Authority is defined by Webster as: the power to command, determine, influence or judge. We have been given the power to command or determine the outcome of any situation we are in. Webster also defines authority as authorization: right

The Greek work in the New Testament is translated "power" or "authority" in different places. Its definition is ability, competency, right or strength.

-- Revised Standard

Matthew 28:18 " And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age."

-- Revised Standard

Luke 10:19 "Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing shall hurt you."

It is very important to know and be aware of your authority and how to exercise that authority.

Jesus told us all authority is given to Him. He has given that authority to us.

One of the things we are to teach is how to use that authority.

Adam committed high treason and gave his authority to Satan. Satan became in that instant the god of this world. He became the prince of the power of the air, using Adam’s authority. Satan is the god of this world.

-- King James

2 Corinthians 4:4 " In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them."

But praise God! we are born again and new creatures, because of what Jesus did on the cross and our acceptance of that.

2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."

And because Jesus triumphed over Satan and defeated him openly, Satan, even though he is the god of this world, has no authority over us!

-- Revised Standard

Colossians 2:15 "He disarmed the principalities and powers and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in him."

That does not mean that the enemy will not attack you. He will, He is the god of this world, he took the power given him by God and created sin. He was the anointed cherub.

Ephesians 6:12 "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."

- Revised Standard

Colossians 1:12 "giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,"

Jesus tell us that he gave us power to tread on the serpents and scorpions, the bad things that happen in your life. (Luke 10:19, Mt. 28:18)

The serpents and scorpions are the minions of the enemy. We have authority over them.

Our lives will have trials and triumphant.

-- Revised Standard

1 Peter 1:3-6: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy we have been born anew to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and to an inheritance which is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while you may have to suffer various trials,"

Peter tells us several things in these verses:

Jesus Christ has begotten us

1. To a living hope through his resurrection.

2. To an inheritance which is imperishable, kept in heaven for you.

3. And we are kept by (or guarded) by the power of God, , through faith unto salvation.

This is the same power and faith that will see you through each days trials. You didn’t know Jesus personally, you had never seen him, heard him on TV or even met someone who knew him, yet you believed in him for your eternal salvation.This is the same faith.

-- Living Bible

Acts 14:22 " where they helped the believers to grow in love for God and each other. They encouraged them to continue in the faith in spite of all the persecution, reminding them that they must enter into the Kingdom of God through many tribulations."

This is talking about the immediate persecution of the apostles, but I also believe that it is referring to the trials we go through daily.

You will have trials and problems, just remember where they come from.

-- Simple English

James 1:13 When someone is being tested, he shouldn't think that God is tempting him to do wrong. Evil cannot tempt God and God does not tempt anyone with evil. When someone desires things , he is tempting himself. His selfish desire pulls him away and holds him. After that desire has been conceived, it produces sin. Then the sin grows and results in death. Make no mistake about it, my dear brothers, this is true! Every good and perfect gift comes down to us from God, the Source of truth. The Father of lights is always consistent and changeless.

God does not put bad thing on you to teach you. But, He uses that thing you are going through to teach you, train you, mold you, get you back into His loving care, to humble you, to get you to depend on him.

Romans 8:28 " And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."

We will come under attack.

It can be in two forms.

1. A pointed direct attack against you, your person, your finances, your home, your family. You are growing, becoming mature as a Christian, you no longer have the "foot in the door" mentality. You become a real threat to Satan and his plans, he does not want you to succeed, therefore he pointedly attacks you.

2. Or, just circumstance, life. Satan is the God of this world and because he is, things will influence the situations you find yourself. Sometimes it might be the fallout from the

attack on a loved one or someone you know, other times it could be just the ripple effect of the attack on someone or something you have had contact with.

