plugged in

Authority in Christ Luke 9:1-6 & Luke 10:17-20

Intro: Speaking of, plugged in, i am desperately dependent on my devices i don’t even know how i survived as a child. When i was a kid I didn’t have a phone or a ipad or anything like that for a while. For example, when we would get in the car to go anywhere with my family or especially going on vacation, i was the kid that would look out the car window and imagine a ninja running across the power lines and doing flips and tricks.

I remember i would be looking at the power lines and i would ask my parents what they were and they would say that those carry the power to our house, and then i had many questions, one being, where does the power come. and after all my questions they said that the power comes from the power plant and the power lines take the power to our house where we are able to then use our house properly.

And she didn’t say it exactly like that of course she said it in a way that i could understand it as a little kid. But I got the idea , The idea that the power plant has the power but without the lines we would never get the power we need to use our house right because it was made to operate on that power. and when i think of this story and how my parents explained all of this to me, i’m reminded that This is how we can understand God and his power and how we access it. God is the power plant that has all the power, We are the house that was built to have access to the power, and Jesus is the like the power lines, He connects us to the source of all power which is the Father, God.

God gave all power to Jesus so that he would be able to walk out his ministry on earth, and then Jesus Gave his followers that same power so that we can complete that mission. What is the mission. what are we supposed to be doing here while on earth after accepting Christ, which is step one. what about after that. let’s turn to Luke 9:1-6 and find out.

All christians have a mandatory mission given to us when we place out faith in the work of Jesus and step into His kingdom. And that mission is to spread the kingdom. we are told and commissioned to go out and take people out of the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of light. And today i’m going to share with y’all the process we all go through to get there. to get to the point where we are walking in the power of Jesus to spread his light in a dark world.

Body:

Purpose: The first step to completing our mission, which is probably obvious, is that we are given purpose, we are given our mission first. In verse one that we just read it says that Jesus called the twelve to Himself. Jesus will call us. He will move in our lives and give us an opportunity to come to him. He wants to take us out of darkness and in to his kingdom of light.

It is true that we live in a dark sinful world that is run by the enemy, the devil, Jesus calls him the ruler of this world, And i want to explain how this happened. God made Adam and eve, and God gave Adam dominion, or power, over the earth. then when Adam disobeyed God by listening to the devil and ate the fruit from the tree he was not supposed to eat from and all of Adam’s power over the world was given to sin and the devil. However, Jesus came and defeated sin and the enemy on the cross. He won the war for us, but we have to fight the battle’s and we fight them from a place of victory knowing that we are victorious in christ.

Like i said it is very true that we live in a world run by darkness and evil and the only way to escape that darkness and not be affected by the enemy is to come to Jesus. And when we accept the call of christ and enter into his kingdom of light we are given a task. We aren’t just called by God to be saved from hell and sit around waiting for Jesus to come back. We are called to now partner with God and other believers to spread the Kingdom of Christ. This is our purpose to spread the kingdom, and not just special people that are in ministry as a Job or people that are seemingly more gifted, no, every christian is called to this.

So what does this mean, how do we spread the kingdom of Christ. Well, he tells us in our passage, He tells them three things they have to do on there mission, and those were to preach the coming of the kingdom, heal the sick, and cast out demons, in other words We are supposed to not only take people out of darkness by preaching but take the darkness out of them by prayer, That’s what healing the sick and cast out demons is, it’s prayer against the enemy, sin and the devil. and yes we can pray for the sick and see them healed today, and yes people are still being oppressed by demons and are in need of deliverance or casting them out. The enemy was working then and he is working now and we are called to crush him under our feet. but we can’t do it by ourselves.

