June 17, 2006                                                  We have the Power

He said "behold, I give unto you power" Look at that. It's in your Bible, Luke 10:19.

The word power is used twice in this verse by the Lord. BUT in the original Greek manuscript from which the translation was taken, there are two different words used here, two different meanings. The first is the power the Lord gives the church.
It is the Greek Word "exousia" probably where the word "exorcist" derived from. It means "privilege, force, capacity, freedom, and mastery, superhuman, potentate, token of control, delegated influence, authority, liberty, strength and power."

The Lord has delegated his influence and power to the church OVER the devil and his works. Do we believe this? Have we stopped to consider it? Have we taken time to look around us and consider those we say we love that are bound and in darkness, and on their way to hell? Irregardless of their personality, character flaws or not, all souls are precious in the sight of God. Sin manifests in many ways, some more attractive than others. But all equally deadly. I must confess I have allowed an overwhelming sense of despair and inadequacy to come over me when I did this. But LOVE and FAITH mixed together demand a different response from me now. There is HOPE. His name is Jesus Christ. His word is the WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE that is needed for everyone. All of the problems in the world piled on one side of the scale are not comparable with the strength and power of God on the other side. Power. What kind of power is the Lord talking about here?

Thayer's Greek Definitions says it this way:

I have a choice. I can choose to do nothing and by default let the devil keep wrecking lives around me. Or I can stand on the Word of God, get prayed up, read up, and arm myself with the mind of Christ, and seek God’s direction and instruction on how to war against this enemy that is wreaking so much havoc. He’s written the instruction in his word. I just need Divine Help understanding and learning how to appropriate and apply it to NOW.

Okay. The second word for power used here is this and it's the one I commonly hear referred to. "Dunamis" It means "force, miraculous power, ability, abundance, might, strength, violence, mighty work." This is not the same kind of power. Sometimes they work hand in hand, as when they are used to describe the power of the Holy Ghost working in the church for the saving and deliverance of the lost. BUT when the second kind of power wielded by the enemy comes against the first kind of power-who wins? THE FIRST.

So what did Jesus really say here? Do we understand what he meant? Do I? Lord, open thou mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law! It seems to me he said,

"See, I commit, offer, put in your hands the privilege, the mastery, authority, power, strength, against, on, over, and toward all the strength and power of the adversary, who is actively hostile to the plans and purposes of the soul.”

So what was the power for? To tread on serpents and scorpions, first of all.
He gave us the authority to trample under foot, to walk on serpents, and this is what the word "ophis" for serpents in the original Greek means as used here: a snake, (as a type of sly cunning) an artful, malicious person, especially SATAN: a serpent. (Strong's Greek Definitions, G3789 if you want to double check this for yourself-which you should so the Holy Spirit can make it real to your heart as truth, not just the "opinion" of someone you may or may not know.)