Mike Bickle emphasizes the authority of believers in Christ, explaining that upon being born again, we receive the same authority that Jesus has at the right hand of the Father. This authority is a gift from God, enabling us to enact His will on earth and resist the works of darkness. Bickle highlights the importance of understanding our dominion as given in Genesis, and how through Jesus' victory over Satan, we are empowered to challenge and overcome evil. He urges believers to actively use their authority to resist the devil, rather than passively accepting his attacks, and to recognize the significance of their role in God's plan for the earth.

Turn to Genesis chapter 1 Or follow along in the PowerPoint or your notes there Father we come to you in the name of Jesus Lord. We ask you For revelation we ask you for living understanding That we would see what you've made available to us in Christ Jesus Jesus name Amen Well, I want to continue from the last session that I taught on the subject of the authority of the believer So this is part two and I'm gonna cover some of the same ground. I covered in part one Just for those that are new with us and just for review for those that even were here in that session that the day that we were born again a very Glorious thing happened is that the authority that Jesus possesses at the right hand of the father That that authority was delegated to us. I mean the day we were born again as a gift We didn't earn it We can't do anything to enhance it It's a free gift of God and we can use that authority to release The works of the kingdom and to stop the works of darkness So there's a positive dimension and there's a negative dimension paragraph a Genesis chapter 1 This is the first statement that God made to the human race I mean, these are the very first words that he spoke over humans Adam and Eve were together and The Lord said let us make man in our own image according to our likeness Let them have dominion over all the earth. This is a remarkable statement That God gave the dominion or the authority or the government of the earth to human beings Now Adam and Eve are there before him and he's speaking this to both of them He went on verse 28 And he said be fruitful multiply multiply Fill the earth and subdue it in other words bring the earth to its full potential Under my leadership and then bring it into order Under my authority and under my government have dominion over everything that moves on the earth Again a most remarkable statement. It was our job description He didn't tell us the why behind the what until later on in the drama The why that he did this is because he desires relationship with us But his first statement was the what I've given you the government of the earth in relationship to me We will govern the earth in partnership with my people under my authority And again, we say why did you do this? he says I'll tell you as the drama unfolds and we find at the end of the book and Revelation 19 that it's all about a wedding that he was planning from the beginning a Partnership with his son and an eternal companion called the Bride of Christ. They would rule together under the father's authority But it begins right there with that remarkable declaration The Dominion or the government the authority of the earth. I will give it to human beings Wow That God together in partnership We would govern the earth Now God did this out of desire for relationship not because he was overworked He didn't say, you know, I'm really busy in heaven and it's wearing me out So why don't you guys take your part of the workload you take the earth? It wasn't like that Because I want you to have this huge Sphere of my kingdom on the earth because I want to do it to enhance our relationship together This was a eternal decree even in the age to come God will rule the earth through his people That as his people respond to him an agreement that God's works increase and spread and multiply across the earth Psalm 115 again, this is by way of review verse 16 the heavens are the Lord's But the earth he has given to the children of men So the heavenly realm God leads it directly the realm of the angels But the earth realm he's given to humans and so God's Involvement is with humans in providing his leadership to the earth His work will not be done apart from us That was a a huge statement of God to give the earth to the sons of men He was saying that I will not break into the earth Outside of con the context of relationship with my people. I will work through you and with you Again I want to say his work will not be done apart from us He wants us deeply involved with him. This changes the way we view our life. This changes the way we view the future David commented on this in Psalm 8 He actually quotes the statement God spoke to Adam and Eve in Genesis 1 the passage we looked at But David was awestruck with this and he said in Psalm 8 verse 4 He goes, what is man? He goes, this is amazing that you have so many thoughts and plans for us he was awestruck by the dignity and the Significance that humans have in God's plan to govern the earth He said I I don't get it. Why are we so important to you? Why are you so mindful? Why do you have so many plans with us at the center of them? he goes on in verse 6 and He mentions the statement again from Genesis 1 that God spoke to Adam and Eve the very first statement God ever spoke over the human race He goes you have made him that's that's mankind to have dominion over the works of your hands and he went on he says you put Everything in the earthly realm under the feet of humans David goes amazing how important we are to you and how valuable we are to you now This isn't just until the second coming. This is forever and forever Paragraph B Well, if God gave such great authority to humans what went wrong because the earth is in such a mess Darkness is increasing and there's strongholds of wickedness all over the earth. What went wrong? Well in Luke chapter 4 Satan made a statement to Jesus that gives us insight into what went wrong Satan was tempting Jesus and when tempting him He made the point that he says the authority over the nations has been given to me It's been delivered to me and he meant that it was given to him by Adam Because when God gave the leadership of the earth to Adam Adam could literally do with it what he wanted because God really gave it to Adam and Eve really It wasn't figurative. It wasn't symbolic. It was actual and They did the unthinkable they committed high treason and they broke their alliance with God and they yielded to Satan and in that moment they abdicated their position of authority and influence over the earth and They gave what was rightfully theirs to give they gave it to