spiritual authority

Today we are going to study the Bible and we are going to study the topic of spiritual authority. And we are going to see what the Lord says and what the Bible says about spiritual authority and for that we are going to read some verses, I will not have time to read all the verses but they are going to put some verses on the screen and we are going to see some verses about the study of spiritual authority. Glory to God.

We will begin with Romans, chapter 13, from 1 to 7. Then we are going to read Luke, chapter 10, 17 to 19, and Luke chapter 9, verse 1. We will begin with Romans chapter 13 from 1 to 7, and the word of God we read in name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Thus says the word of the Lord, it is not my word, it is the word of the Lord.

“Submit every person to the superior authorities because there is no authority but from God – that hurts, right?, but it is not my word, it is the word of the Lord. – And those that exist by God have been established so that whoever opposes authority, resists what is established by God and those who resist bring condemnation to themselves. Because magistrates are not there to instill fear in those who do good but rather in evil, do you want to not fear authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from her, because she is God's servant for your good. But if you do evil, fear because he does not carry the sword in vain, for he is the servant of God, avenger, to punish the one who does evil. For which it is necessary to be subject to it, not only for reasons of punishment but also for reasons of conscience, since with this you also pay tributes because they are servants of God who continually attend to this very thing. Pay everyone what you owe, to whom tribute, tribute, to whom tax, tax, to whom I respect, respect, to whom honor, honor."

I give you a minute to tear up your Bible or run out of here. God bless your clear read word, Lord, and help us to understand also what Luke says, chapter 10 from 17 to 19 in Jesus name. And it says like this:

“The 70 came with joy saying, Lord, some demons are subjected to us in your name, and he said to them, I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning, behold, I give you power to trample on serpents and scorpions and over all the forces of the enemy and nothing will harm you. But do not rejoice that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice because your names are written in heaven."

It's strong. Chapter 9, verse 1:

"Having gathered his 12 disciples, he gave them power and authority over all demons and to heal disease."

My brothers, all of life, the world, business, the church, the system, everything is under a principle, the principle of authority. Authority is not a beautiful word that they invented for people to submit to a boss, a leader, a person, authority is a divine principle. Also the religious world has its own concepts of authority. In the Kingdom of God the concept of authority is unique, there is a purpose for that authority and the power that is also over it. Everything is under authority.

When I'm traveling at the airport, for example, you look at a big plane, those big Boeings, and they stare, right? How big! And how much does an airplane weigh? Wow. and how many people are there? 400. Some are fatter than others, which makes the aircraft heavier, right? And how many suitcases does he have? Like 1000 suitcases. Wow, how awesome! And suddenly you board the plane, you feel comfortable, you wait for the meal, and the plane takes off. And in a few minutes it seems that it is like a feather in the air. You wonder how an airplane flies?

It is that all things are subject to a law. Everything is under a regime and when the plane is in the air like a feather, it is under a law. The law of gravity. That's why the plane can go quietly. The key to life is understanding the laws and understanding how the laws work. Everything that God created works according to laws. Everything divine works under a law. Your body, the sea, the universe, the birds of the sky, how they fly, the earth, everything, if you want to be successful in your life, study how the laws work.

And suddenly I tell you that success is not something you pursue, success is the by-product of the keyword of the Bible. Is there a keyword in the Bible? Yes. The key word in the Bible is obedience. Success is the result of living an obedient life.

Authority can also be seen as a forgotten principle. The most powerful position on earth is under authority, not above authority. Authority is the safest place where everything created by God can be. Discovering your authority is the key to a life in freedom. Discovering his authority is the key to living a free life, free from the concepts, the problems, the conflicts that are upon me, because he commands me, because he gives me orders.

When you discover that freedom in Christ Jesus and discover that these are biblical principles, the crises that you think you have in your work with authority, with this boring boss that you think is the worst boss in the world, will to pass.

Lack of authority brings self-destruction. Proverbs, chapter 11, verse 14 says;

"Where there is no wise direction, the people will fall, but in the multitude of advisers there is security..."

There is another version that says that in the multitude of advisers there is wisdom. When we live under a concept of authority, and here I am leaving the introduction, the message is going to begin.

What is authority? I had a hard time learning that principle. There are two concepts that we need to clarify in order to understand this principle of authority in the Bible. First, the difference between authority and power. Authority comes from the Greek exoucia, that is, power to govern, ability to subdue, it is a right to exercise power. There is no authority without power, it is not delegated. There is no authority if power is not delegated by that authority. And there is no authority if the power is not given to you by the person to whom the authority was given.

