Father's House Ministries - Grace, Healing, People

Mike Miller, Father's House Ministries - a Northern Colorado grace Church in Fort Collins, CO.

From the Album: “The Children’s Authority”  Tape 1

Titled:  “To Believe In Him”

Wed., January 9, 2008

 

These notes were used for personal study purposes; they are not verbatim.  Transcription errors may have occurred.  For best results listen to Mike Miller’s tape and consult your Bible.

 

I believe that this entire series is one of the single most important things you can ingest and digest as you study the word of God.  

 

I want you to understand that everything that goes on around you is a dominion issue.  If people are healed, it is because there has been a proper administration and receiving in this area of dominion.  Everything that goes on around us is a dominion issue and I feel like it is something that people really need to get into and understand.  So much of what I teach is based on this, because this is what I see as being the main theme of the Bible.

 

The Bible is not a heaven and hell book; it is about dominion on the earth.  It is something we need to understand.  Religion has kept us believing that the Bible is all about heaven and hell, whether or not you are going to get to go to heaven or whether or not you are going to have to go to hell.  Those are certainly things that are realities that are disclosed and revealed in the Bible.  

 

The truth of the matter is if a man rejects the right standing with God that is available to him in Jesus Christ he will end up in hell.  If a man does accept what is available to him in Jesus Christ and passes away before the Lord’s return, then it is true that for at least a period of time, he will live in heaven; and then in the end we are all going to live on the new earth with God.

 

It is true that the real theme of the Bible is about this whole are of authority or dominion on the earth.  

 

It begins with God’s bestowal of dominion upon Adam in the Garden of Eden.

Then, we see that Adam handed it over to Satan.  (Luke 4:5 through Luke 4:7 (NKJV) 5Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. 7Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.”)

Then, Jesus came and said that He had come to retrieve dominion  He said if I be lifted up I’m going to draw all unto Me (talking about all dominion, all authority.  (John 12:31-32 (NKJV) 31Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.  32And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.”)

Then, when Jesus is raised from the dead, we hear Him say, “Behold, all authority in the heavens and on the earth has been given to Me.  Go ye therefore . . .” 

Matt. 28:18 through Matt. 28:20 (NKJV) 18And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.  and so He transferred it back to us.  So, the cycle was complete.

 

At the very end of the Biblical time in 1 Corinthians 15:24 tells us that the Son then will surrender all authority, all dominion to the Father, that the Father may be all in all.

1 Cor. 15:24 through 1 Cor. 15:26 (NKJV) 24Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. 25For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. 26The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.

 

So . . . to summarize

Dominion began with God

God gives it to Adam

Adam gives it to Satan

Satan loses it to Jesus

Jesus gives it to humanity; and, at the very end,

Jesus will surrender all authority up to the Father,

So . . . it has made its full cycle.  That is what the Bible is all about.

 

Don’t let anybody confuse you; don’t let anybody tell you the Bible is about whether or not you are going to go to hell, because it is not at all about that.

 

John 17:17 through John 17:23 (NKJV) 17Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. 18As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them [that is, you and me] into the world. 19And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.  20“I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; 21that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. 22And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: 23I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.

 

John 17:18 18As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them [that is, you and me] into the world.

In this passage Jesus is talking about how the disciples were sent into the world.  The disciples were not sent into the world to do their best impression of Jesus; you have not been called to do your best impression of Jesus.

 

Remember, we said last week that Radar O’Reilly was renowned for his impression of John Wayne, but Radar O’Reilly was about 5’4” and John Wayne was about 6’5” and since Radar O’Reilly was not John Wayne, he did not get the parts that John Wayne got in Hollywood, because he was not John Wayne.

 

Likewise God has not sent us into the world to do our best impression of Jesus.  Jesus did not come into the world to do His best impression of the Father.  He said if you have seen Me, you have seen the Father.  John 14:9 (NKJV) 9Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?   John 10:30 (NKJV) 30I and My Father are one.”

 

John 17:20 tells us this verse is for us.   20“I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word;

 

I realize that I believe in Him as a result of the disciples’ word having been perpetuated down through the ages.  Thank God that they were faithful to the call of God on their lives.  Jesus was praying for you and me when He prayed this prayer:

 

John 17:21  21that they all may be one. . . in Us

He was praying to the Father for us, you and me today, who believed because of the word of the original twelve disciples, “that they may be one in Us.”

