The Believer's Authority in Christ

Hi there. Welcome to NECF. We're excited to share

today's message with you. Don't go anywhere.

Stay with us till the end for some valuable resources

to enrich your faith. Here's today's sermon.

The title of this message, straight up, is actually

The Believer's Authority in Christ. This message

is actually a continuation of our union with

Christ, but we are keeping it on a different

title, right? So it should be the believer's

authority in Christ. But I'm going to say some

things from where we stopped, right? Where we

stopped on our union with Christ, where we stopped.

I will say some things to build up on that. Then

we get into the believer's authority in Christ.

Okay, so if you listen to the union with Christ,

there's a continuation of it, but we have a title,

a different title, which is the believer's authority

in Christ. And it's intentionally titled like

that. I'm not trying to try to come up with a

different title from, no, no, no. There's a reason

why I titled it the believer's authority in Christ.

In Christ. There's a reason for that. And as

the teaching goes, we will be able to observe.

Why that is. Now let's go to Philemon 6 verse

8. Let's start with that. The believer's authority

in Christ. Philemon 6 from verse 8. Sorry, Philemon

chapter 6. chapter 1, then from verse 6 to 8,

rather. Or we can read from verse 1. Let's read

from verse 1 because we didn't have a Bible reading

this morning. So we'll read from verse 1. Paul,

a prisoner for Christ, and Timothy, our brother.

So fill him on from verse 1. We'll go to 6 and

8. Paul, a prisoner for Christ, and Timothy,

our brother. So fill him on, our beloved fellow

worker. and Afia, our sister, and Akipos, our

fellow soldier, and the church in your house.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and

the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God always

when I remember you in my prayers because I hear

of your love and of the faith that you have towards

the Lord Jesus and for all the saints. And I

pray that the sharing... of your faith may become

effective, right, for full knowledge of every

good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ.

For I have derived more joy and comfort from

your love, my brother, because the hearts of

the saints have been refreshed through you. That's

it. Accordingly, though I am bold enough in Christ

to command you to do what is required, yet for

love's sake, I prefer to appeal to you. I, Paul,

an old man and now a prisoner also for Christ.

I appeal to you for my child, Onesimus, whose

father I became in my imprisonment. Formerly

he was useless to me, but now he is indeed useful

to you and to me. I am sending him back to you,

sending my very heart. Verse 13. I would have

been glad. to keep him with me in order that

he might serve me on your behalf during my imprisonment

for the gospel. But I prefer to do nothing without

your consent in order that your goodness might

not be by compulsion, but of your own accord.

For this, perhaps, is why he was parted from

you for a while. that you might have him back

forever, no longer as a bondservant, but more

than a bondservant, a beloved brother, especially

to me, but now much more to you, both in the

flesh and in the Lord. So if you consider me

your partner, receive him as you would receive

me. And if I have wronged you at all or owes

you anything, if I have wronged you at all or

owes you anything, charge that to my account.

I, Paul, write this with my own hand. I will

repay it. to say nothing of your owing me as

even your own self. Yes, brother, I want some

benefit from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart

in Christ. Verse 21. Confident of your obedience,

I write to you, knowing that you will do even

more than I say. At the same time, prepare a

guest room for me, for I am hoping that through

your prayers I will be graciously given to you.

I paraphrase my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus,

sending greetings to you. And so do Mark. So

where do we want to pay attention to in Philemon,

right? Where we want to pay attention to is actually

the aspects, verse 4 to 6. It said, I thank God

always when I remember you in my prayers because

I hear of your love and of your faith. that you

have towards the Lord Jesus and for the saints.

Now, this is similar to Ephesians, right? If

you are very conversant with Ephesians 1, since

the head of your love and your faith towards

the saints, I do not cease to give thanks to

you, remembering in my prayers that the Father

of our Lord Jesus Christ, the God of our Lord

Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, right? That

is similar to this, right? That is Ephesians

1 from verse 16. So, it's talking about someone

who is in faith. right? Has faith towards the

Lord Jesus Christ, right? And love towards the

saints. Now, he's saying something immediately

after that. He said that, I pray that the sharing

of your faith may become effective. Can you give

me KJV? Don't use ESV, please. You can stay on

KJV. I would like to have the variant. Just give

me KJV. So that the communication of thy faith

may become effectual by acknowledging of every

good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus. So

first, there are people, I mean, Philemon is

someone who has faith, right? He's talking, he's

writing to someone, right? Paul is writing to

Philemon, right? So he's saying that you have

faith. You have faith in Christ. Your love towards

the saints is also something that I acknowledge.

