Matt 17
The Demoniac
14 When they came to the crowd, a man came up to Jesus, falling on his knees before Him and saying, 15 “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic and is very ill; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. 16 I brought him to Your disciples, and they could not cure him.” 17 And Jesus answered and said, “You unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to Me.” 18 And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was cured at once.
19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not drive it out?” 20 And He *said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you. 21 [But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”]
Authority
There is a correlation to Faith and Authority. Deliverance comes out of authority. But, it is connected to faith.
To us there is given a measure of faith. All believers have some measure. But, faith is also a fruit of the Spirit. And, that comes out of communion with the LORD. As we spend more time in His presence, we take on His nature and are conformed more into the image of Jesus. From there, we gain authority and grow in our faith fruitfulness.
Mountains are places of authority.
Isaiah 2 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
God’s Universal Reign
2 The word which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
2 Now it will come about that
In the last days
The mountain of the house of the Lord
Will be established as the chief of the mountains,
And will be raised above the hills;
And all the nations will stream to it.
3 And many peoples will come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
To the house of the God of Jacob;
That He may teach us concerning His ways
And that we may walk in His paths.”
For the law will go forth from Zion
And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
4 And He will judge between the nations,
And will render decisions for many peoples;
And they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not lift up sword against nation,
And never again will they learn war.
It’s all about ruling, judging and teaching – as one with authority.
We are in that time. The authority to govern over the seven mountains is happening now.
So, if you want to see rulers that sit on top of high places in society come down, you have to spend time with God. That is developed in the secret place. The disciples hadnt quite gotten there. But, the would. And, soon they would operate like Jesus.
The anointing can land where the soil is good. And, Jesus is the One to plow the soil of your heart. Let it be found not lacking, not hard and not like stone. A soft heart yields to God. And, it allows Him to water those dry places and heal the areas that need healing.
Over time, intimacy develops more deeply, and God releases you into a greater measure of looking like His Son.
From that place, you have the confidence or faith to speak to any ruling demonic influence, and say, “get into the sea”, and it will immediately.
…the boy was cured at once.”
Look at Mark 11
Jesus Drives Money Changers from the Temple
15 Then they *came to Jerusalem. And He entered the temple and began to drive out those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling [b]doves; 16 and He would not permit anyone to carry [c]merchandise through the temple. 17 And He began to teach and say to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a robbers’ [d]den.” 18 The chief priests and the scribes heard this, and began seeking how to destroy Him; for they were afraid of Him, for the whole crowd was astonished at His teaching.
19 When evening came, [e]they would go out of the city.
20 As they were passing by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up. 21 Being reminded, Peter *said to Him, “Rabbi, look, the fig tree which You cursed has withered.” 22 And Jesus *answered saying to them, “Have faith in God. 23 Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him. 24 Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you. 25 Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions. 26 But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your transgressions.”]
Jesus’ Authority Questioned
27 They *came again to Jerusalem. And as He was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders *came to Him, 28 and began saying to Him, “By what authority are You doing these things, or who gave You this authority to do these things?” 29 And Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question, and you answer Me, and then I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 30 Was the baptism of John from heaven, or from men? Answer Me.” 31 They began reasoning among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ 32 But shall we say, ‘From men’?”—they were afraid of the people, for everyone considered John to have been a real prophet. 33 Answering Jesus, they *said, “We do not know.” And Jesus *said to them, “Nor will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
Jesus talks about faith and unbelief. It is the same coin. Intimacy develops faith. Unbelief is for those who truly do not know God. And, it connects to walking like Jesus did. His transition into forgiveness is a low-hanger. Offense does NOT look like Jesus. It ruins intimacy. Jesus warns us against it. It robs your authority.
Jesus teaches on it many times, and the next story we see is the religious folks challenging Jesus’ authority.
Authority gives you rulership over the highest levels of the demonic.
But, you need to believe that you carry the goods. It ties directly to faith. You know that you know…
And, that only comes from intimacy with God.