 So far we have seen two kinds of authority that a believer has, redemptive authority, inherited authority and the more clarity we have about these, we will be able to face the enemy in a bold way. There are two more that we will talk about in this session. One is positional authority and the next one being delegated authority. So positional authority as the name itself denotes, it talks about a position which we have given by God to us and I think in your last semester, if I'm not wrong, you had the subject on in Christ Jesus. So we have now been, as believers, positioned in Christ Jesus and we see through that, God has done so much for us and blessed us with many, many privileges. One of the things that God has done in Christ Jesus for us is that he has now raised us up and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. This is in Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 6. So what God has done is he has redeemed us and he has given us a position sitting together with Jesus in the heavenly places. So whenever we talk about sitting in a particular place of authority, that does not come easy. I'm sure you'll understand. No one can go and sit on the throne of a king or for that matter. Nobody can go and occupy the thrones of the ministers of the king. Each one is chosen, the ministers are chosen to be positioned in those places. Now, from what we read, we understand that the believer has been made to sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Though physically, you and I may be very much here on the earth, spiritually, we must recognize. I may be sitting here on my chair right now in each one of you in your homes. You're sitting on your chair with a desk in front of you and watching or listening to this lecture. And you might wonder, what authority do I have? But spiritually, we are told that right now our position is with Christ in the heavenly places. So take a moment if you want to just close your eyes and imagine yourself. Physically, you are here, but spiritually, you and I, all of us, we are seated together with Christ in the heavenly places. Spiritually, that's where you and I are seated right now. And coming with those thrones, if you want to call it, next to the king of kings is an authority which has been given to each one of us. So there is an authority that we carry because we are seated with Christ in the heavenly places. Now Adam, if you go back to creation and the first man, he did not have this kind of a dominion and authority given to him. Yes, he was given the authority to rule and reign on the earth and subdue creatures and things like that. But after the Lord Jesus came and bought our redemption, not only did he give back the dominion that originally belonged to Adam, back to mankind, but he also now gave us an additional form of authority. What is that? In Christ Jesus, we have been seated with Christ in the heavenly places. So once again, the backing of the heaven is with us. And as we saw last time, I don't know if I mentioned it, but we being seated in the heavenly places is the highest position. And if you study scripture, a lot of things are there about the second heavens where the Bible doesn't mention the second heavens, but there is this whole thing about powers and principalities, rulers of wickedness. The demonic realm and the demonic structure, the authorities of the demonic world being part of the second heavens. But notice you and I are seated above that. In the heavens, in the heavenly places, spiritually that is our position above every demonic authority. So that is just to help us understand that physically you and I may feel that I'm a human being. I am not invincible in any sense or I am just a person who is walking the earth. Yes, that is true. We are but mortal created beings of God. But when I am a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, there is also a spiritual reality that reveals that we are strong. Because we have been given authority and seated with Christ in the highest position. And so I can use that authority. How do we use the authority? We'll talk a little bit about it before we end today's class. Our words, the commands that we issue, the part of the commands that we issue. See, we can command the level. We can say I find you in the name of Jesus or I command you to leave. I cast you out in the name of Jesus. Now, even the boldness that it will come from our understanding. If I only think that I'm just a human being and yeah, I'm a child of God, so what? How can I command the devil to leave or how can I command the sickness to leave? How can I command an oppression to be broken? Remember the spiritual realities. I'm physically here, but spiritually I'm seated with Christ in the heavenly place. It's a high position of authority and thereby when I issue a command, it flows with that authority. So positional authority is also something that we must understand. And that is also a war cry against the devil. Every time demons try to confuse us and say, oh, you're just a human being. You're a weak human being. What are you talking about? You can remind them that no, you know, as God's word says, Ephesians 2, 6, I'm seated with Christ in the heavenly places. I'm above you, you know, demons. So I command you to leave. I command you to stop your activities. I say no to your trespassing in Jesus' name. So