 

John 17:22  22And the glory which You gave Me I have given them . . . so that . . . the world may [believe].

 

You have probably been taught that God is not sharing His glory with anybody.  Well, He has.  God did exactly that; when God created man He crowned man with glory and honor.  God gave man His glory in the very beginning.

Psalm 8: 

4      What is man that You are mindful of him,

And the son of man that You visit him?

5For You have made him a little lower than [Elohim],

And You have crowned him with glory and honor.

 

Man surrendered that glory when He fell.  But, now Jesus said I’ve come and I have restored the glory which you gave Me I have given them so that the world may believe.

 

When God talks about not sharing His glory in the Old Testament, He is talking about not sharing His glory with the idols of the nations, the gods of the nations, those wooden and metal idols.

 

The whole purpose for Jesus coming was to bring many sons to glory.

Heb. 2:10 (NKJV) 10For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.

 

He brought us to glory.  “Glory” means “the manifestation of the power and presence of God.”  

 

When Jesus was raised from the dead, He brought many sons to glory.  He brought us back into the reality of the power and presence of God available in the church.  Christ in you is the hope of glory.

Col. 1:27 (NKJV) 27To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

 

John 17:21  22And the glory which You gave Me I have given them . . . so that . . . the world may [believe].

 

So, why doesn’t the world believe?  Because the church has not fellowshipped the mystery (we talked about the Fellowship of the Mystery in the last series).  

 

“Fellowship” means “partake of and to participate in.”  The “mystery” is “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

 

I want you to understand this is why the church has not been effective.  And this is why the world doesn’t believe, because the church has not fellowshipped, has not partaken of and participated in the mystery of Christ in us, the hope of glory.  

 

The Church still views itself as a separate personality apart from Christ.  This is why the church has been so ineffective in the world.

 

Churches today will tell you that you have come short of the glory of God, but that is not true.  It is not true at all.  The very glory of God is contained in these vessels.  

Col. 1:27 (NKJV) 27To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Gal. 2:20 (NKJV) 20I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

The Christ that lives in you is the very hope of the manifestation of glory in your life.

 

Look at this:

John 17:23 23I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one,

 

Do you know what that is called?  It is called “stacking the deck in your favor!”  “I in them, and You in Me.”  That they may be what?  Perfect in one!  Why are we perfect in one?  Because the Son is in us, and the Father is in Him, and all the fullness dwells in the body:

Gal. 2:20 (NKJV) 20I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

The church is the fullness of Him who fills all in all (Ephesians 1:23).

 

John 17:23 (cont’d)   . . . and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.  

So that the world may know: 1) that You have sent Me, and, 2) that You have loved them [the world] even as much as you loved Me.

 

These are the two things He said:  John 17:23 23I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.  

I in them, and You in Me; that they may be perfect in one, [so] that the world may know that You sent Me and so that the world may know that You loved the world even as much as you loved Me.  That is awesome!  

 

Why doesn’t the world know these things?  Why doesn’t the world know that the Father sent the Son?  Why doesn’t the world know that the Father loves the world even as much as He loved Jesus?  It is because the church hasn’t walked in this one body relationship with the risen Christ as the Head on the body.

 

Christ is not a separate individual over the masses who comprise His church as a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) or man in charge.  The Bible does not teach that.

 

The Bible teaches that Christ is the head on the body and the body completes Him, or is the fullness of Him on earth.

 

[Example of the Barbie Doll--the head without a body versus the head with a body.]  

 

The world is also looking for more than the head; the world is looking for the body to be the completion of Him on earth.  This is because the church has not walked in its one-body relationship with Christ as the head on the body.

 

What the Bible says about Jesus it is actually saying about you.  God intended it to be interpreted and understood this way.  You are supposed to read and understand it that way.  John had this revelation.  He said, of His fullness we have all received . . . :  John 1:16 (NKJV) 16And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.

 

I can point to each and every of you and say, “. . . of His fullness you have all received. . .”   Of Him you are born again, of His fullness you have all received, we have all received.

