A New Release of Authority

This is North Way, tape number 488. This message was given by Jay Pasiphan, pastor of North Way Christian Community, on April 6th, 1986. We'll be looking at several scriptures this morning, but just for a resting place, turn to Ephesians. Book of Ephesians. Last week was Easter Sunday and a glorious time of celebrating the resurrection, but I want you today to focus on one resultant truth of the power of the resurrection of Jesus. Just one of many, but I want you to see one right now. Let's look at Ephesians chapter 1, verse 19. And his incomparably great power is in us who believe, and that power is like the working of his mighty strength which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms. Far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age, but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him, who fills everything in every way. Say amen to that. There's no pansy God that we serve here. Hallelujah. A little over two years ago, most of you have heard the story of the accident that our family was involved in when someone smashed into the back of our cars. We were at a traffic signal down in McKnight Road. It was a hit-and-run kind of accident where the driver plowed into us, pushed us down the road about a hundred yards. I turned the wheel of my car to finally break free from the contact, and he went on by and left the scene. As the Lord would have it, three days later, Carol, my wife, saw this same car that had run into us at the shopping center down in Duncan Manor with the front end all smashed in. There was no question about it being the car, because I didn't get the license number, but I had gotten a description of the car. We immediately called the Ross Township police and said, the accident report that we filed on Monday, this was on Thursday, we found the car. We want you to go to the house and confront the man with this evidence. The officer of Ross Township at that point said to me, well, Mr. Passaman, I can't help you. I don't think I can do anything for you. Well, I finally convinced him, Carol had written down the license number, to check the license number, and he did that, and then he called back and said, I know I can't help you because this person resides in McCandless Township, and I don't have any jurisdiction in McCandless Township. Well, being a man of great patience and understanding, I understand how this accident had been severe enough that my car was just about written off as a total demolition, and we hadn't been injured, but we were really shaken up pretty badly. I then proceeded for 20 minutes, 20 minutes, to convince the chief of police of Ross Township that it was in the best interest of the public to go investigate this man and find out if indeed he was the one, because if he had committed the crime of leaving the scene of an accident, then certainly he should be brought to justice. He still would not do that until I convinced him to call McCandless Township to see if they would send an officer with him, and so there they were, two officers, one from McCandless, one from Ross, who went to the home of this gentleman, and there, of course, was the car all smashed up, and he immediately, the gentleman, confessed to having had something happen that he didn't know about to the front of his car. Now, praise the Lord, in time there was justice served and so forth, but I want you to hear today that the world understands authority. The world understands jurisdictions. The world is set up so that there are clearly defined demarcations of authority. Our culture operates that way, but somehow in the Church of Jesus it seems that when we come to spiritual matters and spiritual authority, for many of us, it's a matter of, well, let's kind of go with the flow of things. You know, let's just kind of go with what God's doing, and it'll all work out in the end. Now, for me, it never would have worked out in that accident had I not pressed the exercise of authority. Our culture understands that. Just try kind of going with the flow come April 15th. All right? When your tax returns are due, because the authorities say they are. How many of you have ever had the experience in North Park of going to a pavilion on a busy weekend because no one was there, but you went without a permit, and you set up shop, and you put out your picnic basket, and you open, you put up your volleyball net, but deep inside you're waiting. You know they're going to be driving through the park, and someone's going to say, we're supposed to be here, and then the police car comes, and they ask to see you. You ever had that experience? That used to happen to us in youth ministry, because we just kind of spontaneously do things, and people would show up, and there'd always be this thing. You couldn't enjoy yourself, because you knew that eventually you'd have this scene, and the police would come and say, pack up your bags, and get on out of here. Why? Because there was authority. There was clear jurisdiction. Have you ever traveled? How many of you have been overseas, out of the country? Try going in to Europe without a passport. Try going into a communist bloc nation without