we can take authority and use our authority. So that's how we understand positional authority. The next form of authority here is delegated authority. Delegated authority is as a representative of Christ. And I think I have mentioned this to our class earlier. If there is a bank where one has an account, let's say I'm not able to go to the bank. So I can authorize, let's say my sister. I can authorize her, give her a letter which says, so this is sent by me. And please provide the privileges of operating my account in this this way. Because I personally am not able to come there. So I have delegated authority to my sister to operate something as important as my bank account. So in the same way, you know, the Lord Jesus, when he told us there are many scriptures that say that all authority on heaven and earth, you know, mine, I give it to you and you go baptize the name of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. So you find that there is a call to use the name of Christ, the name of Jesus in my name. They shall cast out demons, Mark 16 verses 18 and 19. We read that. So what is it that we have to operate in the authority of Christ? Jesus said, in my name, you will cast out. So that is like a badge that has been given to us. That is like, if you want to say a badge of authority, the name of Jesus that has been given to us. So we operate in the name of Jesus and the demons have to bow down to the authority in the name of Jesus. Now it is also, the understanding can also be such that, of course, we know that the name of Jesus is the most powerful name. As Philippians 2 says that because Jesus humbled himself, God gave him a name above every other name. So it is the highest name and at that name, every knee should bow. The moment you mention the name of somebody who has authority, things happen. So I was just sharing this testimony with some of my church people. What happened is there was an elderly person who recently, I know that this person had a fracture, a hip fracture. And that individual does not have a big job or anything that they can pay for their own surgery. So I went to a particular institution where they do provide some concession for people like this, for the surgery to be done. But it was not a lot, the concession which was given. And I was really concerned, I was thinking, okay, how is it that we are able to take care of this person. And some of us who knew we kind of tried to raise funds and all because it was necessary for the surgery to be done. But at that point, I just felt like, why don't we go and talk to one of the leading people in this place. So I just went and had a word with that person and that person was so busy that they hardly gave me two minutes time to talk. So then I just shared, okay, this elderly person who does not have help has had this fracture. There is the X-ray report, could you please guide. And knowing the situation, they kind of said, okay, go and mention to the person who needs to follow up on this case. Just mention my name, that's all they said, nothing else. So I went out of that place and I was thinking, how is it helpful to go and tell the person who is dealing with this case that this particular individual has sent me to you. Then I thought, okay, I must be honest. So I met the person in charge and gave them the entire background. And I said also, sir, like I happened to meet so and so, they just said that I must tell you that they have sent me. That's all. And after that, they took the entire matter very seriously. And they kind of examined the situation, whether the person is eligible for more concessions, this and that. So they did their best and somehow the entire thing worked out and the elderly person could have the treatment which they needed. And I am just, till now I think about what happened. The main person there did not have time, just made one remark and said, when you go and meet so and so, you tell them, I sent you. And that's what I did. I went and I said, so and so sent me. And they took up the whole matter with great speed and things were done, things were considered. Because of the, now when I look back, I think maybe because of the credibility of the name of that particular individual who sent me. And the favor that came through that and it's really God. It's really God who moved upon the heart of that person to even say that and say, I sent you. But then I thought about the name of Jesus because that's what Jesus said, isn't it? Go in my name. And if you recall, when Jesus had sent his disciples, they went and they were casting out demons. They went back telling Jesus, in your name, we cast out demons. Demons are fleeing in your name. Wow, Jesus, we are amazed, we are amazed. Because if a human name, like the example that I shared, if that individual could carry power and authority for things to get done faster, because of what they had as a person, just think about the name of Jesus. You know, many times we pray, we say, okay, I'm praying in Jesus' name. Or while telling somebody, we just say, okay, I bless you in the name of Jesus. I speak healing over you in the name of Jesus. We say it, but do we understand the meaning of the name of Jesus which we are attaching to our prayer or our command? It carries a lot of weight. There is delegated authority, you know. If you say, if you use the name of your, let's