Hello everyone, I'm Pastor Donny Jester. I'm so glad that you could tune in with us today. We're gonna be teaching this month a series called The Believer's Authority. So if you have your Bible, I'd like for you to turn with me please to the book of Mark's Gospel, chapter 13, and we'll start reading in verse 34.
That's Mark's Gospel, chapter 13, verse 34. Let me say this to you while you're turning there. If you'd like to become a partner with this ministry, you'll see the address on the screen. We certainly would like to have you to join us.
And if you want to text an offering, you'll see that on the screen as well. So let's get right into the Word of God. In Mark, chapter 13, verse 34, Jesus said, for the Son of Man is as a man taking the far journey who left his house and gave authority to his servants and to every man his work and commanded the porter to watch. As we talk about the authority of the believer, I want to let you know there's three keys that we're going to zero in on in this series.
Number one, redemption. Number two, righteousness. And number three, resistance. Let me say that again if you're the home of the writing this down.
Number one is redemption. And number two is righteousness. And then number three is resistance. So as we look at the Word of God, we see this scripture lets us know that Jesus Christ has gave authority to the believer.
As we talk about where we're at and what we fight and struggle with every day, you know the Bible tells us in Ephesians chapter six, verse 10, Paul said, finally my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his mind. Then he says in verse 11, he said that you may be able to stand against the wiles, which we know as the tricks, the traps, the strategies of the devil. So he tells us there in verse 11, take unto you the whole arm of God that you may be able to stand against the tricks in the traps, the strategies of the devil. In verse 12, he goes on to say, for we wrestle not against flesh and blood.
So if you wrestle not against flesh and blood, you rest against spirits. He said we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, rulers of darkness of this world and spiritual wickedness in high places or heavenly places. You see everything that God does, the devil tries to copycat it. We believe there are five divisions of angels, the chairbell, the zerafem, the archangel.
We believe the living creatures and then we believe they're common angels, five divisions. So the devil comes back with five divisions of demonic forces, fallen angels, demon spirits, disembodied spirits to attack you. See, you say, well, I don't hear all this. You know, I'll just, I'll just leave the devil on.
He leaves me alone. I want to tell you something. He won't leave you alone. He's already making plans.
How's he going to destroy your family? Try to kill your kids, try to get them on drugs. You've got to know that Jesus Christ gave us a rightful place, a authority that we can come against demonic forces and win. Somebody say out there, I'm a winner.
So you have to know in John chapter 10, verse 10, Jesus said the thief comes for nothing more, nothing less, but to steal, kill, and destroy. He said, but I've come to give you life and that you may have it in abundance, more abundant. Abundantly, I'll get it out here in a minute. What's amplified says in abundance.
Everybody say that with me, in abundance to the full, till it overflows. One more time, in abundance to the full, till it overflows. But you see, you say, well, I'm not having that kind of life. It's because you're wrestling against the powers of darkness.
So he goes on to say in Ephesians chapter 6, verse 13, here he comes again, he said, we're for, take unto you the whole arm of God, that you may be able to stand in that evil day. What evil day? The day of attack, that the enemy comes into your life and he strategizes against you and he does everything he can so to speak, spiritually pull the rug out from under you or pull the wool over you eyes. And to cause havoc to come in your life, that's exactly where the devil is.
And he said, Paul said, take unto you the whole arm of God. What do you mean arm of God? Well, we could take the authority. That's the main thing, understanding that we have authority over the powers of darkness.
You see, I remember working as a deputy for a little while and I used to go and work at the mall and direct traffic. And my first day on the job, I'll never forget it. I had my uniform on, my gun belt, everything, radio, I'm geared, I'm ready to go. And so I remember working the crosswalk there.
And cars were coming in and out of that mall and all of a sudden, I put my hand out like this, and boy, they'd stop. Some would stop several feet before the crosswalk. And then I got to thinking, I thought, wow, I got authority. And all of a sudden, I shifted into the mold of Barney V.
Then when they would stop six or seven or 10 feet short of the crosswalk, I'd put my hand out like this, over here, get on that boy, here they'd come. Now, I guarantee you, it wasn't because I had the power to stop that car. They recognized the authority that was in me. I wasn't about to try that with a suit on like I've got.
Well, they thought I'd eat and have to make bread, to make this, to make it five years, the elevator's not going all the way up the stairs. But when you recognize that you have authority in the name of Jesus, you have to understand redemption. The Bible said that we have been redeemed from the curse of the law, Galatians chapter three, verse 13, that Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. For it is written, curse is everyone that hangs on the tree or hangs on the cross.
Let the blessings of Abraham come on somebody, might come up on the Gentiles. And they might receive the promise of the Spirit. So we understand that we have been redeemed from the curse of the law, from the powers of darkness, from sickness and disease, from poverty. Psalms 107 verse two said, let the redeemed of the Lord say so.
But I want to zero in on this word power. In Mark chapter 10, we look at the 70 preachers that went out, you know. They had went out, and the Bible said when the 70, verse 17 returned off of that missionary journey, the Bible said they returned back to the disciples with great joy. And they said even the demons, the devils are subject to us through the name of Jesus Christ.
And of course Jesus goes on in details, and I was there when Lucifer failed and so forth and so on. What I want you to know is this, that we have authority. And I'm gonna pick it up next week and let you know about the power that God has given you, has given the believer, given the church, we just gotta walk into it. So we'll pick up next week on Mark's gospel, chapter 10, and we'll pick up in verse 19.
So I want to say this to you, before you can have authority, you gotta make sure that you know Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. You can't go and rebuke the devil, like the seven sons of skavens said, you know, I rebuke you in the name of Paul. Or you gotta understand that, they'll just beat you and send you back home and you'll be whipped and defeated. You have got to know that Jesus Christ must be Lord before you can ever take the first step and understand your authority as a believer.
Once you get saved, you can have that authority. So why don't we just pray right now? You can make him Lord your life say, Jesus, I believe that you came and died on the cross from my sin. I believe that you raised from the dead.
I believe that you're coming back again, and right now sir, today I accept you Jesus as my Lord. I make you Lord of my life. Come into my heart and into my life. And forgive me of my sin, I make you Lord.
If you've done that, you need to let somebody know and let us know about it. God bless you. I know you, minute, or you wouldn't have prayed it with us. God bless you.