Faith that Commands / Living in Your God-given Authority

00:00 - Speaker 1 I just want to invite you to live the high life. I want to invite you to realize that you have been given authority from Jesus. If you are saved, if you're trusting in Christ for your salvation, you represent Jesus here on earth. Amen. You know how to make it a good morning. Say good morning. Maybe it wasn't, but now it is. Amen. 00:26 - Speaker 2 Welcome to the City Light Church podcast. Thanks for joining us today as we look into God's Word and discover the hope and truth that he has for us. If you want to connect with City Light Church, feel free to visit us at citylightnyccom. That's citylightnyccom. Pastor Boyan Jancic and his team believe that the power of the Holy Spirit is already working in our hearts and minds. As you listen to today's teaching, remember that you are deeply loved by God, that you are surrounded by his grace and that he has a real hope and a future for you. 01:05 - Speaker 1 Well, I've preached a lot of Palm Sundays, so if you want a Palm Sunday message, they're on YouTube and on Spotify, apple Podcasts. Today I want to continue on with the series that we're doing on faith, and you cannot teach about faith without talking about authority, the believer's authority, commanding power, and it's something that seems to elude most Christians. I'll read a couple of passages with you and then you let me know where you stand. Luke 9.16. Here's one of the quickest ways you can tell, you can judge. You can judge your fellow believers when you go out to eat with them at Life Group. This is how you can find out whether you have, and walk in, more revelation than them. So I'm so glad for Pastor Mo. If it wasn't for Pastor Mo, half of you wouldn't know that I was kidding. But just remember, when I kid, every joke is half true, at least 30% of the time. This is how you can tell. When they pray for the food, you say oh, you're nitpicking. I'm just showing you little ways because I want you to come up. I want you to be the ambassador, the Christ child that God has called you to be, and the Mickey Mousy, mamby Pamby spirit. It creeps in in all sorts of subtle ways and makes us take a back seat where God wants us in the front seat, right along with him, in fact, so much along with him. You're seated together in heavenly places with him. This is how Jesus blessed the food. Then he took five loaves and the two fish and, looking up to heaven, he asked the Father to bless the fish. No, he blessed them. He blessed and broke them and gave them to disciples to set before the multitude. Mark 14, 22. And as they were eating, jesus took bread. Did he ask the Father to bless it or did he bless it? He blessed it. He blessed and broke it and gave it to them and said take, eat, this is my body. 03:30 I know I'm choosing to start my sermon off in a bit of a different way, but I'm trying to catch your attention here and I would venture to say eight out of ten of you you ask God to bless your food. Why? He's busy. He's holding the whole universe together and he went through the trouble of being made flesh, dying on the cross for your sin, giving you authority, giving you his name, telling you to go out and represent him, and now you're asking him to do what he told you to do so. Bless the food in Jesus' name. Now religion comes. 04:15 Oh, that sounds so arrogant. That sounds so. No, it's not arrogant to walk out in biblical principles. It's not arrogant to do what Jesus told us to do when he saved you. He forgave you all your sins. Okay, that's the fundamentals. But he raised you up, he put you into the family of God, he made you his representative, he gave you his name and, most importantly, he gave you authority, and I'll show you scriptures for that. 04:46 But Christians have to have a strong understanding of the authority they carry or their Christianity is not gonna go very far. There'll be a short circuit there. He gave you authority, so you do the blessing. It's not that you have the power to bless I never blessed anyone in Bo's name but I'll bless you in Jesus' name. Now I'm a vessel, now I'm a conduit. So you bless the food in Jesus' name. 05:13 I know in healing rooms you better not ask God to heal for you. Yeah, show me in the New Testament where Jesus prays to the Father and asks the Father to heal. Yet someone needs healing. You call six Christians around them, nine out of ten times. Oh, father, we come to you with this wretched, sick, miserable body here and we ask you to heal them. If it's your will, I know, be healed in Jesus' name. It's not that you're so great in and of yourself, but you're carrying his presence and you have authority. 