But he not added something to it. He added that

the communication, it means the sharing. Right?

That word communication is the word, the sharing,

the partnership of the faiths of Philemon. Right?

So you can use that and write that, that that

word also means partnership. That word also means

partnership, it also means conversation of faiths.

The word communication is also meaning the walking

out of your faiths. So he acknowledges that Philemon

has faith. And he said that this faith, right?

If you're working of it out, it will take through

something for it to be effective. So he said

the communication of your faith may become effectual

by acknowledging every good thing that is in

your soul. He has faith, but he said Philemon's

faith will become more effective when he is able

to understand. acknowledging every good thing

that he has in Christ Jesus. So we can say that

a believer's faith, because we stopped on faith

as an identity of the believer in the last teaching,

right? We said the believers are called faithful,

right? Paul will write and we'll call some people

faithful servants, right? Fellow prisoners, faithful

believers. So the believers are faithful. Now,

that faith that we have can only become effective,

right? Or becomes more effective when we know

acknowledgement, all that is ours in Christ.

So the sharing of faith, your partnership, also

your partnership with each other, right? So we

partner with each other in faith. We partner

with each other in the kingdom of God, right?

We partner with each other. We work together

for the kingdom, in the kingdom. Now that will

become effective when all of us, putting it in

our context now, we know what is our own in Christ.

What belongs to the believer in Christ. So faith,

right, works according to the knowledge of the

believer. Faith works according to the knowledge

of the believer. Faith works according to the

knowledge of the believer. The believer receives

knowledge through the scriptures. Okay? Faith

works according to the knowledge of the believer

and the believer receives knowledge through the

scriptures. So, it therefore means It therefore

means that if a believer receives a word or receives

a script or picks a scripture and is not well

interpreted, the believer's faith will not be

effectual. Can we say that? That when a believer

is taught the scripture wrongly, he will not

be effective in his faith. Can we say that? Yes.

So the effectiveness therefore comes from accurately

teaching the scripture. The effectiveness of

your faith would come when the scripture is...

So acknowledging all that is yours in Christ

comes by teaching. It's not like you open and

you say, ah, I've seen this one, I convert it,

I receive it. What if what the scripture is saying

there is not for you to be converted? So it means

that you will not be effective. But when there's

a teacher that explains the scripture, then you

are able... To know what is yours in Christ.

Hallelujah. So that is what we have been doing

actually in this church from beginning of this

year. Because we want you to manifest the kingdom

of God. Hallelujah. We want you to manifest the

kingdom of God very well. So we are paying attention

as pastors to explain to you that this is who

you are. This is what you have. This is what

you can do. Or this is what you have to do. So

acknowledging every of the good things you have

in Christ comes by the accurate teaching of the

scripture. And that is why this teaching is coming

to say the believer's authority in Christ. Because

the believer has an authority in Christ. If you

don't know it, you would sit down, right? It's

not an excuse, right? For you, how can I put

it? You're not knowing it, right? would definitely

mean that you will not be different from someone

who does not have it. So if you have an authority,

you don't know that you have the authority, you

will not be different from the person who doesn't

have it. So it means that, let's say, you are

a prince. You are a prince of a particular kingdom

you never knew, right? And we find you in our

midst, right? Or we find you in the society.

We just treat you anyhow. Right? We don't give

you that. Whatever is accorded to that prince

of that kingdom, we probably would not even give

it to you. But the moment you know, we will not

just give it to you, you will begin to act. So

the prince of any kingdom does not just receive

honor from people. He acts out of honor and authority.

So that is how the believer should be. Not that

the devil will be scared of you. You too will

be scared of the devil. All principalities and

power acknowledge you as the child of God. Meanwhile,

you, you are running away from that principalities

and power. Means that you are not exercising

your authority. You are the son of God. You are

the child of God. You grow in God. And therefore,

as you grow in God, as you grow in God, right?

you are able to exercise authority. A believer

is not called to be passive. You must know that.

A believer is not called to be passive. I'm intentionally

explaining this so that when we go to scriptures,

you understand. A believer is not called to be

passive. Like, like, like, like, you know, people

can, I mean, kingdom of God can just reign around

you. No, you are supposed to be active. That

when you see things that are against the kingdom

of God, you are able to rebuke them and put them

under control. Hallelujah. So, you will become

effective in your faith, right? When we are able

to teach you to acknowledge the authority that

you have in Christ. And in that authority, it

is called for you to exercise it. You're supposed

to exercise it. Now, you can write this down.