Satan And Satan mentioned this to Jesus He says I have authority over all the nations and he was tempting Jesus says and I can give it to whoever I wish in The way that Adam could give it to whoever he wished And he was tempting Jesus but Jesus in the same temptations as Adam He stood before Satan And he refused him on every point and he had victory over Satan as a man Now Jesus is fully God from eternity past eternity future. He's fully God But he was standing before Satan as a man anointed with the Holy Spirit in the same place that Adam was Where Adam fell Jesus conquered he was victorious But it was at that moment in the Garden of Eden back with Adam that is when Satan became the god of this world the the Authority over the earth was handed to him Paul called a Satan and 2nd Corinthians 4 for the god of this age or one translation says the god of this world and He blinds the minds of unbelievers and he blinds the minds of believers as well and He has a place of influence and impact to deceive and to blind so people can't understand what's happening Paragraph C Well, Jesus first was victorious over Satan as a man. He chose righteousness in the face of temptation But then he took it to the next step he went to the cross and He had victory over Satan in the cross and resurrection and he paid for Adam's sin and the sin of the whole human race So first he was victorious as a man before Satan and then later He offered himself as the sacrifice for sin on the cross and Paul talks about this in Colossians chapter 2 verse 15 It says this verse 15 that Jesus having disarmed the principalities and powers He even made a public spectacle of them Triumphing over them in it in the cross So what he's saying here is that Jesus disarmed the principalities and powers Now most of us know the principalities and powers is a reference to the d to the demonic authority Structure that's in the heavenly realm the invisible realm All around us. There is an invisible spiritual realm, which the Bible calls the heavenly realm the spiritual realm and What Jesus did when he went to the cross and at the resurrection he disarmed? The demonic hierarchy the demonic authority structure that has many different levels of authority in that demonic structure and He made a public spectacle of the demonic realm Which means when he paid for man's sin on the cross and then rose from the dead he openly Triumphed over Satan and the realm of darkness and all that were in the demonic realm. They saw it. It's documented in history a real man with a real physical body died and He was raised from the dead and given a new body and the real man Ascended in a physical body to heaven and in that he triumphed openly all heaven saw it All the host of hell saw it a number of the believing Saints in in the first century They saw him raised from the dead. He appeared to them It was a public triumph that was documented with witnesses in the demonic host the angelic host and even among Some of the redeemed he appeared to over 500 at one time Well, Paul is Mentioning this or declaring that Satan has been disarmed Satan has been defeated. He's lost his place of authority But Satan won't submit to this Satan will continue to try to rob and steal and kill he will still try to exert his authority wherever he can Though he is a defeated foe He was defeated at the cross and resurrection of Jesus But the victory of Jesus must be enforced by the body of Christ It must be enforced that from the resurrection to the second coming Approximately 2,000 plus years during that time frame The victory is final, but it must be enforced in the earthly realm by the people of God Say it will continue to attack he will continue to seek to kill and steal and destroy and When challenged by the authority of Jesus he will back down But if not challenged he will continue to devour He will continue to attack and to destroy Now the problem is many in the body of Christ in the last 2,000 years They don't know that Satan has been disarmed and been defeated They don't know that the authority that Jesus received when he raised from the dead and went to the right hand of the Father that Authority has been delegated to them And if they don't use that delegated authority Then Satan continues to devour and to attack if nobody will stop him. He will continue to go forward He can only be stopped by one group of people Born-again believers that have the authority of Jesus, but they know they have it and they use the authority Lack of teaching in this area has disastrous results through history If we don't have clear teaching on our authority in Christ Jesus We remain immature in our spiritual life We may have godly character, but we still remain immature in our life in the spirit We must have clear teaching clear foundation as to what the word says About the authority that we received as a free gift If we don't have this understanding we live in defeat and it was unnecessary That we lived in that defeat The authority has been delegated to us because what happened? I mean, it's the most remarkable thing We know it, but I just love to say it and I know that you love to hear it There was a Jewish man 2,000 years ago. He died. His body was laid in a grave three days later The Spirit of God touched this dead body Completely renewed made it new with a supernatural resurrected body. He came out of the grave with a new body Wow That's intense. Well, that's only the beginning Then this man with a physical body Nobody's ever had a supernatural physical body like this people been raised from the dead, but they in essence they were Resuscitated they were not resurrected with a new body Jesus is the first one. That's why it's called the first fruits the firstborn from the dead So he has this new body Then the power of God comes on him by the Holy Spirit and lifts him with the physical body straight through the heavens There he goes up. I mean a real man with a body not a spirit being I mean a human It's called the ascension. He ascends right up to the gates of heaven Well, he gets to the gates of heaven it goes to the next degree the doors open and the father calls him forth He doesn't just ascend to heaven. He's placed at the right hand. He's enthroned at the father's right hand. I Mean, it's one thing to go to heaven. The angels are in heaven, but to be enthroned at the right hand, that's remarkable Well, it goes on beyond that After he's enthroned he's sitting there the scripture tells us many places the father gave him all authority He says now that you're in your place Here is your reward all authority over all eight angels and demons and all heaven and earth All of it is yours not as God but as a man Now Jesus is eternally God But when he was enthroned and then given the