Sons and Daughters of the Living God
Title: Authority Over All Power of the Enemy
Subject Matter: Learning about the authority that God the Father gave to His children in the area of spiritual warfare
Speakers: Neal Leazer
Recorded March 4, 2015 at Spirit Filled Living – a local church in Apex, NC
You can download the audio by right-clicking on the following link: Authority Over All Power of the Enemy
I am writing this post to explain something that is very plain and easy to see in the Bible, but seems to be absent from the understanding of many Christians I come in contact with.
According to the Bible, every Christian has absolute authority over every demon, and the devil himself. And as we will see, this authority is a gift. It is not the result of hard work, study, holy living, devotion, prayer, fasting, or any other religious activity.
We are going to look at some passages from Ephesians 1 and 2. Paul, the writer of Ephesians, explains this authority by first showing us the authority of Jesus, and then showing how that relates to us as believers.
Our first passage comes as part of a very long paragraph, and it is difficult to break into the middle of it, so I am going to quote the whole thing here. Our focus in this passage will be on the later verses.
Ephesians 1:15-21
15 Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints,
16 do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers:
17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,
18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,
19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power
20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,
21 far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.
Notice that it says in verses 20 and 21 that Jesus has been seated at the right hand of the Father in the heavenly places. Notice also that this is a position that is far above all “principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.”
Paul uses the words “principalities and powers” (and so on) to describe demons and evil spirits. He uses this same terminology later in this same letter when he says this:
Ephesians 6:12 – For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
So, going back to Ephesians 1:20-21, Paul is showing us that Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father, and He is far above every evil spirit or demon or fallen angel or any other evil spiritual being that exists.
In a kingdom, being seated at the right hand of the king is the highest position that is available. There is no higher rank than this. And since the the Kingdom of God is the greatest Kingdom, and since there is no authority in existence that is higher than God the Father, then we know that being seated at His right is to be in a place of unmatched authority. Jesus is in this place of authority at the Father’s right hand. Jesus has absolute, unconditional authority over all demons.
Please keep the previous information in mind as we continue reading in Ephesians. And please pay very close attention here. What you are about to read is so amazing that it is almost hard to believe.
I am going to quote the next part of the passage here, and we will skip to the end and work our way back.
Ephesians 1:22-2:6
22 And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church,
23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
2:1 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,
2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,
3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus
Take a very close look at the last verse above. Ephesians 2:6. I want to show it in several different translations, so that you can see what it is saying.
NET – and he raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,
NIV – And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,
NASB – and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
NLT – For he raised us from the dead along with Christ, and we are seated with him in the heavenly realms––all because we are one with Christ Jesus.
NRSV – and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
NKJV – and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
God the Father has seated us at His right hand, in the same seat of authority that Jesus occupies (we are WITH Christ and we are also IN Christ). This is a place that is far above every demon, every fallen angel, every evil spirit, and even the devil himself. It is the same seat of authority Jesus occupies, as mentioned in the passage that we looked at earlier. The Bible says that God decided to allow you to share the throne of Jesus. That is astounding!
God has chosen to give us, His beloved children, a level of authority in the spirit realm that is above every other created being.
Also, please notice the tense of the verbs. This is not something that will take place in the future. The verbs are in the past tense. It doesn’t say that we will be seated, it says we have already been seated. This is something that has already happened. We, as followers of Christ, have already been given authority that is far above the enemy.
Take a moment and let this sink in. If you have never seen this before, it make take a while. It is a staggering truth to comprehend. We have absolute, unconditional authority over all demons. We are in a position that is far above them. We are above even the most powerful and highest ranking forces of evil. This explicitly includes principalities, powers, and every name that is named.
To further emphasize this truth, read Ephesians 1:22-23 again. It says “And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.”
All things are under the feet of Jesus. Jesus is the head of the church. The church is His body. The feet are part of the body. All things are under His feet, so all things are under His body…so all things are under the church. The picture that God wants us to see is that every demon is under our feet. We have authority over all demons.
If you believe the Bible, then you need to believe this, because it is in the Bible, and it is true.
It is true whether or not you realize it. It is true whether or not you believe it. Rather, it is true because God said it. When you decide to believe it, that doesn’t make it true. It was true already. But if you will choose to believe it, then you can and will begin enjoying the benefits of it.