a passport. You've got to have the right authority to do that kind of a thing. Now the church has been given a mandate, you see, beloved, to go into enemy territory, but many of us are trying to do that without any passport, without any understanding of spiritual authority as God has ordained it, and what's even worse, many of us are allowing the enemy to come into our territory, and take from us things that God has ordained that we have, and therefore we're being robbed by someone who doesn't have the authority to do it. Now as I was in prayer this week, beloved, the Lord clearly impressed my heart that today was going to be a day when he was going to give a fresh release of authority in the church, a fresh release of authority in the church. You want to know why some believers, maybe you're one this morning, never seem to be able to get past a certain block in your life, a certain habit that has you in bondage, a certain relationship that constantly raises its head? Because you've not understood authority, and authority is not something that happens just because it's out there. It must be exercised. Now there's two words in the Greek New Testament that are sort of related. They are exoceia, which means authority, and dunamis, which means power. But as you read through the King James Version especially, those two words are frequently interchanged. There's 118 references to dunamis, or power, and 108 to exoceia, or authority. The definition of authority is the right to exercise power. Think of that policeman again. Authority means that he's been given a position that gives him the right to arrest me, or to stop me, or to give me access if the case demands it. But what power does he have? He's just standing right there, isn't he? If I say, no, I don't want to believe your authority, I don't want to take your, I don't want to receive your authority, what does he do? Well, he convinces me, right? No, you come in with me. That's the power. See, authority is the ability to have free access, unlimited access anywhere you need to go, prevailing, limitless freedom. That's what authority is. Now church, listen now, this is zeal is no substitute for authority. You want to know how to prove that? Go out someday on Route 19 and try to wave down a car. Just stand by, and you can wave, and jump, and dance, and do all that kind of stuff, and they'll just go, okay? But if you have a uniform on, and you've got your lights flashing, all you do is just... Those of you who are laughing know that feeling, right? Old Interstate 79 again, huh? Beloved, sincerity is no substitute for truth. I want you to hear what I'm saying, because these words can mean just so much, well, I guess that's something new I need to understand. And you can go on just locked in your sincerity and zeal without the truth, and the authority that God wants you to learn to move in. Let me say to you this morning just three things, and then next week I'm going to fill this out a little bit. Three things about our authority. Number one, it's invisible. Our authority is invisible. Where we really make a difference with our authority is in a place that you can't see it. If the spiritual authority was something on the outside, I guess it would be the most powerful people in the world. The priests, and the people that wore the collars. The outward sign would be all that you would need. How many of you ever find parking places just opening up because you have a Jesus bumper sticker in the front of your car? The externals don't matter. It's what you don't see that defines where our authority is. And the Bible calls this, as we just read, the heavenly places. Now, when you think of heavenly places, and I've taught on this before, but for those of you who are new, let me say this. Heavenly places aren't where the stars are. Heavenly places aren't someplace that you're heading when you die. Heavenly places are the words that the Bible uses to describe the realm, the reality, that's right here, where we can't see it, but it's right here. It's right here. It's all around you. The heavenly places are all around you. And our authority is exercised in that realm, and then it's worked out in the flesh realm, the touch realm, the sea realm. And what energizes the external is the unseen. Let me say that again. What makes the external, what makes people, institutions, governments, what makes Muammar Gaddafi the way he is, isn't external. It's unseen. It's a spiritual power. Make no mistake, we have a hard time in our culture accepting it. We are such a culture of proof and evidence, of material sensitivities, but we don't want to believe the unseen. But everything about us, if you look back in history, everything about us says that the unseen is the most powerful realm in all of creation. Remember, this was a created realm. Colossians 1.16 will tell you that. Perhaps one of the most terrifying illustrations I can think of, of the reality of the unseen, is in the personification of that evil that Adolf Hitler represented. You know, he came on this scene with a lot of what sounded like nice ideas, you know, better education, and let's reform society, and let's exercise the