When we look out, when we look out to the world,

we see faith in Christ and we see ourselves.

When we look into the world, right, we look out

to the world, we see faith in Christ and we see

ourselves in Christ. Right? So when we look to

Christ, we see faith in him and we see ourselves.

So we see Jesus exercising faith. And we see

ourselves doing the same. Hebrews 12 verse 1.

Hebrews 12:1

Hebrews 12 verse 1. Can you help me there? Hebrews

Hebrews 12:1 Hebrews 12:1

12 verse 1. It says, Verse 2. at the right hand

of the throne of God. Look at that word. He said,

no, stay. Looking unto Jesus, the author and

the finisher of our faith. What this simply means

is that the circumference of the faith of the

believer. I already said, the circumference of

Christian faith is Christ. The circumference

of Christian faith is Christ. Outside that is

sin. Unbelief. Right? So, what we say we do as

believers, the faith we have, the circumference

of it, is Christ. So, anything outside Christ

is sin. It's unbelief. So, it therefore means,

right? It therefore means that Christ, we can

say therefore that Christ gave us faith. We can

say Christ gave us faith and we receive that

faith. So we can say Christ gave us faith and

we receive that faith. Now, let me add something.

1 Corinthians 12 verse 9. 1 Corinthians 12 verse

1 Corinthians 12:9 1 Corinthians 12:9

9. Is it to another by the same spirits, to another

the gift of healing, by the same Spirit. Now,

to another by, sorry, to another faith by the

same Spirit, right, is not saying that some people

have a special faith. This is the same faith,

right, given expression as a manifestation of

the things of the Spirit. So, we have already

been told that all that is found here in 1 Corinthians

12 is found in the believer. Do we agree on that?

So, this faith can also be expressed by what?

The believer. Because this faith is also found

in the circumference of Christ. Do we get it?

The gift of faith is also found in the circumference

of Christ. Therefore, it's not like someone else

would give expression to this faith and you as

a believer cannot. Every believer can give expression

to the gift. of faith, just like we can give

expressions of speaking in tongues, prophesying,

healing, and all of that. So every believer has

a spirit of faith in them. Every believer has

the spirit of Christ. Now, what about unbelievers?

There's something we should consider today. What

about people who have not believed, right? How

about people who have not believed? What we do

when we go for evangelism, right, for those who

go for evangelism, let me tell you what you're

doing. what you are doing is not to call out

faith from the person. So when I come to you

and I preach to you and I said, I preach the

death, the resurrection, the burial and the resurrection

of Christ to you, the death, burial and resurrection,

Jesus died and rose again for your sins and he

rose that he might give you eternal life, right?

I'm not telling the person, I'm not trying to...

Call faith out from the person. Because for an

unbeliever, there is no faith inside. Are you

getting it? So you are not calling faith out.

What you are doing is that you are giving them

faith. That's what we do when we go to preach.

The message is the faith, right? You give them

faith. That is why if you go to Acts chapter

Acts 2 · chapter mention

2. Let's go to Acts chapter 2. Let me show you.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

That after the gospel has been preached, some

people still ask, what shall we do, right? To

be saved. Because from them does not come belief.

So you have to say that believe this message.

You have offered that person faith. I give you

faith by telling you to believe the message.

Acts chapter 2. Acts chapter 2 from verse 36.

Acts 2 · chapter mention Acts 2 · chapter mention

It says, let all the house of Israel therefore

know. for certain that God has made him both

Lord and Christ, this Jesus, whom he was crucified.

Now, when they heard this, they were caught in

their hearts. Do you see what happened to them?

They were caught in their hearts. They were caught

in their hearts, but that's not faith yet. Now

let's see. They were caught to their hearts and

said to Peter and to the rest of the apostles,

brothers, what shall we do? Did you see that

question? They heard the message. So you cannot

preach to somebody and say, I've preached the

prayer and resurrection of Jesus to you. You

have heard it, you have heard it. You will tell

the person, believe it. That is offering the

person faith. I'll show you from scriptures.

So you don't just tell the person you have faith.

It's not enough to preach it. You must offer

it. What should I do? Believe this thing that

I've told you and you will be saved. So what

did he tell them? He said, Repent and be baptized,

right? Every one of you in the name of Jesus

Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and you

will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. So

he's telling them to believe. Believe this message

that we have presented unto you and you will

be saved. So when we go for evangelism, two things

we do. We explain all Christ has done. Good.