Jesus gave the 70, he gave two things, when the 70 disciples were on a mission trip. Jesus gave them power and gave them authority. You can have power and not have authority. But you will not have authority if you do not have delegated power over you.

Power comes from the Greek dundamis used to describe intrinsic strength or ability. It is the dynamism that enables a person to make the people under authority do something, to change, to achieve things, even in the face of opposite circumstances. Power is ability.

We all have power and God is not impressed with the power I have. God is not impressed with his power. You know what impresses God? Your obedience. God is not impressed with the positions you have in this church. God is not impressed if you are a deacon, if you are an usher, if you are a leader or if you are a pastor, God is not impressed with that. God is impressed if I am obedient or not, because there is a principle and there are spiritual laws to be obeyed under a principle.

Authority is a power granted. Genuine authority is a legal right, authority makes power legal. If there is no authority under a principle of obedience, the power is not legal, it is an illegal power. Authority is more important than power because power without authority is not legitimate. Power is energy, force, something that enables, and authority is a right, responsibility, therefore authority is the right you have to use the power that is over you.

It's a puzzle. It's almost that. I see God concerned with the church, concerned with always recovering the unity of the body of Christ, but for that he must first say the life of the head, there is a principle of God. The life in the head followed by the authority that is above the head. Without life in the head there can be no body. There he is beginning to assemble the puzzle. Without the life of the head there can be no body. Without the authority of the head there can be no unity in the body.

When you understand the principle of authority, you understand why there are all these problems in the churches and many times brothers, because the churches divide. They divide themselves. In my country there was a church called Iglesia Dios es Amor. A group from this church decided to love differently and left the church and rented a building in front of the church and named it Iglesia Amor de Dios. God is love competing with Love of God. Neither group understood a principle of authority because they did not understand the authority that was above the head and to maintain the unity of the body we must let the life of the head rule. If God does not rule your life you cannot have authority over anyone. If God is not the owner of your life, you will not know how to submit to your boss, you will not understand the conflicts that happen in families and also in churches.

Do you know what are the favorite verses of husbands? One day I told my wife, women, you are subject to your husbands. But I stopped there. She said, yes, dear. Because here comes the good part, and the good part is the verse that women like the most, which says that husbands love their wives as Christ loved the church, and gave himself up for her. The husbands clapped their hands in the first part, the wives in the second part. Glory to Jesus.

A principle, my brothers, and Christians must obey authority. There is no authority except from God and when I say this I know that some thoughts begin to come into his head. and so-and-so? You are thinking of some rebel leaders and they are thinking of some leaders who did wrong to the community. Maybe you think of Hitler, of Uganda's Idi Amin Dada, and think of other terrible leaders who did wrong. I don't want to talk about the Dominican Republic, okay? Other terrible leaders who did wrong to the world. Now I tell them what will happen to them.

All authorities have been instituted by God, whether it hurts or not. By investigating all the authorities until we reach its origin, we will invariably end up in God. God is the head of authority, he is above all authorities. The authority is under the government of God. By coming into contact with authority we come into contact with God himself.

Brothers, basically the work of God is not done by the power that we have. You don't make the world happier because you have power. You don't preach the Gospel to the needy and you don't help the poor of the earth because you have power. You do not exercise leadership in this church because you are a powerful person. God's work is done under a principle of authority and a principle of power from God who is the head of authority. He sustains all things by the powerful word of his authority just as things were also created by his word as a mandate of authority.

We do not know how God's authority operates. We do not know how the divine government of authority operates. When God said, for example, let there be light, when God said, the waters now divide... word, authority, when God breathes and produces life, authority. We don't know how that happens in the spiritual realm, yet we do know that he does all things through one word, authority.

There we understand that authority comes from God. Oh, pastor, that boss comes from God? That is why it is necessary that we understand some principles of authority and the verses are very fast, I will not have time to read all of them, so we are going to put some verses on the screen of the principles of authority. We have already read Romans chapter 3 from 1 to 4 which says:

“All authority is from God,” and this also includes the authority that you are thinking is from God. The [inaudible] of authority, all authority is delegated by God and must reflect the character of the leader who is God.

John chapter 13, from 13 to 17, "It reflects the character of the leader who is God."

The other principle only has authority who is under authority. You cannot be a leader or have authority over anyone if you are under the principle of rebellion. Do you know why? There is no room in the Kingdom of God for rebellion. But, pastor, there are no rebels here. No, there are no rebels here, here we are saints. Sheep, right? But let me tell you one thing, the Bible says that the sin of rebellion is the same as the sin of witchcraft. In other words, every rebel is a sorcerer. There aren't that kind of people here, right? That is why we are not rebels. Amen. Hallelujah!

