How to have AUTHORITY wherever you go (Part 2)

AUTHORITY IS USING THE NAME ABOVE YOU.

Jesus said, "He who speaks from his own authority seeks his own glory, but he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is true, and there is nothing false about him."

 

In other words, we tend to trust people who aren't acting in their own name or for their own pleasure.  When the mail carrier comes, he is simply the messenger; she is simply delivering messages; he has no self-centered agenda.  The police officer has a badge that represents his governmental authority.  He is acting in the name of the law or the government, not his own name.

 

You use authority by using the name above you, or the name of the one who authorizes you. 

 

I'm at the library typing these words.  I have 33 minutes left on this computer.  This means I have authority over computer number 13 for 33 more minutes.  I have "command" over this computer, the ability to command it and it to obey me.  I received this authority from the librarian who told me where the adult computers are.  I typed in my library card number, given to me by the librarian.  If anyone tries to use this computer, I can tell him or her in the name of the librarian that I now have 31  more minutes on this computer.

 

Authority is actually easy to experience.

 

Wherever you are, or wherever you go, find the one who is in authority and submit to his or her authority.  Then you will have authority, the ability to command and be obeyed.  You can use the name of the authority figure above you to enforce you.  This is true no matter where you go.

 

In your house, if you are an adult who owns or rents, or someone who lives with that adult, the lease, given by the owner, gives you authority in that house.  The keys are your power.  You can command people to leave your house and expect them to obey, or law enforcement officers to enforce your authority. 

 

You want authority.  You have it by submitting to the authority where you are.

You want powerful influence.  You have it by using the name of the authority over you.

Your freedom to speak and act comes from the authority above you.

Your respect comes from respecting the authority above you.

 

How to have AUTHORITY wherever you go

You want authority. 
You want powerful influence.
Freedom to speak and act.
Respect.

How can you have these wherever you go?

To have authority, you must be under authority.

 

 

But first we must answer three questions:

1. What is authority?

2. Where does it come from?

3. How do we use it?

 

AUTHORITY IS THE POWER TO COMMAND AND BE OBEYED.

Once a soldier (a "centurion" in this historical context) wanted the Lord Jesus to heal one of his beloved servants.  Here is what happened according to Matthew, one of Jesus' chosen ambassadors:



 

When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help.  “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.”Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?”

The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.  For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

 

Notice what the centurion says.  He felt confident that Jesus had authority to heal diseases, and he believed authority meant the power or ability to command and be obeyed.  In other words, because Jesus had authority over diseases, he had the ability to command diseases in the same way that the centurion had the ability to command soldiers under his authority.  The centurion would say, "Go," and his soldiers would go; he would say "Come," and his soldiers would come; he would say, "Do this," and his servant would do it.  That's authority:  The ability to command and be obeyed.  The ability to have happen what you want to have happen.  But where does authority come from?  Jesus and Paul tell us.

 

AUTHORITY COMES FROM GOD.

This is what Jesus said after he rose from the dead: 

"All authority is given to me in heaven and on earth."

 

Paul, Jesus' ambassador to all who were not of Hebrew descent (Gentiles) said this:

"Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities.  For there is no authority except from God.  The authorities that exist have been appointed by God."

 

The centurion we've been focusing on said he was "a man under authority."  And he assumed Jesus was under the authority of God, and thus had the ability to command diseases to leave and they obey him. 

 

To have authority, you must be under authority.

God's authority.

Directly or Indirectly.

 

This means you are either in authority, from God, or under the authority of someone who has authority from God.

 

For example, I am a father, and fathers have God given authority from their God given identity, as Moses said,

 

"Honor your father and mother, so that your days may be long on the earth."

 

Paul also says, "Children obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord."

 

As a father, I have the right to command my children and expect obedience from them.  I have authority over them because I am in authority.  They have authority when they act under my authority. 

 

Authority comes from God.

You are either in authority right now, as you read my words, or you are under someone's authority as you read my words.  When you act under the authority over you, you have authority. 

 

If you are at work, and your manager or supervisor tells you to do something, you have authority to do it.  This means you do it in the name of your manager.  You can say, "My manager says to do this," to whom every you must interact with.  Your manager is your enforcer.  If you are resisted, he or she is the one being resisted, and he or she is the one to enforce his or her authority, given to you. 

 

Authority is the ability to command and be obeyed.

Authority comes from God.

You use authority by speaking and acting in the name of authority.

 



(Click HERE for part 2)