In this illuminating broadcast, Carl shares the five God ordained authority structures which can be used for good or evil. We the triumphant church, have been granted spiritual authority, which reflects our right-standing in the spiritual realm. Because we are the righteousness of Christ, we carry as much spiritual impact as Christ did on earth. As Christ’s body, we do what the head commands. Get ready, as Carl shares one of the most memorable testimonies in recent history regarding the spoken word and how much authority our words carry. Tune in now…
Here is a complete transcript of the podcast…
I’d like to talk to you briefly today about God ordained authorities, following on from our discussion about spiritual authority in recent days. Then I will share a miracle with you that happened many years ago and stresses the importance of what we say over ourselves in a time of great distress. The following five God ordained structures are laid out in His word:
- Government: Rom 13, 1 Pet 2:17
- Employers: Eph 6, 1 Pt 2:18
- Husband: 1 Pt 3:1, Col 3:18, Eph 5:22
- Parent: Eph 6
- Elders: Heb 13:17
Some people have been amazed down the years, as to the lack of respect we believers have for the word of God and our hypocrisy of not applying it. Even Mahatma Gandhi has made an observation regarding this. He spoke forcefully to Christians when he said, “You Christians have in your keeping a document with enough dynamite in it to blow the whole of civilization to bits, to turn society upside down, to bring peace to this war-torn world. But you read it as if it were just good literature, and nothing else. “Wow friend, what a stern observation from someone who never even came to the saving knowledge of Christ in his lifetime. Think about that for a moment, the man who led the revolution in India against the British occupying forces saw much hypocrisy in our Christian religion and spoke openly about it. He saw people preach one way and act another. Even Gandhi saw the potential of Gods power in his word and those who were not utilizing it to its full effect. Here’s another lighthearted illustration that reveals someone who know their authority and how to enforce it.
“When Christian Herter was governor of Massachusetts, he was running hard for a second term in office. One day, after a busy morning chasing votes (and no lunch), he arrived at a church barbecue. It was late afternoon and Herter was famished. As Herter moved down the serving line, he held out his plate to the woman serving chicken. She put a piece on his plate and turned to the next person in line.
“Excuse me,” Governor Herter said, “do you mind if I have another piece of chicken?”
“Sorry,” the woman told him. “I’m supposed to give one piece of chicken to each person.”
“But I’m starved,” the governor said.
“Sorry,” the woman said again. “Only one per customer.”
Governor Herter was a modest and unassuming man, but he decided that this time he would throw a little weight around.
“Do you know who I am?” he said. “I am the governor of this state.”
To which the lady replied…”Do you know who I am?” “I’m the lady in charge of the chicken. Now, move along, mister.”
Ha ha. This woman knew her authority within her particular sphere or jurisdiction AMEN! The governor had no authority at the church BBQ, friend, this was out of his jurisdiction! Sometimes when we overstep our boundaries of authority the results can be hazardous. We are only able to operate within the parameters of Christ’s authority, as designated in his word. Jesus has granted us authority over the devil and demon forces, sickness, disease and poverty, however, He has not granted us authority over other people’s will, just as God won’t exercise His authority over another person’s will. You can’t bind your wife or husband in Jesus’ name, and try to command them to do things, ha-ha it won’t work friend! Heck God will even honor a man’s choice to go to Hell, if he wants. Now let’s remind ourselves of our heavenly perspective right now from one of my favorite passages in the Bible:
Ephesians 2:2 “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.”
Anyone who is a Christian should know they are standing on a firm foundation of salvation. Some go even further; they might appropriate Romans Chapter 6, which makes it clear we are the righteousness of God. But very few believers go to the third step friend, that is realizing, that right now, we the church are seated in Christ’s throne room and in equal measure to his authority on this earth. As Christ’s body we do what the head commands. You have access to the throne room. So, when you pray you should realize that your position is not down here on earth, no, you should be looking from a viewpoint of victory, in the heavenly realm. We are looking down on our situation or circumstance, not upwards toward heaven. Friend, I want you to acquire a throne room perspective, when you pray. Let me remind you that when you pray, you’re praying from the Lord’s throne room, from His perspective, looking DOWN on your situation.