Second, we tell them to believe it. Because out

from within an unbeliever cannot come faith,

except a believer tells the person, believe this

message of God. And when they believe, when they

say, I believe, it means they receive that faith.

So when an unbeliever believes, it means that

they have received the faith you offered to them.

They have received the faith. But when they reject,

because they can reject the message, they can

reject what you offer to them, then when they

reject the gospel, then they stay in unbelief.

Hallelujah. So therefore, one of the ways, right,

coming back to the believer now, I just said

that so that it will help us when we go to teach

and we'll go to preach. Now, one of the ways

a believer gives expression, right, to faith,

right, one of the ways the believer gives expression

to faith, one of the ways the believer walks

out his faith is to exercise authority. One of

the ways by which the believers express this

faith, manifest this faith, is to exercise authority.

So we're going to check this word authority.

We're going to see how authority actually manifests

in the scriptures or how authority has been explained.

Because we read from that song, it says that

there are kings, there are kingdoms, there are

thrones. And the reality is they exist. There

are thrones and there are kingdoms. There's a

kingdom of darkness. The scriptures say, you

have translated us from the kingdom of darkness

into the kingdom of your beloved son, the kingdom

of lights. So there are kingdoms. It also means

that the devil also has an authority. That's

what it means. He has an authority. So we need

to learn what authority is. We need to learn

what dominion is. So that we can dissociate authority

of the Father, authority of Christ, from the

authority of the King of Darkness. And you can

know, as a believer, what you should exercise.

Okay? So we can know as a believer what we should

do. What we should do? Exercise. Right? Exercise.

Now let's go to Genesis 1. Of course, you should

know that when we are teaching, paying attention

to this kind of a thing. this kind of a teaching,

we will go to Genesis. Genesis 1, verse 18, 26,

Genesis 1:18

and so 28. And to rule over the day and over

the night and to divide the light from darkness

and God saw that it was good. Go to 26. And God

said, let us make man in our own image and likeness

and let him have dominion over the fish of the

sea. and over the fire of the air and over the

cattle and over all the herds and over every

creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

Right? Over every creeping thing that does what?

Creepeth upon the earth. Next one. And God blessed.

And so God created man in his own image and in

the image of God created him. Male and female

he created he them. Verse 28. And God blessed

them and said, Be fruitful. Now the word dominion

here is actually the word radar. So write it

down. The word dominion here is radar. It's actually

the first exercise or the first expression of

authority. So the word here is rather R -A -D

-A. R -A -D -A. So it means to have authority

over something, actually. That's what it means.

It means to have authority, to have a reign over

something, to have rulership over something,

to exercise dominion over something. It's the

same word that was found in that to rule over

the day, to rule over the night, means to have

dominion, right? Genesis 1 verse 18, to have

Genesis 1:18

dominion over the night. We see that. So what

is happening in Genesis 28? What is happening

in Genesis 28? What is happening there is that

God's intention, right? God's intention is that

after... man is made. Okay, I cannot say after

man. That would not be correct. Let me correct

it. As man is being made in the image of God,

he has authority. Because it's not like after

you say then you now get. It comes with it. It

tells us that salvation right? Comes with authority.

Salvation comes with authority. Please stay on

that scripture. Take it back. Verse 27 had explained

that God will make man in his own image. This

is God's intention, right? This is God's desire.

And 28 says that as man is made in the image

of God, man would have what? Dominion. Man would

have authority. Man would have radar. Genesis

Genesis 4:1

4 verse 1. Genesis 4 verse 1 to 7. Genesis 4

Genesis 4:1–7 Genesis 4:1–7

verse 1 to 7. And Adam knew his wife, and she

conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten

a man from the Lord. And she again bare his brother

Abel. And Abel was a keeper of the sheep, but

Cain was what? A healer of the ground. And in

the process of time, it came to pass that Cain

brought of the fruit of the ground, and offering

unto the Lord. And Abel also brought of the firstlings

of his flock, and of the fats thereof. had respect

unto Abel and unto his offering. But unto Cain

and to his offering, he had not respect. And

Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.

And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth?

Why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest

well, shalt thou not be accepted. And if thou

doest not well, sin lies at the door. And unto

thee... Now, in the context of this, again, is

the context of a man, right? It's the context

of a man. A man that has refused to believe.

