The Believer’s Authority 2009, 240 pg by A. Wommack J. Tofflemire Chap. 1 We’re in a Spiritual Battle. Satan is trying to steel our hearts away from God and is sending trash and corruption into our life. Eph. 6: 10-12 ”Finally, be strengthened by the Lord and by His vast strength. Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the tactics of the Devil. For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world powers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens.” He is trying to steel God’s word from us. Satan uses people to influence us negatively as in Matt. 16:22-23. It is not so much the person’s attract, but Satan’s influence on them. James 4:7 “Therefore, submit to God. But resist the Devil, and he will flee from you.” Don’t give him access. Chap. 2 Whom He may Devour. When you yield yourself to sin, you’re serving Satan. Rom. 6:16 ”Don’t you know that if you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of that one you obey-either of sin leading to death or of obedience leading to righteousness?” If you get angry or bitter you yield yourself to Satan. James 1:20 ”for man’s anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness” James 3:16 ”For where envy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every kind of evil.” AKJ “ For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.” God is not the author of confusion but of peace, 1 Cor. 14:33 1 Peter 5:8 “Be serious! Be alert! Your adversary the Devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour.”Satan can’t devour you without your cooperation. We need to set a watch before we speak, and take every thought captive to Christ, 2 Cor. 10:5. No mater what you do, your submitting to God and his influence or to Satan’s. James 1:14-15 “But each person is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own evil desires. Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is fully grown, it gives birth to death.” We need to counter the thoughts and especially the actions. God’s will is that we should have life abundantly, John 10:10. He told a story of some church friends, where a mom, in moment of anger, told her 17 yr old son- ‘to get out of my house and never come back’! The boy went to a friend’s house, and they were playing with guns and the boy accidentally shot himself in the head. Also the parent’s were seeking a divorce. The boy went into a coma and died. Chap. 3 Satan’s Inroads. When you’re in a spiritual battle, you can’t afford the luxury of strife. Your life should be full of peace, not strife. He noted his war battle in Vietnam. In that battle you needed good focus on doing right as commanded. Although Satan is after you, so is God who wants you to follow him and receive his blessings. There is no reason to panic, as God is much stronger than Satan. If yo don’t yield to God’s fellowship, study and prayer, you may not see many prayer victories, p23. There was a man in his church, who had grew up in reform homes and as used to much strife. He also had much resentment and anger. He had to be taught to forgive and release that, so he could be more loving. There are some families where screaming and yelling are normal, and there is strife and one learns to be reactive, and defensive. Viewing pornography can also have a negative effect on one, giving some access to Satan. The word says, Eph. 4:27 “and don’t give the Devil an opportunity.” He told the story of raising his son for the dead; The older son called Andrew and his wife, saying the younger son was dead in the hospital. They drove an hour to the hospital in prayer, praising God and affirming that the son would live. He had been dead for 5 hrs, but was alive when they got there. Chap 4 No Wicked Thing. Satan passes thoughts and feelings to our hearts and minds. Wen need to not let them take root and develop. Matt. 6:31-32 “So don’t worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For the idolaters eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.” Thus don’t speak forth negative things. Prov. 18:21 “Life and death are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” IF you are praying for healing, and someone asks how are you doing? Don’t say anything that denies your healing. Be careful how you speak to your children. You can say there are problems, but then say you are praying for a resolution by God. Don’t leave a negative as the last statement. Every word of your mouth is a seed that can develop. Matt. 12:37 ”For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.” If you say bad words about yourself or loved ones, Satan can use them against you. TV, radio and the media are full of sexual immorality , violence, strife, and hatred. Be careful with them, they can pollute your mind. You need to be believing God’s word and good things, 