Last week, Natie shared on the link between love and power or authority.
He quoted from Ps.62:11-12a: “One thing God has spoken, two things have I heard: that you, O God, are strong, and that you, O Lord, are loving”.
This is such a wonderful truth that it validates a brief revisit – in fact it is an absolutely vital building block in our series on Spiritual authority, perhaps the most valuable truth.
It links two different aspects of the nature of God, love and strength, together, in a way that brings safety and security, and removes all fear of abuse.
The Bible says that perfect love drives out fear (1Jn. 4:18) – this marriage of love and strength in God drives out fear of abuse.
Power, strength and authority which is not rooted in love, will lead to abuse – history retells this horrible truth over and over again.
The Holocaust museum is one of many such reminders, that authority which is not rooted in love, grace and mercy will lead you to Auschwitz.
On the other hand, love and peace which is divorced from authority and direction will lead you to Woodstock!
Those who fear and rebel against authority do so because of a recollection of what bad authority figures have done in the past, or because of fear of what they may do.
We hear about it, or read about it almost weekly in the newspapers, how those in authority horrifically abuse that authority – not only for political or financial gain, but also physically.
It is absolutely absurd to hear of a father who kills his own child!
Is it therefore any wonder that some battle with the concept of God as a Father?
The only reason that spiritual authority is feared by some, is because of the abuse of authority, including Spiritual authority in the past.
Those who have been hurt by authority figures, including church leadership, have been very nervous during this series, we understand that, but because a sharp knife can cut and hurt, the answer is not to destroy knives!
No, the answer is to place sharp knives in skillful hands – we place scalpels in the hands of surgeons that can cut with precision to restore health and to preserve life!
1Thes. 2:6b-13: “As apostles of Christ we could have been a burden to you, but we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children. We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us. Surely you remember, brothers, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you. You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed. For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory. And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe.”
Paul, an apostle and therefore a Spiritual authority figure (see his first letter to the Corinthians) reminds them that, although he has this authority, he never abused his authority – but he chose to minister in love, in gentleness, and kindness whenever possible.
He follows the beautiful example of Jesus – Mt 9:36: “When He (Jesus) saw the crowds, He had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” Mt.14:14: “When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, He had compassion on them and healed their sick.”
When authority is devoid of love, it leads you to Hitler; when love is devoid of authority, it leads you to Rashnisi (a cult leader who boasted that he had more sexual partners in life than anyone else in the world), but when authority is anchored in love, it leads you to Christ!
When Jesus saw the crowds, He saw their needs, He was moved by the love in His heart to have compassion on them, and He exercised His spiritual authority to drive out demons and to heal the sick – authority is set in motion by compassion.
We dare not allow the abuses of some to become instruments in the hands of satan – turning our hearts against Biblical, godly, spiritual authority, exercised with love and compassion.
*For unless we know the authority of the gospel, the authority of Christ Jesus and the authority that we as believers carry, we will never step out into our calling as believers.
For this reason, we are focusing on the authority component – for it is an incredibly key component to the recovery of the Gospel of Power in our everyday lives.
From Presence to Glory!
Ex. 33:7-11a & 13-18
We read of an incredible relationship between God and Moses – an intimacy that is very rare – even in Biblical terms!
God came down and spoke to Moses on a face to face level, as often as Moses wanted, as often as he went to the Tent of meeting!
I fear that we sometimes read the Bible, especially the Old Testament, as if it is a children’s bedtime story with a religious undertone – as if it is not real!
We need to place ourselves in the situation – we need to “go there” and experience the reality of what we read, and when we do, we will be absolutely awestruck by portions like this!
Moses makes it clear that unless God goes with them, leads them, in fact, they are not moving on from there.
Because what else, other than the presence of God, will indeed indicate the favor of God – “If You are not with us, how will we and our enemies know that You favor us?”
What will distinguish us from them, if it is not Your presence?
We have a God, so do they, in fact they have many gods, we worship, so do they, we pray and fast, so do they – only the presence of the living God will distinguish us!
This is still true today – what could have been said about those other nations of the time, can also be said about every other religion today – it is only the presence of the Living God that distinguishes between us and them – “God, if we do not have You, Your presence, then we have nothing!”
But as incredible as this was, as awesome as it was for Moses to regularly encounter God on a face to face basis, it was not enough for him!
He wanted more than the presence of God!
Is there more than the presence of God? This is a very, very weighty question.
Well, yes!
If we read vs. 18, we hear that once God has promised to be with them, then Moses takes it to the next level, he goes for gold and says: “Now show me Your glory!”
This is HUGE!
It tells us that there is more than the presence of God!
There is a difference between the presence of God and the glory of God!