“All” and “each one” usually mean the same thing.

 

John said, “As He is, so also are we . . . ,” present tense; today.

1 John 4:17 (NKJV) 17Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.

 

As He is today--He is seated at the right hand of God, far above all principality and power with all things under His feet--so also are we seated at the right hand of God (Eph 2:6), far above all principalities and power with all things under our feet, even the feet on the body are the body; they are the completion, the fullness of Him.  

 

All things are under the feet.  Jesus is the head on the body; Jesus is not the feet.  He is the head, but all things are under his feet.  But we are His body; we have a one-body relationship with Jesus.

 

Most of us are confident that all authority in heaven and earth has been given to Jesus.  We have heard the great commission for years and years:  Matt. 28:18 (NKJV) 18And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.

 

But, what we are just now starting to understand and believe is that we are Him.

 

We are Him, because we are His body; and every exercise of dominion on the earth is administered by the body, not by the head.

 

Colossians tells us He is the head so that in all things He might have preeminence. 

Col. 1:18 (NKJV) 18And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.

“Preeminence” means “dominant influence” or “the influence of dominion.”

Where does the influence of dominion come from in the body?  From the head.  From Jesus.  That is where the influence, the power, the authority of dominion comes from—the head.  Christ is the head so that in all things He might have preeminence.  

 

Christ is the head, but we need to understand that every exercise of dominion on the earth is administered by the body not by the head.

 

Acts 4:29 through Acts 4:30 (NKJV) 29Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, 30by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.”

 

How does the Lord stretch out His hand to heal?  The body.  Every exercise of dominion, every healing that will take place, will take place by administration of the body not the head.

 

Every deliverance, every ministry that is ever going to take place on this earth is going to take place by the administration of the body not by the head.  Jesus is not going to come down and heal me; Jesus is already here.  As He is, so also are we in this world.

1 John 4:17 (NKJV) 17Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.

 

We are the body of the risen Christ.  That is all there is to it.  It can’t be any more simple in scripture.  We need to reach out and grasp the truth and begin to walk in it.  We have got to persist in this until we get it.

 

All things are under His feet (but He is not the feet).  He is the head.  The body is the instrument of dominion.  

 

When the body takes its place beneath the head, then miracles are going to take place.  Christ is not a separate personality or individual apart from the body.  

 

The body needs to see itself as represented in scripture as the body attached to Christ the head on the body; we are the feet and the hands and the arms and the trunk and the thighs and the hips and the chest and the heart, etc., of Christ here on the earth.  We need to get this; we need to take our place beneath the head, and then miracles will happen.

 

 

Eph. 4:11 through Eph. 4:16 (NKJV) 11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

 

Last week I said that the purpose of all ministry gifts is to bring the body into the realization of its perfection as the fullness of Christ.  Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, it doesn’t matter what the title of their ministry is, the purpose of every gift is (what he said here) to bring every member of the body of Christ into the realization of their true identity in Christ or of its perfection as the fullness of Christ.

 

In Eph 4:12 he says this is what the gifts are for  12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;

 

In other words this is what God is saying, Church, you already are a perfect man in the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.  That is what God has said about the church.  He said, you are a perfect man to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.  

 

How does this come?  It comes by revelation knowledge.

 

The purpose of the ministry is to communicate that to the church.  Have they?  No!  They have not.  They have taught works; but it is not by works, it is by revelation; it is by receiving what has already been done.

 

It is by what Jesus has already done that we are in Him, and because we are in Him we already are the measure of the fullness of Christ.  Can you see that?

 

All these words of Paul can be a little confusing, but we need to understand what he is saying here.

 

Eph 4:14 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,

What he is saying is that it is bad doctrine and the trickery of men that keeps us as children; in other words it is not our fleshly weaknesses, it is our unbelief that keeps us as children.  Our unbelief.  It is not because we are weak in the flesh.

 

The Bible teaches that you are already in Him and therefore you are an adult mature son in Him.  That is the way he puts it in both Romans and Galatians—you are already adult mature sons in Him.

