Spiritual Hierarchy & Authority, Part 20
March 2, 2018
We need
to backtrack a bit today and cover some ground we’ve covered already, but we’re
going to take a slightly different tack in order to understand the dominion
that we have in Christ Jesus.
Revelation 22:1 - 4
KJV: And he shewed me a pure river of the water of life,
clear as crystal, proceeding out of the Throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on
either side of the river, was there the Tree of Life, which bare twelve manner
of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were
for the healing of the nations. And
there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in
it; and His servants shall serve Him: and they shall see His face; and His name
shall be in their foreheads.”
Jesus
Christ, from the beginning, has sought after a Bride who would be His
counterpart, His co-equal: one who could be seated with Him on the Throne. We have all heard many messages and prophecies
during the years on the subject of "being seated with Him in Heavenly
places," but for most that is a somewhat nebulous concept. Although we do not claim to have a complete
understanding of every aspect of this truth, the Lord has been giving to us
revelation pertaining to the Throne.
We
are seeing -- in a practical dimension -- how critical it has been for us to
have experienced this intense processing and preparation. We are seeing how the Throne functions. More than that, we are seeing where our Lord
and Bridegroom, Jesus Christ, is taking us in the realm of rulership. It is the unfolding of this realm that we
would like to share with you.
The
first and most important aspect is the foundation of the Throne. Without this most basic of understandings,
everything pertaining to the Throne is pure theory, and lacking in any
practical application. Being
"seated in heavenly places" is anything but a theory. It is not a metaphor, and it is not
some mystical or ethereal concept for the so-called "super
spiritual."
Some
of the ground we’re about to cover has been discussed before, but let’s go over
this again.
Consider
Adam and Eve in the Garden.
Genesis 2:26 - 28: "And God
said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them 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."
The
operative word in this statement is, "dominion." The essence of dominion is rulership: having
and being in charge of; having active control over a region, a realm, an
area. The Hebrew word in the
original text is: radah;
and it means: to prevail against, to
subjugate, to rule over, to tread upon, or to possess oneself of -- to take
possession of.
Sovereign
rule has always been a part of the very essence of the makeup and character of
the Lord Jesus Christ. We know,
therefore, that we were destined from the beginning and designed for the
Throne. It was a part of the daily
operational function of Adam and Eve -- but, it was only functional so
long as they were in union and communion with the Lord.
Within
the Garden, in that place of intimate relationship, Adam and Eve were clothed
with the glory of the Lord. They were
clothed in truth. As soon as they
partook of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, they substituted
"Knowledge" for Truth.
Consider
the significance of this.
First
of all, we should each be aware by this time that creation began by the spoken
word of "The Word," the Lord Jesus Christ, in a place of absolute
agreement with the Father and the Holy Spirit.
There is a phrase which occurs repeatedly during the Genesis account of
creation, "And God said…"
This
phrase, inclusive with its adjoining words, has a numerical value of 8-8-8, the
triad of eights which represents Jesus Christ.
(We talked about this a couple weeks ago.) Each time we read, "And
God said," it
was Jesus causing an act of creation by speaking the word out of that creative
power within His being.
When
He created Adam and Eve, we are told that He created them "in
His image," and
He emphasizes this point twice in the same verse. (see Genesis 1:27) "...in the image
of God created He him; male and female created He them."
Being
"created in His image" does not just mean that we were created with
His physical form or attributes. It
means that we were also created spirit beings with power over the physical and
natural realm. Jesus always was, and is,
a Spirit. We were first created as
spirit. Life did not come into our
physical form until the spirit entered.
In
Genesis 2:7, we are told, "And the Lord
God.......breathed into his nostrils the breath of life."
In
this application, the Hebrew text uses the word, neshamah, a word which
Gesenius (in his Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon) defines as: the Spirit of God
imparting (His) life and wisdom; that, therefore, which becomes the spirit of
man. I don't want to belabor this
point. I just want you to see clearly
the single most important aspect of rulership -- the realm in which the throne
functions.
Spirit
is the preeminent and eternal realm of our existence. It has precedence over the mind and soul of
man. It has precedence over the
emotions. It supersedes the flesh. If we rule in any aspect at all, it is
because we first take dominion in the realm of the spirit. If we assert authority over principalities or
powers, or "world rulers of darkness," it is because we have first
done so by agreeing in totality with the preeminence of the Lord Jesus Christ, in
and through us, by the Spirit.
Conversely,
if we are ruled, it is because we are first ruled over in the realm of the
spirit by a spirit being. If we are
taken advantage of by evil spirits, it is because we first submit our spirits
to the influence or control of those spirits.
If we are tormented in any area of our flesh, it is because we have
first provided legal ground for that torment in the realm of the spirit. (I will comment further on this in just a
moment.) Our flesh was specifically
designed by the Lord as a habitation for the spirit.
A
question which I hear often posed is, "How can Christians submit to evil
spirits and still call themselves Christians?
How can a person redeemed by Christ Jesus be subject to evil
spirits?"
It
is imperative that we understand our makeup and nature. We are first and foremost spirit beings. Everything -- no matter how great or
small in our lives -- first begins in the realm of the spirit.
Satan
has been referred to as the prince of this world. As such we refer to him as an Arche.
Under
his command are kosmokrator: world rulers of darkness. When an angelic messenger came to deliver the
word of the Lord to Daniel, he mentioned that he had just been with Michael
(the Archangel) doing battle with the Prince of Persia, and that when he left
Daniel he would be warring against the Prince of Greece. (see Daniel 10)
These
are not earthly princes, but ruling demonic spirits whose assignment is
national or regional in scope. Beyond
them are spirits who are assigned as "principalities and powers," and
those who are given the task of invading the character and makeup of mankind,
deceiving them into accepting lies, or distortions, or perversion as a part of
their personal makeup.
