Our name | Mission | Vision | Leaders Ministries | Schedule | Directions | Contact Home   Gateway Church gathers for worship Sundays at 10:30 a.m. Location: 6425 Jefferson Rd. (Hwy. 129) in Athens, Georgia. For directions, click here. Ministry of the Word: Recent sermons Our quarterly e-magazine Gateway Today For the Gateway family Pastor Jerry's Weekly E-Mail A GATEWAY SERMON SUMMARY AUDIO The authority of believers Jerry Varnado, pastor Gateway Church, Athens GA January 29, 2006 Main Scripture text: Mark 1:21-34 This sermon is about authority -- but first I need to say two things about demonization, which is mentioned in today's text: 1) The essence of New Testament authority is deliverance from demons. The people were amazed at Jesus' teaching because He told the demon to be quiet and get out -- and the demon obeyed! 2) Christians can be demonized -- that is, be affected by the activity of demons. This is why the Bible give repeated cautions to "resist the devil" and to "not give the devil a foothold." Now, what is "authority"? It is "the power or right to perform certain acts without impediment" (Unger's Bible Dictionary). God's authority is unconditional and absolute. Nothing happens that is beyond His authority. God's authority is resident in Jesus. This is the basis of His commissioning the church to make disciples of all nations. Through the Holy Spirit, Jesus is present with each of us -- and therefore His authority and power is present with each of us. The authority of Jesus is one of the most important concepts of New Testament Christianity. If we are going to live vibrant, hope-filled lives we must be confident that Jesus is indeed the King of kings and the Lord of lords -- that nothing we face is beyond His authority and power. The power of Jesus resides in us through faith -- and therefore we can do all things through Christ who gives us the strength. How do we appropriate this authority? The only way is through union with Jesus. Spiritual authority is always the byproduct of a consistent, intimate relationship with Him. We must learn to "take authority" over every situation we face in life. This means believing that Jesus has absolute authority over everything -- and has given us the right to use that authority to overcome all the power of the enemy. Supporting texts: Luke 4:18 | Hebrews 2:14-15 | 1 John 3:8 | James 4:7 | Ephesians 4:26-27 | 1 Peter 5:8 | Romans 13:1 | John 19:10-11 | Matthew 28:18-21 | Luke 10:19 | Luke 10:1 | Acts 19:13-16 | John 15:7 A mp3 audio file of this sermon is here (35 min.). (Download to a PC by right clicking on the link and choosing "Save Target As." Mac users: click, hold, and choose "Download Link to Disk." Depending on your connection speed, the file may take several minutes to download.) An audio tape of the sermon summarized above is available free of charge (U.S. requests only). Request a tape by calling or writing the Gateway Church office. Please specify tape number 060129a: The Authority of Believers. © 2006 Gerald R. Varnado To the Gateway Church home page How to contact us