05:58 What is authority? It's delegated power. Okay, I'm always amazed when you come out of the Midtown Tunnel, what do you see? Traffic cops the famous or infamous, depending on your. Take white glove and the whistle and you can be doing 70 and have a 90-pound woman soaking wet. Put up that white glove and you're hitting the brakes. Is it because she's so powerful? No, she has authority from the state of New York and the city of New York. She has delegated power. That's what Jesus has given you. Amen. 06:37 This message isn't about how you talk to God and how you talk to your food. By the way, amen. I'm using it just as a kickstart example. It also shorten your food so you can eat before it gets cold. Your prayer over food, because in the other one it said Jesus gave thanks and blessed. And then the second one, he blessed Doesn't seem like it takes too long. Okay, amen, mark 4, 37. 07:06 But show me a Christian praying for their food and praying for a sick person. I know right away whether they are walking in their authority, whether they get it, whether they understand it. And if they don't understand it, they're struggling. They still see themselves in a lesser position and Jesus bled to elevate you. Yes, to his position. You are in Christ. Some of you would even recall what do you mean? I'm in his position, he's high, he's lifted high. Yeah, you're in him. I'll show you scripture and verse for all this. But it seems to be so easy for Christians to take the back seat oh, I'm nothing, he's everything. Well, slow down there. You're nothing in and of yourself, but in him you're everything. Well, slow down there. You're nothing in and of yourself, but in him you're everything. When you really get it, it doesn't produce arrogance, it doesn't. It actually produces true biblical humility where you realize the magnitude of what he's given you and it causes you to want to fall at his feet and kiss his ankles. Amen. 08:03 And a great windstorm arose and the waves beat into the boat so that it was already filling, but Jesus was in the stern, asleep on a pillow, and they awoke him and said to him Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing? Then he arose, jesus, and rebuked the wind and said to the sea how did he rebuke the wind? He said we've been talking a lot about the power of saying and the power of our words, your words. He said peace, be still. And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. Now we're very familiar with that part. But this verse, verse 40. 08:45 But he said to them why are you so fearful? Now, we're very familiar with that part, but this verse, verse 40, but he said to them why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith? He rebukes them. He's not really happy with them because he treasures his sleep. Amen. See, I'm very Christ-like in that way that I treasure my sleep. See, I'm very Christ-like in that way that I treasure my sleep. 09:10 Why did he rebuke them? What I mean? A hurricane's coming right, a storm Water's already going into the boat. Easy for Jesus to get up and say peace, be still. But he rebukes the disciples. Why are you so fearful? Where is your faith? He would only have rebuked them if he expected them to take care of that. He expected them to do that. They still didn't get their authority. So they're waking him up and he's enjoying a nice snooze mid-storm and he rebukes them because they should have stood on the bow of the ship and said peace be still. Oh yeah, luke 9, one through two. 09:57 A good question to ask after I make that point is well, did they know that? Because it would be unfair of Jesus to be upset with them if they didn't know that. Yes, they knew that. This wasn't on day one of their trip together. That was already when they'd been traveling a while. It was after this. 10:17 Then he called his 12 disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases. He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. So Jesus already gave them power, authority which is delegated power. You now get to do what I do Gave them miracle working power, power over the devil and demons, power over sickness and disease, and to announce the kingdom and all the miracles that accompany it. So you better believe. They could have gone to the ship and commanded it to cease, but they didn't. So I just want to invite you to live the high life. I want to invite you to realize that you have been given authority from Jesus. If you're saved, if you're trusting in Christ for your salvation, you represent Jesus here on earth. Amen. You know how to make it a good morning, say good morning. Maybe it wasn't, but now it is. Amen, hallelujah. Hallelujah, it wasn't, but now it is Amen, hallelujah. 