SundaySermon - Prince

Church - Place of Authority and Power

Some of the things we went through in the past few weeks are 
  • Church - Who we are? Royal Priest - We are both kings and priests (1 Peter 2:9)
  • Church - The place we gather together - We come into the presence of God (Hebrews 12:23)

Verse: Matthew 16:17-19

18 Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it. 

The verse makes it clear that we (the church) are in the midst of war. But why is it that the church will not be overcome by the gates of Hell? This is because Jesus went before us and defeated hell.

Here are some other names for hell - hades,  place of dead, utter darkness, dominion of Satan... etc

We need to understand how the church can overcome Satan. Here are some pointers
  • Nature of Satan's kingdom
  • Church - Power 
  • Church - Authority

Nature of Satan's kingdom

Here are some pointers to understand the Satan's kingdom
  • Utter Darkness
  • Sin
  • Unclean Spirits

Utter Darkness

Utter darkness would suggest a loss of direction because of absence of light. A lot of people are going through life without direction, depression and a complete blindness

Verse: 2 Corinthians 4:4

4 Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.

Sin

The dominion of Satan is a place of Anti-God. And that dominion was seized because of Sin. Sin is beyond the act of wrong doing. We understand this from the following verses
  • Sin enters the world (Romans 5:12)
  • Sin rules (Romans 5:21)
  • Sin seizes an opportunity (Romans 7:8-11 & Genesis 4:7)
  • Sin produces death (Romans 7:17)

Unclean Spirits

Sin is the kingdom of Satan which affects generation after generation with its unclean spirits (unclean animals). See the verse below

Verse: Isaiah 34:10-11

10 ... The land will lie deserted from generation to generation. No one will live there anymore.

11 It will be haunted by the desert owl and the screech owl, the great owl and the raven...

Church -Power

And here is how the church overcomes Satan's kingdom

Verse: Colossians 1:13-14

13 For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, 
14 who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.

The mighty power that has secured our victory is our forgiveness. And church exist to confound Satan with Godly wisdom. See below

Ephesians 3:7,10

7 By God’s grace and mighty power, I have been given the privilege of serving him by spreading this Good News.
10 God’s purpose in all this was to use the church to display his wisdom in its rich variety to all the unseen rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.

Church - Authority

When we have been forgiven, we are God's children and we are in the place of authority because Jesus is in that place of authority.

Ephesians 1:19

19 I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power
20 that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. 
21 Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in this world but also in the world to come.

We as the church have direct access to the God who is in the place of authority just like Isaiah. This vision of God embolden Isaiah to prophesy against nations.

Isaiah 6:1

6 It was in the year King Uzziah died[a] that I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple.

Conclusion

We are the church and we have power and authority over the kingdom of Satan. Our existence is to display the Glory of God and confound Satan. 

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