“But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us  alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”  Ephesians 2:4-6

In far too many instances Christians feel like God is on one side, the devil is on the other and the believer is in the middle like a rope in a tug of war uncertain as to who is going to win!  The Bible paints a far different picture, describing rather a vertical chain of command with Jesus at the top, Christians under Him and Satan and  his demons at the bottom!  So this is why the seventy exclaimed excitedly, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name!” Luke 10:17.

We need to remember what Jesus Christ said to His disciples, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth!”  Matthew 28:18  Also keep in mind what the Lord said to the seventy before sending them out to minister, “Behold, I have given you authority…over all the power of the enemy…” with the added admonition, “Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your your names are recorded in heaven.”  Luke 10:19,20  Earlier He made  a similar  commitment to the twelve disciples in Luke 9:1.  The emphasis here is clear that the authority and power rested in the Lord and were not the possession of His followers due to any characteristic of their own except their relationship to Christ.

What about believers today?  Does this have any meaning for us?  Does the Bible have anything to say whether we are included or not?  One of the great catalogs of Truth concerning those who are “in Christ” is found in the first thirteen verses of the book of Ephesians.  In that letter to the believers in the church at Ephesus the writer Paul, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, uses the term “in Christ” ten times in those thirteen verses!  The fact is that believers today are more “in Christ” than were the disciples, because the Holy Spirit had not yet been given, and He is the One who baptizes us “in Christ”!  1st Corinthians 12:12,13  Certainly the disciples were with Christ, and Christ was with them, but we are “in Christ”!  Therefore, according to Ephesians 2:6, we have been raised together with Him, and caused to be seated with Him in heavenly places “in Christ Jesus”.  We are told in Ephesians 1:20,21 that He (Jesus Christ) was raised from the dead and seated at the right hand of the Father in the heavenly places, “far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come”.  So if you are “in Christ” then you have been seated with Him in the heavenlies, and you have been given authority by Jesus Christ Himself.  This and this alone is the basis for the believer’s authority!

I am told that in the Korean culture that people give their gifts to others using both hands.  This symbolizes that they are holding nothing back, but giving all.  Jesus Christ has held nothing back from His people, giving us all of Himself, including His authority, keeping in mind that that authority may only be exercised within the framework of our position “in Christ.”

Jon Moore

“Teach me to do Your will, For You are my God; Let Your good Spirit lead me on level ground.  For the sake of Your name, O Lord, revive me.  In Your righteousness bring my soul out of trouble.  And in Your lovingkindness, cut off my enemies And destroy all those who afflict my soul, For I am Your servant.   Psalm 143:10-12

The last nationwide spiritual awakening in America began in 1905.  It was basically an overflow of the great revival that began in Wales in late 1904.  That has been some 100 years ago, and the likelihood of anything approaching that in America appears unlikely anytime soon.  Could it be that this situation will finally bring us to our knees in brokenness, repentance and prevailing prayer?  We shall see.

That brings up some interesting questions.  Is there any ground for us to realistically expect to prevail in prayer?  What is the real purpose of prayer after all?  Psalm 143 is a prayer for deliverance and guidance written by the  psalmist David.  He was being pursued by King Saul and his army, and in utter desperation David begins to pour out his petitions to the Lord.  It is in these last verses that David appears to see what the real purpose of prayer is, and the sense of expectation that this realization produces.  First he comes to see that prevailing in prayer is for the glory of the Lord’s name, not personal benefit (vv 10,11a).  “For the sake of Your name, O Lord, revive me!”  It has been well said that we seem to be living in a time when a “consumer spirit” has infected the modern church.  What is the Lord going to do for me?  What blessings, benefits and deliverances will God provide for me today?  The truth is that getting answers to prayer is secondary.  The primary purpose is to get to know God and see Him glorified!  This is why He has to so often engineer our circumstances to where we cannot manage them by ourselves.  We are driven to our knees, and thus directed to Him.  Hopefully we transfer our focus from getting what we want to getting what He wants, and mysteriously this leads to a far greater blessing for us, as well as honoring Him.