Now some people have issues with authority, they don’t trust authority, in fact, they may have been abused by authority figures in their lifetime and I understand their distrust. Some people have been treated very unfairly by parents or preachers or whomever. Friends regardless of this wound we may carry, we need to lay that aside and understand the wonderful and most gracious heavenly Father is to be trusted and the authority figures who’ve treated you badly, bear no reflection on the true character of your heavenly father! Now Friend I want to tell you about something that happened almost 40 years ago to a Christian named Norman Williams. Norman was a “Spirit filled” Christian and a believer in the spoken word of God. You can read all about his account in the book entitled, “Terror at Tenerife”, which was printed in 1977. I actually recently obtained a used copy of this book, and his story is quite remarkable, but it should not be remarkable to us believers.
Tenerife is the largest and most populous island of the seven Canary Islands off the west coast of Africa, or Morocco to be more precise. It was a Spanish colony with only one operable runway, and very short one. This is a very popular island to say the least with about 5 million tourists visiting each year. Now tragically, two full 747’s collided on the runway, killing 583 people instantly in March 1977 (a terrible death toll), and 70 people survived, probably only half are still alive today. It was the deadliest air disaster in aviation history up until that time and probably still is. Due to the presence of dense fog on the runway, to cut a long story short, they had to wait 4 hours on the runway when both planes collided and being full to the brim with fuel (21,000 gallons each), there was an incredible amount of energy which led to a massive explosion. They collided at 200 mph and this sliced Norman’s plane in half. Norman was 8 rows behind the part that was cut in half. Tragically the vast majority of people died instantly.
He was flying in the Pan Am flight in the center of the plane (where the jet fuel was). No-one survived next to him, including his business partner who died next to him. Now Norman had a Pentecostal mother who prayed for Norman his whole life and he grew up in Detroit, Michigan with his four siblings. His mother taught him to pray for ‘travelling mercies’, i.e., to pray for protection when travelling. A safe journey to and from Tenerife is what they prayed before his embarkation and his mother wept when she prayed, uncontrollably before he left. Norman knew this was not a common prayer and, in his spirit, he knew something was up.
The crux of the story is this, as the collision took place, a ball of flames engulfed the fuselage due to the jet fuel exploding from the wings. Incredibly, Norman saw the flesh of his fellow passengers fall off their faces. It was a horrendous sight. As the ball of flames came towards him, he said out of his own mouth, “I am standing on the word of God, in Jesus’ name! I stand upon the word; I stand upon the word”. He said this over and over again. He felt peace come over him, whilst this was happening. All of a sudden something propelled him upward and picked him up out of his seat, and the next thing he remembers, he was on the end of the wing of the plane, outside the aircraft.
The reason Norman acted this way is that during his lifetime, he programmed himself to praise God, day in and out. He was so programmed that when he encountered the incredible trauma and distress of this plane crash, words of praise and faith flowed from his lips instead of all the cursing and profanity he heard all around him in this time of great catastrophe. Those that cursed died, and he praised God and lived. In the time of distress whatever is inside you will come out. Jesus said, “out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.” Friend, let me ask you this, how real is Jesus to you? Is he a fictional character from a book written 2000 years ago, or is He your Savior and Lord, upon which you cry out to in times of distress? Norman’s account is one of the most profound testimonies I’ve ever heard in my life, but it reinforces the importance of speaking out God’s word.
Remember what Romans 10:13, says, 13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved“. That word saved as I have discussed in previous broadcasts, is ‘sozo’ in the Greek. It not only means salvation and access to heaven but can also mean literal deliverance or rescue. That day, Norman called on the name of the Lord and he was physically rescued. No doubt an angel was involved in order for him to be relocated so swiftly, out of the path of a ball of flame safely onto the wing. So, is there a Bible verse that we can stand on as Norman did for rescue from fire? Indeed, there is:
Isaiah 43:1 “But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.2 When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.”
What was the difference between Norman and everyone else? There were several Christians, perhaps even spirit filled Christians on the flight that day, no doubt. Does God love Norman more than anyone else? NO! The difference was the spoken Rhema word. Norman spoke the word of God and called upon the name of the Lord, and he was saved literally and physically as the word promises. Friends, what incredible protection we have at our disposal by speaking the name of Christ Jesus and we need to make sure our tongue lines up with what we believe in a time of impending tragedy. It’s imperative that we program ourselves with the word of God in times of peace, so that we are able to speak truth in times of distress. Friend, I challenge you today to be mindful of the words you speak in the good and bad times.
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