inheritance of the authority over the earthly realm the spiritual realm Demons angels people he was given to him. It was given to him as a man This is remarkable. No man has ever had a physical body raised from the dead supernaturally renewed with supernatural abilities Lifted up through the heavens seated at the father's hand and then all authority given to this Jewish man But it goes on before beyond that Then the scripture says then God gave Jesus to the church And we are joined with him and we have his authority on the earth. He is the head in heaven But his body is on the earth and the authority that he won that he has in heaven. He only Exercises it through his body that's on the earth. This is a most remarkable reality We have delegated authority Now what is? Delegated authority Authority is another way to say this delegated power is a more accurate way to say it and the analogy I've used over the years that that many have used is the analogy of the of the policeman the police officer a police officer stops the car the traffic When it's when there's need to he stops the traffic not by power, but by authority Meaning he raises his hand Maybe he blows his whistle shows his badge, whatever But he raises his hand and the traffic stops because the power of the national government is behind him Raising his hand He doesn't stop the traffic by power I mean if he did that he would jump in front of the car and just slam into the car and just hit the car Hard and try to stop it. That would be stopping the traffic by power. He doesn't do that It's not his power The power resides in the national government He has the authority authority is delegated power. He just simply puts his hand out and He knows that all the power of the government's behind him putting that hand out. Well, that's what happens with us in the spirit We don't use power to wrestle a demon we use authority We speak we don't put our hand out and blow a whistle and show a badge That's what the police officer might do We simply we speak the name of Jesus and that is the parallel to what the police officer does and we stop the attack of the enemy he rages But if we speak the name of Jesus against him and resist him he stops then he attacks again, and we stop him again and He will continue to attack Unless until he is resisted It would be like the cars they're going and the police officer standing on the side and just saying to himself I sure wish those cars would stop. They're not going to stop until he raises his hand and exerts his authority many believers They kind of stand at the side and they in the midst of a big drama and a big war They go. I sure wish the devil would stop and the Lord would say use my authority and stop him Well, no, I'm not gonna do that. I'm just gonna think about it I'm gonna cry over it and I'm gonna be sad about it and I'm going to endure his attack But the Lord would say why don't you stop it? Why don't you resist him and tell him to go because the authority That the head of the body that's Jesus he has in heaven He only operates on the earth in stopping the devil through the redeemed He stops the redeemed through the body. It's just like us you can think thoughts with your head But you need your body to walk those thoughts out Maybe you're gonna build a have a building project you think it through but you need your hands involved to do it Maybe you're gonna cook a meal you think of the meal, but without your hands, you can't do it Jesus as the head has all the authority has all the wisdom, but he says I am committed to Intervene in the earth through my body when they agree with me if they don't agree with me And they don't understand their place of authority Many things will happen that I would have stopped if they would have understood my word and took a stand on my word So a lot of believers They're asked they're blaming God for things that God would actually Stop if he had people who stood before him and took their place of authority and stopped him It says in James chapter 4 verse 7 That we submit to God then we resist the devil and he will flee We must resist him We must challenge him when he attacks us We must resist him if we don't resist him. He will keep attacking keep attacking keep attacking But if we do resist him He will flee and what that means is he will draw back from our sphere of authority our sphere of influence Now all of us have a certain sphere of influence. Maybe it's over one or two people Maybe it's over more maybe our sphere of influence is little maybe it's big but whatever your sphere is it relates to your family To your sphere of to the people you influence to your place in the marketplace You can use the authority of Jesus To release the works of God and stop the works of darkness within your sphere And if you say no to the devil, he must leave your sphere Now it's not a permanent leaving. He leaves and in and in and when Whatever it's an opportune time He will come and attack back then we say no again, and he'll draw back Then he'll attack again and we say no again and this goes on throughout all of our natural life in this age He will never give up now history Church history proves that Most believers don't challenge him when he attacked So he has this this proven track record that most believers they just cry and they moan and they quit and they have self-pity and they just they give up and give in and The few that say no most of them only say no for a short time and then they give up So if he stays steady, he knows that most the time he is going to have the ability to devour and to continue to attack But God is raising up a people that the Word of God describes all over the earth. That will be steadfast and Resolute in the authority the Lord's given him and they will continually just continue to say no and they will resist the enemy Now I have here in this paragraph To there are two cut in paragraph D two common errors that I see in the body of Christ and responding to Satan's attack two common errors error number one Is people ask God to resist the devil for them? They cry out. They say Oh God do something. The devil's attacking me. Would you please resist and the answer is? No, I Won't do that, which I entrusted to you. I Won't do your part You can't do my part. There is a division of labor in the kingdom of God that God honors and The reason there's a division of labor because that is the way God has defined we would grow in relationship with him He has given the earth to the sons of men Jesus would say I've already defeated Satan Now I've raised to the right hand of the father all authorities mine now. I will I will Destroy his works through my hands and feet through my body on the earth. So I won't do it I've already done my part you must do it