By Apostle Joy Museba
I would want everyone to exercise the authority that our father God gave to us in different areas of our lives.
Matthew 8:5-10
And when Jesus was entering into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him,
And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him. The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. 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. When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.
Matthew 8:13
Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that moment.
Luke 9:1-2
New International Version
When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.
The book of Matthew chapter 8 is an interesting chapter; a lot of encounters took place in this chapter. It is interesting that when you read chapter 8 and 9 you begin to learn how Jesus began to function through the power given Him by His father. It is not only learning how He used and exercised that power that is important, but also how He was doing it which is also important. Most of us we have been prayed for countless times and we received the Holy Spirit and the power of the spirit but we do not understand how we can use that spirit. As we are educating one another and I want everyone to have a know-how of how they can exercise the power that they have in Christ Jesus. Having the power and exercising the power are different things and it is sad that there are people who have the power yet do not use it. There are as good as powerless because they are not exercising the power that they have. As much as we have prayed together, fasted together, imparted the power of the spirit to one another you have a part to play for that power to bring change to yourself and your surroundings. You have your part, your responsibility in the equation. Lest you will think these spiritual things do not work yet they work when you know your place in the equation.
May God open your eyes of understanding so that you may be able to see your position in the equation of spiritual power.
We have spoken a lot on this scripture speaking different concepts but today we want to have a different approach. We want to understand authority.
Matthew 8:5
And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him,
And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him.
Notice that Jesus did not say I will come and pray for Him but rather He said I am coming to heal him.Authority is a language, we do not speak things in doubt we speak things in faith. When we are speaking the language of authority and power we do not come over to pray, we come over to heal. We come over to deliver. This is the Jesus’ style! When you see us coming in the style of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are not praying that you blessed, we come over to bless, to heal, to deliver. This is what Jesus said that “I will come and heal Him.” The Centurion answered and said “I am not worthy that thou should come under my roof. But speak the word only and my servant shall be healed for I am a man under authority.”
What is authority?
It is the right to give orders, the right to give instructions. It is the power to make decisions; it is the power to enforce obedience. Not every person who speaks is heard. You can speak and you will not be heard, you need authority that when you speak your voice enforces obedience. Volume is not power, when you increase your volume it doesn’t mean your power is increasing, you are just becoming loud. As you continue to increase your voice it shows your level of doubt in the power you are releasing. When you understand the power and authority that you have when you speak, even if you whisper you will be heard because it is beyond the volume, it is beyond how loud the sound is. It is about the power behind the voice speaking. What you have to understand is that no one is hindered from giving orders. But having your orders taken and respected takes authority. All of us one way or the other is found in a leadership position or role, at work, in our families or in our social cycles. Our problem is that when we are leading people they do not listen to us. Is it something to do with the person or the authority that one has attained?
Titles do not make leaders and positions do not guarantee power. There are people who think that people will listen to them because of their titles. That is why in our generation we have a lot of self-proclaimed Apostles and prophets than those that have been appointed and anointed to be. They feel that they need a title to function, however even when the title is there they are not able to move mountains because it is not the title that comes with the authority. There is something spiritual that you are supposed to get. You do not need that title or position to have that power you need the spiritual authority that will help you to be heard. You will not be respected or saluted by people or things until you have authority.
Jesus was not given a title but He was given a name that is above all names. When you look at the definition of the word name you would know that it means reputation. It is not a name in terms of something that identifies you but a name as in something that defines your reputation or your behaviour or your function. This was Jesus and the bible says in the book of Philippians 2:9, “He was given a name above every name.” Is it not interesting that when He was given a name above every name, the Bible says “at the mention of this name every knee shall bow and every tongue confess.” Not just every knee only, we are told that every knee in heaven shall bow. We are also told that knees that are on earth shall also bow. And knees that are under the earth will bow. But what blew my mind when I was reading this scripture is that the Bible did not speak of the names of people. It is talking about knees of the things, things have knees and they bow to a certain level of reputation. A reputation I am talking about here is a reputation of authority.
May I declare that as you come into authority, when your name is mentioned may things begin to bow! The things that are in the earth may they begin to bow, I do not know what “things” you want to call. Maybe these are houses, land, cars whether these are demons or sicknesses; when your name is mentioned as you are moving in your reputation the knees of the thing moving in the earth begin to bow down. You should not be heard talking about failure, defeat, death; the authority we have dominates different spheres. When we are walking into them we have this authority that the things in the earth bow down before us. We want people to move to that dimension where you are respected and honoured by things in the earth.
I am sure by now you realise that there are some things that you continually fail to achieve. Marriage is a thing found on earth, you can fail in the sphere of marriage. Buying a stand can be a hurdle for you; it can be a huge obstacle in your path. Even buying a car can be a huge struggle and you can face resistance. The things that used to resist you we are declaring that they will not resist you no more. These things must bow when your name is called.
The question here is, how do I get authority? Before we exercise authority we must first have it.You cannot demonstrate what you do not have. Peter in Acts chapter 3 said “silver and gold we do not have but such as we have give us unto thee”. You cannot give what you do not have, you can only give what you have. For you to move around exercising authority, you must first have the authority.