The fifth principle of authority is for edification and not for destruction. Second Corinthians, chapter 10 from 1 to 9. You can write down that verse and see it at home and confer that message at home. Authority comes to build your life and does not come to destroy your life.

A few moments ago you thought that the authority imposed on you and was doing you and committed some kind of sin. It is not a sin and we are going to see in the end that message in this study, when it is that we can disobey an authority. So, there is a way, once in a lifetime that we can disobey an authority.

Principle number 6, without submission there will be no edification. First Peter, chapter 5, from 2 to 6. You cannot see the growth of the church if there is no submission, there are principles that must be obeyed in the word of God. And that principle is fundamentally based on obedience.

The seventh principle that is hard, God does not want to govern anyone who does not want to be governed. And we have to understand, my brothers, that there are principles that are established and all of them are between authority and obedience. If men are to serve God, submission to authority is an absolute necessity, because obedience transcends what we do. Everything we do, if you sing, if you play an instrument, if you preach, if you are an usher, if you are a deacon, a pastor, it doesn't matter, it is the principle of obedience to God that transcends what you do. Because what you do may not be so seen. There are people here who have deep and important ministries and are not seen.

For example, those who pray, those who intercede. Someone asked me, pastor, when we had the 24-hour vigil, why didn't we fill that temple? Do you know why? Because praying, interceding, does not attract attention. Praying, interceding for others does not give shine, it does not give a name, it does not give status. We want to be in the spotlight, we want the spotlight to be on us and for people to see how we are, how important we are. What we do is good and let me say what I do, what you do does not impress our God.

Obedience transcends what we do. David had how many chances to kill Saul? Several. And David said, I will not touch that man, I will not touch the anointed of the Lord, the anointed of the Lord. Be filled with the spirit of Christ, be filled with the Lord, means being filled with obedience. Be filled with the Holy Spirit and I am going to repeat because I want that to be recorded, to be filled with the Holy Spirit, to be filled with the spirit of God means to be filled with obedience. And it is a beginning.

Philippians chapter 2, I want to read that with you. It is a beautiful passage, I love it and it shows how Jesus entered under that principle of obedience. Philippians chapter 2, from 5 to 11, says:

"Let there be in you that feeling that there was also in Christ Jesus who, being in the form of God, did not consider being equal to God as something to cling to, but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, made similar to men..."

Who is he talking about? Of Jesus.

"... and being in the condition of a man, he humbled himself by being obedient to death and death on the cross."

Jesus obeyed. Do you know what for? Therefore God also exalted him to the highest and gave him a name that is above all names. So that the name of Jesus may bow every knee of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

And let me tell you something, this leader that you thought before, that terrible leader that you thought before, you thought that Hitler was a terrible man, you thought that Osama Bin Laden was a terrible man, you thought that Trujillo was a terrible man, you thought of other miserable leaders of history, let me tell you, according to my word those men will one day prostrate themselves before the Lord and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

Let me tell you more, although you will have to confess and then go to hell, but you will have to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Jesus entered into obedience. Do you know what for? So that when he [inaudible] his name, his name will go with power.

Do you remember the centurion? Sir, I have a sick man over there. I know that you are a man of power and you have authority and you know the principle of authority, just send a word and my soldier will be healed. Word, one word.

Has it ever occurred to you to think what word that was? And let me tell you the word of authority is in it in the name of Jesus. I imagine Jesus saying to the centurion, go, pronounce my name on the road and eyua, and when you get there say, my eyua, and he will be healed of the disease.

When you are in a crisis, say the in the name of Jesus. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. That name has power because it is the name of the word, it is the name of the authority, the name of Jesus.

Hebrews chapter 5 verse 8 says that Jesus learned obedience through suffering. And let me tell you if you think that Jesus brought a life plan on this earth you are deceived. He didn't have a plan, the only plan was to go up to the cross and he did. But everything that lived here was not under a catalog, a plan, what Jesus lived on this earth was under authority and what he lived here was obedience, obedience, he led him to the cross, and although he was a Son, says the word, by what he suffered he learned obedience. Know why? For the suffering.

If you think your boss is a punisher, he is not a punisher. He is teaching to love God. Oh, pastor, it hurts like that. I had a tremendous boss. We had a staff meeting once a week, on Thursdays, I was sweating before the meeting because I knew that was where it came from. But you know what I did? I began to raise up intercessors for me, intercessors in Brazil, intercessors in Africa, intercessors in Asia, pray for me. I did the fence. On May 18, 2009, how do I have the date, right? I received an email, so and so, no longer works for this company. Three days later my boss walks into my office and asks me, are you ready?