 

Why did He call you ladies sons?  Because it is no longer you but Christ who lives in you; it is no longer you.  We are all sons of God in Him.  That’s why there is neither male nor female; we are all sons of God in Him.  When he calls you females sons, he is not talking about you, He is talking about Him.  Him! 

 

Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers—are supposed to be focused on bringing the body of Christ into the realization of their perfection in Christ.  The body of Christ needs to realize that they already are by divine intervention perfect in Christ. 

 

What did Jesus say in John 17:23?  I in them, and You in Me that they may be perfect in one.  See?  You are perfect!  You are perfect!

 

Why?  Because He is in you, and the Father is in Him.  The deck is stacked in your favor.  God stacked the deck.

 

He says that the way we grow into Him is through the truth, speaking the truth in love:

Eph 4:15  15  . . .  speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—

 

. . . we grow into Him through the truth—not through behavioral modification, not through doing an impression of Jesus.  We are told that we already are Jesus, that we are His body, in the earth.

 

So . . . it is by accepting the truth that we are in Him and He is in us.  That’s what verse 15 is saying.  It is not by works: it is by revelation.

 

Eph 4:15-16  the head—Christ—16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

 

Verse 16 is saying what I said, that every exercise of dominion on the earth is a function of the body not the head.

 

People ask, “Why doesn’t God heal?”  “Why doesn’t God deliver?”  “Why doesn’t God do this?”  

 

Because the body (not the head) is the arm of authority on the earth.

 

Don’t ever say, “Why doesn’t God . . .?”  God did!

Don’t ever say, “Why doesn’t Jesus . . .?”  Jesus did!  

 

He already has blessed you with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. (Eph. 1:3)

 

He already has given us all things pertaining to life and godliness. (2 Peter 1:3)  Those things are all past tense.  

 

He already has established Jesus as the head on the body.  He already has established us as His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all  (Eph. 1:23)

 

So, why isn’t there healing?  Because the body is not exercising its dominion under the guidance of the head.

 

It is plain and simple.  Everything we deal with is a dominion issue.  Whether or not people get healed, whether or not people get raised from the dead, whether or not people get free from the power of drug addiction, of alcohol addiction, of sex addiction, are all matters of dominion.  And, so, if they are matters of dominion, they are functions of the body not the head.

 

Christ has influence of dominion; He has the preeminent spot.  In other words all things flow from Him, that authority comes from Him, that is why it is in the NAME of Jesus that things are done—not in my name even though I am a cell, a tendon, a part of the body of the risen Christ—it is not in my name that it is done.  Nor is it in the name of Jesus ‘whom Paul preaches.’  It is not in the name of Jesus ‘whom Andrew Wommack preaches.’

 

It is in the name of Jesus—whom you have entered into a revelation of in your life.

 

When you say, “In the name of Jesus,” out of revelation knowledge, you are speaking from within the name of Jesus!  The name of the head on the body is Jesus.  The name of the body is Jesus.  The name of the body of Christ is Christ!  Christ is Jesus the anointed.

 

Eph 4:16 is saying that the greatest manifestations of authority will be when the whole body does its share.

 

It says the greatest manifestations. . . we wonder why just little things are happening, little healings.  It is because the whole body hasn’t gotten involved yet.  The whole body hasn’t taken on this revelation and this understanding.

 

My commission to the church is to teach this until the body gets it.  I am called to this.

 

Greatest manifestations can’t happen until we understand and accept the fact that we are complete Him.

 

As we read the gospels, we must understand that the teachings and the demonstrations of Jesus’ ministry were purposed to prepare the church for life in Him.  Everything He did was intended to show us how the born-again church would life in the power of His resurrection.

 

Several years ago I had a quick vision where I saw who I knew to be Jesus standing outside of a tomb that I knew to be the tomb of Lazarus.  As I momentarily pondered that mental picture, the Holy Spirit asked me, “What is that standing outside the tomb of Lazarus?”  Not who is that ?  And then it came to me—that is the only body of Christ that was on the earth at that time standing outside the tomb of Lazarus.  And then the Holy Spirit showed me that that body was in perfect accord with the Father, that body knew the Father was in Him and that He was the Father in the earth.  “I in them, and You in Me.”  And, because that body was in perfect agreement with the Father, it was no big deal to say, “Lazarus, come forth.”  That’s one example.