You have to understand how authority is attained. The man here is saying, “I am a man under authority and I say to one go and he goes, to another come and he comes. “For I am a man under authority.” The man is saying “I am a man under authority” he is not saying I am a man in authority. “A man under authority, having soldiers under me.” This is a statement that the Centurion is giving to Jesus describing his position and rank. A Centurion man is one who is in charge of a hundred soldiers but not in charge of the entire army. He is not the Commander in Chief; he can give commands but only to the hundred soldiers under him. He himself is under authority from somebody above him who instructs him. He is making it clear to Jesus that he understands how authority works. Why is he speaking about this? He understands that authority is a harvest of submission. You cannot have authority without you being under authority. It looks like he is telling Jesus that with the power that I have I can tell these people to do something and they can do it for me. But he started off by saying “also myself I am under authority.” What is giving me the power to call them and they come is that I am submitting to a certain higher power.
Romans 13:1
Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.
There are powers that are higher, every soul is supposed to be subject to higher powers. The reason most of you are weak is because you do not have powers that are above you. You want authority but you are not under authority. Whose authority are you under? Who do you listen to? Submission is not a sign of weakness; submission is a sign of strength. You will never be in authority until you are under authority.
“I am a man under authority, I say to one come and they cometh another one go and he goes.”
Jesus said to His disciples do not leave Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit comes because He knew their power had jurisdiction. Evil spirits in Jerusalem had been subdued because of the presence of Jesus Christ. But He knew if they went out without the Holy Spirit they would be in danger. They overcame because they listened to instructions to wait on the Holy Spirit as they would be given power when the spirit came.
What does authority do?
Matthew 21:23
And when he was come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto him as he was teaching, and said, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority?
The question is coming as Jesus was teaching, Jesus teaching was not just teaching it was doing. They asked Him the question “how come you speak, by what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority?”
There are people who speak and you do not care whether they speak or not because they do not have authority. There are people when they speak it becomes an issue because when they speak they are speaking from a place of authority. May I declare that authority may distinguish you! You may say the same words but the power behind your words will be greater than everyone else. Whether you are into marketing, when you open your mouth there will be power backing up your Marketing. Whether you are a preacher there will be power backing up your preaching. When you talk they will hear, when you speak they will listen because your voice will be distinguished by the authority given you by Christ Jesus.
Matthew 7:29
For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
When authority is there it distinguishes you from your rivals, when authority is present it sets you apart in competition. Those that are competing with you will not match your level because of the authority you are receiving.
You are going to be different! In any field you are there is an authority of distinction that is coming upon your life. You shall not be like the scribes, you are in the same trade and profession, you are doing the same thing but authority distinguishes you. No matter how many law or accounting firms are competinh against you, you are going to be different because you have authority with you. When Jesus was teaching He was teaching with authority not like the scribes. When we are selling we sell with authority not as every sales person. Authority will separate and distinguish you, it will make you different. In everything that you will do people will know that you are different from everyone else who is doing the same. Not as the scribes, not as your competitors or rivals. You will be having this level of authority! When authority is present it makes you produce results. God is a God of results!
Matthew 8:9
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.
When you are speaking from authority what you say goes, whatever you speak has results. When you lay your hands upon something results are inevitable.
You are not a failure!
You are not a person that shall be defeated!
You are an overcomer because of the authority coming upon your life!
Mark 1:27
And they were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned among themselves, saying, what thing is this? what new doctrine is this? for with authority commandeth he even the unclean spirits, and they do obey him.
When authority is present, you are obeyed; a man or woman of authority is not taken for granted. When you open your mouth to speak not only people will obey you but even things will obey you. Not only humans will hear you but also spirits will pay attention to your voice. As you are going to be speaking you will be speaking as one with authority, you are going to become economic with your words because you know that when they go out they will fetch that which you have sent them to fetch. Like your Lord Jesus Christ when you speak you shall be heard, when you speak you shall be obeyed. May all things that you desire follow you!
How do we exercise authority?
You have to submit to higher powers and harvest authority because once you have submitted things will begin to submit to you. But how do you exercise authority?
You say!
Authority is exercised through words, be confident of what God can do in your life. Do you know this is what Job did? He spoke, he was speaking a language without authority and he opened a door.
Job 3:25-26
For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me. I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet; yet trouble came.
He feared, what attracted disaster in his life was fear. Fear is faith in the negative, you are believing. Faith is believing fear is believing, faith is believing the positive and fear the negative. The man had fear which he described to be great.
Job 1:10
Hast not thou made a hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.
The devil observed that there was a hedge against Job but Job still did not feel safe. We are heavily defended, when someone asks you how you are coping tell them that you are heavily defended. Use the language of authority. When you know how to talk, a thousand may fall by your side, ten thousand around you but it will not come to you because you know how to exercise authority. You should be heard saying that you will not be poor again. That is the language of authority; we have to declare it. Even the Psalmist in chapter 30:6 -7 said “in my prosperity I will not be moved.”
We exercise authority by speaking. This week whatever you say should have authority!
6 thoughts on “Exercising authority, power”
Amen and Amen. Thank you my Father. Powerful indeed.
#thelanguageofauthority
This is so profound I have learnt the importance of exercising authority by speaking… I receive my blessings for the week.
What a profound message with enlightening insights. Greatly intrigued to learn that authority is a language and that things have knees and they bow down when I speak. I’m now busy submitting myself to higher powers so that I can harvest authority. I will then be able to say, I also am a man placed under authority. Thank you so much Apostle Joy Museba for such an empowering message
Thank you Apostle Joy for such a profound teaching. I can only have authority if l am under authority, l have have to submit to higher powers and submission is not a sign of weaknes like what most people think but its a sign of strength. If l submit people and things will also submit to me. Authority comes as a result of my submission to higher powers. Lord help me to submit myself to higher powers so that l can harvest authority.
Powerful. Authority in whatever we say!
Profound and highly enlightening, thank you Apostle Joy. Authority!!!