Sunday Service – Today Jesus 85

26/3/06
<Luke 10:1-24>

I HAVE ALREADY GIVEN YOU THE AUTHORITY

Read <Luke 10:1-24>
v.2 What the verse really mean is that there are a lot of Christians who are willing
to serve but those who really know how to serve is rare; God wants to send out
workers and not church goers
v.7 We should be one hearted when we are serving the Lord
v.9 We preached with authority
v.11 The gospel itself has authority. If others refused to listen to us, we should just
give them a word of blessing and leave. We must not keep pestering others,
wanting them to believe
v.18 Satan falls when we cast out the demons in the name of Jesus Christ
v.20 We should have such assurance in our hearts. We do not rejoice because of our
good or successful conditions
v.22 The blessedness of a person is determined by God
v.23-24 The Prophets who lived before Jesus Christ came knew about Christ but
had yet to see His fulfillment. The apostles were more blessed because they
had witnessed Jesus Christ’s fulfillment. Yet, we are even more blessed than
the apostles because we have seen even more fulfillment from the 2000yrs of
church history
<Mark 3:13-15> The reason God calls us is to be with us → and to give us
authority to cast out demons → the Gospel that comes out from our
mouth is able to set others free.
• We are being sent to Earth by God just like sheep being sent to a pack of wolves.
Therefore, if we really want to survive on Earth, we will definitely need to have
authority
<John 1:12> As children of God and enemies of Satan, we cannot live without
authority. Therefore, the moment we become a child of God, we are given the
authority by God.
• It is thus very important that we know about the mystery of authority.
• The system of this world requires authority too. Among the angels, there are also
system of authority too and the same goes to our families
• Only those who know about authority will be able to use it and enjoy true peace,
love and hope.
• We will not know what to ponder, how to judge, or how to react if we had faced
problems without understanding authority
• A person who is always filled with negative thoughts, and always in dilemma can
never be compared to one who is always filled with peace, assurance and
authority. The blessings they received will be totally different.
• A person who is always selfishness, always complaining can never be compared
to one who has enjoyed the infinite love of God in his heart whose purpose is to
love, bless and embrace others. The love and blessings they receive from others
will be totally different.
• A person who does not know about authority can never match up with one who
knows about authority
1. Jesus Christ said: “I’ve already given you the authority”
• Does one who speaks louder and with more charisma possesses greater
authority? No, it is futile if God don’t fulfill what he says.
• Does one who has a higher status or better condition possess greater
authority? No. It is useless if God doesn’t use him.
1) “I’ve already given you the authority” means I’ve given you God’s Word (i.e. The
reality)
• Authority will come upon a person when he knows the reality. This is
because the reality is determined by God. And God works and fulfill things
based on the reality. Therefore, everyone can deny it but the reality will
still be fulfilled (e.g. things fall from top to bottom)
• Therefore, it is so crucial as to whether a person knows the reality or not.
The authority of God comes through that knowing the information lies
within the reality.
• E.g. a baby who is a King left in the wild had grown up and behaves like a
beggar. One day, he received information telling him that he was actually
a King. Upon hearing that, he will immediately behave, think and react
differently. Everything changes upon knowing this information
• E.g. a person comes to con you with a big sum of money, assuring you
that he will invest the money for you and reap many folds. But just before
you hand over your money to him, another person told you that this
person you had trusted is a cheat. Upon knowing the information, the
cheat loses his power straight away.
• Therefore, it does not matter if a person refuses to listen to us when what
we told him the reality. One day, he will realize the disadvantage of not
listening to us from the beginning
• God will work in accordance to the foundation of reality that he has
determined.
• God works on the foundation of Truth and not because of my bravery or
diligent level
• It is important for us to get equipped. We have to know the reality of God.
If we do not know the Word of God, we will not know what to ponder or
believe when we meet with problems
• The difference between a CEO and a general work is the former has the
“know how”. A CEO will know when to speak, what to say, who to meet, or
how to decide etc.
• A spiritual person should also have “know how”. If not, he will not know
what to ponder, how to pray, what to believe in times crisis.
• What to equip then?
• You must know the God whom you had believed in. Who is He that you’d
believed?
• You must know yourself. Know your conditions, your time, all your
interpersonal relationship, etc. Most of us do not know ourselves correctly.
Therefore, inferiority creeps in on us so easily.
• You must know the things from above (i.e. spiritual things). You must
know where you are heading, and how to use the power from above every
now and then.
 • You must know about the things of this Earth. (i.e. how God has a perfect
plan in your 7 fields for 24hrs a day).
• You must know what is eternal so that you can fully triumph over what is
temporary
• You must receive the absolute answer for all situation (i.e. 10 healing
messages)
• Very often, our problems are we do not know enough of the reality; or we
have not format the reality; or we forget the reality easily
• Therefore, be equipped with the reality and authority will come

