Understanding Spiritual Authority | Tony Evans Sermon
To every one of us, God has given kingdom authority. But what most Christians don’t realize is that your own clouded view can keep you from experiencing what God has to offer. In this message, Tony Evans challenges you to ask God to help see things clearly in hopes that you might seize your spiritual authority given to use in the context of His will. Understanding Spiritual Authority – Sermon by Tony Evans #prayer #sermon #TonyEvans
faith must always precede sight
once you put sight in front of faith
you’ve negated faith
faith is based on what you do not see
if you’ve got to see it first you won’t
see it
the euphemism of walking in the bible
means to live according to because
you’re moving with the mind of christ
you’re not just doing that on sunday
morning when it’s church time because he
wants to know that you want him so if
you’re in distress don’t let that drive
you away draw you near
closer
so that you like jacob and say i’m not
gonna let you go
until you answer me so welcome to the
file
[Music]
when you get close and want to live for
him want to please him want to honor him
want to exalt him want to draw near to
him then heaven opens up and he lets you
find him
he lets you find it
welcome to the fire
our series has been called it’s called
igniting kingdom prayer and the purpose
of this series is connecting you with
your authority
with your spiritually endowed authority
granted to you by god if you are a
believer in jesus christ
but for far too many of us we do not see
clearly
because we do not understand
that it is our shaded view that’s
keeping us from experiencing what god
offers
god wants you and me to have kingdom
authority
kingdom authority may be defined as the
divinely authorized right and
responsibility
delegated
to believers
to act on god’s behalf
in spiritually ruling over his creation
under the lordship of jesus christ in
verses 15 to 18 paul prays
that they will apprehend
what they have
he says
in verse
17
that god will give you a spirit of
wisdom a spirit of revelation
he prays in verse 18 that the eyes of
your heart may be enlightened
all that means is so that you start
seeing things as they really are
and not as you think they are
he wants god to clarify so i want you to
whisper in your mind or with your lips
as i’m speaking to you today i simply
want you to ask god to help you see
that the eyes of your heart
might be illuminated to see clearly
what this authority that you possess
i possess we possess as believers in
fact he uses an interesting word
in the end of verse 18
which are the riches of the glory of his
inheritance in the saints so i’m here to
declare to you you are rich
he says i want you to understand how
rich you are in the spiritual realm
that you have inherited by virtue of
your faith in jesus christ there is not
a poor person here
spiritually as far as your inheritance
is concerned so if we are spiritually
poor we don’t know how to withdraw
because he says i want you to see how
rich you are
spiritually speaking
now i know as a christian your major
concern
is going from hell to heaven
safely
i know as a christian your major concern
is when you die
you will wind up in the presence of the
lord however
on your way there
god wants you to know
there are riches
rights and privileges
that you can benefit from
on your way to your ultimate destination
paul says i don’t want you to go to
heaven to see how powerful heaven is
i want you to be enlightened now
about the rights and privileges that are
crude to you and me
and us
based on our relationship with jesus
christ what god wants you to know
me to know and us to know that there is
more in there
to be experienced
not just to be held in your hand but to
be experienced he says i pray that your
eyes might be enlightened but our
problem is we’ve got fog on our glasses
many of us have put pesticide
on what god has for us
and it’s contaminated it that pesticide
is called human wisdom that is man’s
point of view
the human way to go
the natural way to think and we have
sprinkled pesticide
on god’s organic truth and wonder why
we’re spiritually sick even though we’re
still chewing on the word because it’s
been contaminated by what the bible
calls the wisdom of man which nullifies
the manifestation
illumination and revelation of god
he says i pray that your eyes would be
opened that you will become wise that
you would become knowledgeable in an
experiential way of what god wants to do
because you already have the riches in
fact he says in verse 1 chapter 1 verse
3 you’ve already been blessed with all
spiritual blessings everything god is
ever going to do for you he’s already
deposited
so you already have it
now having established what he’s praying
for
what you and i should be praying for
clear glasses so that we can see
he goes a little bit further
what does he want us to see
well
he says verse 19
what is the surpassing greatness of his
power
toward us who believe so guess what he
wants you to see
