 Good morning, everyone. Thank you for connecting on today's call We will continue to learn about our spiritual authority. Let's pray first and then we get into the subject for today Would like to request one of us on the call to kindly lead in prayer, please any one of you if you could please unmute and Pray Jack in thank you for joining us. Would you be able to lead us in prayer? Yeah, thank you Father God, thank you Lord. Thank you for this time Lord God Almighty father We come at this time into your hands lots other even as we are few this morning father We pray Lord that you will talk to us Lord and even as others here online father God We pray Lord that you will talk to each of us through your word. Thank you Lord You've been teaching us Lord and you've been equipping us Lord How to overcome the enemy father God and live a victorious life and each of us Lord to follow this in our lives in our Jesus might be matchless name Amen, thank you jacket So we've seen so far about our spiritual authority The nature of Satan and his demons their works But the victory of the cross and how We can overcome the enemy we can have a lifestyle that is constantly Overcoming the evil one We talked about the use of many spiritual weapons about positioning ourselves in a place Where we are defended from the attacks of the devil So now we carry on from here and we learn some more about how we can Exercise our authority and dominion. So in the lesson that follows We are right now in chapter 11 in our notes. We will look at Exercising our authority In order to defend ourselves. So that is more from a protective Preventive sort of a position. We will also look at Protecting ourselves in an offensive way or of going against the devil actively So we exercise our authority to attack the enemy. So that's also something that we will look at and We will see how prayer and intercession helps us release our authority Words we've been speaking about this earlier our declarations our decrees Also help us release our spiritual authority Righteous actions that we perform will also help us Express our authority against the devil at the power of agreement is another important thing then leveraging angelic assistance in order to exercise authority and dominion and finally the Working through authority gateways how we can utilize this for for us to overcome the devil This is what we are going to talk about. So we'll take it up one by one So let's begin by exercising our authority in a protective and a preventive manner which is Defending Ourselves. So what are some things that one can do? So what we'll do is we will look at a couple of Phrases or words that show us how we can defend ourselves against the devil So in the word of God, there's always been a concept of protection Protective covering so automatically when there is a protection what happens? The enemy cannot penetrate and that's what we want as a defense mechanism for us So already we've talked about the the overcomers lifestyle. So all of those things apply, but more specifically no, we talk here about Stay put where God has called us positioned us and not letting the devil come in So, how do we do that? How do we do that? Well? When Israel Were leaving Egypt. What happened? There was that plague of you know, the first ones Were dying and God showed them about the power of the blood of the lamb And so they protected themselves with the blood of the lamb. That's something that we can do today We could also protect ourselves through prayer. We know when we read about the life of Job There is a statement in Job chapter one where the enemy says that there is a defensive Offense around him a protective fence around him and how did that happen that happened through the life of devotion That job had he had a life of worship. He was sincere and very consistent with his worship of God his offering of sacrifices his prayers and So this form of a lifestyle helped him come under a protection Of God, so that's also something we can we can be awakened to that when we have this life of devotion and Consistency in in our, you know worship offerings all that prayer Then we are protected in the spiritual realm We also see that when we are walking with the Lord the angel of the Lord and camps around those who fear God and You know it it surrounds us protects us So as I'm fear walking in reverence towards God, I will also have angelic protection So this is how I maintain my defenses and a secret place in Sam 91 We know that he would dwells in the secret place of the most high So that position of intimacy is also a position where we are protected from the enemy now We take our ground. We do all the required necessary things that a life of devotion You know is is all about now. What are some additional words or phrases that we can look at There are phrases such as words such as resist the devil Give no place to the devil stand against the devil withstand the devil So all these words are not quoting the scriptures. It's all in our notes here But they're taken from scriptures, but they are indicated of us Defending our God-given territory and counteracting any effort of the enemy to Enter in so as a believer, what should I do? I know that the enemy has come to steal kill and Destroy he will make efforts towards that So I use my God-given authority and I resist I withstand or I stand against you know it you can imagine you're protecting your house your if at all there is an intrusion Effort by somebody you're not allowing that to happen. So