Authority over the devil and demons is not something that we should be working towards. It is not a goal or a target. It is a fact that is true right now. It is already so. We don’t have to work for it, it was given to us as a gift. God gave it to us “because of His great love for us” (Eph 2:4), not because of our hard work and holy living.
When you chose to put your faith in Jesus, several things happened. You were declared righteous and holy by God the Father (Romans 5:1). You were spiritually born again (John 3:5-8) into the family of God (John 1:12). You were given citizenship with full rights into the Kingdom of God (Eph 2:19). And you were placed into a seat/position of authority that is higher than every other created being (Eph 2:6).
All of this took place the instant you believed. It was all an act of unmerited goodwill (grace) from your heavenly Father. You did not work to earn any of it. It came as a result of faith in Jesus, “not of works, lest any man should boast” (Eph 2:8).
It was given as a free gift, totally apart from your own goodness or merit. Like I said before, you did not earn your place with God by working hard, reading your bible, fasting, praying, giving to the poor, or any other good deed. It was all a free gift.
Since it was a free gift, and since you already possess all of these things, then you can be very confident that you do not have to achieve any level of performance in order to maintain any of these things…including your authority.
Your authority over the devil did not come as a reward for your holy lifestyle, and likewise it not be decreased or taken away because of any moral or ethical failures, large or small, that you may experience during your life. Don’t get me wrong…sin is bad, and sin can make things very difficult for you. But remember this: your level of authority over the devil is not related to your ability to avoid sin. You have authority over the enemy, even when you sin.
So never let the enemy lie to you and tell you that you have lost your authority because of something you did. That is just a lie to trick you into becoming an easy target.
If you have any experience working in a job for different managers, supervisors, or company owners, then you can probably identify with what I am about to say. There are some people in a position of authority that can speak and people will listen to them. Then there are other people in a position of authority that can speak and people will ignore them, or disrespect them, or any other variety of responses.
It is possible to have a position of authority…to have authority…but not know how to use it.
You have authority over the devil, but it is not doing you any good if you don’t know how to use it.
In my next post, I plan to spend some time giving some examples of how to use the authority that your Father has given you. But for now, I want to highlight something from the beginning of the first passage I quoted in this article.
Ephesians 1:15-19
15 Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints,
16 do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers:
17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,
18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,
19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power
The writer is offering a prayer here. Notice that he is not praying for God to pour out His power, or to give the people more authority. He is praying that the people would open their eyes and realize what they already have. We do not need to be praying for more power or more authority. That is actually unbelief….you don’t believe that God gave you what the Bible says that He already gave you. If we want to pray about this subject, we should be praying that God would help us see what He gave us, and train us and help us learn how to use what He has already provided.
So, in closing, I encourage you to pray something like this: Father, I believe that you have given me power and authority to represent you, and to destroy the works of the enemy. Help me understand this. Teach me how to cooperate with you to do your will, and to use this power and authority to bring glory and honor to Jesus. Amen.
Title: Taking Every Thought Captive
Subject Matter: Using your God-given authority to overcome temptations
Speaker: Neal Leazer
Recorded October 29, 2014 at Spirit Filled Living – a local church in Apex, NC
You can download the audio by right-clicking on the following link: Taking Every Thought Captive
Title: Our Position of Authority
Subject Matter: A look at the position of authority that God has given to His children in the area of spiritual warfare
Speaker: Neal Leazer
Recorded October 22, 2014 at Spirit Filled Living – a local church in Apex, NC
You can download the audio by right-clicking on the following link: Our Position of Authority
Jesus spent a considerable amount of His time on earth dealing with demons (aka evil spirits, unclean spirits, etc). This was one of His main activities. It was also one of the things that really drew people to him. Take a look at these passages.
Matthew 8:16
When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick,Mark 1:34
Then He healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He did not allow the demons to speak, because they knew HimMark 1:39
39 And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.Mark 3:11
And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw Him, fell down before Him and cried out, saying, “You are the Son of God.”Luke 4:36
Then they were all amazed and spoke among themselves, saying, “What a word this is! For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out.”Luke 6:17-18
And He came down with them and stood on a level place with a crowd of His disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem, and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear Him and be healed of their diseases,as well as those who were tormented with unclean spirits. And they were healed.Luke 7:21
And that very hour He cured many of infirmities, afflictions, and evil spirits; and to many blind He gave sight.