 

When you read about Jairus’ daughter being raised up, when you see the woman with the issue of blood touching the hem of the garment of Jesus, you need to read the gospels “seeing” the body of Christ in His place.  Wasn’t that the only body of Christ on the earth at that time?  Well, do you know that we are the only body of Christ on the earth at this time?  There has only been one body both times.  There was a body that is recorded in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John; and there was a body that began to be recorded in the book of Acts.  There have only been two manifestations of the body of Christ; one was a man named Jesus of Nazareth, the other one is the church.

 

Everything Jesus did was intended to show us how the born-again church would live in the power of His resurrection.  How was the church going to live in the power of His resurrection?  They were going to say, “Little girl, arise.”  They were going to say, “Lazarus, come forth.”  They were going to say, “Neither to I condemn thee.  Go and sin no more.”  They were going to say, “Peace, be still,” to the winds and the waves.  They were going to say, “I thank you, Father, that you hear Me,” when they were going to feed the five thousand.  Has the church done that?  Very little; but some are starting to catch on.

 

Everything Jesus did!  The church would turn water into wine; the church would multiply bread and fishes for the needs of people, supernaturally!  Jesus showed that there was a power available to the church in Him to do those things in the supernatural, apart from the physical circumstances of the world.  He was showing the church how we should live.

 

In the book of Luke the angel said to Mary,  Luke 1:37 (NKJV) 37For with God nothing will be impossible.”

Literally in the Greek what was said is “No word of God is void of power.”  Not a single word.

 

What did Jesus say to Peter?  “Come.”  And Peter began to walk on the water, because “no word of God is void of power.”  The power was in the word for Peter to walk on the water, the one word, “Come.”

 

Jesus said, John 14:12 through John 14:14 (NKJV) 12“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. 13And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.

 

John 14:12, Jesus said,   . . .he who believes in Me,  

 

The word “in” is a positional word.  “In” indicates “position or placement.”  You are “in” the chair; you are “in” the building.  

 

When Jesus said, “He who believes in Me,” what was He talking about? He was talking about believing from “within Him.”

 

There are a lot of people in the body of Christ trying to do the works that Jesus did, but they are not believing in Him.  We have believed everywhere, except “in” Him.  I am talking about our perspective and our revelation knowledge.  John 14:12, Jesus said,   . . .he who believes in Me,  

 

“In the name of Jesus, come out of him.”  There is a difference.

 

We have taken a position alongside Him, trying to be like Jesus, “What would Jesus do?”

What would Jesus do? is not a Christ perspective but is an Adamic perspective, because it is me trying to get my flesh in line with what Jesus would do.  That is just focusing on the old man who is dead, but I have put off the old man according to Col. 3:9.

 

The point is that everything in religion is geared to keeping us focused on being outside of Jesus, trying to be like Him.  We are not like Him, we are Him.  You are Him according to the Bible, [but be responsible with that revelation.]

 

John 14:12, Jesus said,   . . .he who believes in Me,  

He is saying, he who believes from within Me.  He is using a positional word.  “He who believes in Me.”  So, we have to learn to take up our position “in Him.”  We have been alongside Him; it is time to get “in Him” in our revelation and understanding.  None of this diminishes our born-again experience.  We have been born again, but we have had a lack of knowledge, a lack of revelation.

 

“Believing in Him” means “we see ourselves in Him and therefore function as Him in the world.”

 

It is no problem for me to lay hands on you and say, “Jesus Christ heals you,” because when I lay hands on you, Jesus Christ does minister to you.  You need to get hold of this truth.  It is not an exaltation of one individual fleshly man.

 

Biblical believing is doing, not simply agreeing with facts.  We don’t do what we don’t believe.

 

John 14:12 12“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.

 

Several weeks ago we learned that our place in Him was fixed from the foundation of the world.  It was fixed.  Consequently, when we study His ministry and His works, we should see Him as us.  When we see Him working, we should see Him as the body of Christ, as the church on the earth at that time.

 

When you see Jesus doing these things, say, that’s the church.  Read it this way just to help renew your mind.  See it and read it this way for a while until your mind gets renewed.  That is what we are supposed to understand when we read it.  We are the body of that same Christ on the earth at this time.