abilities and gifts that we have, and so on. But it wasn't long before his supremacy mentality possessed him and, of course, all the people under his influence. And you don't need to look very far past Auschwitz or Dachau to understand the magnitude of the power that would cause someone to slay over six million people. That's not just someone who's a little deranged. That's a power. And it's in the world today. Jesus came and said, my kingdom is not of this world. The Jews wanted him to come and sit on a throne and rule. And Jesus came and said, wait a minute. I'm not going to do that the way my kingdom is in the heart. It's in the unseen part of you. And the Jews therefore missed him because of that. But how many of you have ever been in a place where you know that there's a spiritual reality there? Maybe it's a club. I've been in, you know, for different reasons. Go into a nightclub and you sense spiritual. Anybody else? You know that there's something more there than the separate parts. There's a substance that's there. Paul called these things principalities and powers. He also uses the term authorities, rulers, dominions. And these things were created by God and revolted against him in Colossians 1.16. Can you read about that? And now they influence and even in some cases control individuals and structures and institutions. We think, listen, you're taught to think in our culture that institutions are neutral. They're not neutral. Institutions reflect the spirit being that influences them. I say this just as I'm speaking now. The struggle in our educational system, beloved, is not against flesh and blood. But those of you who are teachers in the public school system know that you're wrestling against the spirit. If you're a teacher and you agree with that, put your hand up. There is no doubt in my mind that that's the nature of the struggle. Satan, the Bible says in Luke 4.6, has the authority to give you kingdoms of wealth and power. You can look it up later. Now, these invisible powers are real and powerful, but the Bible says that the church has been given of God to make manifest to those powers the perfect wisdom and purpose and plan of God in Ephesians 3.10. And until you see that that is the realm where you've got to learn to be comfortable and move, you will not ever grow. Accelerate your growth in Jesus. You will find yourself hitting a plane in a plateau and not going past it, not being able to go beyond it. Now, the thing that grieves me is, you know when I feel like most, quote, charismatic people begin to get a little hint of this, is when they start praying against demons. And then you'll hear the change in their tone of voice, you know. Then in the name of Jesus, come out. And, you know, we talk about crushing the head of the enemy, but there is no more power to changing the tone of your voice than there would be to going like this and thinking you're going to step on his head. It's got to come from a baptism of authority in your life. You've got to live a life, a lifestyle of authority and understanding the authority that's been given to you in Jesus. See, Jesus always moved around in that realm and the people didn't understand. Remember the Pharisees saying when he would heal the sick, they'd say, what authority do you have to do that? They always were challenging his authority because they felt that they'd been conferred that authority from the structure, the high priest on down. Jesus said, I'm not even going to tell you where that authority comes from. Remember, he popped the question, but let me let me ask you a question. Of course, they couldn't answer that and they scurried away and plotted again how to kill him. Jesus always dealt behind the obvious. Fred and I have been noticing more and more in our counseling times that so much of the things that that people deal with are not the obvious. They want help in the obvious, but it's what's behind the obvious that's creating the problem. That's what, you know, Jesus would deal in that realm. You know, remember the woman that was hunched over? The Bible says for 18 years she had this spirit of infirmity. You know, he didn't deal with all, well, gee, you know, maybe you need some calcium in your diet, you know. He rebuked the spirit and she was set free after 18 years. He understood the invisible realm. Now, number two, our authority is incredible. Hallelujah. It's invisible and number two, it's incredible. We cannot imagine what God has entrusted to us. I read in Ephesians 1, 22, God has placed all things under the feet of Jesus. It's because of the nature of his power that we have limitless authority. Now, I want you to follow this with me because if you understand what happened with Jesus, it may break open in you the nature of the authority that God has given to you in life. There's no higher power in the universe no greater authority than Jesus. Now, the Bible says, number one, that all authority is given to God, right? Romans 13, 1. But he allowed exercise of that authority to take place in revolt and rebellion. Remember Pilate facing Jesus in John chapter 19? And Pilate says, Jesus, talk to me. I have the authority to set you free. And