Now, we can't go into, I think we've taught this

before in church about what happened between

Abel and Cain. And we said the difference between

them is not the offering of those things, it's

the faith. Okay? The difference between Cain

and Abel is not the offering of the first things

or the fruits of that, but it's faith. You can

see that in the New Testament. So, what was taking

place here is that Cain did not have faith. Right?

He did not have faith. And because he saw the

outcome of the faith of Abel, he was angry. So

he was still without faith. So Cain saw the outcome

of another man's faith and he was angry. So what

did God say? Even in the anger, God said, Sin

is at your door. If you had done good, if you

had believed, sin is at your, you wouldn't be

in this countenance. But sin is at your door.

And God's desire is that Cain would do what?

Would overcome by believing. That word rule over,

right, is the word mashal. It's almost the same

thing as that word radar. It's almost the same

thing. It's just that radar had an additional

meaning. Right? There are some other explanations

for it. But both of them mean to have dominion,

to rule over, to exercise. In fact, in this context,

it says Christ to have dominion. So God's expectation

in the case of Cain is not that Cain will be

lost. It's that Cain, right, would have dominion

over sin. Right? So again, we see that God's

deliverance of Cain, Right? Comes with dominion

over sin. It comes with dominion over unbelief.

So we see that that word is mashal. I think M

-A -S -A -L. Right? M -A -S -A -L. And the other

one is rada. Now from these two contexts, we

are going to check more. Right? From these two

contexts, we would realize that God's intention

for man. And God's authority for man is in the

context of the gospel. It's in the context of

salvation. God's authority for man, God's desire

that man should exercise authority is in the

context of salvation, is in the context of his

deliverance, is in the context of what he wants

to do. Do we get it? So for Adam is that believe,

you will be made in my image and you will have

authority. For Cain is that if you will do good,

if you will believe, that's the good. So if you

will do good, to do good is actually to believe

the message, right? To do good, your countenance

will not be like that. But sin is crushing, but

you would have dominion over it. So we observe

that in these two contexts, what we see is that

God's desire for us. Or for a human to exercise

authority is within the circumference, again,

of the gospel, is within the circumference of

salvation. So it means that any authority that

is outside that will be seen, will be unbelief.

Any authority outside that will be seen and will

be unbelief. Now let me show you another scripture

where God used a nation to communicate this same

thing. Right? So let's go to Deuteronomy 15 verse

Deuteronomy 15:6

6. Deuteronomy 15 verse 6. but thou shalt not

Deuteronomy 15:6

borrow, and thou shalt reign over many nations,

but they shall not reign over thee. The same

word, mashallah radah, appearing there, that

Israel as a nation, what would they do? They

would reign over many nations. Now, if you check

history, and in the settlement of Israel as a

nation, they have never governed other nations.

They have always, have issues with other nations

around them. They have never been able to bring

them, he's not talking about Israel's leadership

here, that Israel will now, okay, he's not talking

about Israel, like the king of Israel, being

the king of the Moabites. No, that's not what

he's talking about here. So what is Israel's

reign over all nations? Who are the all nations?

Now, when they say Israel and other nations,

the word other nations refers to the ungodly.

Okay? It refers to the ungodly. It refers to

nations that don't know God. Right? It refers

to nations that don't believe the message of

God. So what he's saying here is that the activities

of those countries, okay, I'll come back to it.

The activities of those countries, Israel will

renovate. And those countries will not reign

over Israel to mean that to bring Israel to serving

their own God. So Israel will have dominion over

their unbelief, over the activities, over their

idolatry, over their adultery, over all the things

they commit. So Israel will have dominion over

that. Israel will rule. It means they will have

a power, right? To bring forth, to bring down

the kingdom, to establish the kingdom of God

over... the activities of those countries. Do

we get it? Do you remember there was a tribe,

actually, that lied to Israel? I don't know if

you're doing the canonicals. And they began to

live with them, right? That is a country. What

did they do? They gave them rules on how they

should live in Israel, right? And they cannot

do anything outside Israel. That is containing

the activity of that tribe. So, it therefore

means that to rule over would also mean... That

to have dominion over ungodliness, to have dominion

over darkness, to have dominion over sin, over

everything that is outside Christ. So he's not

saying that Israel will produce a governor for

all the countries in the world. He's not saying

that Israel will be a world power. No, he's not

saying that Israel is saying that what those

nations do. Right? You have the capacity to bring

down the activities of darkness. So again, in

the context of salvation, in the context of delivering

a particular nation. All right, so we've seen

these two contexts. Now, there are other contexts

where the word dominion is used. There are other

contexts in which the word dominion is used.

