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The Forcefulness of the Minister of Deliverance’s Authority…

The forcefulness of the authority regarding the ministry of spiritual warfare and deliverance, depends on the degree of Revelation that the minister has attained, and that he/she has understood, above all. In view of the fact that spiritual warfare and deliverance is to enter into battle against the forces of darkness that are in one place, and in one person, it is very important that the minister ‘understands’ what he/she has acquired about deliverance, based on the Scriptures at all times, otherwise his/her authority will be shaken at some point.

Spiritual warfare and deliverance are not formulas, nor costumes, nor rites, nor anything similar, the demons do not obey any of that,

In fact, acting based on such practices strengthen the ‘right’ of the demon to continue operating in the place.[1]  Spiritual warfare and deliverance are exercised based on faith, because no one can see what he is fighting against, and this, if one does not have enough faith to operate, constitutes the greatest hindrance when it comes to exercise it, and can stop the liberation. In many cases, the confrontation is against more than one spiritual being at the same time, which demands that the minister knows how to take care of his or her physical condition, and learns to dose his or her strength to avoid falling into physical and mental exhaustion.

Spiritual warfare and deliverance are not formulas, nor costumes, nor rites, nor anything similar, the demons do not obey any of that, Spiritual warfare and deliverance are exercised based on faith,

The Revelation on which one works is decisive to subdue the authority and the right of the demon, and to expel him from the place. Note that we say ‘Revelation’, and not ‘knowledge’, for it is not the same thing; someone may have much knowledge but lack authority, as recorded in Matthew 7:29, we read: “for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.”; the scribes were Levites and had much knowledge of the Scriptures, but they had no authority.

The authority arises as a consequence of the Revelation, it is instantaneous,

Note in the following texts, how the demons recognize the Revelation and authority that a person has, it is seen in the recognition that they make about the person; in Mark 1:24, we read: “saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God.”.  In Acts 19:15 we also have another example: “And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?”. Authority arises from the deposit of Revelation that the person has acquired from God, and not only from the knowledge he or she has, no matter how good it may be.

From the account in Luke 4:36 we can understand that Revelation consists of the Word understood, and not just the Word recited: “And they were all amazed, and spake among themselves, saying, What a word is this! for with authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out.”. Note that we say, Word understood, and not, Word interpreted; ‘understanding’ the Word is not ‘interpreting’ it, it is not about interpreting the Word, it is understanding it, understanding brings Salvation, as we read in the very Words of Jesus, in the text of Matthew,

12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. 13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. 14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:

Mathew 13:12-14

See now the parallel text of Mark,

10 And when he was alone, they that were about him with the twelve asked of him the parable. 11 And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables: 12 that seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.

Mark 4:10-12

Let us carefully attend to the following doctrinal basis of faith, and strive to understand it. The lack of understanding of the Word causes the instantaneous generation of a satanic operation and intervention of confusion, in the person and in his environment, as we can corroborate in the following text of Matthew 13:19: “When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side”. Now, based on the same text, let us put it the other way around and see the value of ‘understanding’ God’s Revelation; if the lack of understanding of the Word causes satanic intervention to be generated, the ‘understanding’ of the Word results in the ‘casting out’ of the demon. Thus it is clear that it is the understanding of Revelation that gives a person authority.

The lack of understanding of the Word causes the instantaneous generation of a satanic operation and intervention of confusion, in the person and in his environment,

A couple of years ago, the Lord made me go through an experience that at the time I did not understand (it was not to be understood at that time), but I acted in faith, believing that God was doing it with a purpose. I was visiting the church I had pastored several years ago, in Guatemala City, and my visit coincided with the 30th anniversary of the church, so they gave me the time to preach that Sunday morning; during the time of worship, the Lord urged me to take off my shoes, based on the text of Exodus 3:5: “..put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground”, Which I did without much hesitation; when they were about to give me the time for the preaching of the Word, I wanted to put on my shoes again to be ready to go to the pulpit, immediately the Lord told me not to put on my shoes, to go barefoot to the pulpit, and to preach that way, I confess that it was a little uncomfortable at the beginning.