what does Jesus say to him? You don't have any authority that the Father hasn't given to you. And in fact, I have enough authority to call 70 legions of angels and clean up this place. Remember that? All authority comes from God. Yes, even the authority that's ruling right now in atheistic nations. Now, Jesus came to earth exercising a higher authority than the demonic principalities and powers that were ruling at that time. That's why he could walk into a situation and speak a word and see people set free from bondage. That's why he could touch a person that was sick and instantaneously they'd be healed. That's why he could forgive sins in Mark chapter 2. It was even a proof of his authority in spiritual things when he'd heal the sick. Remember that in Mark 2? He said, just to prove that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins, I'll heal this person. Because you need to see something, so see this and believe even in the unseen. But beloved, Satan challenged that authority. Remember now, what does power make a person do? What does it make? Sometimes it acts irrationally, doesn't it? Makes them want more and think that they can do even more than they can do. And that's what Satan, that was his great downfall. Because moving in the authority that he had, and can I say to you, Luke chapter 12 verse 5 says that Satan has the authority to cast you into hell. That's a lot of authority. And unfortunately much of creation is heading that way. I'm not minimizing the authority that Satan has. But Jesus came and Satan challenged that authority. And he said, I'm going to put you under. I'm going to bring you down. And so Satan, and if you read carefully in the New Testament, listen, it wasn't just the priests. Here we go. Now follow this. It wasn't just the religious structure of the Jews that put Jesus on the cross. It was the dominions and the principalities and the powers behind them that nailed him to the cross. Don't you see that what they were doing was exercising their authority? Hoping to bring Jesus down so that they could rule unfettered for the rest of eternity. But I want you to turn with me right now to Colossians chapter 2, and I want you to see what the Bible says happened on that cross. Colossians chapter 2 verse 13. And when you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code with its regulations that was against us and that stood opposed to us. He took it away, nailing it to the cross. And look at verse 15 carefully. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. What do you say? Hallelujah. And so in the unseen realm Jesus triumphed over the powers that would have nailed him to that cross forever. And you see this is why the resurrection of Jesus beloved is so much more profound than than even the the symbol of fleshly resurrection. In the unseen, God has made a victory a victory that will now and forever change our destiny. We now have authority in that unseen realm to move. Remember what that word means? With unrestricted freedom. Wherever God would send us. And now the Bible says that Jesus has been put over all things for the church. And I want to say to you today that we are no longer subject to those authorities and power. The only authority that Satan has is the authority of deceit. Do you know that? The only power he has is what he can convince you that he has that he doesn't really have. Down at Virginia Beach in the summertime, one of the things that happens an awful lot is people up near 72nd street where my mother-in-law happens to live, they get upset about tourists and you know beach visitors parking in front of their houses. And so they take those, you know folding aluminum chairs and stick them out there in front of their house on a public street and put a sign up. Now, do you know how much authority they have to put a a seat in front of their up on a public street in front of their house? None. None at all. But you know how many people just just drive on by, you know, they're parking, you know, all 40 blocks away from where they want to go because they look at that. Well, I guess they have authority to do that. No, not me. I just pick that chair up and throw in the yard and park right there. No, I parked in my mother-in-law's driveway. You've all heard stories of people who've come in claiming a false authority. The banks have little signs on their windows that say no one will ever ask you such and such. And if they should then immediately call the police because they're an imposter. You've all heard countless numbers of stories using false authority. Now, beloved, I'm saying to you that Satan has only one power and that's to deceive you to think that he has authority over you. Are you hearing me? This is this is such good news. This sets you free from having to be told what to do by the enemy. I just rejoice that I'm no longer subject. I have a freedom of choice that when a lie comes into my life and says because I have a headache, well, I guess I'm getting a brain tumor now. And I can look at that lying thing and say just get out of here in Jesus name and it's gone. Or I can look in a situation in my life that isn't where I want it to be and the