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and Free BonusesChapter Two
Dr. Jay Snell Newsletter Feed
and Free Bonuses
There is a difference between power and authority. We have both, but there is a difference. You need to understand this difference and how this difference relates to you as a Christian. From this Chapter, you will understand your power and your authority over your personally assigned demon and the sicknesses he causes.
There are two different Greek words translated power and authority, yet in some places the translators render them both, by the same word, power. Unless you know the Greek text, there is no way you can tell which word is used in the various Scriptures. I will show you, however, the differences in these two Greek words from Scripture. Then you will your power and your authority as a Christian. Look first at Luke 9: 1.
Luke 9:1-2
1 Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases.
2 And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick. (KJV)
In the above expression, "gave them power," power is the Greek word DUNAMIS, from which comes our English word DYNAMITE. This word means ability. Jesus gave them ability or power or dynamite over all the demons. Look at that expression, over all the demons. How many demons? All of them. Now, here are the disciples and suddenly Jesus is giving them power or ability over all the demons and over all sicknesses. In other words, He gave them power or ability that is more in strength than the ability of any demon or any sickness.
I have seen demon possessed people do strange things. The first encounter I ever had with a demonic person occurred when I was in a revival meeting in Tennessee. I was a Southern Baptist at that time, and I did not know beans about demons. However, I was in a church with a Spirit filled pastor, who knew how to deal with them. After the service one night, He took me back into his office. I walked in and saw a man crawling around on the floor, frothing at the mouth and making hissing sounds. He spoke with the weirdest sounding voice I had ever heard in my life. It was not the voice of a normal man; it was the voice of something inside that man that was speaking through his vocal cords.
Furthermore, he had super human strength. Back then, we did not have these plastic base boards along the bottom of the walls. Buildings in those days used wood base boards. In the pastor's office, those wood, 1" x 4" base boards were nailed into the 2" x 4"'s in that building. While writhing around on the floor, that man pulled that base board off with his fingernails and broke it to bits.
I sat behind the pastor's oak desk which weighed about 300 pounds. I weighed 200 pounds. That man, while lying on his stomach on the floor, took one arm, grabbed the leg of that desk, lifted it and shoved me and the desk backward into the wall. That is dynamite power.
But the Bible says that Jesus gave us power over that power. It also says that no demon is excluded from the power which we Christians have been given by Jesus. Look back at the passage. Jesus said, "I give you power over all the demons." Is any demon excluded? Not one demon is excluded from this blanket statement that Jesus gave, for He said, "I give you power over all the demons and the diseases."
I have seen some debilitating diseases. If you want to be humbled, go to Texas Children's Hospital and take a tour through it. You will see the devastation caused by demons (in the form of diseases) on those little children. If that doesn't break your heart, you are one hard-hearted person. I can handle it to see a sick adult. It bothers me, but I can handle it. But I can not go into those little children's wards and see some of those little bodies that are absolutely ate up with disease and sickness and not break down and cry. I just can not do it.
I am a softy for a child: anyone's child, mine, yours or little urchin children on the street. I just have a place in my heart for children and I can not deal with watching them lie there with a debilitating disease. Yet Jesus said, "I give you power over all the demons and over all the diseases."
In the Greek text, demons and diseases are linked together. In Luke 9:1, the Greek text gives Christians power and authority over all the demons and all the diseases. Consequently, there is no disease over which you do not have power. No matter how great it's ability to destroy the human body, you have an ability greater than the ability of that sickness.
Although a demon has the power to pull a base board off the wall with a man's fingernails and break it to bits while a room full of men stand there and watch, listening to it hiss and talk in weird sounds, you have power and authority greater than this power.
Nothing but demon activity causes this. The Holy Ghost does not cause it. But even while sitting there watching this display of super human strength, remember, Jesus said that you have ability greater than any demon and his sickness.
Next, Jesus used the authority word. He said, "I also give you authority." What good is power if I do not have the authority to use it? Here, He used a totally different word. But this word, EXOUSIA (translated here by the word, authority) is translated, in other passages of Scripture, by the English word power. The translation, power, is an accurate way to translate it, but it doesn't convey its complete meaning.
Here is what it means. The word EXOUSIA carries all the ability of the Greek word DUNAMIS, but EXOUSIA carries within itself the right to use that ability. What good is power, what good is ability, if you do not have the authority or the right to use that power and ability?
Since Jesus used the word, authority, He meant, "Not only have I given you ability greater than the ability of all demons, not only have I given you power greater than the power of any disease to maim and make sick and destroy, but I have also given you the authority to use that power. My authority, combined with my power, makes you more powerful than all demons and all diseases." Consequently, I not only have power, I also have authority.