that's what this means. You are Resisting resisting the devil from inside and saying hey, you know You cannot come in and of course the easy way for him to come in is when we give him place So Paul told the efficient church don't give him any place give no place to the devil So when we do these things we are actually Protecting ourselves. We are defending ourselves now in the defense mode We can also talk about a Wrestle against the enemy. So in Ephesians chapter 6 12 says we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities powers We are wrestling against spiritual entities So what is this a wrestle? the word wrestle is a continued intense Personal conflict against the devil. So it is Indicative of us engaging in a prolonged manner. It's not necessarily that you know, we we Called the devil out and that's it, but Continuously we are fighting against the devil. It's like Till you overcome till you overpower till you subdue the enemy There's a wrestling match against the devil. So that's what Our defense looks like we may have to stay our ground and not give up You know, it might take some time We don't know, you know, how much time it might be for each situation case by case But we are making our effort and the whole wrestle Against the demonic powers is going on. So it's going to be intense. It's going to be continuous But we cannot let go. So as believers We must also recognize in our minds that when I'm trying to defend myself I am contending against the enemy. I am opposing every demonic work against me and You know, the Bible uses terminology such as fight the good fight of faith So it's not a one-off. We are in battle till we win We are in battle till the enemy gets tired and retreats So that's the way in which we defend our self. So we said first is resist Stand your ground. Second is wrestle. We're also making an effort against the devil and Intensely engaging to protect ourselves. So wrestling is a defense mechanism that a believer can use So I'm using my authority. I'm using my dominion. I'm contending against the devil. I'm fighting the devil and That's the way I overcome that How else do I defend? Remember, we said the shield of faith is a defensive weapon. So when I use my faith, that's also a defense mechanism With my shield of faith, what am I doing? I'm quenching all fiery dots. What are the fiery dots of the devil? His lies, his accusations You know, his condemnation So his deception. So he uses all of these things to play in the battlefield of our minds and when he can You know, set a blaze or set on fire Some important part of us and you know, try to destroy it. What helps us? Shield of faith because the shield of faith will say, no, that's an accusation I reject it in the name of Jesus. No, that's a temptation. I reject it in the name of Jesus. No, that's a condemnation I reject it in the name of Jesus. No, that is a lie. I reject it in the name of Jesus. So that's what am I doing? You know, the fiery dots are coming, but I am quenching the fiery dots. You know, I'm putting it off So as a believer, I'm using my authority to stop the fiery dots of the enemy So this is an encouragement for us to stay in faith, be full of faith Towards God. So when we are full of faith, it's so difficult for the enemy to penetrate. He look at other means to try and Enter it. Okay, so we can make it very difficult for Satan to attack us Make it very difficult for Satan to try to defeat us. Okay, so this is how we will defend ourselves Is everyone doing okay? You're all following what I'm saying Good respond on chat or if you feel comfortable on mute and share Okay, that's good. That's good. Okay Wonderful. Thank you so much. Thank you. Okay. So so far we've looked at defense now. How do you use our authority? offensively against the devil or in other words, we are now talking more about advancing forcefully we are you know One up as as we would state Against the enemy. So how do we advance against the enemy with our authority? So there are some more action words that we can talk about these are words that even Jesus Used in his ministry against demonic powers and we are authorized to Exercise our authority in these ways as well. So the first one is rebuke command so Will be times like even in the ministry of Jesus there were times when he Observed the manifestation of demonic powers demons Taking over an individual. What did he do? He just rebuke. He just commanded that demon rebuke you so Because of the victory that we have through the cross we are able to do this and we see even fall followed along the Apostles the set of first believers They followed the patterns of Jesus His life his ministry. So nothing changed We see even Paul in acts chapter 16 when he comes across a girl who is demon possessed He rebukes he commands, right? So Even in other places Authority has been demonstrated in this way So you and I today we will talk more about this will talk in detail about Deliverance, you know as a practice later. How do I how do I do this? But for now, let us understand that there is a place for us to rebuke Demons rebuke, you know, sometimes We may say oh I rebuke you devil, but it's understood. We are we are referring to demonic powers As a whole so that's fine. We can rebuke the devil We can issue a word of command in the name of our Lord Jesus. And so when we do that We are going against the devil and he has to respond to it because You know authorities that I have authority But what if I just sit down and the devil is doing all his