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

 

All Coffee Break articles are copyright by Regner A. Capener, but authorization for reprinting, reposting, copying or re-use, in whole or in part, is granted –provided proper attribution and this notice are included intact. Older Coffee Break archives are available at http://www.RegnersMorningCoffee.com. Coffee Break articles are normally published weekly.

If you would like to have these articles arrive each morning in your email, please send a blank email to:
AnotherCoffeeBreak@protonmail.com with the word, “Subscribe” in the subject line.  To remove yourself from the mailing list, please send a blank email to AnotherCoffeeBreak@protonmail.com with the word “Unsubscribe” in the subject line.

 

CAPENER MINISTRIES is a tax-exempt church ministry. Should you desire to participate and covenant with us as partners in this ministry, please contact us at either of the above email or physical addresses, or visit: http://www.RiverWorshipCenter.org.