And many people they think it's it's real devout But it's wrong They're asking Jesus who's the head in heaven to do their part on the earth as the body of Christ and Jesus won't do it He's already done his part See analogy that I've given many times about the farmer The farmer has to plant the seeds and pull the weeds The farmer might go to a prayer meeting and say What I'm gonna do is I'm gonna spend more time in prayer I'm not gonna plant seeds anymore or pull weeds father. Would you please plant the seeds? Would you pull the weeds? I love you. I trust you and the father's answer would be no I'll provide the Sun and the rain and the processes of life in the plant you plant the seeds and you pull the weeds It's not because I'm overworked and I'm tired. That's not the problem Is that there's a division of labor I will not do that which I've entrusted to you to do and the farmer that Trusts God quote-unquote to plant the seeds and pull the weeds that farmer will starve to death out of the will of God But God will not pull those weeds for him. He won't do it Well, the same is true in the spirit realm Father would you rebuke the devil? Would you move the devil? He goes? No you move the devil You have the authority my son's authority is yours speak the word Speak the word Well, that's one air The second air is more common It's that people they accept believers devout believers. They accept Satan's attack Under the banner of honoring the sovereignty of God They go I just I trust your sovereignty whatever you want is what I want and it's that's a really good prayer if it's applied in the right way and What they do in a wrong way is God whatever you want. I want God says I want the devil's works destroyed First John 3 8 Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil. That's why he went to the cross He goes if you want what I want use my authority to say no to the devil Well, if Satan comes and destroys my life I just trust you always God would say I would rather you obey me and trust me by doing what I told you It's easier for some people to just to see everything as sovereignty so therefore they have no responsibility in and they Imagine if they just see the sovereignty they can get out of the war but beloved I have news for you and you already know We don't get out of the war because we refuse to fight the war goes on Satan would much rather attack us without us challenging him. He'd much rather have it that way And so there's many people very devout, but they're confused. It's a misappropriation and application of the glorious doctrine of the sovereignty of God It's like Satan knocks on the door he says hey I have a package for you we open the door the package is full of snakes And we say well, I just trust God the Holy Spirit would say no tell him to be gone in the name of Jesus Don't take that package. Don't accept it. Say no command it to go Well, I just love Jesus come on in Satan and just release the snakes in my family and just whatever God wants Just his will be done. That is deception and confusion It seems like holiness, but it's confusion and deception We must actively resist Not passively accept the attack of the evil one first Peter 5 verse 8 9 Peter makes the same point that James makes He goes be sober in other words to take this very serious This is weighty. This is not small Give this the appropriate weight of concern that you should be sober about this and be vigilant or diligent in other words, don't be casual and Don't be light-hearted about this. This is not a a Small subject be taken in a weighty way very important be sober and be vigilant be diligent go after this thing He says I'll tell you why Because your adversary the devil and the implication is all the ranks of demons under him that hierarchy of demon powers that are under the devil The devil walks about like a roaring lion Seeking whom he may devour He's trying to devour the church, but God has given us authority to stop him But God won't stop him because he wants us to agree with him and us to do our part in the relationship He's devouring many people That he does not have the right to devour But they don't know any better. So they just kind of grit their teeth and endure the attack of the devil Satan walks around like a roaring lion. He roars and his roar is terrifying But when we have revelation of who we are in Christ, then we're not terrified by the war roar we see through it He roars all the time of this in various ways and we get very nervous and very afraid and panic strikes us But the Word of God comes to us. Wait a second You don't have to panic before his roar. You have authority you already have authority Over this evil one and all of his ranks resist him verse 9 look at verse 9 Resist him James told us he'll flee but beloved. It's not a permanent fleeing He does come back again and again and again and we reflect we resist him steadfast way We must be steadfast It's not a one-time deal. It's all the days of our life. We're doing this. Let's go to the top of page 2 Paragraph II we looked at that in our last session Paragraph F we looked at that as well, but I'll mention a point or two different from our last session I'll I'll add some new things from last time Ephesians 6 verse 12 We do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against demonic powers and principalities. We wrestle against demonic Powers the principalities and powers speak of the demonic authority structure in the invisible realm The heavenly place is the invisible realm What Paul is saying in verse 12 he goes flesh and blood is not our main adversary flesh and blood meaning humans Now all of us have humans that trouble us and what Paul is saying here because yes humans really do Contribute to trouble in our life But he goes I want you to see the big picture. There's actually a more powerful adversary behind the human The human you can see and they do contribute to the trouble But behind the human there's a hierarchy of invisible demonic powers that are involved in it And he goes don't get locked in to wrestling only against the human See the big picture See the invisible realm see the power that's energizing the human dynamics verse 13 He goes take up the whole armor of God having done all to stand Now to stand means you're not going to accept the attack of the devil when he comes It hits us we say no we stand and we never ever become passive Receivers of the attack of the enemy we stand stand is opposite of passively receiving the attack of the enemy We stand and when you read Ephesians 6 in the whole context. I have it edited here in the notes It says to stand three times in other words refuse to quit Refuse to passively accept the attack of the evil one use your authority speak against him