This brings us to the secondary purpose for us to pray and prevail, and that is for the good of the Lord’s namesakes (vv 11b,12)!  When a person is genuinely saved He takes the name “Christian”.  The word literally means, “Little Christ”.  One is saying, “You can watch me.  You can listen to me, for now I am a little Christ”.  Obviously, this is a big statement, and one that should not be taken lightly.  One is saying that Jesus Christ now lives in and has lordship in one’s life!  It is a recognition of accountability by the individual.  It is also a statement of the Lord’s credibility.  A Christian’s life should be marked by characteristics that come from heaven.  Prevailing in prayer not only results in glory for the Lord’s name, but in addition, good for the Lord’s namesakes.

Today we have more in common with the old testament character David than many think.  A tide of evil threatens to inundate the world, and churches seem powerless to slow it, must less stop it.  Just as David’s vision enabled him to prevail in prayer, so there is a great need for men and women of vision to step forward today.  The year 2001 marked what would have been the 100th birthday of Walt Disney.  Long before anyone envisioned large theme parks, he mapped them out in his head.  After the completion of Disney World in California, someone said, “It’s too bad he didn’t live to see it”.  Someone correctly responded, “He did see it.  That’s why it’s here”!

Wounded, struggling Christians and churches need someone to prevail in prayer!  People without Christ who are broken by sin and alienated from God need someone to prevail in prayer!  Are you that someone?

Jon Moore

“…which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.  Ephesians 1:20,21  “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ.”  Ephesians 2:4-6

It seems to me that the question of the hour is, “Do we have authority as the disciples did?”  Some would say that that authority was only for that time, but Ephesians 1:21 disputes that idea (“…not only in this age but also in the one to come!”)!  First of all, we need to see the fulfillment of Jesus’ Word in Matthew 28:18 (“All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth) is confirmed in Ephesians 1:20,21 (“…He (God) raised Him (Jesus) from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named…”).  The believer will never have a living grasp on this truth until he or she sees that Jesus has all authority in both heaven and earth, and this effectively took place when He was raised from the dead!

Next, we need to see that as Christ-followers, the Head and body have been raised together.  “But God…made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus!”  The believer will likewise never have a living grasp on this truth until he or she sees that we have been raised with Christ from spiritual death and have been seated with Him in the position of authority at the right hand of the Father in the heavenly places!

Why does it look like so often that the devil and his kingdom of darkness seem to be winning the spiritual conflict against God’s people in the present day?  To begin with, it must be remembered of Satan, “…he is a liar, and the father of lies!” (John 8:44).  If we don’t know who we are and what we have been given in Christ, we lack the power and authority to deal with the devil and his demon hosts.  What then does it take to effectively exercise Christ’s authority over the spiritual powers of darkness?  1) Knowledge=Not just knowing about Truth, but a “knowing into Him” (God-revealed Truth).  2) Belief=”…the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe.”  If we don’t believe the Lord has given us authority, we will never exercise it!  3) Focus=We should only deal with demonic powers when they challenge us in the course of advancing the Kingdom of God.  That keeps us God-centered, and not demon-centered!  4) Confidence=In God!

It is said that a sloppily dressed soldier was brought before the Greek general, Alexander.  The soldier was asked, “What is your name?”  the man answered sheepishly, “Alexander!”  The great warrior responded, “Either change your name, or your ways!”  The name Christian means, “little Christ”.  It is time to change either our name, or our ways!

Jon Moore

“In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should…”…Romans 8:26

In my view there is no other area of the Christian life more humbling than that of prayer!  I can not think of any other spiritual exercise that more clearly demonstrates our absolute dependence on the enabling of the Lord than prayer.  This great verse in one of the great victory chapters of the Bible serves not only to divulge the name of one of our partners in prayer, but first and foremost, to define why we need His partnership!  Is prayer an area of victory and fruitfulness in your life?  If not, perhaps these truths can help point you to the One Who alone can make that real.

First of all take note of the use of “our” and “we” in these verses.  “OUR weakness…WE do not know…as WE should…”  The picture is made crystal clear.  When it comes to prayer, we are inherently weak.  “…the Spirit also helps our weakness”.  Why is that so?  Why is it so obvious in this area of our life?  Sometimes it is the lack of results that leads to feelings of inadequacy and spiritual inferiority.  Sometimes it is wandering thoughts.  Often times that leads to orally confessing our frustrations about prayer.  Immediately the devil jumps on the opportunity to accuse and abuse us, because he is after all, “the accuser of the brethren.”  (Revelation 12:10)  Remember, he cannot read your mind.  The Bible nowhere says he is omniscient, but he can hear your words, and he is a master strategist, feeding on your statements of fear and lack of faith.  All of this generally results in our failure to pray.  Even though we know we should.  Even though our heart longs to have fellowship with God, some allow their frustrations to lead them to either quit praying altogether, or to pray in a forced, meaningless manner.  Paul’s testimony in the previous chapter was, “For the good that I want, I do not do…” (Romans 7:19a)  So we hopefully have come to learn that we are weak in our doing when it comes to prayer.

