29 Jan There is a New Sheriff in Town (Colossians 2:15)
The Bible tells us, “And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.” Notice the two phrases “having spoiled principalities” and “made a show of them openly”. In the original Greek, the first phrase literally denotes “to strip completely naked”. The second phrase is speaking about what they used to do to defeat kings. One king would conquer another and to prove victory, they would take the defeated king, strip him naked and parade him around the conquering city in a very humiliating fashion! They would also cut off his thumbs making it very apparent he could no longer wield a weapon. This awesome verse is telling us just that…Jesus completely defeated the devil, stripped him of his authority and the devil no longer can wield any weapons!
The Bible tells us to stand against the wiles not weapons of the enemy (see Ephesians 6:11). The word “wiles” in the Greek is methodos (we get our English word “method” from it) and it literally means schemes or mind games. All the devil has to trick you and me with are not actual weapons…simply mind games!
Many times you hear Christians refer to themselves as the army of the Lord. This is of course true, but to be even more accurate we are the occupational army of the Lord! An occupational force is simply a force that maintains the victory already won for them! That’s what we are…we must maintain the victory Jesus has won for us!
You know this ministry, we are committed to biblically balanced teaching and therefore before we go any further, I want to share with you two “ditches” I want you to avoid. When it comes to demons, the Body of Christ seems to fall into one of these two “ditches”:
- Everything is a demon. People will say, “Pastor Jim, my toaster broke down…it must be the devil!” How old is your toaster? “Well, I got it in 1973!” This is no toaster demon, this is simply a cheapskate who needs to buy a new toaster!
- Nothing’s a demon. If your toaster, washer, dryer, air conditioner and wife all break down in one day…get a clue…it may be demonic! One of the devil’s biggest tricks is to try to convince you he doesn’t exist.
So what do you say let’s stay out of both ditches! Don’t be like the person who was casting out demons. He tried to cast out a spirit of procrastination and the demon spoke up and said, “I’ll come out later.” Don’t be like the guy who was trying to cast out a spirit of gambling. The man said, “Come out” and the demon said, “You bet!” Don’t be like the guy who was trying to cast out a spirit of gluttony. The man said, “Come out” and the demon said, “I will for a cookie!”
Seriously, please allow me to give you “5 Aspects of Using Your Authority”:
1. Jesus delegated His authority to you (Matt. 28:18-20, Mark 16:15-18).
Here the Bible tells us, “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.”
I remember a time many years ago when I was taking a young man home from church one evening. At first, everything was quite normal as I took this young man home. Out of the blue, this young man transformed before my very eyes into a wild man! He began to flail his arms and shout “I’m going to kill somebody!” over and over again! I literally thought he was going to grab the steering wheel and yank me into a ditch on the side of the road. Almost immediately the Holy Spirit calmly whispered to my heart, “You had better use your authority.” I quickly shouted, “In the name of Jesus I command you to shut up.” Instantly this young man transformed from a wild man to what literally sounded like a whipped puppy. He slumped down in his seat and began to whimper like a dog.
Now I want to make it very clear, God has not given us authority over human wills…I was talking to the demon manifesting through him. Also we can’t cast out what people choose to keep. I was merely taking authority over its ability to hurt me!
He gave us His name. His name represents His character, power and authority. In essence, Jesus has given us His power of attorney. We represent Him on the earth.
2. You give the devil no ground (Eph. 4:27).
Here the Bible tells us, “Neither give place to the devil”. The Greek word translated “place” is the word topos…we get our English word “topography” from it. It literally and simply means “ground”. In other words, we are to give the devil no ground! The implied inference here is you give the devil no ground! If he gets ground…we gave it to him. In context, it is ongoing strife and anger that gives the devil ground in our lives.
Remember this, give the devil an inch and eventually he’ll become your ruler!
Next week we’ll continue our series on “There’s a New Sheriff in Town”.