You MUST have authority to fight the enemy.
Mark 1:27
Then they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? What new doctrine is this? For with authority He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him.”
Luke 9:1
[ Sending Out the Twelve ] Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases.
Luke 10:19
Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
LUKE 10
The Seventy Return with Joy
17 Then the seventy[e] returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.”
18 And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. 20 Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather[f] rejoice because your names are written in heaven.”
Jesus Rejoices in the Spirit
21 In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight. 22 All[g] things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.”
23 Then He turned to His disciples and said privately, “Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see; 24 for I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and have not seen it, and to hear what you hear, and have not heard it.”
Jesus only did what He saw God doing. He only said what He heard God say.
So, it was brought to my attention that I should read Needless Casualties of War. The essence of the book is that we are not necessarily given authority over all demons. God has an order. If we take our own initiative and start trying to bring down a principality, we could end up dead. That type of behavior is rebellious against God. For, we must only engage in battles that we see our Father engaged in. It is up to Him to show us which battles to fight. Jesus only did what He saw God doing and only spoke what He heard God say.
But, Jesus sent out the 12 and the 70. He gave them authority. He says that we are blessed if we have the eyes to see this stuff. It is up to God to reveal it to us. When we see demonic activity, are we not to assume that it is God who opened our eyes to the attack. If God has chosen us to see the activity, has He then also not given us authority to wage war against it.
Luke 10 is very interesting. I am not sure what to take away at this point. John Paul Jackson has some great points and some case studies where death and counter attacks stopped once pastors and others repented to God for picking a fight that God did not desire them to pick. Father, I need to know what You say on this matter. Please give me revelation and wisdom here.
From Scripture, I read that Jesus give us authority over ALL POWER of the enemy. He does NOT give us authority over the enemy himself. There is still order. What does this mean? If we go up a verse, we see that demons were subject to the boys that were sent out because Jesus gave them that authority.
We do see a common thread in these scriptures. The word “authority” shows up over and over. There is something to this. The book gives good examples of how satan was given the authority over world at the fall. Jesus restates this when He says that He is leaving and the “prince of this world” is coming.
Look at John 16:8 “And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 of sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; 11 of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.”
The ruler of this world is satan. Rulers have authority. satan was judged at the coming of the Holy Spirit. Did satan lose his authority at that judgment? Did the Cross condemn satan eternally and take back what was stolen at the fall?
I understand that God might have an order that is foreign to me right now given my maturity. Father, give me wisdom. Reveal to me the keys to this. Give me knowledge and understanding.
I also understand that Jesus sent the boys with the authority over the demons. It didnt classify them, it says demons. Also, Luke 10 seems to suggest that Jesus did the same for us.
I am wondering if that book didnt uncover a pattern of folks coming under a heavy counter attack and once the good team stopped fighting, the enemy went on to another battle having won that one.
This takes some serious prayer. I would not want to get this one wrong in either direction.
Praise God for the spirit of revelation, wisdom, knowledge and Truth.
It would appear that God has given us authority over the earth but not the second heaven. If we are attacked by the demonic here, we have full authority to counter back. However, we do not have authority to go after principalities in the heavenlies that God has not given to us. It very well could be that God has placed judgment over an area and that we pick up on the presence of the enemy. We engage in warfare, yet God never intended for us to do so. It would be very unwise to war against a judgment that God had put in place.
Imagine throwing down on the principalities assigned to Sodom.
The take away seems to be that we must seek the Lord’s direction before praying or warring against demonic activity.. If we experience direct attack, it might be fine to counter, but what if there is sin in our lives that God wants to show to lead to repentance. The repentance would lead to the elimination of the attack. Much to ponder.