Welcome to the blog of Pastor Alton Stone, from Simpsonville, SC. Pastor Stone is a retired Ordained Bishop of The Church of God, Cleveland, Tennessee with over 45 years of pastoral ministry.

Monday, May 15, 2017

You Shall Know (Part 5)

You are seated with Christ in a position of authority
Many people do not realize what this means. To be seated refers to a place of authority. Jesus is seated at the right hand of God, and God's Word tells us that we are seated with Christ:

Ephesians 2:6, "And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus."

Because of our position in Christ, we are seated in a place of authority over all sickness, diseases and demons. Jesus said that signs and wonders would follow them who believe, including casting out demons (which requires authority - see Luke 10:17-20). Look at this passage:

Mark 16:15-18, "And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover."

Who shall these signs follow? Them that BELIEVE. That includes all true followers of Christ that are alive on the earth right now. Take a look at this passage in Revelations:

Revelations 5:9-10, "And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth."

We can speak with authority over that sickness and command it to flee in Jesus' name. We can command, because we have authority. This was the standard practice in the early church when the followers of Christ were going out and healing the sick! The same is true when it comes to demons. We don't need to ask God to remove the demons, but we rather take up the authority that Christ has given us, and exercise it through faith using Jesus' name.

Did you know that the only reference to prayer for healing in the NT is found in James 5:15? The rest of the NT tells us of how Jesus, His disciples and the early church would exercise their faith when they went forth to heal the sick. They weren't asking the Father to heal the sick, they were saying things like, "Be healed in Jesus' name" or "Rise and walk!"

Jesus made it clear that we have authority here on earth, which is naturally ours through our position in being seated with Christ. Jesus demonstrated this when he cursed the fig tree:

Matthew 21:18-22, "Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he hungered. And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward forever. And presently the fig tree withered away. And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away! Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done. And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive."

When we don't realize who we are in Christ, our faith will be crippled. If you don't feel worthy to exercise your authority in Christ, then you won't be doing it in the fullness of faith and will lack assurance. Satan works diligently to program people's minds to feel unworthy and unable to walk in power of God here on earth. This is one of the most popular strongholds in existence today in the body of Christ! The truth is that we, by our own power and effort, are unworthy, but it is the Blood of Christ that makes us worthy. And if we say we are unworthy when the Blood says we are, then we are denying the work that Christ did for us on the cross!

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