The Triumphant Churchthe devil in His death, burial, and resurrection (Col.
2:15). Now the believer is expected to exercise his
rightful authority over the devil.
Jesus said, "In every Epistle that's written to the
Church—to believers—if the writer of the Epistle said
anything about the devil, he always told believers that
they were to do something about the devil. I'm going to
give you four references to prove that believers
themselves have authority over the devil."
Believers, Not God, Must Exercise
Authority Over the Devil
Jesus began with Matthew 28:18 to show me that
believers are the ones on the earth who have authority
over the devil.
MATTHEW 28:18
And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying,
ALL POWER is given unto me IN HEAVEN and
IN EARTH.
Jesus said, "When I arose from the dead, I
immediately said to My disciples, 'All power is given to
Me both in Heaven and in earth'" (Matt. 28:18).
"Now this Greek word translated 'power' is also
translated authority elsewhere in the New Testament.
So you could read this verse, 'All authority is given unto
Me both in Heaven and in earth.'
"Now," Jesus said to me, "if you stop reading at the
end of verse 18, you'd say to Me, 'Why, Lord Jesus, You
do have authority on earth against devils and demons.
You can do something on the earth about the devil
because this verse says You have authority on the
earth.' But I immediately took My authority on the
earth and delegated it to believers—to the Church. I