A year after that event I understood the reason for the Lord’s demand to preach barefoot. One afternoon of ministry came to me the case of a believer who in her years in the world had practiced Satanism, she came to receive deliverance, because although a woman of faith, she had attacks that she had not been able to overcome; as soon as I began to pray and rebuke, the demon manifested itself, but resisted to leave; the case was extremely strong, to such a degree that there came a time when I felt weakened and did not know what else to do. Under that strong struggle, the Lord spoke to me, and told me, “show him who is in the wrong place”, wrong place? to what did the Lord refer? how to do it? And there the Spirit of Truth took me back to that Sunday that I preached barefoot, and reminded me, “…. put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground“; there the Lord gave me understanding of the Revelation of that act of preaching barefoot, the devil is in the wrong place because the place where we are is “Holy”, he does not belong here, therefore he has to leave; I immediately proceeded to take off my shoes, and with the authority that the Revelation gave me, I said, I rebuke you, demon, leave this place because you do not belong to this place, it is holy ground, and the person was like pushed against the wall and then fell to the floor, and the demon had come out of it.

Authority comes as a result of understanding the Revelation of the Word, it is not only to know the Word, it is to understand the ‘spirit’ of the Word, before it there is no demon that can resist.

I see many people with much knowledge but with little Revelation, in many cases, because the men and women that God has called are bound by religious ties, united to denominational commitments, faithful to a dogma rather than to the Word. The men and women who want to do the Will of God must first validate their commitment to God rather than to men. Peace.

Scripture quotations are taken from the Authorized King James Version, 1909 (AKJV).

Pastor Pedro Montoya

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[1]     Acts 19:13-16: 13 Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth. 14 And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so. 15 And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye? 16 And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.

What is the Gospel of Jesus? What does it consist of? The value of faith

The Gospel, although it is a teaching, is not activated just by nodding to it; faith is necessary. In one of the previous sections we explained that the Gospel is Doctrine, the Doctrine of the Kingdom of Heaven; and we also explained, that doctrine in turn means teaching, which, for the purposes of learning it is necessary to “believe” it, for as we will be taught in something, or of something, if we do not believe in it; this point we can confirm in the words of the writer of the Gospel of Luke, who in his introduction to Theophilus, writes: it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, that thou mightiest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed. (Luke 1:3-4). Teaching is believed, it is the step that makes us followers of Jesus.

However, while it is necessary to believe it as true teaching with spiritual value, the teaching —the doctrine— requires that it be validated by faith. An example that helps us to understand this is the account in the book of Acts that describes the attitude that the believers of Berea adopted to the teachings of the Apostle Paul during his visit to the city: These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. (Acts 17:11). The passage illustrates that after having believed the teaching, the next step is to activate the teaching through faith; otherwise, the teaching loses its spiritual value and becomes mere information for the person.

We have reached the point where we enter properly into the study of the meaning and value of the Gospel: in order to understand the Gospel, it is necessary to understand it through faith.

Faith is a person’s ability and willingness to follow instructions. I know that we are used to the definition given in the eleventh chapter of the epistle to the Hebrews, which defines faith as the substance of things hoped for, and the demonstration of things not seen; However, religious philosophy has made us see in this definition the intention —understanding the capacity to visualize things— of wanting to believe in what we do not see, but which we expect, as if it were a human capacity to “materialize” what we are believing will come, which is not what the apostolic and prophetic writers intended to define in their writings.

Faith is simply the willingness of a person to follow an instruction as he or she is asked to do, or as he or she is commanded to do; in other words, faith is the willingness in a person not to contravene the instruction, nor to inquire why necessarily so, or why not otherwise; faith is obedience. Surely the reader will have heard more than one old-time preacher say that God demands blind faith, now he can understand what they meant.

Faith is the ability to follow instructions, hence the reader will now be able to understand why when Jesus worked miracles among those who followed Him, He asked them to “do” something as a condition for operating the miracle among them. We have many examples, but let us quote a few: The healing of the blind man who sent to wash in the pool of Siloam,[1] the ten lepers He sent to appear before the priest,[2] and the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, an act which He performed on two occasions.[3] The little faith of some consisted in their reluctance to do what He demanded of them.