say your president or your prime minister has sent you somewhere and you have a letter that says, okay, I authorize so and so. There is so much, what a backing you carry with you that you can enter. They will, they will allow you, okay, come, you can enter these wonderful places because the person with authority has sent you. Now imagine, we have been given the greatest name, the name of Jesus. And we are commanding demons and yet we are getting scared and we are saying, I don't know if a demon is going to listen. I don't know if, you know, this situation is going to change. We just use the name of Jesus which carries authority and power, okay. So just, I mean, just think, I think I am, I don't think I'm saying it in a very, you know, good oratory sort of a fashion, but in a very simple way I'm helping us to think what a name, what authority has been given to us and we must pray and ask the Holy Spirit. Lord, help me have a revelation of the power of the name of Jesus that as Jesus said, right, look 10, 19. He said, I give you authority over all demons, all the power of the enemy. I give you authority over all the power of the enemy. We can go back to what we studied earlier. I give you authority, authority is exusia, okay. So we have exusia, the power to do something. We have exusia over all the, we said power is also dunamis. Dunamis is the ability, the ability of the enemy. So we have exusia over the dunamis of the enemy. So we have been given that authority that can do something about the ability of the devil. So we are really, if you try to summarize everything that we are talking about today, we classified it in a nice technical way. We have redemptive authority, we have inherited authority, we have positional authority and now we are saying that we have delegated authority, meaning somebody has sent us and that person carries authority. So we are really in a position where we can walk in victory. And because the subject is dealing with the devil, the demonic spirits, the demonic forces, we can exercise authority against the demonic spirits. And we can be victorious. So we just need to awaken to what we already have. Now, if we want to put it in a different way, you know, delegated authority, you can also say, when we go against, let's say a sin that I am tempted to, tempted into, or the enemy is tempting me to commit that sin. Or let's say I'm going against demons, I'm binding them, casting them out or something else, any work of the devil that I'm going against. When I go, I don't mean that I'm not saying it in a proud or an arrogant way, very humble way. It is like Jesus going. So when I am standing in front of somebody and, you know, engaging in the deliverance ministry. And I say, come out in the name of Jesus. It is like Jesus is saying come out in the name of Jesus, because I go with delegated authority. I am the representative. Okay. As a believer, I may be present in that place, but for the devil, how does it work for the devil? It's like Jesus telling the devil, if I say in the name of Jesus, it is equal to Jesus standing there and saying come out. Okay. So that is the understanding of delegated authority. So we can remember that whenever I'm taking, I'm fighting against the devil. It's not like one week human being, one week believer. How will the devil listen to me? No, no, no, no. Look at the authority that has been given, delegated authority. When you stand, what does the devil see? He sees Jesus standing there. And that is why he's very interested in manipulating my mind. Because if he can get me to believe that I am weak, I don't have power. I can't do it. Then he can play all his games with me. But as a believer, I'm very firm and I know, hey, if I say I'm coming to you in the name of Jesus, I mean it. It's like Jesus telling you, get out devil. Okay. Then he cannot go against that command. Because it's backed by the greatest name ever in the universe, the name of Jesus. So this is the understanding as believers now would just encourage us. I know for a few of us, it might be new for some of us, some insights. Yeah, okay, we're able to grasp it, but keep going back meditating, meditating, meditating. Even for me, let me just be honest, I'm building, still building the revelation of what all this means and how we are able to use it in our daily battles against Satan and demons. But where will that strength come from? Where will that faith, in other words, let's say faith, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. So keep going back, keep meditating and from there, you have your strength. Now, once I remember this also happened, somebody again, demon possessed, manifesting and our team, like Pastor Head mentioned to some of us and said, okay, if all of you can gather and pick a time, go minister to this person, it would be very nice. They are possessed by a demon. So in preparation to that session, what I did was I read the Bible, I read every passage where Jesus cast out a demon, every passage where Jesus was ministering deliverance, just read, meditate. How did he do it? What did he do? So what are we doing? Whenever we want to move in a certain area, we must get the faith from God's word. So go back to the word, meditate, meditate, meditate. So then when you go and minister, we are moving from a place of faith. So if possible, I'm saying, let's