ORDER the SPIRITUAL AUTHORITY to OVERCOME were the battles really lies, which is against principalities and powers (Eph 6), spiritual authority will then become a reality in our lives.

We see a good scriptural analogy to this in:

Psalms 133: 1 <<A Song of degrees of David.>>
Behold, how good and how pleasant [it is] for brethren to dwell together in unity!
2 [It is] like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, [even] Aaron's beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments;
3 As the dew of Hermon, [and as the dew] that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing, [even] life for evermore.

Here we see first the Lord's divine order or metron (spheres of authority)which is God's four fold order. These are:

1. Head - Jesus 2. Beard - Family 3. Skirt - Church 4. Feet - World

As we cultivate our relationship with Jesus on a personal level and the anointing oil from that relationships fills us to overflowing, the anointing or AUTHORITY then spills over to our next level of responsibility which is our family. As we obey the Lord and get our families in order we are then ANOINTED WITH MORE RESPONSIBILITY and are then given authority in the body. As we are then proven by our obedience to operate in the kingdom principles in that level or sphere of authority we are then given more authority to operate in the world.

Each level is reached as we are faithful in the previous. This is done so that the foundation is sure. The foundation of the glorious church is relationships. The Lord has ordered our priorities to see that the building will stand once completed. Each relationship (stone upon stone) must be firmly glued together before the next stones can be placed in position. Ministry outside of our sphere of authority is rebellion against God's divine order and harms or weakens the foundation of the building. Remember, He has ALREADY blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places. The intention is ALREADY there for each believer to operate in the FULLNESS of the power of God. The constraint on us right now is that we come or enter into His divine order.

Jesus Himself was given NO authority until He was tested in the wilderness. As He overcame He returned in the power of the Spirit.

Luke 4:13 And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.
14 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about.

No miracles are recorded until after Jesus was found faithful and passed the test.

Brethren, the authority or "stamp of approval" we are seeking is given by the Father to us and is realized as we obey His voice and do all that is written in the book. As we come under that divine order and submit to his authority we will be given increasing authority. Authority to take back the land on a personal level, the land over our families, the land over the church, and then and only then over the rest of the world. May we recognize and receive his divine order that we may walk in the fullness of power we are destined to walk in.

Jim, Terri, and Joshua Rinker
1115 Fern Ave.
Kenhorst, Pa. 19607
610-796-4862 (H)
610-458-8959 (W)
http://landru.myhome.net/cmjhburl/Resource1.html
rinker@3dp.com
 

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