Redemption
is not the same as deliverance.
Redemption merely provides the legal basis for deliverance. Redemption is a legal act by Jesus Christ on
the cross to nullify the Serpent's enslavement of the human race through
Adam. It provides us with the legal
means to be free, and to regain the place of the Crown and the Throne
originally delivered to Adam and Eve.
The
guarantee of that Throne is not a blanket guarantee to the human race: it is an
opportunity to "whosoever will;" and "whosoever" must
first will to agree with Jesus Christ -- not in name, not in form, not in
ritual, not in putting one's name to a piece of paper, but in Truth --
in Spirit -- in reality!
Deliverance
is also a legal act, and it occurs when we exercise our legal right as members
of the redeemed community of Jesus Christ -- in that place of agreement with
Jesus Christ -- to take authority in the realm of the spirit over those
spirits which have harassed us.
Let
me put it another way. Rulership -- in
the realm of the spirit -- begins when we exercise our place of union with
Jesus Christ over other spirits -- all of whom are subject to His onoma,
His character, His very makeup.
Deliverance, therefore, is a natural byproduct of the rulership which
only comes in the place of that union.
I’m
not trying to make this a treatise on the subject of deliverance, and the
statements just made are not intended to suggest that deliverance is
automatic. There is nothing automatic
about it. Neither is it a passive
operation. At the same time, one should
not conclude that we need to make a big production of addressing evil spirits
to kick them out when they have been identified. Deliverance is accomplished when we take
authority in the onoma
of Jesus Christ. (Not in using His name
as some kind of religious formula.) Evil
spirits are not, and must not be, the focus of our attention. Overcoming them -- at every level -- is a
natural process delegated to us by the Holy Spirit for the purpose of learning
to rule.
Rulership
in this realm begins when we
(1) allow
the Holy Spirit to identify spirits which have plagued our lives, along with
the legal ground for their existence and operation in us;
(2) agree
with His revelation of their existence, recognizing that His revelation comes
for the purpose of both setting us free, and extending the realm of His
authority in us; and
(3) act
in obedience to that revelation to assert the authority He has given. With each successive revelation and
deliverance, true dominion is extended in our lives.
Let’s
return now to our review of Adam and Eve in the Garden. They had complete dominion over the earth,
and all that was therein because
(1) they
had been created and imbued with rulership as a natural function;
(2) they
were in a place of total intimacy and communion with the Lord;
(3) their
spirits, their minds, and their wills were in perfect agreement with Him; and
(4) they
were clothed in Truth!
Jesus
made an incredible statement to Thomas at the Last Supper.
John 14:6: I
am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No
man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
His
whole onoma exhibited Truth.
It was impossible for Him to represent anything other than Truth. In his epistle to the Hebrews, Paul says the
following:
Hebrews 6:17-18 NASB: “In
the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the
unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, in order that by two
unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we may
have strong encouragement ....."
Let
me repeat some principles that you’ve heard me share in the past.
Truth is not a collection
of facts. And yet it can be.
Truth is neither the
reciting of history, nor a compilation of events which have occurred. And yet it can be.
Truth is not the quoting
of scriptures. And yet it can be.
Facts.
History. Scriptures. They can all be a portion of truth, but in
and of themselves, they are not -- by any stretch of the imagination --
truth.
Facts can be twisted by The Spirit of Error
and become a lie. History can be
distorted -- and often is -- so that historical facts are taken out of context
to present a false picture. Personal
experience, left to stand on its own, can bring wrong conclusions. Scriptures can be quoted to support virtually
any stance one desires to take.
Truth, therefore, is not
just facts, history, personal experience, or scriptures.
Truth -- the genuine
article -- can only come by the Spirit of Truth, which is one of the seven
Spirits of God. The Spirit of Truth
takes facts, takes history, takes events which have occurred -- either in our
lives, or in the lives of others -- or, takes verses of scripture and applies
them in a manner which brings life. The
Spirit of Truth takes that life and transmits it into the core of our beings.
Truth -- the very
essence of Jesus' onoma
-- is that which He was clothed in. It
was the life which went forth when He spoke the worlds into existence. It was the spirit which went forth when He
breathed into man the breath of life.
Does
this make sense to you? Are you
following me so far? Good! Let’s pick this up next week.
For those of you
who’ve participated during the past three years in our Monday night Healing
Prayer Conference Call, this is just a reminder that the calls have resumed on
a once-a-month basis, the first Monday of each month. If you have a need for healing, or you have
friends in need of healing, here is the number to call: (712) 775-7035.
The Access Code is: 323859#. For Canadians who have
difficulty getting in to this number, you can call (559) 546-1400. If someone
answers and asks what your original call-in number was, you can give them the
712 number and access code.
At the same time, in
case you are missing out on real fellowship in an environment of Ekklesia, our
Sunday worship gatherings are available by conference call – usually at about
10:45AM Pacific. That conference number
is (712) 770-4160, and the access code is 308640#. We are now making these gatherings
available by Skype. If you wish to
participate by video on Skype, my Skype ID is regner.capener. If you miss the live voice call, you can dial
(712) 770-4169, enter the same access code and listen in
later. The video call, of course, is not
recorded – not yet, anyway.
Blessings
on you!
Regner A. Capener
CAPENER MINISTRIES
RIVER WORSHIP CENTER
Temple, Texas 76504
Email Contact:
CapenerMinistries@protonmail.com
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