Dealing With Authority Day 7

Chapter 7

I have spent most of my Christian life expecting the blessings God promised in Scripture while ignoring a major spiritual principle. It was during the process of my deliverance that God showed me the significance of this principle. His blessings come not only with our submission to Him but also with His word and His system of delegated authority. The spiritual world recognizes and responds to authority.

I learned that justification and sanctification are two different parts of the same coin of deliverance. Though I have been justified through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, I have to work out my salvation in fear and trembling.

1 Cor 6:11(NKJV)

And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.

Phil 2:12(NKJV)

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling;

I discovered that many Christians deliberately violate and ignore such spiritual principles. Many spiritual leaders are ignorant of the workings of the spiritual realm. This has caused them to practice things that defile their flock, bringing many into greater bondage.

Jesus Submits to His Father’s Authority

Jesus was under the authority of His Father and submitted to this position. It gave Him the guidelines for His ministry of reconciling humanity back to His Father. He did nothing or said nothing without specific directions from His Father.

Jn 5:19(NKJV)

19 Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.

Jesus also studied to know what the Scripture said about His own life. Note the many times He advised those around Him…so that the Scripture can be fulfilled.

Mat 8:17

… that might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet saying:

“He took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses.

Mk 14:18-19

Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs to take Me? I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize Me. But the Scriptures must be fulfilled.”

Lk 24:44

44 Then He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.”

Jn 13:18

“I do not speak concerning all of you. I know whom I have chosen; but that the Scripture may be fulfilled, “He who eats bread with Me has lifted his heel against Me.”

Jn 15:25

But this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law, ‘They hated Me without a cause.’’

When Jesus rose from the dead, He made a very bold declaration that “All authority has been given to Him in heaven and on earth….” In Philippians, we read that the Father has exalted the Lord Jesus and has given Him all authority, not only in heaven and earth but also under the earth. This is because of His obedience, humility, submission, and supreme sacrifice.

Mat 28:18

And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.”

Phi 2:9-11

Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Recognition of Jesus’ Authority

The Roman centurion who asked Jesus to heal his sick servant recognized that Jesus had authority over sickness and could effectively command it.

Mat 8:8-9

The centurion answered and said, “Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I also 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; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

We see demons recognizing Jesus and submitting to whatever commands He issued to them.

Mat 8:28-29

When He had come to the other side, to the country of the Gergesenes, there met Him two demon-possessed men, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that no one could pass that way. 29 And suddenly they cried out, saying, “What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?”

Lk 4:41

And demons also came out of many, crying out and saying, “You are the Christ, the Son of God!” And He, rebuking them, did not allow them to speak, for they knew that He was the Christ.

Even the wind and waves and the fig tree He cursed heard and responded to the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Lk 8:24

And they came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water. And they ceased, and there was a calm.

Mat 21:19

And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, “Let no fruit grow on you ever again.” Immediately the fig tree withered away.

Delegated Authority

The apostles stood on the delegated authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. The account of Apostle Paul and the incident of attempted deliverance in the book of Acts by the sons of Sceva is an issue of authority. They sought to command what they did not have authority over These men were sons of the high priest and would have been held in high esteem by the people of the land. In the spiritual realm, however, the demons did not recognize them as men of authority. Whatever you are to rule you must have spiritual authority over it. You cannot have dominion over what you cannot control spiritually.

Acts 19:13-17

13 Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “We exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches.” 14 Also there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did so.15 And the evil spirit answered and said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?”16 Then the man in whom the evil spirit leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. 17 This became known both to all Jews and Greeks dwelling in Ephesus, and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.

Even though He was the Son of God, the Lord Jesus did not ignore the delegated authority He met in every place. Although He was at odds with the religious leader and did not agree with their actions, in Mat 23:1-3 Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and His disciples, 2 saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3 Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do”.He went on to declare seven specific judgmental woes on that leadership group detailing their hypocrisy and wickedness. (Mat 2313-16, 23, 27, and 29),Nevertheless, notice that He still commanded the multitudes to obey the same leadership.