 

We are the body of Christ on the earth at this time, that same body; but now we can do greater works, because all authority in heaven and on earth abides in our Head.

 

Jesus didn’t have all authority in heaven and on earth while He was walking through Galilee and Nazareth.  He was functioning and ministering in a Satanically dominated society.  All men were still under the legal dominion of Satan while Jesus was ministering on the earth.  

 

Jesus could minister to those people effectively because of what He said in John 14:30:

John 14:30 (NKJV) 30I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me.

 

Jesus was perfect, so even though Satan had legal dominion over all the people of the earth, Jesus was not under his dominion because He had never sinned.  He was born of a virgin, He was born of the imperishable, incorruptible seed of the Father God; it was God’s seed that was in Him not the seed of Adam and therefore He could function in this world that was dominated by Satan but could heal the sick and raise the dead.

 

John 14:12 12“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.

 

When Jesus went to the Father, all authority was given to the church and the presence of the Holy Ghost was poured out on all believers in the body and now we are anointed with the Holy Ghost with power and could go about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil.  We need to understand that the same thing it said about Jesus in Acts 10:38 is now true about the church.  

 

Acts 10:38 (NKJV) 38. . . God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.

 

As I said, Jesus didn’t have all authority, but if today’s body would get this revelation would be unlimited in our authority, because He has now accomplished release for all men.

 

This is my last point.  When Jesus was here, men were all legally under Satan’s dominion.  But, because of the cross and the resurrection of Jesus Christ, nobody on earth today is legally under the dominion of Satan.  Nobody.  Nobody.  Satan no longer has a kingdom.  He no longer has a dominion on earth at all.

 

But, can I give him place of occupancy in my life?  Yes.  Paul said, “Give no place to the devil.”  Eph. 4:26 through Eph. 4:27 (NKJV) 26“Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, 27nor give place to the devil.

Satan will try to come in, you can let him in, but he no longer has a kingdom.

 

We need to understand that there is only one kingdom on the earth now and its King is Jesus.  And there are basically two kinds of subjects in the kingdom:  obedient subjects and rebellious subjects.  There are subjects who do not yet accept the Lordship and the leadership of the new King, but they are nevertheless subjects of the One King, Jesus.  There is only one King.  There is only one dominion.  There is only one realm of authority on the earth.  Satan has no authority whatsoever.

 

1 John 3:8 (NKJV) 8He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.

 

In 1 John 3:8 “destroyed the works of the devil” means “to dissolve and completely do away with.”  

 

Heb. 2:14 (NKJV) 14Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,

 

Hebrews 2:14 says that Jesus destroyed him who had [past tense] the power of death, that is the devil.  That word “destroyed” means “to render entirely and totally useless.”

 

So, in other words the works have been dissolved; they have been completely taken care of.  And the devil, who cannot be done away with because he is a spirit being, has been rendered entirely useless.  So we have a useless devil with no works left to do anything with except that he has a mouth and he goes about trying to make you fearful [information comes to us through many channels in life, newspapers or the doctor].

 

Fear it is a spiritual force that produces exactly what you have feared.

Faith is a spiritual force that produces exactly what you have believed for.

 

Heb. 11:1 (NKJV) 1Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Fear gives substance to things worried about.

 

Satan has no kingdom any more.  Don’t give Satan a kingdom in your imagination; he has none.  There is not a struggle going on in the heavens between God and the devil.  No struggle.  The devil has been destroyed, rendered entirely useless.  He is a wimpy little thing that sits in a corner and pouts and whines and cries seeking someone he may devour—someone who out of their mouths opens the door for him to come in.

 

1 Pet. 5:8 (NKJV) 8Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

 

“Seeking” means he has to find somebody who is open to his schemes.  It says, don’t be ignorant to the schemes of the devil.

2 Cor. 2:11 (NKJV) 11lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices.

 

One of Andrew’s Bible college teachers said, everything the Bible tells us not to be ignorant of, the church today is ignorant of.  There are about three things in the New Testament that Paul told us not to be ignorant of and the church is walking in total ignorance of all three things.

 

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