2) Faith (comes from the Holy Spirit)

• Only those who believe will rely on the Holy Spirit
• Everything that happened to you does not take place beyond the Word of
God
• Having faith is the easiest method
• There is no “what if” in God
• E.g. The Israelites faced the Red Sea after they had came out from Egypt
and they faced it with the easiest method, i.e. faith. Without faith, they will
have lots of headaches trying to think of ways in crossing the Sea (e.g.
building lots of ships, where to find the woods, whether they can swim
across, etc).
• E.g. All the Israelites need to do during the Passover day is to believe in
the Lord and paint the blood on the door. Then they could just stay inside
their houses and relax during the Passover. When the time comes, all the
firstborn of the enemies were killed.
• Similarly, what God is doing in every of our meetings is for us to restore
our faith. Once we believe, doors of blessings will continue to open around
us in our fields.
• E.g. Moses sent out 12 spices to study the Canaan Land and only Joshua &
Caleb saw all the “goodies” prepared by God. The rest of the spices saw
that they would be eaten up by the enemies and became fearful as a
result. Therefore, though they saw the same situations and possess the
same condition, their faiths are different. Thus, their conclusion is
definitely different.
• The most ‘dangerous’ moment is not when there are life crisis, it is when
we lose our faith. We will become ‘food’ for the world then.
• The method for faith: Trust and Submit
• God’s grace is shown after a period of time, as his words fulfill like reality.
• 95% of our worries are unnecessary, as it will not happen at all. Thus, very
often we waste lots of time and efforts in worrying
• A lot of us claim to have faith and know that God had prepared everything
for us. However, we still do not have any peace. Why is this so? What is
the difference between hypnotism faith and true faith?
• Where does our faith come from? It is given by the Holy Spirit
• What sort of faith does the Holy Spirit gives us then? The faith of God’s
children
 • The faith of Christians are based on the foundation of having assurance as
children of God
• True faith does not come through religious faith but having the full
assurance as children of God. This is because all the promises of God are
given to his children.
• And through understanding more of God’s word and meditating it through
prayer, we can submit to God and experience more evidences of God
being with us and loving us. These evidences give us more assurance of
our life which is being loved. Thus, with greater assurance comes greater
faith.