1Cor. 15:33 “Do not be so deceived and misled! Evil companionships (communion, associations) corrupt and deprave good manners and morals and character.” Ps. 101:3 “I will not set anything worthless before my eyes.” One of the reasons there is so much violence and immorality in our society is that there’s so much on the media we watch. Everything you say or do is releasing either God’s or Satan’s thoughts and power in your life. We are responsible to submit to God and resist the Devil James 4:7. If one disobeys God, one is opening the door to the devil. Chap. 5 Unconditional Authority. After many yrs. of studying God’s word, and commentaries On Satan’s history and how how he got his power, he believes the following: The Finis Dake teachings about a pre-Adamic Satan and civilization being thrown down to earth are in error. If God is good, why did he let Satan to come into the Garden and tempt Adam and Eve? God sent Lucifer, His beautiful angel, down to minister to Adam and Eve. He hadn’t transgressed against God yet and become Satan. Heb. 1:14. Angels are ministering spirits. Isa. 14 and Ezekiel 28 provide the most information about Lucifer. Ezek 28:13-15 “You were in Eden, the garden of God. Every kind of precious stone covered you: carnelian, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise and emerald. Your mountings and settings were crafted in gold; they were prepared on the day you were created. You were an anointed guardian cherub, for I had appointed you. –From the day you were created you were blameless in your ways until wickedness was found in you.” Note this is describing Lucifer in the Garden in his sinless state. There is no way that Satan could win a battle with God as in Rev. 12:3-4. It’s when Lucifer persuaded Eve to eat the forbidden fruit that he became Satan. As an angel his power was likely conditional, but Adam and Eve had been given unconditional power and authority over earth. Gen 1:28 ”And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.” This dominion was unconditional. Once God speaks its done. He never goes back on His word, as in Ps. 89:34. Lucifer new that there was no way he he could rebel directly against God and win; but perhaps he could rebel, if he got a hold on the unconditional power that had been given to man. Although angels have free will, there’s no to believe there power is unconditional. 2 Peter 3:4 ”For if God didn’t spare the angels who sinned but threw them down into Tartarus and delivered them to be kept in chains of darkness until judgment” Chap. 6 God’s of this World. Ps. 82:6 I said, “You are gods;
you are all sons of the Most High” Ps. 115:16 “The heavens are the Lord’s, but the earth He has given to the human race.” He says we are gods not in the sense of divinity, but in the sense of dominion over earth. Lucifer envied God and wanted a higher position. He saw that if he could get Adam and Eve to rebel against God, perhaps he could become the new God of this world- the earth., and take their dominion. As creator, God could have destroyed Adam and Eve and Satan, but he loved Adam an Eve and and wanted to keep his word to them. It was Adam and Eve who sinned and gave the power to Satan. Most people believe that Satan is using superior power to oppress mankind, as depicted in movies, but this is not the case; he depends mostly on humans to yield to him and thus empower him. In the new testament and covenant Satan and his demons power is further restricted. Satan and his demons have more power when they have a body to occupy. We have the example in Luke 8:30-33 Where Jesus cast the demons from a man into the pigs. Demons look for a physical willing body. Satan is aided when we yield to him in lust, anger, lies, bitterness and unforgiveness. Now rather than be intimidated by Satan the author has boldness against him. Chap. 7 Under the Umbrella. Form what we had just noted Eph. 6:10-11 makes sense: “Finally, be strengthened by the Lord and by His vast strength. Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the tactics(schemes) of the Devil.” If you are having trouble doing the right thing, the Author advises to do what is right, not what you feel, as it may lead you wrong. In time, this will strengthen you. Although God has the power to intervene in the affairs of men, He often doesn’t, but uses our prayers to do this. He did step in with Noah’s flood. He use the analogy that He once gave his employee a very nice car and signed the title over to him. Yrs later the man asked him- can I trade it in for another car? He said of course; It was yours. This is how God viewed Satan. This is why He sent Jesus to become a man. Then He could have more authority on earth, as Jesus was a man and part God, and He had delegated the earth to man. Ezek. 22:30 “I sought