Think of it as your walking through life, sometime it is bright and sunny, other times a fog

develops, sometimes thin, sometimes so thick you can’t see beyond your face. This fog will stick to you, if you let it, you are under attack because of a chink in your armor, and you have to get rid of it. You are the light in the fog, you decide how much light you will shine. The reason you are under attack is sin, you have somehow opened the door through some action and allowed Satan the right to attack you. He could not do it otherwise. Let’s think about Job. Job was a godly man, He loved God, He worshiped and offered sacrifices all the time. The important thing to realize, is Job offered sacrifices all the time because he walked in fear. This gave Satan the opportunity to attack him. In the 3^rd chapter of Job, He says "what I feared has come upon me." He did not walk by faith, this was the chink in his armor. Your chink could be anything, an unkind word, or thought, criticism of someone, a scornful attitude, unfaithfulness to the things of God. When you realize what the thing is, confess your sin and move on. Do not let Satan keep you in condemnation. If you do, you are defeated already. If you don’t know what it is, ask God to show you, so you can make it right. You have to make it right with God.

-- Revised Standard

Ephesians 6:10-18: "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the equipment of the gospel of peace; besides all these, taking the shield of faith, with which you can quench all the flaming darts of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Pray at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,"

There is more to putting on the armor of God, then you might think.

You can get up everyday of your life and recite this scripture and clothe yourself in the armor, but if you don’t know what you have, you will never be able to use it!

-- Revised Standard

Ephesians 1:16-21 "I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power in us who believe, according to the working of his great might which he accomplished in Christ when he raised him from the dead and made him sit at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come;"

Paul prays for us to have wisdom and understanding of all that God has done for us.

He prays for us to have the knowledge of His power. That the eyes of our hearts will be enlightened. Christ was raised from the dead and sits at the right hand of God the Father.

We are seated with him! He is above all rule and authority. We are above all rule and authority. It’s up to you, you can walk in victory or stumble through the fog of oppression. It is your choice.

Know your authority. Mt 28:18 tells us Jesus has it, Luke 10:19, tells us he gave it to us.

But you will not know it if you don’t study it. You must stay in the word. Meditate on it.

-- Revised Standard

Romans 12:2 "Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."

-- Revised Standard

Psalms 19:14 "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer."

Memorize scriptures so that you can quote them when you are under attack.

Write them down, post them in your house.

Take authority over the situation!

-- Revised Standard

Matthew 16:19 "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

Speak the solution in faith.

-- Revised Standard Matthew 17:20 "He said to them, "Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you."

Humble yourself and seek God and God’s ways.

-- Revised Standard

James 4:6 "But he gives more grace; therefore it says, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you."

Then when you put on the armor of God, you will know what you have and how to use it!

1. Gird yourself with the truth of God’s Word.

Rightly divide the word, study if for yourself and know it.

2 Timothy 2:15 "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."

2. Put on the breastplate of Righteousness. You should cover both your front and back with the righteousness of God, a right relationship with God. And Jesus was made our righteousness. We are to be holy and right with God at all times.

3. Cover you feet with the equipment of the gospel of peace. This is the firm foundation on which all else is based. Cover your feet with it. As you walk, you spread it around, the truth, You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.

4. Take up the shield of faith, to quench the fiery darts of the enemy.

The shield was a pretty complete covering, it was 21/2 by 4 feet in size and the Roman soldiers would line up and hold their shields up and form a wall. It was the first and strongest defense they used.

5. Put on the helmet of salvation. The helmet protects your head, it covers it completely.

When we are born again, our spirits are regenerated with the life of God, but our minds are not, the helmet protect your mind from the thoughts whispered into it by Satan.

But it has to be trained, and fed, and renewed on a constant basis.

6. Take up the Sword of the Spirit. This is the Word of God.

-- Revised Standard

Joshua 1:8 "This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall have good success."

-- Revised Standard

Hebrews 4:12 "For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart."

7. Praying always in the spirit! This is the key to the whole thing. We still have to pray, for what we are going through, but also for all the saint. Remember they are going through the same type things.

-- Revised Standard

Ephesians 6:18 "Pray at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,"

You want to succeed, to overcome pray for someone else!

Put yourself last!

Remember! Don’t glorify the attack or the attacker.

Don’t go around telling everyone you know how much the devil is attacking you.

Don’t give everyone the gory details, when you ask for prayer.