May the praise of God be in their mouths and a double-edged sword in their hands, to inflict vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples, to bind their kings with fetters, their nobles with shackles of iron, to carry out the sentence written against them— this is the glory of all his faithful people. Praise the Lord.”
Psalms 149:6-9 NIV
To conclude our exploration of authority in Scripture, these verses from Psalm 149 are amazing! They give us the key to exercising our delegated authority over the nations as Jesus gave His authority to us, His followers, to do.
Jesus has entrusted to His disciples two weapons with which to overcome “the world”, one in our mouths and the other in our hands.
John wrote…
“Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.”
1 John 5:1-4 NIV
It is our faith that overcomes the world. What does this mean? According to our studies, faith is absolute confidence in the authority of Jesus to do what He says He will do because He is who He says He is.
How do we express our faith in Jesus? We express our faith by what comes out of our mouths.
“It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” Since we have that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak,”
2 Corinthians 4:13 NIV
What must come out of our mouths to express our faith?
“In that day you will say: “Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted. Sing to the Lord, for he has done glorious things; let this be known to all the world. Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel among you.”
Isaiah 12:4-6 NIV
Do you get the picture?
Thanksgiving is the language of faith!
Let’s see how Jesus used this weapon? Two examples…
“Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.”
John 6:11 NIV
“Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”
So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me.”
John 11:40-41 NIV
Thanksgiving is a powerful weapon in our mouths to defeat the devil in our thoughts and in our circumstances.
The other weapon is the sword, the Word of God.
“Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
Ephesians 6:17 NIV
God’s truth contained in His written word is the weapon that neutralises the lies of the devil. We have His written word in our hands and His truth in our hearts that we speak from our mouths to silence the devil.
How did Jesus use this weapon?
“The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’”
Luke 4:3-4 NIV
Three times, Jesus silenced and overcame the devil’s temptations with the written word spoken into the situation. He exercised His authority by placing Himself under God’s Word and submitting to it.
When I understand the chain of command in God’s kingdom, I become aware that, when I speak what Jesus has spoken…and He has spoken what the Father has spoken…my words carry the authority of the Father Himself.
Some practices in the name of Jesus and in so-called “spiritual warfare” are foolish, nonsensical and completely unbiblical.
When we understand these principles, we will be saved from exercising illegitimate authority by saying and doing what Jesus has not authorised.
Jesus has made the exercise of our authority in His name simple…thanksgiving and His Word from our mouths…nothing more, nothing less!
Thanksgiving is God’s will for us in all circumstances. Never stop giving thanks. It’s the trigger for God’s power to work in every situation for our good and His glory.