stealing his killing is destroying and I just let it go I'm not using my authority But when I rebuke when I come and I say stop devil in the name of Jesus I rebuke you in the name of Jesus or any work of the devil. Let's say There was fever Peter's mother-in-law had fever. We read Jesus is rebuked the fever. He commanded it to go So he took authority This is how we take authority when we sense in our spirit that God wants us to use this method We we just go with that. We say, okay, I rebuke it could be a condition It could be a sickness. It could be You know a situation But we rebuke it because it's it's what is the source demonic? And so that is the reason we are rebuke. We are commanding Like even if it is I Think a natural thing and not so much a demonic thing also. I think using our authority in Decreasing commanding would work but primarily since we are talking in the context of deliverance All of what we are talking about is applied We are talking about applying it against demons and Satan so rebuke command That's one way in which we can do this use our authority second ways cast out So there are unbeen examples of Jesus casting out demons from people Now even in Mark chapter 16 verse 17 You know, he said that you will cast out demons and these signs shall follow those who believe the other ones Isn't it? So if we believe that what are some of the signs that should follow us one with regard to deliverance They shall cast out demons in my name. They shall cast out demons So we can evict or expel demonic spirits from their immediate habitation and generally it is the bodies of people and They forcefully take over the the bodies of people But we can go against that and we can command them to come out So casting out is another way that we would do now There are many questions around this people say when we cast out a demon What else do we do? Like do we command the demon to go somewhere or generally? You know casting out a demon is should be good enough and we know Jesus talked about the place Where these demons would go? They are disembodied spirits. So they are constantly looking for a body They don't like to be without the body So once they are cast out, they again wander around in the Matthew chapter 12 We read about it was 43 goes through dry places seeking rest so they're doing this and When they are seeking rest, it simply means they're looking for a habitation once again Now they may try to come back to the original habitation When I say original from the place that they were they were cast out and the tendency is to come back Powerfully so they may bring back with them many more demons to reoccupy. But if the person is Born again filled with the spirit walking in the ways of the Lord then re-entry is You know, we are prohibiting re-entry into that individual But here is the other way of advancing. We simply cast out if we know that Satan and his demons are in dwelling A person or to any immediate habitation. It could be an animal. We've talked about it, isn't it? Or it could be a space we can cast out demons. Okay, that's another way in which we can exercise our Authority now we can also Spiritually destroy the works of the devil now when we read about the Lord Jesus And what he did on the cross for us in Hebrews 2 14 We read that Jesus destroyed Satan through His work of redemption on the cross again in 1 John chapter 3 verse 8 We see that Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil. What is destroy? You know, we we can understand that it is bringing Certain works to ruin. That's what destroy means that whatever existed no longer exists, you know in its in its Prime a good condition anymore. It's in ruins. So that is what Jesus has done to Satan His works Satan's works are now destroyed in other words We can understand this as the works of Satan where made useless or they were made of no effect Okay, or they were made void or terminology such as Cousin the the works or break the works or dissolve melt to put off All this can be used to understand destroy Jesus is already destroyed so on the Basis of what has been done on the cross of Calvary. Remember, we said this we said that we are not here to fight for Victory because victory is already ours. We are just here to enforce victory. We are already overcomers We are here to enforce our victory. So when we see a situation in which, you know, Satan is trying to steal again kill destroy do all his tactics We are authorized to enforce Victory by destroying or make no make useless or make bring to no effect the works that he is trying to raise up And we have other passages in scripture like Isaiah 10 27 we saw that So the anointing will break the yoke. It says break what? similar to destroy Even the work of the spirit the work of the Holy Spirit when we invite the work of the Holy Spirit is capable of Destroying the work of the devil. So what do we do? We can pray along these lines and we could say something like, you know Satan you Jesus has already destroyed you on the cross of Calvary or Jesus has come to destroy the works of the devil. He's already destroyed the works of the devil Lord, we thank you for the anointing which destroys which breaks every yoke right now and and God like You can go ahead and speak this we can speak this So it's a combination of the work of the cross and the work of the spirit Which is breaking the oppressive chains of the devil over people's life So we use our authority we can we can declare what has already happened Destruction has already happened