Kingdom Authority

The good news is that you have glorious Kingdom Authority over this trinity of evil. First Peter 5:8-10 promises God will make us strong, firm, and steadfast against the ploys of Satan: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.”

• You can detect Satan's schemes and overcome his world system.

• You can live with victory over the desires of your flesh. Habits, attitudes, desires, worries, and dissipation must yield as you exercise authority over your mind, emotions, and will.

• You can actually put Satan and his demons to flight. You don't have be afraid of him—he will be afraid of you!

Satan wants you to close this book NOW! He feels you have already read too much. He wants to keep you defeated. And the way to do that is to keep you in the dark.

Even now your own mind may tell you there is little hope for you. You may be like the cat who had his tail stepped on so many times that when anyone came into the room, he would simply turn around, stick out his tail, and wait for it to be stepped on. Like this cat you may have programmed yourself for defeat. You're headed straight for a self-fulfilling prophecy. You think you'll lose...and regrettably so, you often do!

Perhaps the best you hope for is merely survival. I heard of a football coach who sent out a former player to recruit players for the team. The recruiter asked, “What kind of a player do we want, coach?”

The coach responded, “Well, you know the man who gets knocked down and stays down? We don't want him. Then there is the guy who gets up when he is knocked down; but when he is knocked down again, he stays down. We don't want him either. But there is the guy who keeps getting up no matter how many times he gets knocked down.”

The recruiter said, “That's the guy we want, isn't it, coach?”

“No!” the coach bellowed. “I want you to find the guy who is knocking everybody down. That's the guy I want!”

How about you? Wouldn't you like to be on offense in the spiritual realm for a change? Wouldn't you rather get the upper hand on the underworld and discover Kingdom Authority? Thank God you can get up when you are knocked down, but there is more!

Sometimes a Christian may boast, “I am not afraid of the devil.” Well, that is all well and good, and Jesus has taught us that we are not to be terrified of our adversaries. The truth of the matter, however, is that if you understand Kingdom Authority, the devil ought to be afraid of you!

Remember that we are in a war, and it is a fight to the finish. There can be no truce and no neutrality. Through the conquest of Calvary we are already in the place of victory. “But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 15:57).

When Jesus commissioned seventy to go out and preach, he gave his authority along with their marching orders. When they came back, they had the glow of victory written all over their faces: “And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you” (Luke 10:17-19).

When Jesus said, “I give unto you power to tread on serpents,” he used the Greek word dunamis, which literally means ability and strength. And when he gave them power over the enemy, he used the Greek word exousia, which means the official right or authority to act. They had power, and they had Kingdom Authority.

Exousia focuses on the right to use the power rather than on the power itself. It is a personal right because of position, standing, or by delegation. It may be conferred in legal, political, social, or spiritual realms.

As we go deeper, we will learn that Jesus, in his humanity, received his power from the Holy Spirit and his authority from his intimate relationship with the Father. He now has conferred on us that same power and authority. We can get an upper hand on the underworld.

While Satan has been defeated and rendered ultimately powerless against the Spirit-filled believer, he has not yet surrendered. And he will not give up without a fight. He is going to press on to do whatever damage he can through deception, threats, and intimidation. And this is a part of the plan of God. God's plan for us is not immunity from struggle but victory through struggle. In this victory we must appropriate what God has already established.

Adrian Rogers, The Incredible Power of Kingdom Authority: Getting an Upper Hand on the Underworld (Nashville, TN: B&H Books, 2002).