Refuse to accept this as the will of God Accept this as an intruder that has no right to intrude but you must use your authority to command him to leave What's the it's the Lord's authority, but he's delegated it to us verse 16 Paul goes on and says take up the shield of faith and with the shield of faith you are able to quench all These darts these flaming missiles one translation says It's these arrows these darts of the wicked one now these darts They have fire on them or think of arrows or think of missiles and they strike us and they really hurt But they can be stopped they come for a moment and they strike us physically and not every physical Trouble is a demon, but many physical troubles are related to demons, but not all physical troubles That's a I believe a simplistic approach to physical problems, but there is demonic involvement many times These darts touch us physically ouch The devil comes to torment people's bodies these missiles these arrows these darts. They touch us mentally Where we have this heightened sense of of depression or fear or this kind of Exaggerated heightened few moments where everything looks so distorted in and like it's a dart It's a flaming missile touching our mind It touches us emotionally It touches us financially It touches us Relationally in our ministry the workplace our family our children our parents our siblings our aunts our uncles It comes to invade to destroy Satan always comes to kill steal and destroy whenever he shows up. It's to destroy always So these missiles touch us they're wicked but they can be dismantled they can be extinguished They can be quenched and sometimes they'll hit us. Oh, you know They'll they'll hit our realm of our relationships or finances or physical or mental and we say in the name of Jesus We are not accepting this we are refusing to accept this we stand against it instead of passively receiving it and Thanking God for it or even asking God God. Would you please move the devil? He says no, don't thank me for the devil and don't ask me to move the devil I've already won the victory. Thank me that I gave you authority now use it That's what he wants us to thank him for Well Well verse 17 we take the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God now the way that we Swing the sword of the Spirit is simply speaking the word. It's very simple. It's all throughout the Bible It's as simple as Speaking God's Word and we speak it to the devil or to that demon We don't see the demon but we know from Scripture. They're harassing We know these darts are coming these arrows these missiles are striking us physically emotionally mentally financially Relationally and all these fears and we want the devil to flee from our sphere of authority And again, it's not a permanent fleeing. He'll come back and attack again We speak the word We say in the name it is written in the name of Jesus. I command you to go and it's very simple It doesn't have to be fancy language in the name of Jesus We cancel your assignment Against that you're attacking my marriage my children my parents my brothers my sisters You're attacking my ministry my marketplace assignment my finances. You're attacking me I cancel that assignment in the name of Jesus. We must speak the word It must be spoken It's not okay to think it it has to be spoken. You can whisper it. They'd have to be loud Some people think if they really get serious they get loud nothing that isn't helping at all Being loud is okay, but it doesn't enhance your authority like someone said we're really serious Satan leave I'll get mad and I'll say this time I really mean it I get mad and get red in the face and start screaming then the devil go Whoa, he means it this time No, that means nothing Being loud is not a problem. I'm like I'm loud because it's my personality doesn't help the authority I mean when I'm at home, I go pass the salt. My wife says dial down. I'll give it to you She goes just settle just relax. I go I just I talk loud That doesn't help my authority And the reason I'm saying that because you don't want to get into a mode It's not a ministry mode or style that enhances authority and the reason we need to know this Because you could be in a public place and whisper it or you can be in a bad mood and tired and just the in It still works because it's not based on your volume or your mood or your mode It's based on a man that was exalted at the right hand of the Father. I Mean someday, you know, sometimes we feel if we feel great. There's more power and authority. No, no, no But the power and the authority works in the invisible realm, but you can't fully measure it when you're speaking the word. I Mean you can't measure it with your five senses. What's really actually taking place? I mean sometimes I mean the enemy comes I'm just tired. I'm in a bad mood. I just kind of kind of mumble and grumble The name of Jesus go and it still works It's not if you're articulate and loud and bold and you've had three cups of coffee. So you got plenty of energy. No It's a human being agreeing with Jesus and even the most simple weak way it works if we stay with it We have to stay with it We speak the Word of God. That's how Jesus defeated the devil And Matthew 4 the devil came he said it is written it is we speak the word to the devil in the name of Jesus when we do that a sword or the Impact like a sword goes forth in the kingdom of darkness The idea is we speak in the natural and it has an impact of like a military strike of a sword in the kingdom of darkness Now some people get a little mixed up and they think they have the sword in their hand No, the swords that you don't have to swing the sword and hack all those swords and the demons, you know, it's not this I Mean if you do that, that's okay, but it that's not doing anything. It's not moving any demons or angels It's the word that does it and the authority of Jesus You know some people really get into prophetic symbolism and I think prophetic symbolism has a place in the Bible But when I look over the years most of it, I'll just be honest as a pastor I think most of it's silly Non-biblical and non-helpful. It's just drawing a lot of attention to people but there is a place in the Bible for prophetic symbolism having said that but the minute you talk on this then people want to swing the sword and cut off everything over everybody and just Stop stop just shh Let's not draw attention to you. It's the name of Jesus Just speak it in the name of Jesus go and the demons will listen to it if you believe it We Can drive the enemy out of our sphere again financial family relationship and it's not easy and it's not automatic But we stay with it and we stay with it and it's a war and and we continue to go now if believers