The Power and Authority of the Believer, Pt. 2

      Last week we began the message, "The Power and Authority of the Believer," and this week we will continue that message. The power (dynamis - strength, power, ability, power to perform miracles, moral power and excellence of soul) and authority (exousia - power, authority, privilege) do not come from man, or by man, but is by the Word and the Name of the Lord. This same Word promises that "these signs shall follow them that believe..." This is promised to all believers, not just to those with titled positions in the Church. Jesus gave not only this power and authority, but also His glory, to His disciples as He prayed to the Father before His death and resurrection. Jesus prayed that His Father in heaven had sent Him with power over all flesh, and has given Him glory. Jesus' pray continued: "I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word...For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them...and I am glorified in them...While I has with them in the world, I kept them in thy name...I have given them thy word...Sanctify them with thy truth: thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world...I sanctify myself, that they also may be sanctified through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory (doxa - glory, honor, majesty, exalted state, splendor, glorious condition of blessedness) which thou gavest me I have given them, that they may be one, even as we are one...that they may be made perfect (teleioo -  make perfect, complete, carry through completely, accomplish, fulfilment of the prophecies of scripture) in one (see Eph. 4:13)...And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them." (Jn. 17:1-26, excerpt).

     Jesus said in His prayer that He gave His disciples and all of the believers who would come to belief because of them the Word of God, and sanctified them with that Word of Truth. Jesus also kept them in the Name of God. He gave the believers the same eternal glory that His Father had given Him. Jesus also prayed that we believers be included in the unity of the Father and Son, the oneness and perfection, so that the world would know the Father and Son through the believers.

     Jesus also told His disciples that He had been given all power (see exousia above) in heaven and on earth, and they were to go therefore (by that power/authority), "and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things which I have commanded you: and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world (meaning "age")." (Mt. 28:16-17, excerpt). 

     We do not "go" in our own power and authority, but in His, teaching the Name and the Words commanded by Jesus. In verse 16, it is mentioned that some of the disciples doubted even after seeing Jesus at this time after His resurrection. The signs follow those who believe, according to the Word of God. Do you believe?

     In Isaiah 40, the LORD offers encouragement to His people regarding their purpose in His power: "O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God. Behold, the LORD God will come with a strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young." (Isa. 40:9-11, Rev. 22:12).

     The glory of the LORD is waiting to be revealed to all flesh as we exercise authority in the LORD. We are not to be afraid but to deliver the message of good tidings with fearless confidence. Are we living up to this?

     If we have grown weary and without strength, the LORD assures us of the strength that He will give to us: "He giveth power (koah - strength, power, might, ability, to be able) to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength...But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength (koah - see above); they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; and they shall walk and not faint." (v. 29-31).

     Are you part of this army of the LORD?

     The prophet Daniel wrote of a warning and an encouragement for the people of God, specifically in these last days (see Dan. 11:6). He warns that the figure that is known to us as the antichrist will try to get God's people to forsake their holy covenant relationship with God, to the point where the sacrifices shall become "the abomination that makes desolate." (v. 30-31). This prophecy would mean that a third temple where this abomination will take place, must exist in Jerusalem. This evil figure who will cause people of God to forsake their covenant does so by using flatteries (halaqqa - flattery, smoothness, fine promises). However: "...the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do (asa - accomplish, bring forth, have charge of) (note: the word "exploits" is italicized in the verse as not having been written in the original manuscripts). (v. 32).

     Those who have understanding of covenant, Daniel wrote, "shall instruct many." However, they will be subject to severe persecution and even martyrdom, as many believers around the world are already experiencing. This severe persecution will accomplish a purging, a cleansing "to make them white, even to the time of the end: because it is yet for a time appointed." (v. 33-35). Daniel wrote that this antichrist "shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done." (v. 36).

     Isaiah also prophesied about "the indignation" as mentioned above in Daniel, as God's people call out to the LORD, He answers: "Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a moment, until the indignation be overpast. For behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose (**aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) her blood, and shall no more cover her slain." (Isa. 40:20-21). The LORD "with his sore and great and strong sword" will punish and slay the piercing serpent and the dragon, as Revelation also tells us.

     As we are instructed to hide ourselves in our chambers for a while, we are reminded of the wedding supper of the Lord Jesus, where the Bride, the believers in Christ, enter in and the door is shut. (see Mt. 25:10-13).

     As the LORD spoke of Jerusalem as a strong city having been built out of the salvation of God, the jubilant song of Jerusalem also says, "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee (the God of salvation). Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength." (Isa. 26:1-4).

     Are we trusting in the LORD and in His Word? Are we doing, as Daniel wrote? Only in the LORD is eternal strength to be found. Are we in Him, as Jesus prayed above?

     Isaiah also wrote the Word of the LORD that the people of God cried to the LORD because they were in birth pangs in the time of chastening from the LORD, with the expectation of bringing forth a birth of deliverance, but they only brought forth wind and no deliverance. However, the LORD promises them the greatest deliverance of all - the deliverance from death: "Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust: for thy dew (tal - dew, night-mist, covering) is the dew of herbs (ora - light, light of joy and happiness, luminousness, herb, evening-light, moonlight, starlight, light of life), and the earth shall cast out the dead." (Isa. 26:16-19). Even in their darkest hour of trouble, the LORD covers His people in the resurrection light of life.

     This is His power, His strength, His authority, which He has given to all who believe in His name and His Word. Do you believe? For those who believe, this is the Lord's promise: 

"For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." (1 Thess. 4:16-17).

     Don't keep the Son of God out of your life and don't keep the Word of God on a shelf.

*Based upon Dr. Kenneth E. Stevenson, Jr.'s 8/3/25 message to the church. If you would like to hear the complete message, you can find it on the Facebook page of Kenneth E. Stevenson Jr. Dr. Stevenson's video messages are also found on You Tube at the Kenneth Stevenson channel. To contact or support this ministry, or to request prayer, you can write to PO Box 154221, Waco, TX, 76705. To find out more about the Shroud of Turin, and to receive a free e-book now available in several languages, go to http://www.theshroudofturin.org/freebook. Also the book NAZAH: White Linen and the Blood of Sprinkling is available on Amazon.

**NOTE: aleph-tav written in Hebrew as אֶת, are the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The meaning of the two pictographic Hebrew letters can also be interpreted "Adonai (Lord) of the Cross/Covenant". In the New Testament, these letters are translated as Alpha and Omega written as ΑΩ , the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. These letters are those by which Jesus Christ identifies Himself in the Book of Revelation: see Rev. 1:8, Rev. 21:6, Rev. 22:13. 



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