Preaching, teaching, healing the sick, and casting out demons. That’s what you would see if you went to see Jesus in action. He would preach the Kingdom of God, and then demonstrate it with displays of supernatural power. Or, He would do it in reverse order. He would exercise supernatural power over sickness and demons, and then He would preach and teach.
That is what the ministry of Jesus looked like. Casting out demons was a big part of it. It was one his three main areas of focus (with healing and preaching/teaching being the other two).
Also, we know from scripture that it was important to him that his representatives do this also as a regular part of their activities.
We can see it when he sent out the 12 (his first group of representatives):
Luke 9:1 – Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases. He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.
We can also see it when he sent out the 70 (his second group of representatives):
Luke 10:1 – After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go….
Luke 10:17-19 – Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.” And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you…”
Also, at the great commission, this is the first thing Jesus mentioned when he was describing the signs that “shall follow them that believe”:
Mark 16:17 – And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues…
When Jesus prepared people and sent them out to represent Him, casting out demons was part of the program. This is because He loves people, and wants them to be free from the influence of evil spirits, just like He wants people to be saved and healed.
As the Bible narrative continues in the book of Acts, you can see His followers dealing with demons as part of what they did. This wasn’t just something that happened during the ministry of Jesus before He died on the cross. It continued, just like healing and preaching/teaching continued. Those are the three main activities that followers of Jesus are supposed to be equipped for. That is our mission as Christians. We are supposed to doing the works that Jesus did (John 14:12) which means healing the sick, casting out demons, and preaching the gospel.
When teaching people about the different parts of the Christian walk, we should include training on dealing with demons. It should be a major area of focus, since it will be a regular part of our activities. There aren’t any less demons in the world now than there were 2000 years ago. And a representative of Jesus should be able (at least to some degree) to recognize demonic activity, to exercise authority over demons, and to drive them out of anyone that is being oppressed. This is a balanced, proper, and Biblical perspective.
Title: Jesus and the Holy Spirit
Subject Matter: A look at the interaction between the Holy Spirit and Jesus, and what this means for us
Speaker: Neal Leazer
Recorded May 21, 2014 at Spirit Filled Living – a local church in Apex, NC
You can download the audio by right-clicking on the following link: Jesus and the Holy Spirit
Title: Angels and Demons 1
Subject Matter: In this class we discuss different ways that demons attempt to affect people. We also share some practical ways that believers can exercise authority over demons.
Speaker: Neal Leazer
Recorded March 19, 2014 at Spirit Filled Living – a local church in Apex, NC
You can download the audio by right-clicking on the following link: Angels and Demons
I believe that the material you are about to read contains information about our Lord Jesus that will completely transform the way you look at our Creator. These truths are among the most precious and sacred treasures I have ever come across. I hope this blesses you.
Acts 10:38 – God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.
This passage of Scripture is Peter’s summary of the life of Jesus. He tells us what Jesus did, and how He did it.
It is just one sentence, but I believe it is one of the most important sentences that a human being can ever spend time thinking about. I want to divide it into two parts, and examine each part individually.
Jesus is God. He was God throughout eternity past, He is God right now, and He is God throughout eternity in the future. Whatever it means to be God, that’s what Jesus is.
He is…
Those are three words we use to try describe some of God’s “attributes.” They all apply to Jesus, because Jesus is God.
However, 2000 years ago Jesus “came to earth” on a mission. Contrary to popular belief, it was not a finger-pointing mission, but rather a rescue mission (John 3:17). Part of the rescue mission involves Him subjecting Himself to the limitations of a mere human being. He became a man. Or, another way of saying it…He came to earth as a man in a physical body with self-imposed limits on His abilities. Here are some scriptures that bring out this point:
Philippians 2:5-8 – Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
Hebrews 2:17-18 – Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.
Jesus chose to become a man, and to subject himself to the same limits you and I have. For example, while He was on the earth in a human body…
So, even though He is God, He put himself in our shoes and made Himself subject to our limitations. He was born as a human infant with a human brain and body, and grew up having to learn how to talk and how to walk like any other human.
We don’t really know much of the first 30 years of His life, other than the fact that He worked as a carpenter, and He had a remarkable grasp of the Scriptures. But that is about it. He was not performing any miracles or healings or anything very far out of the ordinary.
