Believers and Spiritual Attack
Lesson # 2
God’s Authority over the Kingdom of Darkness

  1. Jesus comes with God’s authority:
    • At the time of Christ’s baptism, God proclaims that Jesus is His Son — Matthew 3:17
    • At the time of the transfiguration, God proclaims that Jesus is His beloved Son and that people need to hear Him — Mark 9:7
    • Jesus speaking to the Father in the streets of Jerusalem asked the Father to glorify His Name: Then a voice came from heaven, saying, “I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.” John 12:28 NKJV

  2. Jesus’s confrontation with the kingdom of darkness:
    • After His baptism, when the Holy Spirit came upon Jesus filling Him and empowering Him for His ministry, the Spirit led Him into the wilderness to confront the devil—Luke 4:1-14; Mark 1:10-13
    • An unclean spirit reacts when Jesus comes into the synagogue in Capernaum; the spirit recognized Jesus; the spirit asked if Jesus was coming to destroy them at that moment; the Lord cast the spirit out with authority and the spirit left the person with a loud voice — Mark 1:23-27

    • Jesus’ authority over the kingdom of darkness was demonstrated by the way the demons or unclean spirits reacted toward Him:

      • Jesus commanded the demons to not speak and reveal who He was — Mark 1:34.
      • The unclean spirits fell down when they saw Jesus and cried out — Mark 3:11-12.
      • The demons named Legion begged Jesus not to torment them or to send them into the abyss, but to let them go into the swine, and Jesus gave them permission — Luke 8:41; Mark 5:1-19.
      • Even when the person was not present, Jesus’ authority to cast out demons was demonstrated in the case of the Syro-Phoenician woman — Mark 7:26-27.
      • Jesus sometimes spoke directly to the spirit naming the type of spirit it was, as it was the case of the young man with a deaf and dumb spirit — Mark 9:17-29.

  3. God’s authority over the kingdom of darkness:
    • Satan needed permission from God to bring all the calamities he brought to Job—Job 1:6-12; 2:1-7.
    • At the time King Ahab of Israel wanted to go and attack Syria to take back a territory that belonged to Israel, he consulted his false prophets. But God had already judged Ahab for all his wickedness and had prepared for the king to die during this battle. The Almighty God permitted the spiritual host to present themselves before Him and see who could convince Ahab to go into the battle. One spirit declared that he could become a lying spirit in the mouths of the false prophets and convince Ahab to go to this battle — God gave permission to the spirit to do it and to be successful. 1 King 22:1-22
    • Satan needed permission from God to come against Peter and to shift him like wheat, but the Lord reassured Peter that He had prayed that Peter’s faith would be strong — Luke 22:32.
    • Jesus spoke to Satan, who had entered Judas, and he told him to do what needed to be done quickly—Jesus gave permission to Satan to kill him. John 13:26-27
    • When Pilate declared that he had power to kill Jesus, the Lord corrected him saying that all the power Pilate had had come from God for this time — John 19:10-11.

  4. Christ’s Authority given to the Disciples:
    • Jesus gives His authority to the 12 disciples to confront the kingdom of darkness, to cast out demons, and to heal the sick — Luke 9:1-2.
    • Jesus gives His authority to the 72 disciples to cast out demons and heal the sick — Luke 10:1-17.
    • Jesus declares that all authority has been given to Him in heaven and on earth and then He gives the Great Commission to the disciples — Matthew 28:18-20.
    • Jesus declares the power that believers will have in His name — Mark 16:15-18.
    • In the book of Acts, we see the disciples and Paul demonstrating great authority against demonic spirit and spirits of sickness — Acts 8:5-7; 16:18.