the devil's instruction. We can already say that The the spirit of God is at work right now. He's undoing chains. He's undoing bondages He's breaking bondages and as I speak this I'm enforcing the victory of Christ and Satan is very scared of a believer who knows Who is aware, isn't it? We are believers or God's people are destroyed for what for lack of knowledge But when we know who we are what has been one for us. We have the victory the enemy now has to You know a flea from us So we can advance by destroying the work of the devil now other Terms which we can see is a remove And overcome so remove along the lines of destroyed It talks about taking away burdens taking away chains Taking away yolks of the oppressor from people's lives And so when we pray when we declare it when we say because of the cross Every work or every bondage of the enemy is removed. I command it to be removed. What am I doing? Exercising my authority. Is there anything wrong that I'm doing? No, I'm not because it's already done with my words I'm just trying to enforce it. I believe that Jesus is broken every chain And so I'm asking for what I am noticing to be removed be removed from the lives of these people every oppression Be removed in the name of Jesus. So that's how we go about it Do we continue the way Jesus ministered so remove is another way of advancing again The enemy now the other I said was overcome Overcome is it's it's more like wrestling language Where two people are fighting when one person, you know gets the other person down So he's on top of the other person and he's the winner That person is the overcome that person is the one who has prevailed that person is the one who subdued so in that manner We the Bible says that we are overcomers and the church is a very strong and a powerful entity as far as God is concerned because Jesus is the head of the church Jesus said in his word that I will build my church the gates of hell will not prevail against it So who will prevail we will prevail we are the overcomers And as believers based on these scriptures, you know, we can Constantly overcome. Okay devil you're trying to do this. I overcome you by the blood of the lamb I overcome you with the name of Jesus. I overcome you by the word of the spirit So in this way, we are constantly getting on top of whatever Satan is trying to do against us And that is how we advance against the devil. Okay, so let's continue. What are the what are some more? You know Things that we can do to advance. So now we are coming into the category of as Jesus taught us, isn't it? He said in Matthew 16, I give you the keys of the kingdom. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven Whatever you lose on earth will be loosed in heaven. So so far. We saw the complete Destruction overcoming You know, or also casting out casting out rebuking commanding completely we just we just want this thing out Okay, but when we come to binding and losing The way we understand it is Maybe slightly different slightly different. It's along the same lines. So So especially when you say lose It's along the same lines, but when particularly binding Jesus said right that we could bind. So how do we bind? See binding is um If if you want to put it this way like handcuffing the devil so what do people do when they find an offender and They want to restrict the offender for some time. What do the police do? They're afraid that this person might turn violent or Do something more destructive for a while till He's proven guilty Or till the processes take place. What do they do? They just handcuff them and they say, okay, just You can't do anything anymore You're under our custody now. So that's somewhat what binding is so when the enemy is trying to do something in a particular situation and we issue a command and we say I bind you your spirit of strife, let's Imagine in a marriage. There's a lot of arguments. There's you know misunderstanding many things are happening and the people have understood that this is way beyond a normal Disagreement that You know generally happens between couples. So then what do we do if it has a demonic source that We can exercise our authority and go ahead and bind that spirit of discord bind that spirit of anger bind that spirit of strife You'll find that spirit of confusion. Whatever it is. We go ahead and bind it. So what did we do just now? It's like handcuffing We bind the operations. You no longer can cause havoc Okay, so we have bound the devil now Now that we have bound the devil It's not a permanent solution. Why are we saying that because see there are other underlying issues We have stopped the devil from doing what he was doing. You know, he was he was agitating he was leading people to to fight with one another so we have Withheld that but there are other practical steps to take once we've bound the devil So binding is like saying, okay, we restrain you But what needs to be done? Maybe in the case the example that I gave It might make sense to resolve issues between the husband and wife So how do we resolve it? A good thing would be to You know get wisdom from the word of god Maybe if it's possible if it's at the level where they both can talk things through and you know sort matters out Then you know base it on scripture, then that's good to do That way there's no open door. We're not giving the devil any more open doors But if it's beyond that then there's no harm, you know seeking Council from a godly person or wisdom a practical wisdom from a counselor