11:27 When you're on an airplane and that turbulence begins shaking, what does a Christian do? Oh God, save me please. Lord, in Jesus' name, this plane stays up. You know what Jesus said when he got on the ship, by the way oh, this just came to me, it wasn't even in my notes. Right before this whole storm, jesus said we're going to the other side. He already's prophet, we're going to the other side. And so a storm came half an hour or whatever, later, but they made it to the other side. That ship obeyed Jesus' words You're on an airplane, I'm landing in such and such city. Amen, we're going to the other side. 12:13 Now, I remember doing that years ago when I went to the Arctic with my pastor, and it was. I mean, it is rough over there. There is no, you're over the tree line, it looks like a Star Wars movie, everything is white, everything covered in ice, and you're in a little eight-seater and you're feeling every bump. And that thought just crosses your mind. If we go down, it'll be like three weeks before they find us. I wonder who I'd eat. First I said we're going to the other side. Amen, hallelujah, hallelujah. Nothing like a good cannibalism joke to wake everybody up. 13:01 Ephesians, chapter one, verse 17. I want to talk to you about the source of your authority and I want you to challenge yourself, in fact ask the Lord to arrest you when you pray these lower tier, secondary prayers. The Lord will work with whatever you give him, but once you have the revelation, now you're responsible for it. And he's calling you give him. But once you have the revelation now you're responsible for it, and he's calling you up higher. You ever take a jacket to the dry cleaning or ladies of an old purse. You're going through and you find like a folded $20 bill. You're like, ooh, it's yours, you always had it, but you forgot all about it. And now you it's like it rained down on you. Oh, $20. I didn't have before, you did, but you just didn't know it. There's so many Christians that have God-given authority folded up in their back pocket somewhere. It does you no good until you seize it. I challenge you to walk in your authority. Stop asking God to do things for you that he's already given you authority to take care of. 14:07 Kenneth Hagin had a vision of this. He was taken up by the Lord. His whole book if you want a book that'll blow your mind it was old when I read it back in college read I Believe in Visions by Kenneth Hagin. It'll really challenge you Completely, scripturally sound, an awesome book. 14:31 And he talks about how the Lord took him up and started conversing with him in heaven and an evil spirit came, a little demon, and caused a black, impenetrable cloud, like a dark mist, to come in between Hagen and the Lord. And the Lord just kept on talking to him as though nothing were happening. And Hagen's, like, looking around. He says I'm looking around, I'm going, I wonder. I can't hear a word that Jesus is saying. And this little imp-like demon is running around in front of the dark cloud with his hands up, mocking, going yackety-yack, yackety-yack, yackety-yack. Finally, hagen's looking around and he's like you know, when's the Lord gonna do something about this? And then he commands the devil stop it in Jesus' name. 15:18 The moment he said that, the demon collapsed to the ground, ran away and the mist disappeared and the Lord just kept on talking and he said excuse me, lord, I'm just wondering, did you see what just he's like. I saw everything. Why didn't you stop talking? And Jesus, why didn't you stop speaking to me and take care of it? And Jesus says I was waiting for you to. I think that would be the Lord's response to a lot of things. Lord, why aren't you, why aren't you helping? I was waiting for you to rise up in your God-given authority. Amen, amen. 15:52 Husbands, take authority over your families, over your houses. That let me just say. Taking authority over your house doesn't mean crashing in when you come home from work and go what's going on here? Where's my blue shirt? It means in prayer. In prayer, you say in Jesus' name this is a holy home. The devil has no foothold. He can't come in here, even a minch. No, the Lord reigns here, the Holy Spirit flows here. My kids are protected, my wife is protected. Amen. If you're single, you have authority over your dwelling place. You have authority over your dwelling place. You have authority over your life. Hallelujah. 16:39 I just saw a video. By the way, pentecostal charismatics are loco man. I just saw a video and now we always knew they were loco. But now that everybody's got a video in their pocket, now we have like video proof. And there was this nice Midwestern woman, southern, whatever she was, bless God. She was taking care of her family, you know, and she had this bottle of Welch's grape juice, and did anybody see this video? Oh, and she's walking around the perimeter of her property and she's squirting the Welch's grape juice, an element of communion, and you saw the video. And she's warding off the evil spirits and making sure that this house is clean. You know, you don't have to squirt olive oil, welch's grape juice, gasoline, you don't have to spray any of that stuff. You can just stand and, with the precious authority that Jesus gave you, that he bled for Amen, say this far devil and no further Amen, and then wait, wait and get the confirmation of the Lord. 18:05 You know, when we got our house in the Poconos in 2020, I don't know if you remember the summer of 2020, crazy things were happening and we got a house in the Poconos, and the Poconos is a weird place. It's really been