Rejecting the counsel or commands of God’s delegated authority, therefore, is equal to rejecting God. This is where many people have messed up their lives, the lives of their children; and generations to come. I want to say here that many leaders lack understanding in this and therefore do not know how to exercise the delegated authority from God. Parental, governmental, legal, and spiritual authority comes from God. For the sake of this writing, we will focus on parental authority.

The Father’s Authority

A blessing and a curse are only words spelled by an authority, to cause evil and good respectively.

The Father in the house stands in a position of authority given and honored by God. On that platform, he can make and issue decrees that can affect families for generations to come. If this authority is exercised according to the law of God, it brings blessings and prosperity to the foundation of the whole family. Faulty foundations result in what we call generational curses.

Therefore, our lives are to a great extent determined by the actions of our fathers, who were influenced by their fathers and their father’s father. God, our Father, sought to pass this understanding to His people, emphasizing that children must honor their parents. “Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the LORD your God is giving you”.(Deu 5:16). He also said those children who ignore this law were to be put to death without mercy. By honoring our parents and serving them, we sealed a good outcome in our destiny.

“Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment with the promise that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy a long life on the earth. Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, but bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.”(Eph 6:2-4)

See how the blessings of Jacob followed His sons into their respective destinies. Those he cursed lived under a curse. Noah also declared blessings and curses on his children and the spiritual realm responded to those words. They were declared from a position of authority.

Unless fathers learn how to exercise their authority well and children learn to honor their parents, many people will continue to struggle in life. The issue of the father’s authority is very important for deliverance. We would not suffer the way most of us have suffered if we knew how to relate to and deal with the Father’s authority. If fathers understood what they hold, for the sake of their children, they would be very careful with whatever God entrusted to them.

I want to ask you now, have you honored your parents as God’s delegated authority in your life? If not, then go to them and bring repentance as soon as possible. Seek diligently for their forgiveness for every way you have dishonored them. Finally, ask for their blessing. That blessing is more valuable than a house, land, or other financial inheritance. It will determine how the spiritual world responds to you.

Case: Iassc and his twin boys

Consider closely the following Biblical narrative about Isaac and his two sons. Esau inherited all the physical possessions of his father Isaac. All the material wealth went to this first son even though that right was legally sold to Jacob, the second in line.

It is not that Jacob did not get a single sheep from Isaac’s wealth, which was inherited from his father, Abraham. What he did get was two blessings…the blessings from his father Isaac’s soul, and then the blessings of his father’s covenant with God. Those blessings made Jacob far richer than Esau eventually. But Esau, though rich. Had to leave the Promised Land to make room for Jacob and his legal ownership over the land. Note the ownership of the land came from Isaac’s blessings.

Practical observations and understanding

With this understanding, let us look around at the people we have encountered in our lives.

1. You will notice that for some people there is an invisible force that causes everything they encounter to favor and accept them, everything works to their advantage.

2. To others, everything seems to oppose them. This is a result of how the father exercises his authority over the children and how the children relate to him as an authority over them.

3. You may ask, what if my father was a wicked man and did not honor God? That does not in any way release you from that obligation. You are honoring God by submitting and honoring the office He has ordained.

4. If your father is still cursing you with his dying breath, then the path ahead for you will be covered with pain. You do not have the spiritual authority to cancel what your father decreed over your life, even though you cry many tears. That problem can only be addressed legally in the spirit realm before you can see any solution. Here is where a spiritual father is important. We will discuss that office later.

Indicators of Generation Misfortunes

Generational misfortunes come as a result of misuse and abuse of authority whereas generational fortunes come with proper relationships with authorities. The following are indicators to help evaluate your family foundation.

1. Near-success-tragedies

This phenomenon is also called “the spirit of almost there but never there” or “failure at breakthrough”. Those caught on the web regularly experience tragedies that cause them to narrowly miss their victory. When they are about to make it. The pass mark is raised and when they have missed, it is brought back to the usual level.

Look around your family and ask yourself, how did you miss joining university? How did you miss that scholarship? How did you miss passing that interview? How did you miss your marriage? Did your spouse die just before your wedding? Have you been missing opportunities just because of simple errors or because of someone’s mistake? Has this been the case with other people in your family?

Case: John

This is the journey of a brother who came to our center for help. We will call him John (not his real name). Let us trace the “near-success-tragedies” in his life.