I always say, I was born ready. I was born ready. What's going on? You're going to take the office over there. So does the lord. God bless you, amen. God bless you where you are, amen. Hallelujah!

The nature of spiritual authority, authority exercised in the spiritual or moral realm, is different from any other authority. Spiritual authority is closely tied to character, deeply tied to character. The way you react to the authority that is over you, to your leader, to your boss or whatever is over you, to a policeman on the street, when the lights come on, the way you react defines your character.

Pastor, what is character? Character is the outward reaction of your personality. Psychology taught me that it forms a child up to 6 years of age, personality is formed but character is not formed. What you receive afterwards, the external reaction to what you experience, shapes your character, who you are, and that has nothing to do with your temperament, nothing to do with it. If you are choleric, if you are sanguine, if you are melancholic, nothing to do with that, or if you are a choleric person. You think that I am calm, I am very calm, right? No? the brother said no. I am calm, apparently calm, but inside I am like a hurricane. That hurricane is just my temperament, because my character Jesus is molding every day.

But, pastor, is it a class on psychoanalysis or authority? It is the same, because it is the way you understand the divine government, and when you understand what you are, and where you are planted and what you have to do, and the conflicts go away, at home, at school, at work , on the street, when we walk, when we confront people who are different from us, and we begin to better understand people who are different from us because our desire is for all people to be like me. And that is not true. Imagine two Samuels. No, that's not good. Imagine two Bethanies. That's not good either, right?

The integrity of moral selection is necessary for us to decide what we want and who we are. We must learn to honor the individuality and difference of people and that is the way that God uses to govern in uniformity, that is, without unity in diversity. I respect private personnel and that cannot be violated even by the authorities that are called by God to exercise authority over other people. They are principles that must be obeyed.

Well, but how do I understand then to know the authority that is delegated to me? How can I understand that? and there are 4 requirements to play the role of the delegated authority in the correct perspective and that I am going to develop with you in the next few minutes.

First principle, we read Romans chapter 3, verse 1, the delegated authority must understand that all authority comes from God. It hurts? All authority comes from God. That is understanding that we must have.

Second, the delegated authority must deny itself. It is the only way to understand that we live under a principle. And when I diminish here so that the other person can move forward there, it is when I understand that God gave me a ministry but God gave that person authority and I must submit to this authority. It's the only way. When I come down here for God to appear through my brother. And that makes us understand some things, right?

Why does so-and-so have that position and I don't? it is because God gave so-and-so authority to exercise a power.

Third, the delegated authority must be kept in constant fellowship with the Lord. Do you want authority? Seek from God. Let God rule you. Be a courageous believer. Let your leadership, the people under your rule, see the God in your life.

Fourth principle, the delegated authority must also be under an authority. You do not have authority if you are not an obedient person, if you are not under authority. And that reminds me of something. The Bible says that Moses had 2 brothers. What were the names of Moses' older brothers? Miriam and Aaron, older brothers of Moses. And Moses one day felt lonely and said, ah, I want a wife. Ah, I want someone. And Moses saw a woman and was enchanted by her. And that woman was a black girl, pretty. And the Bible says that she was an Egyptian.

Numbers, chapter 12, she was an Egyptian. And Moses looked at the Egyptian and said, ah! I want to mix those colors. The older sister of Moses who should have authority over him in the house, as the older sister, she decided, she called Aaron and left, look, Moses with the bold…. I dont like him. Ah, because he is going to mix the colors, because the family and the children are going to be burned, toasted. My mother-in-law said one day, very burned! [Laughter] Very burnt and the daughter said, that's fine.

But let me tell you what happened to Miriam, the sister of Moses. The word of the Lord says, in Numbers, chapter 12, that she spoke ill of her brother and Moses was a younger brother but had authority from God. And the word says that God came down from the cloud at the door of the congregation and tells the three of them, come here. and the three of them come out and God says to Moses, you stay there. Come Maria and Aaron. And God told them, you guys got in trouble with me. And the word says, brothers, that Mary, some versions call Miriam, remained a leper for 7 days and God said, put her outside the town, outside the congregation. And Moses went to cry out to God, forgive, Lord, talkative Mary, forgive, forgive.

Do not speak ill of your leader. Watch your mouth. Watch your tongue. In my country they say that the walls have ears. But I tell you that God has ears and there is nothing in this world that is not under the eyes and government of the sovereign God, everything is under his authority. Don't talk bad, don't go around with your tongue talking bad about people. There are people who have the habit of speaking ill of their leaders. Detect this evil in your life and erase it in the name of Jesus. Glory to God.