Then, something happened. He came to be baptized by John in the Jordan river. When He came up out of the water, the Holy Spirit descended on Him (Luke 3:21-22). At this point in His life, things changed dramatically. He began to do things that ordinary people can’t do.
Before this day in His life, He had done zero miracles. In the three years that followed this day, He did so many miracles that one eyewitness made this statement:
John 21:25 – And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen
Something changed when the Holy Spirit descended upon Him, and it was noticeable immediately to people around him. Look at the way the people in His hometown reacted:
Mark 6:1-3 – Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. “Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him, that he even does miracles! Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph,Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.
Their reaction shows that something was VERY different now. They were not used to Him teaching like this and doing miracles.
We are told in Luke 4:14 and Luke 4:18 that Jesus is now walking in the power of the Holy Spirit. That is the reason for the sudden change. When the Holy Spirit descended upon Him, Jesus went from living within the limits of a “regular person” (and I say that reverently) to living as a “regular person” who has the Spirit of God working through Him to demonstrate miraculous power.
The miracles and healings were a result of a human being (Jesus) cooperating with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit provided the power and the ability for Jesus to do miracles, heal people, cast out demons, calm storms, raise the dead, multiply food, teach with authority, walk on water, know people’s thoughts, and so on.
This is exciting news for us, because the same Holy Spirit that enabled Jesus to do miracles is the same Holy Spirit that lives in every single believer. Jesus explicitly tells us in John 14:12 that anyone that believes in Him will do the same things (and even greater things) that He was doing. More on this later….
Jesus went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil (and that’s what He wants us to do too). Healing is good. It is good to heal people. Oppression and sickness are bad. That should be obvious to anyone that has any kind of ability to read and comprehend simple statements.
Jesus didn’t go around telling the sick people that God made them sick to teach them patience or to deepen their piety. That is not considered “doing good.” He didn’t tell them that their diseases were part of some mysterious plan, and that they needed to remain sick because it wasn’t God’s will to heal them right now. Jesus didn’t do that, and He doesn’t want us doing that either. That is the opposite of “doing good and healing all who were oppressed of the devil.”
Jesus demonstrated the power of God with authority. He commanded sickness to leave. He commanded people’s bodies to be healed. He commanded demons to go. That is good.
Jesus healed sick people, and he cast demons out of people that were under demonic influence. This is called “healing all who were oppressed by the devil.” Again, that is called “doing good.”
Notice that sickness is not from God. Sickness is oppression from the devil. In the beginning, God made earth and mankind without sickness. There was no disease in the Garden of Eden. Sickness became a part of our life on earth when Adam sinned and gave his dominion away to the devil. Sickness is not part of God’s plan for your life. It is a part of the devil’s plan for your life. God’s plan is that we imitate Jesus and do what He would do…drive out sickness by the power of the same Holy Spirit that worked in Him….the same Holy Spirit that lives in each of us who believe.
Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil, and He gave us the authority to do the same. He said that we would do the same works that he did, and even greater works because He was returning to His Father (John 14:12). When Jesus returned to heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father, He poured out the Holy Spirit on the church (Acts 2:33), and then they starting doing the same things Jesus had been doing.
The great commission includes instructions to heal the sick and cast out demons (Mark 16). It also includes instructions to make disciples and teach them to do what Jesus taught the original disciples to do: heal the sick, cast out demons, and preach the gospel.
Somewhere through history, it seems like a lot of the church has forgotten about this. In the days of the early church, the news about Jesus spread because His followers were doing miracles, healing sick people, and and setting people free from demonic oppression. They were not relying on clever marketing gimmicks, good music, or attempts to be culturally relevant. They were demonstrating the Kingdom of God by the power of the Holy Spirit. This is the same Holy Spirit that lives in every Christian, and He is no less powerful today than He was 2000 years ago.
Do you want to represent Jesus through miracles and healing the sick? Study the life of Jesus, take a leap of faith, and begin to imitate Him. Ask the Holy Spirit to teach you. Do not be afraid to make mistakes. Learn as you go. Do not be afraid to look stupid or be embarrassed. The Holy Spirit is not only your teacher, but He is also your comforter, your counselor, and your friend. He will help you.
Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil. He did this through the power of the Holy Spirit.
That same Holy Spirit (and that same power) lives inside of every Christian. And every Christian has been commissioned to do good and heal the sick. We have been given the same mission that Jesus demonstrated, and we have been given the same supernatural equipment to accomplish the mission.