he wants you to see his power
he says that i’m praying that you’ll see
the surpassing greatness blow your mind
power
toward us who believe
these are in accordance with the working
of the strength of his might
he says god wants to show you his
muscles
god wants to show you his potency god
wants you to experience his power so he
doesn’t just want you to see his power
he wants to see you he wants you to see
him show off his power demonstrate his
power not just theologize about his
power well how big is this power
well he tells you which verse 20 he
brought about in christ
when he raised him from the dead
and seated him at his right hand
in heavenly places far above rule
authority power and dominion every name
that is named not only in this age but
in the age to come
wow
guess what kind of power god wants you
and me as believers if you’re a believer
this applies to you to experience in
your life he wants you to experience
here it is
resurrection power he says it’s the
power that raised christ from the dead
he wants you to see the power that
reverses things that can take things
that are dead
and make them alive take things that are
bad and make them good take defeat and
make victory take loss and wind up with
gain he wants you to see watch this that
he can change the natural order of
things
resurrection is changing the natural
order of things now that’s going to
happen to you and me physically like it
happened to jesus when we’re given our
new bodies at the resurrection but he’s
not talking about when believers die
he’s talking about why we’re still alive
he says i want you to see it now i want
you to put on glasses so that you get to
see
resurrection
power
now let’s go a little deeper when he
raised jesus from the dead
it says
that jesus being raised
seated him at his right hand
in heavenly places
jesus rose on sunday
then he ascended 40 days later through
the clouds
into heaven
where he sat down
now you said you sit down when you
finish something okay the bible says he
sat down
on the right hand of the father
the father’s right hand is his power
hand
so follow this
jesus christ is now seated
in the spiritual realm
ruling on the throne he is seated very
much alive in the spiritual realm called
heavenly places but what is he doing in
that spiritual realm he’s ruling because
he’s seated on a throne
and he sits high above it says
all rule and all authority don’t miss
that
high above
all rule and all authority well wait a
minute
that means he cannot be overruled
because everything he rules over is
underneath him
because he sits high above rule and
authority that’s angels and every name
that is named that’s humans jesus christ
is now ruling from heaven for the
benefit of history and he cannot be
overruled
but he possesses veto power
because while he can’t be overruled any
attempt to overrule him he can veto
because he sits above them just like
courts can veto other courts because
they sit above them
so he wants your eyes to be open that
you’ve got this wealth available to you
to experience his power and that power
is demonstrated in the person of christ
hebrews chapter 2 verse 14 which says
that in jesus’s death and resurrection
satan was defeated
so let’s get this straight
you cannot now be defeated by satan
unless
he’s allowed to do it
and he does it now by deception
because jesus took away his fangs
okay the bible says he took away the
power of death
so satan now must trick us to defeat us
he can’t just overpower us to defeat us
if you’re a believer in jesus christ
he’s got to do you that’s why he wants
your eyes my eyes to be open
that satan is now under jesus’s feet
look at chapter two verse six
i’m gonna read verse four to six but god
being rich in mercy because of his great
love with which he loved us even when we
were dead and our transgressions made us
alive
together with christ by grace have you
been saved and raise us
up with him and seated us with him
in the heavenly places
in christ jesus did you just see what i
just read
were your eyes open
i i don’t believe it i don’t believe it
i got to read it again but god
being rich in mercy
because of his great love with which he
loved us
even when we were dead
in our transgressions made us alive
together
with christ by grace you have been saved
and raised us up with him and seated us
with him
in the heavenly places in christ jesus
so guess what
jesus is not the only one in heaven
somebody’s with him
together with him
not only are there folks with him
and together with him they are seated
beside him
it says seated with him
and they are together with him
seated with him
in the same location as him
heavenly places
heavenly places is the spiritual realm
so guess what paul is praying that you
and i and we understand
you’re here but you’re not here
he says you have been
relocated
spiritually
even though you are physically
located right here right now in church
he says because if you are saved you
died with him were raised with him were
seated with him in
the heavenly places