3) Authority comes from a cleansed life

<1 John 3:21-24> If our hearts do not condemn us, and we will receive
whatever we ask…
• We must grab hold of the five offerings. Satan will not be able to slander
us as long as we are having peace in God. There must be peace between
God and us.
• Nobody is able to escape the slander of Satan. This is true even for Job,
who is a very righteous person in deeds. And we can never overcome his
slander if we do not grab hold of the precious blood of Christ.
• God had already given His precious blood to us. Thus, we just need to go
to God and cleanse ourselves with His precious blood. We need not face
Satan at all.
• <1John 1:9> If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive
us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
• Thus, all who have their sins forgiven will enjoy a life that is fearless. He
will be able to give thanks in all circumstances because he knows that he
is right before God.
• Thus, the prayer of a righteous man is effective. He will receive what he
has asked from God.
• Which area then must we be cleansed? It is not just cleansing the sins in
our actions, thoughts, etc. What we really need to clean is the sin of not
being able to give thanks and find joy in the Lord (because this is
disbelief). This is a cleansed life.
• Therefore, seek to be right before God.
• If we depend too much on God and yet lose out, that will be our crown. If
we depend too much on the Lord and thus lose our life, we are martyr.
Therefore, we must enjoy the reality.
2. Disciples said: “Demons submit to us because of Your Name”
• Work of the demons: lie to us, prosecute us, accuse us, etc. Therefore, we are
fearful, filled with worries, do not have joy and peace, etc.
• The work of demon in our lives is carried out in silence. It is not done openly
unless the work of demons has already overflow within a person’s life
• What the demon fears? He does not fear of the loudness, laying of hand or
diligence of a Pastor
• What the demon fears is actually the reality coz that is the truth that exposes
him
• What the demon fears is a life that believe and submit coz that will move the
 Holy Spirit to work
• What the demon fears is a cleansed life because he will not be able to find a
channel for him to attack or accuse
• The demon is actually just a “shadow”. Thus, we are only affected just in our
thoughts.
• The shadow will be gone once the light shines on us and the greatest light is
Jesus Christ
• Jesus Christ is the Great Prophet: He gave us the Word of God (Truth). It is
futile for us to do anything if we do not know the reality. Only the person who
treats the word of God that is told to him as the reality, will be able to have
the light of Jesus Christ shine upon him.
• Jesus Christ is the Great Priest: He get rids of the accusation of Satan in our
lives. All our problems actually come from Satan’s accusation. When our spirit
are being accused, our minds and body will all be affected. Therefore, only
hose who experience the cleansing power of Jesus’ blood in their lives will be
able to have the light of Jesus Christ shine upon him.
• Jesus Christ is the Great King: He reigns on the heavenly throne and He is
already victorious! Therefore, only those who understand the full fulfillment of
Christ and have victorious perspective will be able to have the light of Jesus
Christ shine upon him.
• We cannot get rid of darkness by hitting or scolding it. It can only be rid of
when the light shine upon it and it is not done by using any strength
• We must always bear in mind that what is most important is not that we
possess a good condition or environment. What important is demons must
leave our lives
• We must get rid of the demons.
• Do not face problems head on. We must go into our inner lives to resolve it.
We must go into our inner lives to receive the light (i.e. the word) to know
God’s doing and receive His conviction in every situation and circumstance
• We must know that God will finish the work He had started and His love for us
will not be terminated half way. This should become our assurance
• A person will not be changed overnight because the word of God must go
through his spirit, emotions, and logic for him to be truly changed. Therefore,
when we pray for somebody, our prayers should not be for that person to be
changed instantly but to be able to see how God is doing His wonderful work
in that person’s life
• To triumph over poverty is not to have lots of money. The light (i.e. the word)
must come upon us so that the word itself will truly fill us. E.g. Even if we are
in need and money do not come, can we proclaim that “What we have failed
to acquire on Earth, we will get it from Heaven”. Only when such truth
becomes our assurance will we be able to win over poverty, lack, etc.
• Of course, if God decided to give us a good condition or material needs, we
should just go ahead to enjoy them so that those people who do not have the
Gospel will envy us. However, our joy must never be based on the things that
we possessed but to all the more use our physical wealth to store up for
ourselves treasure in heaven.
• If everything becomes better as we know the Gospel more; this is due to
Satan leaving our lives
 • If everything becomes worse as we know the Gospel more; this is due to God
is healing our lives. Very soon, the joy of eternity will fill us.

3. Jesus Christ said: “Blessed are those who see what you had seen”
• Only the blessed ones can see the whole mystery of the gospel, and how it
triumph over Satan. In another words, only the chosen ones can see.
• We are the chosen ones. Therefore, all our relationships, our conditions, our
time, our family are chosen.
• The promises God gave to us is complete and absolute. Therefore, believe the
all-encompassing promises. Don’t always look at those exceptional examples.
There are special lessons behind those exceptional cases. Therefore, do not
receive hints from it.
• As chosen ones ourselves, we must believe the network set up for us by God
more than man’s harden heart. The blessed ones are surely together with the
blessed ones.
• Therefore, we just live according to the spirit and always binding the forces of
darkness that is in our lives. We must first live in the footstep of the heavenly
kingdom, i.e. the footstep of peace.
• Then, live our daily normal lives and need not struggle. When God trust us
enough, Doors of evangelism will be opened. We can only share the Gospel
after casting out the demons
• If we enjoy the Gospel thoroughly and live different lives from others, people
of the “Beatitudes” will be attracted to us.
• E.g. If we through the Spirit, live contented lives, people who are always
lacking and is envious of our contentment will come before us. It is only a
matter of time.
• E.g. If we through the Spirit, live a life of hope, people who are lives in
disappointment and are envious of our hope will come before us. It is only a
matter of time.
• Remember: God cannot be deceived. He cannot be mocked.

Prayer & Sharing Topics

1. The Lord says, “All authority from Heaven and on Earth has been given
to me. I had given you the authority … the power to overcome all
enemies…” How is it possible for Jesus Christ to acquire all authority
from Heaven and Earth? How can the Lord’s authority come upon our
lives?

2. The Lord’s disciples returned from the ground of evangelism proclaiming

that “Lord, the demons have submit to us because of Your Name”. Have
I experienced this in my field? Can you elaborate with an example?

3. The Lord says, “Blessed are the eyes who see what you had seen”. Are
my eyes, those “eyes”? If yes, what did you see? Have I discover such
“blessed eyes” from those around us? How can I acquire more of such
people?