afflicted by what's that drug? That's all. I'm sorry, I'm just drawing a blank. Not fentanyl fentanyl too, but before that, the opiate crisis hit it and now it's a mixture. But what's that? Just Oxycontin and any kind of opiate, and then fentanyl came. 18:32 The point is now it's the middle of COVID. We're out in the middle of nowhere and every time I go to the gas station I see that face that has three teeth in his head. You know, looking at me sideways and I'm going. I wonder how safe I am here. You remember this right? I mean I got guns, I got ARs coming out. I've got. 18:57 If you actually saw my stash, you might wonder if you want to attend this church or not. Rambo, are you kidding? I got like guns for my feet, hands. I felt like the Lord telling me to calm down. So first week there I'm walking around the perimeter. I'm a city boy. Now I got a house in the woods and I'm you know, covid made you a little parent. I'm wondering what direction are they coming from? I can take them from the roof. I got a patio I can take out. I got an 80 degree angle here and I'm walking around my house and I'm taking authority. 19:33 I'm saying, in Jesus name, this is a place of peace. Because I talk about the guns and I believe in our right to have guns. But any Christian, that should be your last. You should not want to ever use a gun. And I took it. I said no enemy will come, even upon these grounds. If they even have the thought, they'll turn back. And then this is the best I heard in my spirit no enemy, no one that intends you harm will ever even walk on the land. I said, yes, lord, and that's it. From then on, never even had a second thought about it. Guns are still loaded, yes, but I don't think about it. Amen, amen, hallelujah. 20:24 And I just want to say this with believers Just do a little house cleaning at City Light A little bit. Always give more glory to God than the devil. And some look, if the most interesting thing about you is some demonic attack you had three years ago, you need to have some more God encounters. Amen, the most interesting thing about you can't be. You know the devil wouldn't let me sleep. I had demonic dreams, you know. I turned on my bathroom light, so somebody in the mirror, whatever, however, the enemy was trying to afflict you. Stop talking about it. That's the past, amen. 20:56 What are you gonna write Psalms to the devil now and how he harassed you and how powerful he is? There is a devil and he's wicked and he wishes death on you, but we have authority over him. In fact, we're gonna go. I know I didn't start Ephesians yet, but let's go. One of the first verses I memorized new believers are prone to this because they just left the kingdom of darkness yesterday. So they still remember how oppressed they felt and they're still growing in their freedom in Christ. But you don't have to make it a years-long transition. Receive God's authority. He gave it to you. It's not dependent on your works, it's not dependent on how well you've behaved. Amen, he just marked you with it when he called you his own, his own child, and this belongs to every believer Luke 10, 19. And then we'll jump right back to Ephesians. 21:58 But I want you to, since I started talking about the devil and demons, behold, there's that word again. I give you the authority, delegated power, to trample on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Memorize that verse, get it in your spiritual bones. Do you know? You come up to the ministry team, you come up to me for prayer. We're not asking God to set you free from oppression, we're doing it in Jesus' name. Be free. In Jesus' name, I break the power of the devil over your life. Oh in Jesus, the blood of Jesus on you. Hallelujah. Why? Because we have authority to trample on serpents and scorpions and over all. All in the Greek means come on all scholars, you, and nothing shall by any means hurt you, hallelujah. When you see this, you can't unsee it. And then when you see other believers and I joked about judging and all that, of course you take the humble road. But then you will see, when people don't realize all they have in Christ, yet their $20 bill is still folded in some purse somewhere in the basement you can do the commanding. You have authority. 23:27 Now let's go back to Ephesians, chapter one, to talk about where this authority comes from. Why are we so lucky? Huh, how did this happen? Ephesians 1, 17 through 23. That the God of our Lord, jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation. In the knowledge of him, you would know who he is and who you are in him. One of the foundations of authority is your identity in Christ, you knowing who you are in him. 24:02 If you think you're a wretched old sinner in him, then well, you'll have the benefits of a wretched old sinner If you believe you're a born-again new creation in Christ. That's in him, then you'll have the benefits of a born again you creation in Christ. That's in him, then you'll have the benefits of a born again you