so here’s the problem
if you’re seated with him in heavenly
places
but you’re operating from earthly places
then you’re functioning from the wrong
location
so the reason many of us are not seeing
the power
is we’re operating from the wrong
location
we’re seated in heaven because that’s
where the power is but we’re operating
on earth and there’s no power there
he says but if you learn to operate from
where you are truly seated
which is in heavenly places you’re
looking at things totally different
because you’re looking at it from god’s
perspective not from man’s perspective
he says you are seated with him
authority works where jesus christ rules
where his jurisdiction
exists
and we do it all the time don’t they
call it zoom teleconferencing
you can be in dallas and be in a meeting
in chicago
without ever leaving dallas
because technology has set it up
that you can really be in chicago and
never leave dallas
because the way technology has happened
is that connections are made between a
place you aren’t to put you there while
you still aren’t there
so you’re physically in dallas but
you’re in the meeting in chicago because
technology has put you in two places at
one time
now before man ever created all this
techy stuff
god had a spiritual system in place
to connect us from earth
to heaven without leaving your location
and that spiritual connection point has
every believer in heaven while they
never leave the premises on earth
the problem is we get so used to earth
that we never connect the spiritual
technology to heaven and wind up with
the limitations of earth
and therefore don’t see the authority
and the power that god has granted
believers to experience
so how do you get to experience this
okay here it is
notice verse 20
verse 22
and he put all things
in subjection
under his feet
and gave him his head of all things
to the church which is his body the
fullness of him who fills all in all
here it is
you will not see the connection
open up and the screen come on
up there in heavenly places where you
are
down here on earthly places where you
sit
unless you are under jesus’s feet
you have to be under his feet
god has placed all things under his
jesus’s feet
that means under his authority
under his control
under his rule
and the one issue that must be settled
is the lordship of jesus christ over
every area of life that that issue must
get
settled when you trust christ for the
forgiveness of sins
you’re now on your way to heaven
but when you submit to the lordship or
the rulership of jesus christ over every
area of your life that’s when heaven can
visit you
and heaven will not visit you if you’re
not under his feet
let me read to you right now romans 14
about the lordship of jesus christ
here’s what it says in verses 7 through
9.
for not one of us lives for himself
and that one dies for himself
for if we live we live for the lord
and if we die we die for the lord
therefore whether we live or die we are
the lords
for to this in christ died and lived
again
that he might be both
that he might be lord both of the dead
and of the living
until he is lord he uses the word lord
four times
in those verses
until he is master
ruler
final decision maker meaning you’re
under his foot you know when somebody
puts their foot on somebody they want to
hold them down okay
unless god can hold you down
unless you are willing to say yes lord
to his authority unless you and i are
willing to say i am not my own i’ve been
bought with a price
and that buying with a price covers all
of my life my personal life my financial
life my attitudinal life my relational
life it covers all of my life cause i am
not my own he says i want to be lord
while you’re living and when you’re dead
i don’t want to just be lord when it
comes time to go to heaven i want to be
lord on your way there until he we are
under his feet we will not see his
authority being manifested in our
experience we won’t see his power we
won’t see change see because that look
the way you know
that this christian thing is working
is god demonstrates his power
see when jesus was on earth
how did they know he was the messiah
because of his powerful demonstrations
okay
so if you really want to know how real
he is
plug into his power but you can’t plug
into his power unless you’re under his
foot
you’ve got to be under his authority in
other words he must have the right to
veto you
he must have the right to overrule you
he must have the right to dictate to you
he must have the right to consume you
because he died and rose to be lord not
just to be savior
he died and rose to take you to heaven
but also rule you on earth
and if you want to see his rule on earth
then he must be lord
over all of life
the problem today is we have am fm
christians
they switch frequencies
you see they heavenly on sunday then
they go secular on monday
you see they they keep switching
frequencies back and forth and wonder
why they don’t get to hear the whole
tune
because they keep switching frequencies
and god says i ain’t gonna let you two