So there's no problem. But what are we doing? We are setting things in order While the enemy is restrained Now once we've bound the devil and we don't think don't set things in order He will still have an opportunity because there'll be open doors Okay, so that is what when whenever we bind It's generally a good thing for us to also go and fix the underlying Issues in a particular way that way the enemy no longer will be able to inter interfere So binding that's how it works. So we can bind for for some time But then we also have to do the required thing now coming to lose So along the same lines Jesus said whatever you lose on earth will be lost in heaven. But you know, we know We've discussed this in prayer and intercession course though it speaks as if what is happening on heaven happens after What happens on earth? It's the other way around. So apparently it's some legal way of talking in Jesus's times and that's why it's written As if the action happens here on earth first and then it happens in heaven, but it's The fact that heaven has no bondage and heaven is A place of liberty and freedom and no oppression and thereby we are enforcing that here on So that's why we are binding. That's why we are losing. We are going against the devil So we experience the rule and reign of heaven in our lives the way Jesus taught us to pray. He said Thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth As it is in heaven. So that's the correct order on earth because it is in heaven So we can also bind and lose. So what do we lose? We can lose What is on earth? What is in heaven? What is there in heaven? So sometimes we may have heard people pray prayers like I lose the peace of god I lose the joy of god the hope of god. So we carry the authority to release What exists in heaven? So if we make statements like that, there's no harm because it's technically correct Whatever is in heaven. We want to see that lord we lose your your unity among the people lord we Or the way jesus prayed for that woman In luke chapter 13. There was a woman who was bound by satan and she was bent over But jesus went to her and said woman thou art loosed satan has bound. He says This daughter of abraham. So The binding work with satan did he commanded over that individual be loosed Be loosed. So that's another way in which we can apply loosening the works of satan whether it is You know possession bondage captivity the setting the Captives free proclaiming liberty to the oppressed because that is a part of the mandate that jesus carried upon his life And so today we can lose a person from bondage That the enemy has over their lives Or we can lose the things of the kingdom Right the things of the kingdom as I stated the peace of god the the joy of god Uh So just proclaim that declare those things over people's lives and that's fine. That's valid because we are using our Authority and dominion that way. Okay. What else can we do advancing against the devil? We can allow Disallow so there are times if you remember when jesus went to minister deliverance to people and the demons started speaking and we read in scripture He did not allow them to speak So you notice There was authority that jesus used to grant permission Uh or not grant permission for a certain Thing that the demons wanted to do so we can allow we can disallow So even us when we are ministering deliverance, you know, we there may be times when we say, okay, be quiet I don't allow you to talk or I don't allow you to to hurt this person Uh, so demon powers. I am using my authority I'm using my dominion this way over a specific activity. So we are confronting a specific activity whether The demon is trying to lie to us confuse us intimidate us or hurt the the person Uh concerned we stop it. You say no, you can't do that I don't allow you to do that. So I can take my authority in that way also Uh, the last term is pulling down pulling down. We've seen this term in second Corinthians, uh for where We pull down Strongholds, you know, we pull down every thought We take every thought captive which does not It's not aligned to the thinking of god So as a believer when I pray And use my dominion and say something like uh, I pull down strongholds in the name of Jesus Now these strongholds may have to do with our own minds Uh, or we are praying over somebody and by the spirit we discern that there are strongholds And we pull them down in the name of Jesus. It's valid. We can pray prayers like that and also for us collectively When we are praying as a church body or a family over regions areas, you know, geographic places Even there we can pull down strongholds because we will come to it later. Uh, there are, you know territorial spirits demonic spirits that create strongholds over regions. So sometimes as a body We have to take authority Again over the devil and we have to tear down Whatever strongholds he has made That's where the whole pulling down comes into action. So once we pull it down what happens, uh, that level of influence that level of power dominance control that uh, satan had over a person or over a community or a region That is taken away. So this is how we would apply our authority and our dominion Now coming to, uh, we've seen the way we take authority in defense and offense now prayer and intercession How does it work? Uh, obviously we know that it is aligned to Uh, taking our position against the devil. So when we read Ephesians chapter six in Ephesians chapter six, we have, uh, learned about the armor of god