creation in Christ, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened. He's praying that they would see. He's praying for them to come out of the matrix to see what they've been given, that you may know. What is the hope of his calling and what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints and what is the exceeding greatness of his power toward us. 24:38 Say this I have power. Jesus gave it to me. Yes, and it's according to the working, it's in proportion to the working of his mighty power, which he worked in Christ, which we're celebrating really every Sunday here, but especially next Sunday for Resurrection Sunday, when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places. So where is Jesus right now? At the Lord's or at the Father's right hand? Right In heavenly places? Okay, we just read it, let's try it again. Where is Jesus right now In heavenly places, at the Father's right hand, the place of authority, the right hand, and how far away is he from demons? 25:29 By the way, the demonic realm? It's not in hell. Most of you know that. I didn't, because I got my theology from cartoons before I got saved. And when Tom got hit by that piano he went down into hell. And then there was that pit-ball dog was in hell and all the demons. But the demons aren't in hell yet. The devil isn't in hell. He's the prince of the power of the air. 25:51 And the scripture says Jesus is elevated not just above them, but far above them, far above all principality and power and might and dominion. He's listing demonic categories and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And he's put all things under his feet and gave him to be head over all things to the church. You can paraphrase that by saying he made Jesus the father, made Jesus the head, far above all the demonic activity, for the church's sake, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. Now we're going to just make a right turn, one chapter over to Ephesians, chapter 2, verse 1. So far we've learned that Jesus is high and lifted up far above all the demonic power. It's under his feet. 26:49 This is a great Easter verse and you he made alive Because, you know, next Sunday we're not only celebrating Jesus' resurrection, we're celebrating mine and yours resurrection Because we were made alive in him and you he made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins In which you once walked. According to the course of this world, the devil, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit, who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind and were, by nature, children of wrath, just as the others. But God, who is rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us even when we were dead in trespasses, he made us alive together with Christ. By grace, you have been saved. And this verse six memorize it. This is the foundation for your authority. This is why you can loose things and bind things. This is why you can, you not? You don't need your pastor, happy always to pray with you always. But you don't need me to do this for you, but you don't need me to do this for you. He raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. So chapter one it shows Jesus after his resurrection is in the highest place, at the father's right hand. Where are the devils? Well, way below him, because he's far above Doesn't just say above, far above all principality and power and might and dominion. And then in chapter two it says you are right there with him. You have been raised up together and made to sit together in heavenly places in Christ. So when you give a command here on earth, if it's based on the word of God, it's like Jesus himself giving the command Hallelujah, hallelujah. 29:00 I had a dream when I was first learning these things and I was running down the stairwell of the old apartment where I was raised at in Forest Hills and there were like all these different staircases and I felt I didn't see, but I felt like there was a fire and I needed to get out. And I'm coming up to these different doors and yanking one it won't open Running down to another one yank, you know like using my foot, trying to nothing, it won't open. And then I just hear the Lord say command. And now I'm running again, running real fast, so fast into the door, like if something doesn't happen I'm going to crash right into it. I go in Jesus name, be open and the door swings open into another court, another closed door. In Jesus name, be open. It swings open. Now I'm having fun, now I got kind of. Now I'm running through this dream and I'm like in Jesus name, before I could even say, be open, be open, jump, double door, swing open, hallelujah With your life. God is holding you by the hand, he's taking you somewhere. I get. There's some doors that are closed right now. You say I'm waiting for the Lord to open them. Great, but have you spoken to them to be opened In the name of Jesus? Every closed door that should be opened to me, I command to open in Jesus' name, hallelujah. 