Don't do anything about it. Then it won't be done The enemy won't stop God Won't stop him and the enemy won't stop himself. It has to be stopped by the mouth of a believer That's what the Word of God says paragraph G Paragraph G here Wait, no, I'm gonna I'm gonna mention one more point go back up to F. This is verse 12 We wrestle I just want to say one mention about wrestle When we wrestle against these demons and we wrestle by just speaking the word We don't touch them physically and we don't symbolically wrestle with them. We don't do that We just speak the word to them now wrestling is an interest. It's a very it's it's the perfect word Because it's up close and personal It's not at a distance, you know shooting the bow and arrow shooting the arrow over the ridge. No, it's up close and personal It's really close and in a wrestling match One moment the first guy looks like he's winning it a moment later. That guy looks like he's losing a moment later He's looked like he's winning the battles going back and forth in the rolling around. You don't quite know who's winning in a given moment And I'm talking about in terms of the the natural manifestation of that oppression going away But we know the victories already been won. We stay with it. We stay with it and it doesn't Automatically the the the wrestling match is not over He didn't say just get in the wrestling match and say, you know in the name of Jesus to the match is over No, it's a wrestle. It's a battle and sometimes it takes longer than other times, but we stay with it. We stay with it Now somebody says well, you know, we stood against the enemy and the brother died. What do we think then? We don't need to have all the answers. It's better not to have all the answers All that we know is we are going to wrestle as long as the brother has breath and if he has if he dies We don't know exactly how to interpret it, but we wrestle the next one So we continue as long as we have opportunity to resist resist resist And then we don't need to have all the answers if it doesn't end up, right? We just get back in the battle and jump in there again paragraph G I Talked of the last session. I won't go into this the different human dimensions that are involved All of our problems are not only demons Demons enhance in a negative sense. They bring a heightened dimension of negativity They bring a demonic energy to other human dynamics that also contribute to the problem I don't want to go through that we did that the last time When we rebuke the demonic Dimension the human problems still have to be solved, but they're easier to solve now without demonic interference Let's go to H God has not given us a spirit of fear Paragraph H 2nd Timothy 1 7 he's not given us a spirit of fear But a power of love and a sound mind. This is a very important passage to say it is written When the enemy comes he gives a heightened sense of fear and this fear comes upon I mean all the whole human race has experienced this at various times all of us have some much more than others every human being has experienced this at different times a demon comes and Gives a heightened sense of fear. It may last five minutes. Maybe five hours. Maybe five days But a demon comes and it's an illogical fear and when this cloud lifts We take a step back. They what was that? That didn't make any sense, but I had this this intense illogical Preoccupation with this fear Beloved it's a spirit Now not all fear is a spirit Not all fear is caused by a demon. I mean, it's really good To teach a child to be afraid to play into the trap in the traffic It's good that a child looks at the arguments the car coming I'm afraid that's that's good fear It's good that a child is afraid to touch the hot stove. That's good Many fears are protective and good but some fears and many of them actually they have a spirit behind them and Though we can have counseling and kind of get our brains kind of cleared up on some things and people even take drugs but Counseling and drugs won't deal with the spirit And I'm not and there's different ways to solve the whole problem of fear But the point I'm focusing on now not trying to give a whole overview of it My whole point right now is saying we have to address the fear The spirit behind the fear when it's there because God has promised That the spirit of fear a demon of fear is what a spirit of fear is He said I did not send it. So if you use the authority of my son's name, I am behind that I didn't send that spirit of fear. I'm against that spirit of fear attacking you resist it resist it. Oh God make it leave He says no, I gave you the authority you resist it and it will flee Again, there might be other mindsets or maybe physical dimensions of our that are contribute into the fear process as well But my point this morning is addressing the demonic influence that makes the fear heightened in an exaggerated way God has promised us a sound mind that's called peace When a fear hits us we could say we have received a sound mind. Thank you for the peace of God. Holy Spirit Let's go to the final a few moments here I've already really covered this so I'll just be real brief in Paragraph a first, I mean Ephesians 1 17 to 23. This is one of the most Exciting and dynamic passages of scripture talking. I mean, it's every phrase is a goldmine Ephesians 1 17 to 23 Now this is the most This is the prayer that's been prayed the most often in the 12 years of IHOP this prayer right here If we had to add them all up here it is But line for line, I mean, it's just filled with treasure Let's see what it says and I've already actually laid it out so I could just do this quite briefly here Then we want to pray for people and rebuke a spirit of fear Paul says that the father of glory May give to you revelation and the knowledge of God That you may know or in other words experience know by experience verse 19 the exceeding greatness of God's power That's working towards or working in the people who believe and this power verse 20 is The power the very same power that the father worked in Jesus when he raised him from the dead He seated him at the right hand in the heavenly places Verse 22 he put all things under his feet He gave him to be head over all things to the church Which is his body the fullness of him a couple of points I want to point out number one Paul prays that the father of glory would give us revelation of our authority here Information is not enough head knowledge is not enough. We need heart revelation We need for this we need to so thank God study this passage Confess it pray it Thank God for the truth here until it becomes living revelation in our heart living understanding It takes revelation to see this place of authority most believers will agree