2 Samuel, if you can just write down, 2 Samuel

2 Samuel 23:3

23, verse 3. 2 Samuel 23, verse 3. In this context,

2 Samuel 23:3

it is used for leadership, right? So, see, the

God of Israel said, the rock of Israel speak

to me that he that ruleth over men, must be just,

right? Ruling in the fear of God. So here, it's

talking about someone's leadership, right? Practical

leadership within Israel. Practical leadership

within Israel. So the word is used in the context

of practical leadership here, in the context

that we see it. Leviticus 25, verse 43. Leviticus

Leviticus 25:43 Leviticus 25:43

25, verse 43. These are other contexts where

the word Radha or Mashal is used. Thou shalt

not rule over him with rigor, but shalt fear

thy God, right? Shalt not rule over him with

rigor, but thou shalt fear him. So it's talking

about practical leadership here in this Leviticus,

right? Of course, it's related to the believers

as well, but it's talking to Israel about their

servants, about the people that are within their

house, that you will not rule over them with

force. So we see leadership here. Now let's check

one more scripture. One more scripture now. Genesis

Genesis 37:8

37 verse 8. So first we have seen dominion in

the context of the gospel, in the context of

salvation, in the context of having dominion

over all that is outside Christ. Now, let's go

to Genesis 37 verse 8. And his brother said to

Genesis 37:8

him, Shall thou reign over us? Or shall thou

indeed have dominion over us? And they hated

him yet the more for his dreams and for his words.

Now go to Genesis 50 verse 19. Genesis 50 verse

Genesis 50:19 Genesis 50:19

19. And Joseph said unto them, Fear not, for

I am in the place of God. Next. But as for you,

you taught evil against me, but God meant it

unto good, to bring to pass as it is at its ease

this day, to save much people. Now, what we see

here in the context of Moses, sorry, in the context

of Joseph, is that Joseph, Joseph's brother,

we're expecting, right, that Joseph would rule

over them with rigor, okay? So you've seen in

Leviticus that says don't rule over people with

rigor, right? We've also seen that he that rulets,

rulets with the fear of God, leadership. Now,

in the context of Joseph, something popped up.

Two things popped up. Both salvation and leadership

popped up. So the brothers of Joseph, they took

him and they said, they sought him out and the

whole story cut short. They were found in Egypt.

And Joseph became a picture of a savior to them.

Okay? So because they became a picture of a savior

to them, and Jacob, their father, now died, they

assumed that now that Jacob is dead, this young

man called Joseph will rule over us, would dominate

us, would oppress us. But look at Joseph and

Isaiah in 50. He said, you taught it for evil,

but God taught it for good, to bring to pass,

as it is this day, to save much people alive.

To save much people what? alive. So while some

people think that, oh, what they did will result

to domination over each other, Joseph is saying

that it is unto salvation. It is unto what? It

is unto salvation that people will be saved.

So we see it also in the context because Joseph

was actually the governor of Egypt in this place

at this time, and now he had gained so much influence.

Now let's go to Judges 8, 22 to 23. I'm going

to pick up everything together and explain something.

Judges 8, verse 22 to 23. Next. And Gideon said

Judges 8:22–23

unto them, I will not rule over you, neither

shall my son rule over you. The Lord shall do

what? Rule over you. We see the word rule as

a picture here. It's expressed as submission

to God. Right? Dominion here is used as submission

to God. As submission to what? To God. Now let

me quickly... and just pick up three things.

First, we have seen that when it comes to the

dominion, when it comes to authority, it is in

the context of salvation. Have we seen that?

We have seen it in the context of salvation.

We have seen it also in the context of leadership

over other nations. We have seen it also in the

context of domination over the activities of

the ungodly. And now we are seeing it as used

in context towards God as the leadership of God

over a people. So as believers, how from using

the Old Testament context now, how should we

exercise authority? I need to quickly mention

this to say that God has not given the believer

to exercise authority, to exercise dominion,

let me put it that way, over another believer.

I'm going to show us the scripture, right? So

God has not given, the authority that we exercise

is not authority over another believer. It's

not an authority. So you say, I have authority

over you in the context, no, it's not, it doesn't

work like that. Can you help me with these scriptures?