say, like in this case, we knew that on a certain day, we have to go, we have to pray for someone. So there is time to prepare. Now, many times what happens is we may not have the time to prepare. Suddenly, you're just having your usual ministry at church and someone begins to manifest. And then you have to deal with that situation or you went on missions for something else and you're serving, ministering the word of God and here you have somebody who needs deliverance. So there are times when we will not have an opportunity to really prepare. Okay, but we can always be prepared as long as we have the right understanding. So meditating on the truth of God's word is the place from where we can get that boldness. Now, just because we learned today, whatever we learned, understand that some of us may need some time to really digest, take it all in to start growing in this area of using our authority. So that's fine. That's fine. We are all growing. So don't think that, okay, now this is it. I have to flow like in a certain way in authority. Yes, we have understood everything, but you could take more time if you feel that you need it and go back and meditate. So that will bring the confidence or that will, in other words, we say that will bring the faith that you and I need to effectively use what we are talking about. So let me just pause for a moment. A couple of other insights in the same chapter that I have to deal with. But yeah, let's just take a break and let me hear your voices. Any thoughts, any comments, experiences, questions? So I know there are some brothers from Africa here. So any, any experiences that you might want to share? Okay, no worries. We will proceed further. So now that we have learned about the basis for our authority, the important thing is to acknowledge it. Okay. And as we meditate, I told us that, you know, our faith in this area will also begin to increase. And, you know, we will, we will start taking authority. You know, when we are not aware that we have this, that we have been redeemed, you know, Satan can, ignorance is his power. So when we don't know, he can play around. But when we are aware, then it's an opportunity for us to step up and use that authority. So let's say a sickness, which you sense is like it has a, like a demonic association. So immediately you could, you can command and you can say, okay, I command the sickness in the name of Jesus to leave Satan. So what happens is when I, when I get this truth into me in my daily life as I'm going about my daily life and discerning things. A circumstance, anything, you know, I can start using the authority moment by moment. I can use the authority. It's not just for, you know, pulpit or ministry time. No, yeah, that, but in addition to that, just everyday life, everyday victory that comes out of the fact that I know my authority and every believer knows their authority. And we can exercise this authority to oppose the works of the devil, any way in which he may want to intrude into our lives or intrude into our family and, you know, also our church, right, our church folks. So know it, acknowledge it, use it and see the power of God in those situations. And how do we do it? One of the main ways in which authority works is through the words that we speak. So our words are powerful. As many of you are aware of that scripture, it says life and death is in the power of the tongue. So when we use our words, we could use those words in a positive way or, you know, we say even death. So when you speak negative words over yourself, that could also affect. So the reference is probably 1821, life and death is in the power of our work. So the authority, remember, as I shared with you, that individual said, go and tell that I sent you. And in those words was the power that worked so beautifully. I thought of how the centurion went to Jesus and said, Lord, only say a word, that's enough. Just say a word and my servant will be well because he understood the meaning of authority through the words. So how do I exercise authority even over my life? You know, I can speak blessings, can speak blessings over my health, over, you know, again, everything, whatever I listed out family, finances, everything. But if I speak opposite, you know, let's say a parent is speaking negative about their child and saying, oh, this child, so problematic. This child is only giving me troubles. This child does not have any capacity to learn what is happening. You know, the parent carries authority and generally authority is released through the words that are being spoken. So when they speak these negative words, authority is being released, but in the negative sense. So, you know, we must really be careful to never agree with the lies of the devil. So for us to walk victorious in the authority that Jesus has given us, always speak in alignment with the truth of God's word and that will release the authority. So let's say a child is, you know, very naughty and all, but still the parent can say, okay, I know this is happening right now. But, you know, I speak over you in the name of Jesus that you shall be taught of the Lord, great shall be your peace. You know, my children are like an arrow in the quiver of a righteous man. You know, my God said that I will pour out my spirit on your descendants. So, you know, what am I doing? Circumstances