time in now you have to decide if i am
lord or if i am not
now if i am lord that means final say so
veto power
and then when it comes time for me to do
something i don’t have to go far since
you sit next to me i can just turn
because you’re already sitting next to
me in the spiritual realm but if you’re
not operating from that realm you don’t
even hear him talking
you don’t see the riches you don’t
experience the power and jesus just
becomes a religious experience that
encourages you that inspires you but you
never see the authority
the overruling
but i will tell you this there’s nothing
like seeing it
because when he when he shows up and you
get to see it
and you get to say whoa
i just saw god do it i just saw god do a
switch on me
i just saw god take something dead and
raise it from the grave
i just saw that
i was dying in this situation dying with
this problem dying with the resources
diamond and i just saw god flip the
natural order of things
see then you won’t have to lean on
somebody else’s testimony
because you’ll be able to say i’ve seen
it with my own eyes
so right now in closing i want to switch
a word i want to switch a word i want to
change out a word okay now the word i
want to change out is a great word it’s
a good word
but it’s a problem word
but it’s a natural word
the word i want to switch out is the
word commitment
see we call on people to make a
commitment
there’s a problem with a good word
the problem with the word commitment is
are you still in control
see
when you make a commitment you’re in
control like like uh we committed to
lose the weight we gained over christmas
we committed we committed i’m going on a
diet and i’m gonna lose that way we
committed to start working out
we just committed we committed we
committed to read our bible every day or
to pray more and we were so sincere when
we made those commitments i’m telling
you we were so sincere but then life
happened
and distractions happened and our
commitment began to wane not because we
weren’t sincere but we were in control
and when the control got weak the
commitment got weak so i want to switch
the word out i want to switch the word
out from commitment to surrender
see
see
if a man holds a gun up
and
says
put your hands up
he just trump commitment
i don’t need commitment i’m surrendering
i’m throwing my hands up
i ain’t thinking about it i ain’t going
into do i really want to commit
do i really want to do this
i you you know why because somebody else
is in control
somebody else got the gun he said sit
down
you don’t have to tell me twice
i’ma sit down why because i’m not in
control you know what you do when you
surrender what you told
you see because when you surrender
somebody else is in control
somebody else is calling the shots
so commitment is a great word
but we we get shaky with commitment so
let’s go to surrender
so that it’s not up to us it’s whatever
you say boss
you’re the boss man whatever you say
yes sir
i surrender i hold up my hands cause
you’re the authority cause now it
doesn’t depend on my commitment it
depends on my obedience to the authority
who’s telling me what to do so i
surrender and once you surrender heaven
wakes up and say we got one we got one
who’s ready to see my power and my
authority
[Music]
when jesus christ rose from the dead he
ascended up to heaven and set
on the right hand side of his father
he now sits in a position of spiritual
authority
and he has invited us
his people to join him there
the scripture says that we are seated
with him
in heavenly places
believers have access to the risen
christ and the authority that he wields
in the spiritual realm
for us to activate utilize and make
manifest
in the physical realm
we’re now able
through our prayers to draw down
from heaven
for help
in our histories
personal histories family histories
and our
environmental
realities
authority
is the legitimate use of power people
can use power illegitimately
you have a policeman that has a
a gun you have a criminal that has a gun
both have firepower but only one has a
badge
well when it comes to spiritual
authority
jesus christ has given his people a
badge
so we have legitimate access to god
legitimate access through christ
and that means we have the ability
to be authorized
to bring
god’s will
god’s presence
into our
circumstances we can bring spiritual
reality
into
a physical reality
so when you pray know that you have the
right
and you have been authorized
to exercise
heaven’s authority in history
so that history can be transformed
because we’re seated alongside of the
authoritative one jesus christ
when you’re in the spirit
but the bible calls the spirit a wind
a wind it blows
my opinion nobody’s opinion when it
conflicts with god
is to be considered as truth the bible
says let god be true and every man a
liar
mother nature doesn’t work without daddy
god
that’s because truth
they’re the just
because if it comes from god it’s truth
because god has absolute standard by
which reality is measured
you
amen