Leviticus 25, 43. Have you read it? Go to, let's

see. Go to Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy 5, 15, verse

7 to 11. Deuteronomy 15, verse 7, right? thy

Deuteronomy 15:7

hand from the poor brother. Next. But thou shalt

open thy hand wide and thou shalt surely lend

him sufficiently for his need in that which he

wanted. Beware that there be not a thought in

thy wickedness saying the seventh year and the

year of release is at hand and thy eye be evil

against thy poor brother. Thou shalt give it

him not and he cry unto the Lord against thee

he shall be a sin unto thee. And thou shalt surely

give him, and thy heart shall not be grieved.

And when thou givest unto him, because that for

this thing the Lord thy God shall bless thee

in all thy works, and in all that thou puttest

thy hand unto. For the poor shall never cease

out of the land. Therefore I command thee, saying,

Thou shalt open thy hand wide unto thy brother,

to thy poor, and to thy needy, and to thy land.

The next. And if I brought up an Hebrew, okay,

verse 11. All right, stay in verse 11. Now, if

you read Deuteronomy 15, the reason why God is

saying this, right, is that the Israel would

not oppress each other. That the people of Israel

will not be oppressors. of their own brother.

And you can see what Gideon says. Gideon says,

I will not rule over you, but God will rule over

you, right? It means that God will be the one

you will submit to. Deuteronomy, still in Deuteronomy

15. I'm actually looking for a particular scripture

and I'm sure time is almost up, but I'll share

it subsequently. The scripture says that no man,

like none of you, would have dominion over another.

Right? None of the Israel will have dominion.

That's why Gideon is saying, I'm not going to

have dominion over you. Even when Israel choose

a king to have dominion over them, there was

a warning that this king might oppress Israel.

And therefore God began to say, any king that

will rule in Israel must rule in the fear of

God. So it therefore means that to bring all

this together, that the only... Areas, right?

The areas where believer can exercise authority

over, authority over, are things outside Christ,

not on another believer. Okay? Not on another

believer. A believer can exercise authority upon

ungodliness, kingdom of darkness, ungodly nations,

and this is on the activities of these nations,

as we see. in the case of Israel. A believer

will have dominion over the powers of darkness.

A believer will have dominion over the activities

of the kingdom of darkness. A believer will have

authority found in the context of the gospel

over the kingdom of darkness, and not over another

believer. So you can't say you are casting and

binding your brother. Okay? So we can't say you

are casting and binding a believer. So a believer

is, okay, you want to cast. No, you cast what

you cast. The activities is actually, what you

have dominion over is these activities, these

principalities, this kingdom of darkness. If

you also observe, when Paul was preaching and

the lady that was possessed was actually, trying

to prophesy and making a disturbance. It was

not even, he cut out the activity of darkness

that was in that place. So the goal, right, the

goal of the believer, right, is to exercise authority

and dominion over the things that are found outside

the conferences of Christ. So as believers, we

must always set our hearts to be active, to exercise

this authority. So we can exercise authority

in dark places. We can exercise authority over

unbelief, over idolatry, over ungodliness. Now

the question becomes, are there other authorities?

Are there people that exercise authority outside

this? And do we actually? In quotes, working

for God. Right? In quotes, right? Working for

God in the name of a prophet. Yes. Yes, there

are authorities that we exercise outside the

circumferences of Christ. That is why I'm trying

to establish for us to know that the authority

that the believer should exercise. when it comes

to Christ, is the authority within the circumference

of Christ, within the circumference of what Christ

has done, and over all that is not found in Christ,

over all that is not found in Christ. But not

on another believer, right? Not, you know, exercising

authority on another believer. Not exercising

authority on things that are outside of. Not

exercising authority, right? Exercising authority

over things that are outside Christ. So it therefore

means that what God was offering to Adam, right,

was salvation and authority and a reign. Salvation

and authority and a reign. And that has also

been offered to you. It has been offered to me

since we came into faith. Now that we are in

faith, we have authority. Now let's go to 1 Kings.

Let's go to 1 Kings. I'm just going to use 1

Kings. 1 Kings chapter 17. 1 Kings chapter 17.

1 Kings 17 · chapter mention 1 Kings 17 · chapter mention

Now, most of the time, right, when we are taught

about authority, right, people quickly say, What

about, you know, people talk about Elijah, people

talk about Elisha, and the kind of authority

that they exercise. Now go to 1 Kings chapter

1 Kings 17 · chapter mention

17. Let's read. nor rain this year, except by

thy words. And the word of the Lord came to him,

right? Except by my word, rather, by my word.