are different, but I'm using my authority through the words that I speak. What is Satan trying to do? Bring confusion in the family and give us an image that, oh, your child is very naughty, will not grow up well. But I am taking authority and I'm saying, no, Satan, I will not agree with your word, but I'm going to speak the word of the Lord over my child. Children are a heritage from the Lord. They are a gift from the Lord. So I bless this child in the name of Jesus. So that is also spiritual warfare. You speak the truth. You speak the truth. And if you go back to the time when Jesus and the disciples were on the boat, okay, you remember? There was a storm and the disciples got so scared. How did Jesus exercise his authority? His words. He just said, peace, be still. So similarly, let's say, I'm going through a sudden storm. I can say, okay, this pressure, the strain, stress that I'm going through, peace, be still. I just took my authority, all the authority that we've talked about. So I just took authority and I released it. How did I release it? I spoke, I believe in my heart and I speak it with my mouth. That is the way in which I release my authority. So remember to release the authority through the words that we speak. The words should be in alignment to the truth of God's word. Okay, so any comments regarding this before we move on further? Wonderful. So yeah, we are quite okay with that understanding. So I'll just move forward. Let me just plug in my laptop, the charges. Okay, yeah, so let's move on then. Things are quite clear. We'll go to chapter seven here. Since we have spoken about spiritual authority that every believer has and the release of that authority through the words that we are speaking. Now let us also look at the realm of authority or the boundary within which we can exercise our authority. And what is part of that realm or who is part of that realm that we can exercise authority over? Obviously, we can exercise authority over demonic powers and their activities. And we've seen how Jesus has completely defeated them. So we can exercise authority on demons. Now, what is the other way of reacting to demons? Us getting very obsessed with the work of demons and being paranoid about what demons are doing and how they are one up in their approach against us. So what also happens as a result of studying demonologies, people could become more demon conscious. Now that is unhealthy. We must not become more demon conscious. But what we are studying must make us more God conscious of how God has defeated the devil and given us the power over the demons. So just for our class to encourage our class to not become... They use the term spooky spiritual. Spooky spiritual is like giving the devil credit for absolutely everything. Everything that might happen. Anything that we are unable to understand, we just blame it on the devil and say that, oh, the devil is doing this. The devil is opening my window. The devil is. So that is extreme. Just because we have knowledge about demons, we must not think that any and every activity that's going on in our lives is demon sometimes. The things that are happening could plainly be natural. I think I have already shared that with us. And also it could be because of our own decisions. So the difficulty that we are going through is the lack that we are going through. Some of the decisions that we made. So everything is not influenced by demons. And for believers to blame the devil for everything would be something like spooky spiritual. So I'm just kind of sharing it with all of us. Just for our understanding. Going back to that same example of a child being naughty. I remember also interacting with a set of parents. They are very wonderful believers. But then they were like, oh, my child is very naughty. It's demonic. So I'm casting out demons from my child every day. I mean, we were talking about a child who was like, what, three, four years old, something like that. And every normal child that age is naughty. So there is no question of interpreting the normal things of life with the knowledge that we have now. So it really was somewhat disturbing. So what I'm trying to say is that all of us here, we really need the wisdom of God and the discernment of the Holy Spirit. Yes, if something is demonic, then the spirit of God will reveal that to us. But without that, to tag, you know, I have to cast out a demon of every situation that I'm going through. Better not to go in that path. So don't become demon conscious. And all believers be aware, but don't become demon conscious. On the other hand, you can become authority conscious. You know, you can, you can know that you have the, even if Satan is doing this, demons are doing that. We have the authority and Jesus said, look 10, 19, I give you authority to trample on serpents and scorpions over all the power, all the power of the enemy and nothing shall by any means hurt you. And of course, he again told his disciples, he said, and these signs will follow those who believe in my name. What you will cast out demons. So we have already been given authority to use on demons, on demonic spirits. We have victorious over demon spirits, but don't make everything about demons. Okay, so that is one point number one. So we have authority over demons and all the power of the enemy. Paul, you have a