Power: the next step to walking in our mission from God is the power. It says in our passage that Jesus gave them two things, power, and authority. Power is the ability to do what they were called to do. Authority is the right to use our ability. We need both to complete our mission. The power of God is what changes people’s lives and sets them free. it’s the power of God that makes the enemy flee and bondages break. it’s not because of anything we have or can do. It’s all God’s delegated power, meaning he gives it to us to use.

the power of God is an offensive and and defensive tool. Yes, we should walk in the power and authority of God to spread the kingdom, but we should also protect ourselves. The power of God strengthens us to live holy lives so that we don’t give place to the enemy and we use his power to kick the enemy out of our lives forcing them to stop affecting and attacking us.

The power of God is above every other power, there is none better than him. therefore, when we command something by the power and authority of God in the name of Jesus it has to be done, According to God’s plan of course. What i’m trying to say is that we are given all the power in this world and we are supposed to use it to help ourselves and each other, not just sit here helpless. The power of God changes things.

propelled: The last step of the mission is being propelled by God. We given a purpose, then we are given power, then finally we are propelled by God out into the world to spread the kingdom and push back on the darkness. In our passage Jesus, after calling the disciples and giving them power, sent them out to do there mission. It is a command from God the we stand against the enemy, pushing back on them and helping others to escape there grip. I’m really trying to stress that if we have accepted Jesus we can and should be doing this. all of us.

it doesn’t matter how old you are, if your in Christ you have the same Holy Spirit as older people do. You have the same access to the power of God that anyone else has. We all have a call on our lives to help our fellow believers and the lost to be loosed from the enemy and set free physically, emotionally, and spiritualy. And also, It’s important to know that a big part of doing that is working on ourselves so that we can help others. We have to be secure and free in Christ before we can begin to help others experience that security and freedom. God has given us the power and authority to change things.

When we feel attacked by things like unwanted thoughts, anxiety, depression, trauma. We have power over those things and even if they don’t disappear we have the power to press forward through them. I want all of you to know that you can win. you don’t have to just go with it, you don’t have to accept that this is the way things are. You have God in you and with God all things are possible. This isn’t our mission we are fighting for. it’s Gods. and He will complete it. That should give us comfort that God can free us and heal us and send us to help others in some way and form.

And this doesn’t have to be extreme even though sometimes it can be. This can look like praying for people in person or in private. it can also look like reading and declaring bible verse over yourself or others. and it can look like living holy and being an example of Christ to others.

Conclusion: So the big question thats left for us now is, does it work. can i trust that God will come through with his power. lets go back to the bible really quickly and look at a similar passage. It’s the next chapter, Luke 10:17-20. In this passage Jesus has sent out 70 followers with the same mission and this is what they reported back to Jesus when they returned. They confirmed that even the demons had to listen to them because of the name of Jesus.

this is so important guys, if you don’t get anything else from this message get this. The name of Jesus has so much power, in fact it is the name of Jesus that is the power and authority. Philippians 2:9–11 “Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” His name is so powerful, sickness obeys him, demons obey him, every knee will bow to Him.

The power of Jesus worked for them in there mission and it works for us now Because Jesus is alive and well and ruling over the world from heaven. Jesus is God, the most powerful being in the universe and he gave that power to us. Do you believe that. Like really believe it, because we walk in that power by faith. we have to step out in faith in order to use that power. Without the faith and belief we are powerless. James 1:6–7 “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;” we must believe that we have the power of God in us before we have the access to use it. It’s always in us we just have to access it with faith.

We have to walk out the mission of Christ in faith, and not only are we walking out His mission by doing the things he did, He even says in John 14:12 ““Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.” Jesus says that his followers should be living a life full of power and mighty works. Do we really believe this. Will we begin to use the power and authority that Jesus died to give us.

Lets pray: Lord Jesus i pray that you would help us the understand the power and authority that you have given us. I pray that you would direct us in how we are supposed to walk out our mission that you have given us. Help us to be confident and bold in our faith to stand against the plans of the enemy. And i pray that you would always be with us leading, guiding and speaking with us as we we submit to your plan and purpose, in Jesus name, Amen.