UNDERSTANDING AUTHORITY 4: YOU CAN GROW IN AUTHORITY

MEMORY VERSE: So all the elders of Israel came to the king to Hebron; and king David made a league with them in Hebron before the LORD: and they anointed David king over Israel. 2 Samuel 5:3

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Ezekiel 31-36

Although at the beginning of these series we defined authority, we would like to define it again. Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary defines authority as a “legal or rightful power; a right to command or to act; power exercised by a person in virtue of his office or trust; dominion; jurisdiction; authorization; as, the authority of a prince over subjects, and of parents over children; the authority of a court.” Authority is not shouting. Have you noticed that when Judges pass judgement they don’t shout or scream at the top of their voice? Authority is not bullying or making threats. A man or woman who has authority doesn’t need to do all that. There are several categories of authority. We have authority at home, church, place of work, school, state, nation, etc. In the class room, the teacher has a delegated authority from Christ over his or her students. Parents, Christians and non- Christians, have a delegated authority over their children. Even if your parents are unbelievers, they have a delegated authority from Christ over you. As a wife, whether your husband is a believer or not, he has a delegated authority from Christ over you. This is not negotiable ma. As the head, he can ask you to break your fast because he wants to make love to you and you cannot say no! This is why i encourage our single sisters to pray seriously before accepting any proposal from a man. Pray about the brother, and ask your leaders in church to pray along with you. Whoever you accept his marriage proposal will be the one who will receive the delegated authority from Christ over you. Also, this need to be mentioned: every man or woman with delegated authority from Christ will give account to Christ one day.

As you already know by now (from these series), authority belongs to Jesus. Matthew 28:18 says, “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” Christ has delegated some of His authority to us – fathers, mothers, leaders, teachers, etc. Proverbs 8:15 says, “By me kings reign, and princes decree justice.” Another point i will like to make concerning authority is that one can grow in authority. An example of a man who grew in authority is David. He started as a shepherd boy who had authority over sheep. Because He was a man after God’s own heart, God increased his authority and he became Saul’s armour bearer. 1 Samuel 16:21 says, “And David came to Saul, and stood before him: and he loved him greatly; and he became his armour bearer.” The Lord increased his authority again and he became a captain over a thousand.1 Samuel 18:13 says, “Therefore Saul removed him from him, and made him his captain over a thousand; and he went out and came in before the people.” The Lord continued to increase his authority until he became the king over Judah and then over Israel. 2 Samuel 5:3 says, “So all the elders of Israel came to the king to Hebron; and king David made a league with them in Hebron before the LORD: and they anointed David king over Israel.” As long as David obeyed the Lord and behaved wisely, the Lord kept on increasing his authority. The bible is filled with several examples of young men like Daniel and Joseph; young women like Esther and Ruth; ordinary men like Peter, Stephen, Philip, etc, who the Lord increased their authority. To increase in authority one must obey God and live holy. If you obey God's commandments , everything God created will obey you even demons.

NOTE: There are two basic conditions for growing in authority: obey God and obey people in authority. Anyone who is fond of disobeying people in authority will not grow in authority.

twitter@BroOluwatoki

Bro Samuel | Reaching the world