What are the signs that identify a person who understands and lives under authority? I'm talking about spiritual authority. I put here some signs that identify. First, a person who has known the authority will seek where to find the authority and identify the authority. And if we are talking about the church of Jesus, identify the church that is your authority and enter under that authority.

Second sign, a person who has had encounters with the authority of God is meek, tender, has been softened and cannot be harsh or legalistic, he is a gentle person. The person who had an encounter with the authority of God is a person who must be willing to change and do not tell me that I was born like this, I am going to die like this because God on the cross, Jesus Christ on the cross, had the purpose of changing us completely and life is holistically changeable.

I mean from head to toe. You can change. Don't be so harsh. Don't be so rough. Did you know that there are Christians who have such a serious face that it looks like a clock when it says 6 o'clock in the afternoon? And let me tell you something, it doesn't make you any holier. God wants us to be 15 by 3 like Miguelina. Don't be so harsh. smile. Sometimes we order here, say hello to your brother on the right and on the left and do you know how we do it? God bless you. We do not look into the eyes. We do not ask the name. It is difficult for me to record everyone's name, but sometimes I write the person's name on my hidden phone. It was hard for me to record Fanny's name, but I know what Fanny is like. And I recorded it. I'm going to say something, Fanny, I remembered Fanny. This is how God does with us.

A person who has really had an encounter with authority never wants to be in authority. Let me tell you, authority is not something you are looking for out there with no boss at all. No, it doesn't exist. It is God who puts, it is God who takes out, who takes away, who gives and who takes away and has government. He does not have the concern or the interest to become a leader, something great in life that people recognize me.

If you have had an encounter with authority, you do not like to give advice and even less to dominate others. The leader is not a dominator. Every ruler is weak. When you see a domineering leader, look at his history, look at his childhood, and look at his weaknesses.

A person who has had contact with authority keeps his mouth shut. She is in subjection and dare not speak carelessly because there is a sense of authority in her. Don't let what happened to Mary, Moses' sister, happen in your life.

A person who has been in contact with authority is sensitive to any act of lawlessness and rebellion that surrounds him. Sensitive. When you see someone with a rebellious attitude try to help the person to recognize the principle of authority. The church is maintained by two essential elements, first is life, the life that is received from our God. It is a life of submission governed by a principle of authority. And the other is the authority itself that comes from the mouth of God.

But what do I do then, pastor, when there are conflicts of authority? What to do when there is a conflict of authority? First we have to know that there are two authorities that can delegate power, I am talking about spiritual authority.

First, it is God. Who is the other authority? The devil. The only way to recognize how I can resolve conflicts is to know under what authority I am living in my life. If I live under obedience, am I living under whose authority? Of God. If I live in rebellion, I live to what authority? The devil. And there are Christians out there who say that the devil has no power. Let me tell you something, the Bible says that the devil does have power, but he is not the Almighty. He is not a God, he is the Almighty.

We are not under the power of Satan and we should not obey him in those commands. Obedience, however, may not be absolute. That is when I am going to explain when I should not obey an authority.

Some authority is necessary to obey while others are not, especially when Christian principles are at stake. The only right that gives man to disobey an authority is when the imposed authority violates divine principles. If it does not go against the authority of God, one must obey the authority that is constituted.

In what areas of spiritual authority do you live in conflict? In what areas of spiritual authority do I have the most problems? With my leaders? The way I look at the people who are above me, with my boss, at home, my wife, husband. How is the aspect of inner submission manifested in my home, at church, at school, at work? What aspects of that subject touches my life and [inaudible]? I need to change my attitude today before the Lord to change to live under divine authority with authority.

Every time a person sins against authority, he sins against God's authority. Every time one opposes the constituted authority, according to the Bible, opposes God himself. Once we know that we are to hold on, we naturally discover our place in the body of Christ. My purpose today is to make you discover your place in the body of Christ.

I could talk here for hours about authority, for hours about obedience, but one thing I want is for you to leave here this afternoon knowing that there is absolute authority over your life, divine authority, the only one that has power over all things, which is the Almighty. I want you to leave here knowing that you are the only one who has the power to enforce the authority that is over you. That authority is not living under divine authority, change. You are the only one who has the power to change that boss that you think is bad. God is just using this man or this woman to change you, to make you a better person, to make you a person with true and absolute principles in your life.

May God bless and help you. Amen. I want to invite Pastor Sam to come here and we are going to pray to God, we are going to ask the Lord to help us understand his principles and not submit to them. Amen. Do you understand that principle? Are you willing to submit to authority? Glory to God.