lie comes. Well, I've taken authority. I'm going to I'm going to wrench that away from you. I'm going to strip this ministry apart. I'm going to destroy relationships and I can stand and say because Jesus Christ took authority over you and nailed you to the cross triumphing over you in it. I have authority over you. Get out of here in Jesus name. Hallelujah, and you have that authority too. There's no prevailing over the people of God who understand their authority. And so when the ACLU says, well, we have a right. We have a right to have child pornography plastered around the walls of such and such an establishment or we have the right to forbid your kids from praying in school. I want to tell you something. They don't have any right at all unless we give it to them because all authority has been given to Jesus Christ for the church. How many illustrations of where we have conceded territory? The whole abortion issue is a concession of authority to demonic powers. If you believe that, what's going to change it? It's the church not just picketing, as important as that is, but it's the church on its knees exercising its authority in the heavenly places. Number three, our authority is inclusive. All of us are participants in this. Now, you know, these weeks in April and May as we look outward in evangelism and outreach, as we begin to move out, I said, Lord, what do the people need? To be effective. And the Lord had me look through the Gospels and I'll tell you, Jesus never sent anyone out without commissioning them in authority, Luke 9, 1 and 2. He sent out the 12. The Bible says, with authority to heal and to deliver and to proclaim. You say, well, that was the apostles and they were big shots. You know, I'm just a little shot in the kingdom. Well, then in Luke chapter 10, he sent out the 70. The 70 are a picture of the church going out and he gave them, the Bible says, look at it in verse 19, 18 and 19, right in there, authority to tread on scorpions and snakes. And over all the powers of evil, the Bible says. And then further in John 14, 12, I hope you're writing these down. Some of you are. Jesus said, those who believe in me will not only do the things that I did, but greater things than I've done, you will do also. And Jesus said in Matthew 28, 19, all authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Now, you go out and make disciples of all nations. Only Jesus can give us this authority, church. Listen, Gary Beasley and the Glad Tidings School of Evangelism will not give you the authority to go out and win people to Jesus. PhDs do not give you the authority to go out and tread on scorpions and snakes and deliver people from the bondage of the devil. Degrees and man-ordained systems don't amount to anything in the heavenly places. Do you understand that? Why can Jimmy Swagger, for example, have a ministry that's reaching like 130 or 40 million people a week? And he doesn't, to my knowledge, even have a college degree. He has a college, but no college degree. Hallelujah. Why? Because he's been anointed and appointed as a man of God in the heavenly places. And Jesus has given him authority. And it doesn't matter what credential he has. And if you don't have a credential, if you don't have a doctorate or a master's this or that, it doesn't matter one inch in the heavenly places. You know what I'm praying for with all my heart right now? I see so many good works of God that are all over it. But I'm saying, Lord, I don't want to be known for this or for that in Christian circles. I don't want to be, you know, a place where just because we market ourselves just right or have enough spots on WPIT or the right cross on top of our building that people come. Lord, I don't really care what my reputation is in the Christian world, let alone the secular world. But Lord, I want to have a reputation in the heavenly places. I want to be a church that when we begin to move in the heavenly places, principalities and powers and dominions and thrones say, here comes the North Way Christian community. Here come people that know what to do in the unseen realm. Here are people who can make a difference where it really counts. And I'll tell you when that begins to happen, all hell is going to break apart. Amen. Praise the Lord. Paul said we wrestle not against flesh and blood, the principalities and powers. Paul said in 2nd Corinthians 10, 4, the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. They're not fleshly. They're not that sign up there. They're not tracts that we hand out. As good as all that is and important as it is, our weapons are invisible. And some of you have gotten a revelation of that and are coming to terms with it in your life, but many of you have not. And the Holy Spirit is saying that today here in the church, he's opening a new doorway of releasing authority to his people. There's not going to be, I trust at North Way, sons of Sceva who in Luke chapter 19 sought to cast out some demons in the name of Jesus, in the name of Paul. By the gospel and Jesus who Paul preaches, they said to this demon-possessed man, and those demons turned and looked at him and said, Jesus I know, Paul I know, but