1. When he was three days into a new job, the couple that owned the company had a fight resulting in the husband killing the wife and he was sent to prison. The company then closed, and he lost his job.

2. Before that, John was a truck driver. His colleague took his truck for a joy ride while John was taking a lunch break and crashed it into the company building. The truck was written off and John was held responsible. He had to flee to escape imprisonment.

3. In the new city where he went, John started an import business and quickly lost his investment due to a freak storm, and to save lives, the crew threw the goods overboard. He later learned that only his goods were lost.

4. After a few years of dealing with his failures in life, John mustered his courage and got a new job as a bus driver. He somehow found himself caught in a dangerous situation and narrowly escaped death during the riots in the city which were violently quelled by the armed forces. The rioters surrounded his bus and all of the other vehicles, and they decided to set him on fire. Once again lost that job.

5. When he came for deliverance, we discovered a fourth-generation curse in his father’s house.

2. Vagabond lifestyle

This phenomenon, also called a wandering or fugitive spirit, will drive people to pursue the “new” while denying them satisfaction in any of their pursuits. This is akin to what God pronounced on Cain in Gen 4:12 “…when you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength for you. A fugitive and a vagabond you shall be on the earth”.

These people do not settle in one place for any length of time but are always

· Moving from one place to another

· Moving from one job to another

· Moving from one marriage to another

· Moving from one ministry to another

· Restarting their life and abandoning the old even at great costs

· Leaving many projects unfinished – left in ruins

· Leaving even houses half-built – left in ruins

· Starting and then abandoning businesses…all left In ruins

3. Empty hands

This phenomenon attacks people with potential and opportunities for greatness and reduces them to poverty and total failure. What you touch or find to do will be unfruitful or stagnant. Though not all cases of empty hands are due to generational misfortunes, most of them are a result of evil in the foundation.

· Empty hands happen to both men and women

· They can be physical, spiritual, or financial

· The most sophisticated is the spiritual aspect because you just cannot pinpoint the source of the problem.

· When manifested in a person’s life it appears like the complete opposite of the blessing found in Psa. 1:3, He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that bring forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither and whatsoever he does shall prosper.

Financially empty-handed

Financially, this will be expressed as the inability to multiply money. It is a wicked platform that always results in poverty unless the root problem is dealt with. Many with this problem earn significant wages or can borrow huge sums of money or secure grants, but they always seem to end up in debt. Other people earning far less can easily show financial progress.

Case: A Friend

One friend who came to us for help testified that his herd of cows was only producing male calves for a long time. His wife was barren and could not produce children. And anyone he lent money to, was sure to mysteriously lose it.

4. Primetime death

Some families experience a trend where a family member dies at a particular age. They would die under strange circumstances, and all at around the same age range. When a generational misfortune is at work in a family, it will always target the one who is about to be the hope of the family. It will strike when he/she has begun to be established or successful. If left unchallenged, such families will only remain with wasted lives after the death of the would-be redeemers.

5. No blessing of marriage

This misfortune will manifest in most members of the family failing to have stable or fruitful marriages. You will discover many unmarried people in your family, many divorced and many troubled marriages. This includes delayed marriages and early widowhood. Generational misfortunes will strike those proposing marriage. It will cause calamities to would-be partners. It may also cause extreme promiscuity in partners.

That ends Day 7 chapter 7 of freedom from the bondages of my father’s house book.

What is the saying to us in this chapter?

Do you see any of these symptoms in your family or your spouse’s bloodline? Or even in your own life? Then now you know you are dealing with evil in your foundations.

The word of God has made it clear that we now have been handed authority through Jesus Christ. You have been given authority over the spiritual realm in your life and that of your family. I have a question asking can you pray for the liberation of bondages in your family if your family or family members are living in sin?

The answer is yes, again you have been given authority. The Lord always looks to raise a Kingman redeems in each family in each generation, like Joseph, Moses, Abraham, Esther, and Boaz who will stand in the gap contending their their families and even their generation and the generation after. If you are listening to this message and teachings it is you. So use your authority over the areas of your life and that of your families that are in bondage. So that they may receive liberation.

God bless your family until the next message.