They have authority, but they don't do anything about it in their everyday practical life. They Practically don't have it in the way. They live but theologically they know technically they do have it But if they never use it, what good is it? Notice what it says verse 17 that we would have revelation of That we would know or experience in verse 19 the exceeding greatness of his power towards us who believe Now there is an exceeding greatness of power. That's working in your life right now now at first glance We read that we say Paul It sounds like you're exaggerating because there's not an exceeding great power that I can see and that's exactly The point Paul's making because this power though it does manifest itself in the natural It's hard to measure and to track how it works in the natural we have an exceeding great power we can speak words and Demons and angels move now think about this if you had the mightiest army in the earth with the greatest military Sophisticated weapons and you shot all of the weapons against the weakest demon the demon would not move one inch The greatest power can't move a demon But beloved you can speak a word and the demon moves You have an exceeding great power You can speak and move an angel all the money in the world and all the armies of the world can't move an angel You can't offer an angel million dollars or threaten an angel get him to do a thing There's no power that you have that can move an angel or demon But you could speak a word Connected to the will of God and the authority of Jesus and demons and angels move it's exceeding great power. It's real and Though you can't measure it by your five senses beloved moving angels and demons There's only one group of people that can do this and that's believers in the name of Jesus. It's an exceeding great power That's not just you're going to have when you die. You actually have it now if you would use it And don't get overly preoccupied with measuring how much the demon moved We know from the word it moves when we speak stay with it It's remarkable But again, if we try to measure with our five senses, well, I guess I don't have no power I don't really happen to still the troubles there and The last session I gave you a few examples of where in the realm of strife where people had Tremendous strife and I began to address the spirit behind them and there was a supernatural turnaround I gave a couple examples a last session on that We can use we can address the spirit that's causing a heightened problem and Again, you have all the military power in the world all the money in the world the political power of the president of the United States you can't move those demons with that power But you have an exceeding great power if you speak the word and in the spirit realm, it's operating it really is Because some people read that verse they got Paul exaggerated that didn't mean much to me Oh, no, no, you wouldn't underline that verse that means a lot to you. You can move angels and demons Then he goes on in verse 20 Paul says this is the kind of power It's in the same category of power that God used when he raised Jesus from the dead. It's it's supernatural Heavenly power it's of a whole different order than military power or financial power or political power. It's of another order It's the category of power that God used when he raised Jesus It's that unique demonstration of power that only believers have access to nobody else can have access to it Only Jesus and believers can touch it Wow He said it's that category that God used when he raised Christ of the dead now again Here it is a human being Raised from the dead aim. I mean a man with a real body the bodies made new supernatural Then he is he ascends the body is picked up by the spirit goes right through the clouds right through the heavens The body stands at the entryway of heaven the gates open Then he's seated at the right hand of the father. He's enthroned but look what happens then verse 22 after he's enthroned He's sitting there father and son United now as God Jesus has all authority, but something new is happening. He's being given all authority as a man Never happened before the father says you're seated You've been resurrected. You've ascended you've been enthroned now. Here's my next thing I'm giving you all of the authority of every realm is yours all of it as a man It's a Jewish man raised from the dead. Here it is. It's yours forever Then he takes it a next step further look at this he put everything under his feet then here's the final he gave Jesus To be head over all things. He gave him as a gift to the church This man who deserved all the authority who possesses all the authority. He gave him to us and were dynamically connected by the Holy Spirit Beloved what an amazing reality the father gave him to us He's the head and we're the body and it's a dynamic connectedness. It's not figurative. It's real He says we're the body and the word but the idea of body means we are the vehicle of which the Supernatural power Jesus has at the right hand is expressed in the earthly realm We are the vehicle that the fullness of power goes through to the earthly realm What an amazing reality Now Paul talks about the body of Christ here He talks about our connectedness to Jesus and 1st Corinthians 12. He talks about the body of Christ He talks about our connectedness to one another where there's unity and diversity 1st Corinthians 12 revelation of the body were connected to one another Ephesians 1 revelation of the body were connected to Jesus in his authority There's two different points of emphasis in the revelation of the of the body of Christ beloved. We're the body of Christ We're connected to Jesus We are the vehicle that expresses his power and his fullness in the earth realm forever Not just the sage forever and forever and forever. Who are we to him? Anyway, how did this happen? By the kindness of God And then paragraph B just simply Paul says it again He says not only is Jesus raised to the right hand, but so were we Now our bodies on the earth in what sense are we raised to the right hand of God? We're sitting with Christ in the sense that we can speak a word a prayer. It's Instantly received at the right hand of the Father. I mean Within a second you speak it it's instantly received there We have a connection we have access We have a reception at the right hand of the Father though our bodies on the earth because of Jesus in that sense We're seated there now Because our impact and our influence is received and felt at the right hand of God because of the Holy Spirit So our bodies down here on the earth doing things we stop and we speak and right there We have full reception and we have full access to everything that's