the weapons Uh, uh, or rather the pieces of the armor and uh, the weapons such as the word of god in All that to defend ourselves and also offend the enemy But as you go straight down after we read about The sword of the spirit we come to pray for all the saints Okay, uh with all kinds of prayers. So it suddenly talks about prayer There is a connection There is a connection against Uh, there's a connection to opposing the devil. I want to oppose the devil So How do I do that? How do I overcome the devil? I will put on the full armor of god protect myself and Verse 18 is talking about praying For all the saints with all kinds of prayers. So what can we understand? Our protection Is associated with prayer also Okay, so that's how I can apply Protection on my life defense against the devil and even offensive against the devil when I'm a praying person I Can thwart the plans of the devil remember we've talked about prophetic prayer So as the spirit of god shows us reveals to us we can destroy the works of the devil If we recall in uh luke 22 there jesus uh when he was talking to peter he said that uh, you know Satan wants to You as we but I have prayed for you peter So knowing what weapon the enemy is going to bring against us. What do we do? pray And when we pray It destroys in the spiritual realm Uh the work of the devil. So you see how authority is actually applicable and uh, Dominion can be released through our prayers So prayer and intercession is very very powerful through our prayers We can stop the works of the devil. So, uh, are we all doing fine any any question so far? Okay, I I'm looking at the chat here Uh, so jack in says pastor. How do we help a believer who is anointed? But had lived in bondage for several years He's unable to step out and live victoriously because of his own lack of knowledge of god's work Situations around when we pray together there is a release and he says that he is full of joy zeal But then again things worsen also in his family than before Because he's unable to step out and continue in obedience to god. So, uh, as we said jack in uh Like people perish for lack of knowledge You shall know the truth and the truth will set you free. So, uh over here praying with the person Is a good thing that we can do Uh, we have to find ways practical ways of encouraging them to Know the word of god so, uh, we may If there is opportunity we may do something like okay come. Let's let's take some time I just wanted to take you through uh, some passages of scripture Equip basically equip the person, uh, and it it can come under the process of discipling The person so I don't know who this is but generally what we say is, you know, men to men women to women So if it's a lady, then I would recommend that you do it But uh, if it's a guy, then I would recommend that you you Uh, check with him if he's open, uh, you connect him to another man, uh, a strong person in the lord and maybe they can journey together, uh, for that person to Share some basics if not all just get them started just get that, you know desire, uh, ignited and Hopefully you're saying that they were anointed and now There's bondage. So hopefully again, they will come back to that place of freedom Does does that help check in have I missed out anything that I haven't addressed? Okay, great. Great. That's good. So, uh prayer also helps we can pray for them but you know, it is You teach one how to fish and then give them some fish because then they are set for life if they know how to You know Deal with the devil and any given point in time. So equipping them would be a better idea pray for them But equip them Yes, nice question. Thank you. Anything else class it's it's it's always good to Think through whatever we we talked about so All right, so seems like you want more time to think through Uh, some of the ways in which we can exercise our authority. So let's do that and uh, what we will do is we'll cover the remaining Uh Topics in chapter 11 in the next class. It's very important because this is going to form the foundation of how we will exercise authority for individuals for Regions and all that is upcoming The practical steps to that is upcoming. So actually today's class is one of the most important classes and I will reiterate it to our on-campus students Um, so that they can listen to our recording today. So, all right, let's close with the word of prayer I just want to request one of us to please go ahead and close off with the word of prayer Uh, could one of you kindly unmute and pray, please? I think jack is already started in prayer So it would be nice to have another person close Uh, can you hear me Nina? Yes. Yeah Thank you to your lord for the class and for what you uh, what we learned and what Was impressed upon our heart and our spirit lord We also also want to thank you lord for all the Weapons and the things that you have put in place lord so that we may Effectively effectively put on the whole armor of god and use Uh, these methods lord against the enemy lord whether it is uh Defensive or the other way and in that way lord that you would Thank you for all the authority that you have granted us lord over all the enemy We pray that each one of us will be able to use these and in this way Uh, enforce your authority and your kingdom on this earth For we ask in Jesus precious name Amen. Amen. Thank you. Nina. Thank you everyone. God bless you Have a wonderful day. Great weekend And uh, we shall meet in our next class on Wednesday. Thank you. Bye for now