for a man among them to build the wall and stand in the breach in my presence on behalf of the land so that it won’t be destroyed, but I found no one.” Isa. 59:16 “He saw that there was no man-He was amazed that there was no one interceding; so His own arm brought salvation, and His own righteousness supported Him.” There was no person, sinless and pure to bring God’s righteousness to earth. That’s also why He didn’t just speak Jesus in existence on his own, but used Mary. Now he had a man with lineage of humans. He also wanted to prepare many prophets to foretell of Jesus and had Isaiah say-Isa. 7:14 ”Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive, have a son, and name him Immanuel.” Now He had authority on earth through Jesus. Now Satan was in trouble as he had given Jesus the man, authority. John 5:26-27 ”Just as the Father has life in himself, so also he has granted the Son to have life in himself, and he has given him authority to judge, because he is the Son of Man.” Jesus was the God-Man John 1:14 The Word became flesh and took up residence (dwelt) among us. We observed His glory, the glory as the One and Only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. Jesus entered into the devil’s kingdom and destroyed it. Now the devil can’t do anything without your consent and cooperation. This had given the author a great advantage over the devil. Chap. 8 Authority? Use your body to fight against the devil. James 4:7 ”submit to God. But resist the Devil, and he will flee from you” He hurt his back opening the garage door and was in bad pain. He told his little son to- go tell mommy. She said- get up! and she prayed for me, and said now act on the word of God. We need you to be able to work. The pain was still bad, but he got up and declared he was healed. He had some pain, but in another day it was healed. He said his actions played a major role in his healing. We need to step out in faith and act.God is sovereign in the sense that he is the King of Kings and all powerful. Still he doesn’t control many things on earth, as he gave dominion to man. We live in a culture today where not all follow authority; especially the younger generation. They think they may do some bad things as long as they don’t get caught. He teaches at his bible college that you need to earn the right to speak into someone’s life. There are places in life where we need to follow authority, with our boss at work, with a policeman, at church with our pastor. At his church there is a leadership structure. If someone has an issue with his supervisor, he tells them to go to that supervisor first. God has set some rules of authority as noted before,p.69. Satan doesn’t have present authority over us. God stripped his angelic powers. Satan can only affect us, if we give him, access, or speak badly of ourselves and agree with his thoughts in some way.; He says that many diseases have Satanic roots that can be cast out,p 70. Chap. 9 Such as I have Born again believers have more authority than Adam and Eve. Matt. 28:18-20 Then Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember] I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Jesus was given authority over Heaven, Earth and Hell, Phil. 2:10. Matt. 10:7-8 “As you go, announce this: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those with skin diseases, drive out demons. You have received free of charge; give free of charge.” In the new covenant we have more authority than in the old. Satan contributed to many diseases, we now have power to heal. Luke 9:1 ”Summoning the Twelve, He gave them power and authority over all the demons, and power to heal[a] diseases.” We don’t need to beg God for healing , as he has given us the authority. We need to use it, P.78. Still there are things that can block our healing prayers, like unblievers and and unbelief, Mark 6:5-6. It’s good to command healing as peter did with the beggar at the temple, Acts3:1-8. All things possible to those who believe, Mark 9:23. He tell the story of John Lake who healed in Spokane, Wa. in the 1990’s. He healed so many, that one hospital closed and his own healing hospital started.p. 81. Chap. 10 Command Ye me. “Isa. 45:11 And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word by the accompanying signs.come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me.” God has already given believers the power to heal. He have the analogy of- the the power company supplies the power, but we need to flip the switch. Matt. 10:8 ”Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those with skin diseases, drive out demons. You have received free of charge; give free of charge.” Evert born again believer has the power to do this. Chap 11. Proclaim and Demonstrate. Luke 10:8-9 ”When you enter any town, and