We are also weak in our knowing, “…for we do not know how to pray as we should…”  One of the key lessons to be learned is that for prayer to be effective, prayer must be selective, “This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.  And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.”  (I John 5:14,15)  This is of course in perfect harmony with Jesus first recorded teaching on the subject of prayer in the Sermon on the Mount, where He instructed us to pray to the Father in heaven, “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”.  (Matthews 6:10b)  Obviously, to fulfill this condition, we need help.  We need the assistance, the enabling of the Godhead to know what the will of God is!

This is no small insignificant lesson!  In a sense we spend an entire lifetime learning the fullness of both the lesson of our inadequacy, and of the Lord’s sufficiency, and His desire to provide for us!

Jon Moore

“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe.  These are in accordance with the working (energy) of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.  And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.”  Ephesians 1:18-23

The basis for the believer’s authority begins in Matthew 28:18 where Jesus said, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.”  Then we read in Luke 10:19 where He invested His authority in His disciples, “Behold, I have given you authority …..over all the power of the enemy…”.  Finally, we note in the first thirteen verses of the first chapter of Ephesians the repetition of the truth that believers today are “in Christ”!  And God has, “raised us up together with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus”!  So while the disciples in Jesus’ day were with Him, we are also with Him and in Him, seated in the position of authority in the heavenly places.

So how far does this authority extend?  What is its scope?  First of all, we need to understand that as believers in Christ we have been given power.  According to Ephesians 1:19-20, that power we have been given is the same power (energy, strength and might) that it took to raise Jesus Christ from the dead and seat Him at the right hand of the Father!  This is referred to as the surpassing greatness of His power” in verse 19.  That same power is the power that was extended toward us who believe”!  Secondly, we have been given that power for a distinct purpose.  In verses 21-23 we see that the authority Jesus has invested in believers is authority over both His foes, “all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named”, and His friends, “and gave Him as head over all things to the church.”  In addition this authority is for all of both time and eternity, “not only in this age, but also in the one to come”.  Someone has said that spiritual warfare prepares us for our role in eternity.

When former president Jimmy Carter graduated from the Naval Academy, he applied for the nuclear submarine program.  Admiral Rickover was the commanding officer of that program, and he noted that Mr. Carter had graduated 59th in a class of 820 at the Academy.  Admiral Rickover asked Mr. Carter, “Did you do the best you could do?”  The nuclear submarine program required not only the brightest, but also those who did the most with what they had!  If that question were asked of you concerning whether or not you are doing your best with the power and authority that Jesus Christ has invested in you, what would your answer be?  Prayer:  “Father, thank you for the surpassing greatness of Your power toward me.  Teach me daily to use it to the utmost for Your highest”!

Jon Moore

Why does it look like so often that the devil and his kingdom of darkness seem to be winning the spiritual conflict against God’s people in the present day?  To begin with, it must be remembered of Satan, “…he is a liar, and the father of lies!” (John 8:44).  If we don’t know who we are and what we have been given in Christ, we lack the power and authority to deal with the devil and his demon hosts.  What then does it take to effectively exercise Christ’s authority over the spiritual powers of darkness?

1) Knowledge=Not just knowing about Truth, but a “knowing into Him” (God-revealed Truth).

2) Belief=”…the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe.”  If we don’t believe the Lord has given us authority, we will never exercise it!

3) Focus=We should only deal with demonic powers when they challenge us in the course of advancing the Kingdom of God.  That keeps us God-centered, and not demon-centered!

4) Confidence=In God!

It is said that a sloppily dressed soldier was brought before the Greek general, Alexander.  The soldier was asked, “What is your name?”  the man answered sheepishly, “Alexander!”  The great warrior responded, “Either change your name, or your ways!”

The name Christian means, “little Christ”.

It is time to change either our name, or our ways!

Jon Moore