So it’s clear to us, faith is the ability to follow instructions; now let’s take it a step further. The basic principle of faith is instruction by the Word that the Spirit of God imparts to the reader when he or she is exposed to the Word, or to the Spirit; this is because some instructions come from the Bible, while others come from the intervention of the Spirit’s move in the person. To support this definition we quote the following texts:

To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. Isaiah 8:20

The text of Isaiah presents us with the way God speaks to His people: by the Law, and by the testimony. The Law means all that is written in the Law of Moses, and in the Prophets, and in the Psalms,[4] while testimony means that which is not written explicitly but which comes by the testimony of the Spirit of prophecy; of the latter, the Words of Jesus confirm it,

14 He (the Holy Spirit, according with the context) shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. 15 All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you. John 16:14-15

Faith is based on the person’s willingness to follow instructions, the instructions given by the Word and/or by the intervention of the Spirit of God; whoever is not willing to follow the instructions of the Gospel cannot grow in faith.

He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. John 3:18

Faith is nourished and grows as we follow instructions, but stagnates as we interpret the instructions and/or alter them to our own convenience. Hence, as the apostle Paul rightly pointed out, there are many weakened believers and others sleeping, because they have rebelled against the Lord’s instructions.

29 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. 30 For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. 31 For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. 1st. Corinthians 11:29-31

The Gospel is not based on arguments that question the veracity of the Word, or on hermeneutic methods of interpretation; the Gospel is God’s instruction to man to establish God’s Justice on earth, so that man/woman may walk according to His Will, who fall into the vice of interpreting the teachings of Jesus are far from being man/woman of faith.

The next step in the development of faith is not to accumulate information, but to do the Word; God entrusts the Word to us in order, first, to establish with each one a precedent of faith for the region we inhabit, as in the case of Abraham from whom we all took part;

6 Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: 7 neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. 8 That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. Romans 9:6-8

Second, to establish an act of Justice or judgment, as in the case of Peter when he declared that Jesus is the Son of the Living God, allowing darkness to be judged by the word,

And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Matthew 16:18

Or, like the case of Noah, who condemned his generation for the fulfillment of the instruction given by the Lord,

By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. Hebrews 11:7

And third, simply so that we may grow as a community of faith in the midst of a nation of darkness.

that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: 1st. Peter 1:7

[1] John 9:7

[2] Luke 17:14

[3] Mathew 16:8-10

[4] Luke 24:44

What is the Gospel of Jesus? What does it consist of? The value of Authority

Another aspect of the Gospel that we should study is its legal aspect, that is, its value in the face of the forces of darkness. Referring to the text of Matthew 16, where Jesus declares to Peter the value of his words before the forces of evil, the following question arises, Why before the message of the Gospel does darkness have to flee?

18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Matthew 16:18-19

The ” rock ” on which the Lord builds His church is the declaration of faith in Jesus confessed by those who recognize Him as Lord and Christ (Messiah). Take time to review carefully the dialogue between Jesus and His disciples, and you will see that the prophetic confirmation Peter received was due to the response he presented to Jesus:

And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Matthew 16:16

So the ” rock ” is the spoken word that confesses that Jesus is Lord, Christ (Messiah) and God Himself, in whom Alone is found the way to the recovery of the image and likeness committed by Adam in the garden; this ” spoken word ” is constituted in virtue of the faith of the one who speaks it in the message of the Gospel, as we read in the account presented by the writer of the book of Acts of the Apostles:

Send therefore to Joppa, and call hither Simon, whose surname is Peter; he is lodged in the house of one Simon a tanner by the sea side: who, when he cometh, shall speak unto thee. Acts 10:32

who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved. Acts 11:14

The message of the Gospel is not a formula, the Gospel is a message believed, confessed as a declaration of the recognition of the Lordship of Jesus, and spoken in response to the testimony that it is necessary to announce what we have seen and heard concerning the Word of life (1st. John 1:1-3). Do you see it now?

Now that we have understood this, let us ask the original question again, and let us answer it: Why does darkness have to flee before the message of the Gospel? The answer is simple and forceful: because the Gospel has a legal value that gives authority over the forces of darkness to the one who speaks it, that is, to the one who speaks the Gospel.