question, Paul. Okay, I'm unable to hear you. You would need to unmute yourself. Not sure that was meant to be. So anyway, we'll just go back to what we're discussing. So we have power over demons. Okay, what else do we have power over? We have power over demonic works. So one John 3.8, we see that Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil. So obviously Satan is engaging in destructive activities. Now these activities can affect, we've seen that, we've seen how they can affect an individual, they can affect communities, they can affect regions, and they can also be manifested in various ways. So it can manifest as sickness in people's bodies because we see in Acts 10 38, that Jesus healed those who were oppressed of the devil. So healing was necessary for the work of the devil, which is oppression. So it can manifest as sickness also, the work of the devil. Okay, again, sometimes this happens. So demonic works can be manifested in the form of sickness, in the form of confusion, in the form of fear, hindrance, opposition, disturbances, so many ways. We have authority over demonic works. So whatever, if you sense Satan is doing something, you and I can go against it and battle it out. So we have authority over demons, we have authority over demonic works, we have authority over demonic influences. What are these influences? Remember, we talked of that progression. First you have influence and then it will move on to oppression, then it will move on to possession, then domination. So influence would be things like fear, temptation, all these mind games that Satan plays with us, deception, spiritual blindness. So all forms of things that the enemy can influence people with now. We ourselves could be battling under temptation or any of these struggles, not spiritual blindness, because spiritual blindness is something that Satan can bring upon unbelievers. So we could be battling an influence of the devil or others could be battling an influence of the devil or let's say large groups of people can be battling the influence of the devil. But we can go against it. If there be any demonic influence, we can go against it. And time and again we have seen that God has used human beings with the call of God on their lives to overcome the crisis that Satan and his demons have created against even nations through the wisdom of God that has been overcome. So if you go back and look at the life of Joseph, a time of calamity and famine over a nation, you had a man of God, God used. See, look at this. God is always good, trying to do good things. So through Joseph, what did God do? There was a preparation to keep the food grains required for a time of famine and there was sufficient food for everyone. So Moses, you find that through Moses leading the people out of Egypt and also you find overcoming any other kind of challenges along the way and if you remember pharaoh's court, the magicians trying to compete the power of God through Moses' life overcame what the sorcerers were trying to do. So God's power is so much greater and any influence of the evil one, God's power is able to overcome again the lives of Elijah in Elisha. Wonderful example. Supernatural miracles were released through their lives. People had, you know, you read different situations there, right? There was no rain. There was a lack of food. You know, somebody had lost something. A mother did not have a child. The child had died. Calamity, destruction, you know, evil works influences of the devil but supernatural miraculous power of God intervening in these circumstances and there was food, there was rain, you know, there was what else, life raised from the dead. So God is working in a positive way against the demonic influences of the enemy. So these are all things that we even in today's world we can expect from God to see the influences being broken. So what I'll do is I'll just stop at this point. Let's pray and close today's class. We'll come back and pick up and we are moving more and more into, you know, the practical ministry of deliverance. So, yeah, we'll get into that very shortly. So can somebody please pray and close out today's class. Let's pray. Loving Father, one single Lord, we thank you so much for speaking to us, Lord, through your daughter, Lord. Lord, I thank you that you have given us authority, Lord. Lord, I pray that you help us, Lord, to know the all authorities, Lord, what you have given to us, Lord. Help us, Lord, to execute it, Lord, in our life, Master. And, Lord, help us to be very humble, Lord, for you, Lord, that, Lord, we will not be proud, Lord, that we have everything for Lord. In every moment, Lord, we acknowledge your sovereignty in our life, Master. Lord, I continuously pray whatever the things, Lord, we are learning these days. Lord, foolishly, Lord, you create a hunger to implement it in our life, Master. Lord, we thank you so much for everyone of us, Lord. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen. Amen. Thank you. Thank you, Subashish, for that prayer. And, yes, class, continue to meditate on these things. And, yeah, hopefully your assignment will be released either tonight or by tomorrow. You'll have sufficient time to complete it and we will meet again in the next class. God bless you. Have a great weekend. Thank you, guys. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Bye.