30:15 When it comes to our church building, it doesn't exist yet. We're constantly looking for what's on the market. There's not even one that comes up where we're like we want to believe for that. So what are we doing? Right now? We're using our authority and saying in Jesus' name, church building arise. Now what does that mean? We're not expecting one to. You know, like how Superman started the Fortress of Solitude. He threw the crystal in and a building came up from the ground. That's not what we're doing, but right now that building could be locked up in some board of directors meeting, some old church or just in bureaucratic red tape, and when we speak that way, it could be a church that should have finished 20 years ago and they got three people meeting. By the way, this happens all the time. In New York City, you got a church that should have folded generations ago, but because churches don't pay land taxes and the buildings already paid off, you got churches with a thousand seats and you look inside and there's six people in there. So when we pray that way, the Lord will do some shaking and make a whole lot of shaking going on, and that's how the church building will arise so that we can believe for it. Amen. Right now we just need something on our radar. Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. Romans 5, 17,. Worship team, you can come on up. Thank you, jesus. 31:55 A frequent thing that I hear about is people being tormented with night terrors, people being tormented in their sleep, and it really shows you what Satan is like. He's such a coward that he comes to you when you're at your weakest, when you're literally unconscious, and tries to inject your mind and put thoughts and dreams. I had that 30 years ago, but it stopped when I started taking authority every night In the name of Jesus. The word of God says you give your beloved sweet sleep. Sweet sleep, devil, you can't touch me. I sleep under the blood of Jesus, you can't. It's illegal for you to Hallelujah. 32:45 Hallelujah, for if, by one man's offense, death reigned, through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness, any people here, receive God's grace, amen. The gift of righteousness, shout, that's me. Oh, the gift of righteousness Purchased with the blood of Jesus. You get grace and you get righteousness. And the Bible says you will reign in life through the one. Jesus Christ, you are royalty, you are to reign. When are you supposed to reign In heaven? No, he'll do all the reigning there, but it says reign in life. Reign in life. 33:34 When I was a Christian, dee, dee, dee, dee, dee, dee, dee. No, when I was a Christian, getting my butt kicked, I knew something was wrong and thank God I had other, more mature Christians. I can peek into their lives and go, wow, they seem way freer, way more at peace, and I'm encountering the devil just as much as God. What's going on here? I'm always feeling oppressed. You know, there was a saying I squashed that quick around City Light, because what happens is people go online and get their brains messed up with weird podcasts and go down weird rabbit holes. And then there was a group in our own midst. Every other sentence was ooh, I feel the resistance, pray for me. There's great resistance. I want to do something this Friday, but you know the devil's resisting me. 34:19 Well, if you keep talking about it, that's all you're going to get. It's a trap. Do you know? There actually is an evil spirit called wrong focus? It is a demon called wrong focus. It gets you to focus on the demonic and what you focus on is what you realize more in your life. 34:40 Amen, so I think a lot of Christians. They came out of the new age or something, but then they start to blur Christianity with, like this old Nintendo game where they're constantly pew pew at spiritual warfare. Stop focusing on the devil, focus on Jesus, declare your victory and then stand firm in your authority and victory, amen. Well, what if attacks still come? The worst thing you can do to your enemy, the most offensive thing, is to ignore them. Ignore it and keep doing what you're doing. Amen, hallelujah, shout this reign in life I'm to reign. Lift your hands up. Say, in Jesus' name. You've given me authority. I have delegated power, so I decree over my life. I am blessed. My sins are forgiven. I have intimacy with God. You make me to prosper. I walk in the love of Christ. Good things happen to me all the time. I'm a magnet for the blessings of God. Doors open, new opportunities arise In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. 36:10 - Speaker 2 This is the City Light Church podcast. If you've missed any part of today's message, Amen. Anytime, we would love to connect with you. We pray that you have been encouraged today, that you have been reminded how much God loves you and that you are surrounded by grace. Thank you for listening. Make sure that you subscribe to City Light Church Podcast wherever you find your favorite podcasts worldwide.