Yes, the Gospel has a legal value, and it is not a value per se, that is, by the mere fact that it comes from heaven; a message spoken by one who is not subject to the Lordship of Christ is an anathema message, as we read in Galatians 1:8: But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed; such a message is subject to perdition, according to the very teaching of Jesus:

21 Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven….     23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Matthew 7:21-23

Not all the apostles spoke on this subject; the apostle Paul presented it in one of his teachings in the epistle to the Romans:

Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? Romans 6:16

The legality of the Gospel consists in the right and authority that is acquired through Revelation, is what we read in Matthew 16 in Jesus’ own words:

And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. Matthew 16:17

The Gospel is not knowledge, it is Revelation; only those who “understand” the Revelation of the Lordship of Christ, and submit to it, are the only ones who can establish the legality of the Kingdom, that is what the apostle Paul refers to when he writes:

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. Romans 1:16

And later when he also points,

for the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. Romans 14:17

The forces of darkness recognize the men and women to whom the Gospel gives authority, not all have such authority; the contrast is clearly marked in the following text:

28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. 29 For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. 30 Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Acts 20:28-30

Why after Paul’s departure? Why didn’t the wolves come out during his presence? Paul had acquired the authority to establish the legality of the Kingdom, the Revelation of the Gospel had given it to him.

Many can preach, but not all can establish legality, they are not assisted by the authority of Revelation.

The biblical quotations are taken from the Authorized (King James) Version (AKJV)

Pastor Pedro Montoya

WhatsApp 1 (407) 764-2699

Follow us on Twitter: @pastormontoya

https://earthenwarevessels.com/

What is the Gospel of Jesus? What does it consist of? The value of Revelation

The concept of the Gospel cannot be defined or explained only by the etymological meaning of the word, or worse, by the religious definition that modern times have assigned to it; the Gospel must be understood on the basis of the Revelation that the Holy Spirit assigns to it in the Holy Scriptures.

In the epistle to the Galatians, the apostle Paul discovered by the Spirit that God evangelized Abraham (3:8), and explains that such an act did not consist in “informing” him about his future plans with him and his descendants, but in the faculty Abraham received to “believe” in him, that is, to generate faith in the Word of God, to such an extent that as the writer of the epistle to the Hebrews also discovers by the Spirit, Abraham believed that God was able to give Isaac back to him even after he died,

17 By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, 18 of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: 19 accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure. Hebrews 11:17-19

God evangelized Abraham when He discovered to him the purpose of his presence on earth, and said to him: In you all nations will be blessed. It was not to prosper him for we all know from history that he dwelt in Canaan as a stranger; the Gospel to Abraham meant a dowry of Revelation, faith and purpose.

Such teaching helps us understand that the Gospel is Revelation of the very essence of God, the Gospel is nourished by faith in the Word; no proclamation of the Good News makes true sense if the message does not foster the value of faith in God, a message based on highlighting only personal benefits is not a true Gospel message; the Gospel reveals to the person by the Spirit God’s purpose for him or her.

34 Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: 35 but in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him…   18 When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life. Acts 10:34,35-11:18

In his epistle to Timothy, the apostle acknowledges that God’s mercy reaches out to people to transform their lives, so that with them they may glorify the Lord.

12 And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry; 13 who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. 14 And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. 1st. Timothy 1:12-14

The Gospel is Revelation of purposes, it is discovering by the Spirit to the person the meaning of living hidden in Christ, it is showing him the service that God wants each one to develop for the benefit of the body of Christ. Hence, in the testimony of the apostle John, every person occupies a leading position within the Kingdom,

12 But as many as received him, to them gave the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13 which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. John 1:12-13

Paul presents this same teaching by the Spirit as the harmonious integration of the members into one body, where all the members exercise a spiritual function of establishing the Kingdom,

15 If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? 16 And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? 17 If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? 1st. Corinthians 12:15-17

The Gospel is therefore not just a message, it is Revelation that commissions the person to move in the Spirit by establishing with their decisions and actions the spiritual support for other members to move in the same way.

4 Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. 5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 6 who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: Philippians 2:4-6

It could be that some only have information about Jesus, because it could be that the Gospel they approached only contemplated the information of a historical Jesus; upon discovering that the Gospel “attributes” essence and divine substance, today it is convenient that we discard everything that is merely informative, and begin, like Abraham, to discover the power of transformation that the promise of his life in Jesus gives to the person who believes.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. Romans 1:16

for the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. Romans 14:17

buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. Colossians 2:12

18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, 20 which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, Ephesians 1:18-20

37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:37-39

The biblical quotations are taken from the Authorized (King James) Version (AKJV)

Pastor Pedro Montoya

WhatsApp 1 (407) 764-2699

Follow us on Twitter: @pastormontoya

https://earthenwarevessels.com/