they welcome you, eat the things set before you. Heal the sick who are there, and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near you.” We are told to heal the sick and preach the kingdom of God, also as in Acts 4:23-30, this was a powerful ministry. He gave us authority to use His name and power; there is no need to beg God. He trained Cecil Paxton to be one of his healers and ministry trainers. He went to a friends home and and healed him of being blind. Cecil’s wife Lisa has powerful testimony on this on the website titled Lisa Paxton’s Testimony. God desired every one to respond to Him and receive salvation. As in 2 Peter 3:9 ”The Lord does not delay His promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance.” Like the disciples we have a responsibility to share the word, heal the sick and pray for others. Chap. 12. Be a Witness Acts1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Jesus told us we have the power to be witnesses via the H.S. Peter used this power to witness to Cornelius’s house. IN the story in Acts 10:1-6 an angel was sent to Cornelius to tell him to send men to get Peter. So why didn’t the angel just minister to Cornelius? It’s because the primary role is for disciples to do this. From Peter’s visit the whole household was saved. The bigger plan is for us to use God’s word preach the gospel and witness to the world. He gave us this authority. A.W. says he knows people who say they are prayer warriors, who never get out of their prayer closet to witness to others. They also pray for a revival and great move of God. It would be better if they were and outward part and witness for the revival. People need the Word of God and preaching-witnessing-disciplining. Rom. 10:17 ”So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the message about Christ.” God’s word is the seed.; It must be planted in the ground of our hearts. People are somewhat incorrectly praying for others to become christians. What they need to be praying for is for someone to minister to them and plant the seed Matt. 9:38. Or if the person had some christian training; pray that they will recollect or remember some of this via the H.S. John 14:26. If we don’t follow God’s instructions we may not see good results. People say to themselves I’m not going to risk the embarrassment of rejection by witnessing. Jesus and the disciples got severe criticism and even persecution for their witness. On pg 107 he talked of his various programs:, TV ministry, Gospel Truth Network GTN, podcasts and streaming, Charis Bible College main campus, 20 satellite campuses in the US, and online campus, and the international campuses, and Truth and Liberty.net for social action. Political action has a place in a believers life, but our primary focus should be spreading the gospel. Our founding fathers were christians, but today some states are legalizing immorality. Chap 13. Pray for the Lost. One can pray for laborers to come across there path as in Matt. 9:38 They need to have someone share the Word as in Rom. 10:17 as faith comes by hearing and the Word. If they have had prior christian lessons, one can pray that they recall the lessons. 2 Cor. 4:4 ”In their case, the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” Demonic power has blinded them and, we can pray that the blindness and hardness of the heart be broken. This can be a repetitive daily prayer, if you wish, as the person prayed for as free will. On can also pray for remission of their sins as in John 20:23. Her you lesson the effects of their sins. Chap. 14 How does revival come? We need to study God’s word and believe it and release its authority by sharing and preaching it, pg. 121 We also need to perform miracles as we are led. Mark 16:20 ”And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word by the accompanying signs.” Eph. 6;18-20 ”Pray also for me, so that, when I begin to speak, the right words will come to me. Then I will boldly make known the secret of the gospel, — desiring to declare the gospel as boldly as I should.” Jesus gave power and authority to his church. Chap. 15 Believe and Receive. He stresses sharing the word as in Rom. 10:13-17 and receiving the HS as in Acts 2:38-9 Now the HS is given to those who believe and ask. Acts Chap. 2 tells of Pentecost in detail. Now all believers have Spirit- counselor as Jesus promised in John 14:16-17 ”And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever. He is the Spirit of truth.” We don’t need to pray for a revival but, but believe and start one. God already wants revival. He gave 2 examples: Martin Luther read the word (Rom. 3:27-8)and believed it and nailed his statements to the church door and gave them before a church council. Back in the 1940 much of the church believed that the miracles