there. What an amazing reality Now our goal is to walk in that more and more as the as the years unfold. Well, amen Let's stand I Want to pray for people for the spirit of fear But all over the room All over the room I just want us all to close your eyes for just a moment so so we're not distracted I mean obviously do what you want, but I just don't want people distracted and let's come before the father. Let's break our passive acceptance of fear in the enemy's attack So many of us are just so passive about it. We say no father We refuse to accept the enemy's attack against us just in your own words Just say that to the father. Just take a stand say I am NOT going to just be passive anymore We Tell any of you that have fear touching you and everybody has it occasionally over the years Then if you are that fears touching you now, it's not because you're wrong or you've done something wrong It's because the enemy is targeting who you are The enemy is targeting who you are to stop you So don't be embarrassed if fears attacking you some people have like in the middle of the night like a nightmare will hit them like a tear in the night Beloved it's the roaring lion. We don't have to be afraid we can say in the name of Jesus You can whisper it if you want in the name of Jesus go Go now Go in the name of Jesus. I'm talking about the night when I when I when a nightmare hits you or a evil presence Or some guys it's very normal. You know this guy says there I was and suddenly I was just preoccupied with ideas Of jumping off the bridge. I don't want to jump off the bridge. Where did that come from? I Was just kind of in a funk. No, you were not in a funk. That was a flaming missile That was a demon touching you speak to it. Don't endure it speak against it Well, let me go back to the prayer. I get out of preaching So father here we come And we say yes to the revelation of the word We break our passive agreement with darkness. We say no more No more we will steadfastly resist Satan go Leave my marriage alone my money my children my parents My marketplace assignment go now now be real specific because everyone has something that the enemy is after in your life In the name of Jesus I command the power to be broken again All the human dynamics are not settled, but they're a lot easier to settle without the demonic energy in the equation I Beloved you do this three or four minutes a day Three or four times a day five times a day when something gets a hold of me I'll take three minutes and I'll resist it in the name of Jesus I'll do it three four times or the day you just do that for a few days You'll be surprised things will start changing maybe a few weeks You don't have to go five straight hours Three four minutes at a time address that spirit of fear and a few hours later. Just take a minute do it again And a few hours they do it again do that for a few days a few weeks stay with it You will see a difference. I assure you I Want to invite anybody to come down that says, you know what the enemy's attacking me with these irrational fears They come on for a few minutes or maybe for a few hours and they don't make any sense to me It's because the Lord wants that the enemy wants to take you out. He wants to cancel out your ministry That's what he's trying to do. He's trying to cancel out your blessing Just come and stand up here if you want and don't be embarrassed about that Every single one of us are attacked by fears through the years in various strange different ways We want to stand with you If you some of you come up to the front line just so the ones behind you can yeah, there you go Father here we are We say yes to you and in the name of Jesus we break our agreement With the attack of the enemy by our passivity we say no to it Take your hands off of my family my finances my money my relationship Go in the name of Jesus. Take your hands off my marriage. I cancel Your assignment against me in Jesus name Again it's not the sternness of your voice or the volume. It's the G. It's the victory of Jesus. That's our authority I Lord release your glory right now in this room. I Asked you to release your manifest glory in this room right now Let's just wait for a few moments If you're sick in your body and you would like healing physical We got just a little bit of room a few of you could come up here You said I came here to get prayer this morning for my physical body Just come and squeeze up here to one of these lines We've got some room at the front and over here at the side as well both sides. We have room It's whenever we gather we want to be able to pray for each other Father we thank you in the name of Jesus release your glory now It's gonna wait a few moments Release your glory right now in this room Satan I command you to leave I take authority over nightmares or fear or thoughts of suicide Eating disorders not all eating disorders are demons, but demons are involved often in some of those disorders. I Take authority over demonic harassment and torment Over demons of perversion for those that are involved in the internet pornography stuff Not all of that's demonic but demons get involved in that if you open the door I take authority over those demons. I command him to go you still have to turn off the Internet But we could take authority over the the the demons that create these heightened urges Phobias we take authority over the spirit of fear Again you're gonna wrestle with this maybe three or four minutes a day three or four times a day Maybe for some weeks you're gonna wrestle Some days he'll look like you're winning the next day look like he's winning, but we already know we won We're gonna stay with it. We're never giving in we're never going to accept it ever we're gonna stand And I'm gonna ask others about 30 or 40 of you in the room to come up and pray for folks everyone in the room If you love Jesus, you're on the ministry team So good we don't have a ministry team, it's the whole body So if you have it give us three or four minutes here Just come on up pray for folks whether you're visiting or you're local Just lay hands on them for a few moments. You just say the name of Jesus. I bind that spirit of fear. I Or those emotions that get stirred up for five or ten minutes or for a few hours If you have a physical need and somebody comes just tell them what say hey I'm not here for the spirit of fear. You know I need for prayer for my back or whatever Thank you for your word Jesus Thank you for your word Thank you for the authority we have You Jesus we love you Jesus Oh Lord release your glory right now we ask Now don't measure what you think is happening you can't measure with your five senses There is exceeding power to move demons and angels by the Word of the Lord Oh