Have you ever observed children arguing over a seat in a class or at a sports activity? Or, maybe you have observed adults scrambling for the best seat at a wedding or some other special occasion. Why do people do that? Is there something about having the right seat. I believe there is and that, subconsciously, we all know that there is not just honor in having a seat next to the leader of an organization but also an implied authority.

In case you were wondering, the Bible has a lot to say about seating and authority. In Proverbs 31:23 it says, “Her husband (speaking of the Proverbs woman who is a very diligent woman) is known in the gates when he sitteth among the elders (leaders) of the land. (Gates denotes a place of authority in the Bible)

Then Luke 22:69 says, “Hereafter shall the Son of man sit on the right hand of the power of God. (Again, sit and power denotes authority) Jesus, of course, is the Son of man which is a name he called himself. Just before his ascension into heaven, Jesus said, in Matthew 28:18, “All power (authority) in heaven and earth has been given unto me”. Actually he had that power before he came to earth but he relinquished it for a season while he walked in the Abrahamic covenant as Jewish Rabbi when he was on the earth.

Ok, you say, how does that affect me now? Are you implying that we also have authority? Oh yeah! Just look at Ephesians 2:6, “And (God) hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus”. These are places of authority in the spirit world even while we are on the earth. Oh, you’re getting spooky now; talking about “spirits”, some would say. Oh, really? There are approximately 471 references to the word, “spirit”, in the Strong’s Concordance to the Bible. The Bible also says in Romans 8:11, “But if the Spirit that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you”. Hey, Harry Potter believes in spirits. Why shouldn’t we who have the truth.

In case you are still wondering about your authority while on the earth, check out these two scriptures: The first is, Luke 9:1, “Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases”. But, you say, that was the twelve disciples. I’m not one of them. True, but you can be a disciplined learner, which is the definition of a disciple. Besides that, Jesus later called them “Apostles”, which is a Greek word for “sent ones”. We are also “sent ones”, if we are true believers, are we not? So you just can’t get away from having authority. Our main problem is in exercising it.

The second example is found in Genesis 1:26, “And God said, Let us make man (or mankind) in our image and likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth”. See, man was even given authority over the “creeps”.

So, if we have all this authority what’s stopping us from exercising it? I believe I have been given some insight on that as well. If we want God’s authority we must submit to His authority. See, Matthew, chapter 8, where the Centurion asks Jesus to heal his servant. Jesus says he will go heal him but the Centurion says that he isn’t worthy for Jesus to come under his roof, and that Jesus should just say the “Word” and his servant would be healed. Then in MT. 8:9, the Centurion says, “For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it”. Jesus replied that he had not seen this much faith in all Israel and he heals the Centurion’s servant just by speaking the word. So, if you want authority be under authority.

However, if we have a casual attitude toward God and do not spend time in His Word fellowshipping with Him we are not likely to feel that we have any authority and we will probably be right. In the book of Acts, Chapter 19, the 7 sons of Sceva were going to cast demons out of a man and the demons said, in Acts 19:15, “Jesus I know and Paul I know, but who are you”. The demonic man then beat up the 7  Scevas. So if you don’t know God and He doesn’t know you, don’t try this at home. However, be encouraged; you can know God this way.

Glory to God

Hal Mitchell

halmitch@cox.net