ceased with the death of the apostles. A young minister Oral Roberts recovered from TB and stuttering by prayer. He started a healing ministry. John 14:12 “I assure you: The one who believes in Me will also do the works that I do. And he will do even greater works than these, because I am going to the Father.” He rewards those who seek and believe Him, as in Heb. 11:6 p. 136. Chap.16 God has Given you the Power. God has given us the authority to speak to the mountain(what ever the problem is) as in Mark 11:23 There are spiritual Laws we must follow in using our authority for Godly purposes, p. 141. God also gave us the power to get wealth as in Deut. 8:18 and in Luke 6:38 ”Give, and it will be given to you; a good measure-pressed down, shaken together, and running over-will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.” Still we must work with our hands to get some blessings as in Deut. 28:8-12. Also 2 Thes. Says if we do not work we may not eat. Thus welfare as practiced in the US is not a godly concept, p 144 as it leads to generational dependence. I read through Chap. 17-20, but it seamed repetitive to what had already had been said. Chap. 21 As You Think. Life moves in the direction of your dominate thoughts as in Prov. 23:7 ”for as he thinks within himself, so he is.” You will reap emotions based on those things you think and focus on as in Rom. 8:6 ”To focus our minds on the human nature leads to death, but to focus our minds on the Spirit leads to life and peace.” You can’t experience peace if you focus on things that are contrary to peace, like hatred, strife, possible wars. He cites Isa. 26:3 “You will keep the mind that is dependent on You in perfect peace, for it is trusting in You.” Phil. 4:4-7 Tells us to rejoice in the Lord always, and 4:8 to think thoughts of virtuous things. These are laws of God. The release of God’s power in one’s life is proportional to how you believe. It’s not proportional to your holiness, p. 192. This chapter stuck me as I have followed the news relating to disaster preparedness and on websites that give true news and factual journalism. One needs to know the truth and make some reasonable for it and preparation also be a good citizen writing one’s congress person about proper positions. One can’t do this, if one is ignorant of what is going on. The main line news is often biased and full of propaganda. I agree not to worry, but to take some beneficial actions, and pray for be the good. For example, I discovered the forced covid vaccines to be bioweapons and took a broad spectrum antiviral and never got covid, or other viral diseases. I documented the facts about this on my website. On this, I would say A Wommack would likely agree with me, as he documents some of this on this Truth and Liberty website. Chap. 22 Honor God. When you cooperate with God’s spiritual laws, His power flows. Dr’s aren’t infallible. In the natural realm we know that sometimes problems arise and there are delays. This also occurs in the spiritual realm. Sometimes when he is praying for someone we’ll see only 50% of their healing. That’s because we are just starting to understand all the laws and situation. The woman with issue of blood had heard of Jesus, see Mark 5:27. One can’t receive healing from God without first hearing of Jesus or his word. Faith comes by reading or hearing his word; but some asking for healing don’t spend time in God’s word. Both faith and unbelief can come by hearing. Some that come to him aren’t healed due to their unbelief or fear. Matt 6:33 ”But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.” The lady in Mark 5 had to act and overcome what others thought to be healed. Prov. 29:25 “The fear of man bringeth a snare”. We must do what God tells us, even if others give us flack. He told of a story where a lady with bleeding cancer tumors came to him and he prayed them away to small lumps. Then she went to a Dr who removed the tiny lumps and then to another Dr. for radiation treatments. Andrew advised her against this, as they both new God had done a major healing. Her friends told her to just follow the Dr. orders. She died as a result of the radiation. Chap. 23 Battle against Satan. He isn’t using super-human, angelic power, but deception, lies, and craftiness as in Eph. 6:11 it’s a battle of our minds and controlling our thoughts, as in 2 Cor. 10:3-5. Why are there lots of homicides in certain places? It’s because demonic activity is in the minds of people, not in the heavenlies. Much of society no longer supports godly moral values, and the media promotes loose morals. To combat this we don’t need spiritual warfare, but renewing of our minds as in Rom. 12:2” Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.” We need to boldly share the word and the gospel.