This morning, in his very first session at WAFBEC 2015, Rev. Scott Webb taught on the Authority of the Believer through the Word of God.
Ephesians. 1: 18 – 20
Before teaching, Rev. Scott explained the concept of the sessions adopted for WAFBEC, similar to how camp meeting were coordinated by Papa Hagin. He explained that the morning and afternoon sessions were designed to strengthen faith through deep explorations of God’s Word while evening sessions, were Holy Ghost services. These provide opportunities for the application the Word of God by the Spirit of God in the lives of those present.
Using the illustration of a stray dog his family adopted after the loss of another one, he explained that grace is what God has done for us of His own will. It is with faith we receive this grace. Without faith, all that God has done is practically to no avail in the life of a believer.
We are saved by Grace through faith. Why did God save us? He did this because He desired a relationship with us. His primary reason for creating man was for fellowship and communion; God created us because he wanted a family to be in a relationship with.
That was the original plan until man fell out with God in the garden (Gen. 3: 1 – 22) God restored us back to his family through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. After all God did for man, He cannot and will not maltreat His children – He loves us that much!
Rev Webb used the illustration of a turtle sitting on a high fence to explain that God is the one that lifts up and places in positions we are unable to reach by our human abilities. The Bible says we are seated with Jesus Christ in heavenly places (Eph.2:6) when we become saved. Therefore, when we are seated with Jesus Christ we have access to the best!
Salvation is the grace that comes through faith. Faith is a simple thing that everyone has access to. He noted, faith is like ABC but before you get to XYZ one must master ABC.
What does A stand for? “A” stands for Authority which he described as delegated power from God to every believer (Luke 7:1-10). He illustrated this point with the story of the Centurion. What made the Centurion’s faith great? The Centurion had a clear understanding of the concept of authority which gave him an edge where faith was concerned. A believer’s understanding of authority is what causes faith to be alive and active!
He stressed the point that an accurate understanding of authority is vital to walking in faith. When man fell Satan stole the believer’s authority, however Jesus Christ came to restore the authority to those who had faith in Him when he died and resurrected.
To explain the idea of delegated authority Rev Webb used the analogy of a sheriff and his deputy i.e. every believer has been conferred with authority just like a Deputy Sheriff in the Sheriff’s absence.
We are able to do all that Jesus Christ did because of Mark 1:21, through our faith in Him, He gave us access to His divine power.
When a person speaks in authority we recognize that the person is speaking on behalf of someone else in a higher position of authority. When a person does not know the authority he has in God, he cannot speak with that kind of authority.
All power belongs to God. He gave that same power to Jesus Christ who then shared it by love to us. It’s not enough to have authority, it must be exercised.
God gave Adam dominion over everything (except the spirit of other men). When I speak in the name of Jesus Christ the devil hears the voice of Jesus Christ!
Often times we pray for things we should be speaking to! Rev. Scott said believers are not to speak to God about mountains, because God has already commanded us to SPEAK to them. God will not come down from heaven to do what He has told us and given us authority to do.
The “whatever will be will be” mindset is not of God but actually a concept of Islam. It is not Christianity in any way because God has given us His power to exercise authority here on earth.
Rev. Scott reminded us as he closed that as believers, we have the final say in our lives. He enjoined us to take God’s Word as ours as we have the right to establish God’s Word in our lives. It’s not enough to hear the Word of God, it is much better to say it to yourself. Declare God’s Word over your life. If you are going to have authority you must learn to put yourself under the authority of the Word.
He noted that when you put God’s Word in your mouth, there’s a VOICE in your VOICE (Ps.91). As you declare the Word of God, the power of God, God himself, is present in those words.
There is power in the Word of God!!!