And the word of the Lord came to him, saying,

The path from here, turn eastward, and hide thyself

by the brook Cherit, which is in the east of

Jordan. You shall drink from the brook, and I

have commanded that ravings to feed you. So he

went and did according to the word of the Lord.

He went. and live by the brook of Jared that

is in the east of Jordan. Now two things you

observe here, that there's an authority, right?

There's an authority that the man of God says,

by my word, do we get it? By my word, there shall

be no earth, no rain. So it means that the man

of God is exercising an authority by my word.

The next verse, what did you see? You see the

word of the Lord. Did you see the word of the

Lord? Right? So something was spoken by the man

of God. And there were also instructions that

came from the word of God. Did you see those

two things? So it therefore means that the man

of God exercises authority. The man of God does

what? Exercises what? Now, if you read from verse

8 to verse 16, and you read from verse 17 to

verse 24, you will see that the man of God exercised

authority to bring back a child to life, to make

a divine provision to take place. You will see

that. And you will see that that is salvation.

That's just a picture of God's deliverance. It

was an instruction. So the man of God exercises

by the word of his mouth, he exercised deliverance

in the context of the widow. Now, if you go to

chapter 18, chapter 18, let's go to chapter 18,

verse 36. I'll stop here. Verse 36 to 40. And

at the time of the offering of the oblation,

Elijah the prophet came near and said, O Lord

God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be

known this day that you are God in Israel and

that I am your servant and I have done all these

things at your word. Answer me, O Lord, answer

me, that these people may know that you are God,

you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned

their hearts back. Then the fire of the Lord...

fell and consumed the bond of rain and the wood

and the stones and the dust and licked up the

water that was in the trench. And when all the

people saw it, they fell on their face and said,

the Lord, he is God and God, he is, right? The

God is. Now, two things you observe here. Elijah

quoted something. The God of Abraham, the God

of Isaac. and the God of Israel. Now, this is

a picture of explaining God's promise. The thing

that connects Abraham, Isaac, and Israel is the

deliverance promise of God. What God will do,

right? What God will do is the same thing that

God provided and presented in Genesis chapter

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

1. Let us make man in our image. That is God's

promise. Right? Good promise to make people in

his image. Now, you see that he quoted that.

It's the God of promise that keep his promise.

He said, let it be known this day that you are

God and that you have turned their hearts back

to him. Now, you will see that the prayer was

answered and what you see, right, is fire coming

now. But look at verse, look at verse 40. Look

at verse 40. And Elijah said to them, seize the

prophets of Baal. Let not one of them escape.

And they seized them, and Elijah brought them

down to the brook Kishon. And what did he do

there? What did he do there? Was that an instruction

from the voice of the Lord? Was that an instruction

from the voice of the Lord? So he used his authority

in that point, right? So, it therefore means

that we can find some actions, right, that are

outside the circumference of Christ in the actions

of the prophets, in the exercising of the prophets

of the Old Testament. We can find actions, we

can find statements that are outside the context

of the authority of the gospel. in the prophets

of the Old Testament. We can do that. When you

read through, much more when you read through,

you'll find the prophets say, if I be a man of

God, such statements are, you know, are within

what? The authority of the man of God, right?

Within the deliverance plan of God, are we hearing?

Within the deliverance plan of God, we won't

find such a thing. Okay? So, authority of the

believer is exercised within the context of the

gospel, is exercised within the context of salvation,

is exercised within the context of God's deliverance.

So, if you tell someone and you say, because

I'm a child of God, if I curse you, you're outside

Christ already. You're already doing something

outside the circumference of Christ. Say, ah,

we just came down from three days fast. If I

curse you to... See, you are doing things that

are outside the authority that is given to you.

So you are acting on your own authority. Okay?

You are acting. You cannot say, if I curse someone.

No. Because, ah, I've read scriptures. I'm just

coming out from the mountain. If you want to

curse somebody, you are on your own. So the believer

only exercises the authority that is found within

the circumference of the message, the promise,

the salvation of God. Right? That is where our

authority is. Every other place is out of bound.

Hallelujah. So therefore, we can exercise authority

over the kingdom of darkness, over principalities

and power. Right? Because this is giving to us

our salvation. Can we give thanks? Thank you

for listening to today's sermon. Your journey

matters to us. Let's keep walking together. Visit

our website for more resources and follow us

on social media to stay updated. Feel free to

check the show notes for additional insights.

If today's message was a blessing, share it with

a friend. Till next time, be blessed.