It further tells me that I can experience the presence of God on a regular basis, without necessarily ever experiencing the glory of God! (Repeat)
And it also tells me that God is willing to reveal His glory, for He answered: “I will cause all My goodness to pass in front of you…” Did you hear that? All My goodness!
Jn.17:24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.”
Why is this so HUGE?
Because I believe that this holds a huge key for all who are desperate for more of God – we have cried out: “More of You God, more!” without quite knowing what that meant, or whether it is even theologically correct, but now we know there is more!
What does the presence of God refer to?
Is it the feeling of awe and reverence that we often experience during times of personal and corporate worship?
Yes, it includes that, but I believe that the presence of God goes beyond this emotional and spiritual “awareness” of God – it encompasses all of the fruit of the Spirit in our lives.
The presence of God is evident in our lives in the love, the joy, the peace, the patience, the kindness, goodness and faithfulness, etc. that we experience and display daily.
But there has to be more than this – because any unbeliever can experience most of these things on a Tuesday morning at a Buddhist health spa!
This is why it is so exciting that there is more than this – there is also the glory of God!
The power, the strength, the majesty, the might and splendor, the righteousness, the vindication, the wrath and the justice of God – but also the deliverance, the healing, the restoration and the salvation of our God!
*I believe that the glory of God refers to any and every incident of manifestation, of outworking of the character of God in a physically discernible manner. (Repeat)
*Thus the presence of God in action brings about the glory of God – the glory of God is revealed whenever God’s presence “does something”, goes into discernible mode!
This is what we have been longing for, for the glory of God to break out in our midst!
For God to heal and to set free, to deliver, to restore, to vindicate, etc – for God to “show up and be God” – for heaven to invade earth in a glorious way, in a way that will cause both believers and the lost to be breathless – awestruck, and when they regain composure, to explode in spontaneous praise and worship, shouting “Surely there is none like Him, surely there is no God like You, Jesus Christ, God Almighty!”
That is why this is HUGE!
But what does it have to do with our current focus on Spiritual authority? Everything!
I believe that understanding our Spiritual authority and stepping out in authority will be key in moving beyond the presence of God – into the glory of God! (repeat)
Therefore the past weeks and the weeks to follow are absolutely vital, for without taking up our rightful authority in God in the spiritual realm, we will never step out in a manner that will cause heaven to tear the veil of the invisible, to invade the visible!
This is exactly why Jesus empowered His disciples as Luke describes: “When Jesus had called the Twelve together, He gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, and He sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.” (Lk. 9:1-2)
We have been given this same mandate!: “He (Jesus) said to them (all the believers gathered there), “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In My name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.” (Mk.16:15-18)
I do believe that if we are going to fulfill this mandate as believers, we have to be well grounded in our Spiritual authority, lest we come unstuck like the sons of Sceva!
*I do believe that we will flow out of the presence of God into the glory of God, because we have been sent out with authority from God! (Repeat)
In Mt.10:1 we read: “He (Jesus) called His twelve disciples to Him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.”
He called them into His presence first, and in that place of intimacy, He gave them authority, sending them out to preach and model the Kingdom of God.
We too, every single one of us, have been given authority to proclaim and demonstrate the Kingdom of God.
I want to close by sharing some keys to move from intimacy and presence only, to glory, through power and authority:
1) There is no shortcut – the only entrance is intimacy! Intimacy with God – the tent of meeting is where it all started. Not only for Moses but for all of us. We follow the example of Christ in all areas, including the area of intimacy: “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where He prayed.” (Mk.1:35) How is your tent of meeting doing, your quiet and intimate time with God?
2) We can never be trusted with the power of the Spirit unless we are living in the fruit of the Spirit. Power and authority which is not rooted in love, compassion, meekness, gentleness, kindness and mercy will be as dangerous as an AK47 in the hands of a street child! We have heard that only once we have a grip on the love, grace and mercy of God, will we be moved by compassion and can we be trusted with the power and authority of God. (Lk.9:51-55 & Acts 8:4-5,14-17)
3) We need to daily live in that which we already have, and not drop what we have to run after that which we do not have yet! We therefore need to strengthen ourselves in speaking in tongues and in sharing testimonies of that which God has already done in our midst. (Phil.3:16)
4) We need to practice patience and develop perseverance – do not leave the presence of God until you feel that you have received the authority and the power to go and do that which you are crying out for – do not give up! (Lk.18:1-8)
5) We need to ask God for specifics – going beyond prayers of: “God, please bless…, please be with…” Moved by the compassion of Jesus, we ask the Father for the specific healing, or deliverance, or breakthrough needed. (Mt.14:14)
May we never become familiar with the Presence of God, treating it in a contemptuous blaze manner!
May we not settle for the Presence of God only (as wonderful it is when God graciously presence Himself in our midst), but may we push through until we see the glory of God!