who are you? And they jumped on him. And that one man overpowered seven of them, the Bible says. And most especially when we begin to move in evangelism, when we begin to move out, beloved, we've got to have that authority. To try to go out in evangelism without a sense of authority is like trying to move into a communist nation without a passport. That's what it's like. You're going to get defied, you're going to get resisted, and you're eventually going to be rejected. And for whatever reasons, it seems that fear holds more of us in bondage in that one area of evangelism than any other. I try to think, why don't I share the gospel with people when I don't do it? And it always comes back to fear. Fear of rejection, fear of insensitivity. Well, I'm not going to be just right. Fear of being ignored. Have you ever talked to someone about the Lord and they just started, you know, playing with their candy wrappers? Fear of failure. They're going to say, thank you very much. Now, would you just... I'm not interested. I don't care about that. That's fine for you. And all those excuses, which by the way, this school of evangelism will help you to address. Fear of irrelevancy. I don't need that. Fear of being too heavy. Well, maybe this is going to ruin my relationship. It's all fear, but beloved, we are not called to be in bondage to fear, but fear in bondage to us. As we go forth with the gospel. And so I conclude this morning by asking, how many are here today who need a new release of authority in your life? Now listen, by the grace of God, I'm understanding that the Holy Spirit does certain things at certain times. And I'm saying to you today, as pastor of this church, that the Holy Spirit is here today to release authority in your life. To give you a revelation of the authority that you have in Jesus Christ. That you can move in the invisible. That you can understand the incredible dimensions of the authority you've been given. And that you can see that it's for you in every area of your life together. Hallelujah. Can we pray together? Lord Jesus, Father, would you raise from those right now that you've ordained to touch today, the blinders that have been over their eyes that have prevented them from seeing the revelation of the authority that's been given. As Paul even said, Lord, that they might have a revelation of the knowledge of Jesus Christ that you've ordained for them. And I pray right now, God, as we wait for you in these moments to begin to move in your church. Lord, that you'd ordain people to see their authority. That they'd no longer be subject to the enemy. But be able to rise up and rule and reign over him in the heavenly places. Glory to the name of the Lord. Praise the Lord. Just keep your head bowed for a moment. How many of you would say today, Jay, this message is a direct hit in my life. I've been sensing that. I'm under it and I want to you say, this is the Spirit of God speaking to me today. Let me just see your hand go up. Praise the Lord. That's a gift, Father. I thank you for that, Lord. Thank you, Jesus. Hallelujah, Lord. Hallelujah, Father. Just bless you, Lord. Father, I pray now for those that say this is a day to receive authority. A fresh baptism of authority in their life, Lord. That as we are ministered to in communion, that these would begin to rise in confidence, Lord, in what you're doing. And Father, for those today that aren't sure, I pray that you'd even minister to them in this truth, in Jesus' name. Thank you, Father. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. I'm going to ask us to do this. We're going to have communion right now. And if the deacons and the ushers will prepare themselves for communion. No authority, no power. Now, I think it's appropriate, beloved, that we end on this song today. And for those of you who are ministering up front, you may want to slide back toward the walls. Because you're going to need, if you need to hear, this song is going to lift us all in conclusion before the throne of God. This is a song. Let's remain standing, okay? Let's remain standing. This is a song that glorifies the Lamb who was slain. And I can think of no better way to end this song, this service today, than worshiping the Lamb of Glory. Hear the story from God's Word That kings and priests and prophets heard There would be a sacrifice Blood would flow to pay sin's price Precious Lamb of Glory Thou's most wondrous story Heart of God's redemption of men Worship the Lamb of Glory On the cross God loved the world When all the power of hell was held No one there could understand The one they saw Was Christ the Lamb Precious Lamb of Glory Thou's most wondrous story Heart of God's redemption of men Glory to the Lamb Purest now I stand Worshipping the Lamb of Glory With the saints I will stand in eternity Giving thanks to the Lamb of Glory Precious Lamb of Glory Thou's most wondrous story Heart of God's redemption of men Glory to the Lamb Purest now I stand Worshipping the Lamb of Glory With the saints I will stand Precious Lamb of Glory Thou's most wondrous story Heart of God's redemption of men Glory to the Lamb Purest now I stand Worshipping the Lamb of Glory.