Look at what they did with this power and authority. In verse two, He told them what to do with them. He sent them to proclaim the Kingdom of God and to heal those being sick. Then, verse 6 says, "and having gone out, they passed through the villages preaching the gospel and healing everywhere." He told them what to do with them and they went out and did it.
Luke 9:6
6 And they departed, and went through the towns, preaching the gospel, and healing every where. (KJV)
In Luke 10:17, as they returned from where He sent them (verse 6), they were absolutely amazed. They returned with joy saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us through your name."
Luke 10:17
17 And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. (KJV)
Then, Jesus said in verse 19,
Luke 10:19
19 Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. (KJV)
Notice what He did. He used the same two words, authority and power. He said, "I have given you the authority to tread on the ability of the enemy. I have given you the authority to walk all over all the power of the enemy." Do you know that the enemy has power? Do you know that Satan can perform miracles? Satan's power is limited only by the power of God.
Satan is powerful. He can make you sick. He can set up nations and he can bring down nations. Make no mistake about it. Satan is a power to be reckoned with. He is our enemy and his power is malignant. Moreover, his powerful malignancy is directed against us at all times.
There is never a moment that the power of the enemy is not directed against you. It may be subtle, or it may be right out in broad open daylight. It may be through trying to seduce your mind and con you, but his malignant power is always directed against a child of God.
But what did Jesus say about this malignant power that is always aimed at us? He said, "I have given you authority over all the ability of the enemy." Does anyone doubt that Satan has ability? Does anyone doubt that Satan has power? Does anyone doubt that the devil is the worst enemy you have?
Make no mistake. Satan has power. He turns men into alcoholics. He causes women to be abused. He causes little children to be sexually abused and hungry. He causes homes to crack up. He causes division. He causes sickness. He is a powerful enemy. Never-the-less, Jesus said, "I have given you authority over the power of the enemy.
You have power and authority over demon induced sickness nowLook at verse 19 again. Jesus said, "I have given you authority to tread on all the power of the enemy." All of it. How much power does the enemy have? Its awesome, but we have the authority to tread on it. You have the authority over everything concerning the enemy. You have it now. You don't have to get it. If you have been born again, you have the power and the authority granted to you by Jesus to tread on all the power of the devil.
There is no amount of his power and there is no area of his power not covered by this verse. You can put your feet right in his face and walk all over him, because you have, now, this authority over all his power. Therefore, why do we let the devil bang around our church, bang around our finances, bang around our health, bang around our homes and our children? We don't have to tolerate him. We have been given both power and authority over him.
Furthermore, Jesus says that if you will exercise the authority He has given to you, nothing on earth shall by any means hurt you. When you learn who you are in Christ and what you have in Christ, it will make you bold. Proverbs 28:1 says it for us.
Prov 28:1
1 The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion. (KJV)
When you become aware of who you are and what you have, you are scared of nothing for Jesus said that nothing, no thing, shall by any means hurt you because you have been given authority to tread all over the power of the enemy. Therefore, we don't have to be afraid of him or his power.
Now the main question is this; how do you exercise this authority over your personally assigned demon and the sicknesses he causes? There is a Scripture (Luke 7: 1-10) that clearly answers this question. We shall see plainly how authority operates. We shall see there is absolutely no reason for anyone to take a pounding from the devil. If you do, it is either because you do not understand what you have, or if you do understand and still get kicked around by him, then you are just too lazy to use what you have.
If you are lazy, I can not help you. But if you do not know what you have, I can help you. I will teach you what belongs to you. What I am saying, here, applies to any born-again believer. If you have been saved, you are included in Luke 7: 1-10, for when Jesus said these things to the twelve and then to the seventy, He said them to us also.
Someone may say, "Well, Jay, that was said to the twelve and to the seventy and that doesn't apply to us." What He said to them, not only applies to us, it has even been intensified to us, for this reason; we have the indwelling Holy Ghost. They did not have the indwelling Holy Ghost yet. Consequently, multiply what He said to them, by several thousand times more power. That is what applies to us. What Jesus said to the twelve and what He said to the seventy applies even more to us today. Why? Because since Pentecost, we have it all. As a matter of fact, they operated without the Spirit indwelling them and they operated without the Baptism in the Holy Ghost. When Pentecost came, however, the Holy Ghost came in power and we now have every bit of power there is in the Holy Ghost.
Now the Spirit of God lives inside every Christian and His power also lives inside you. Now you can understand the Scripture, "Greater is He that is within you than he that is in the world." When the Spirit of God comes to live inside you and you receive the Baptism in the Holy Ghost, you have all the power you will ever need.
Many of you do not experience this power because you have not received the Baptism in the Holy Ghost. You need to receive the Spirit of God like you received Jesus as your personal Savior. (To see the three ways to receive the Baptism in the Holy Ghost, see my book, How To Exercise God's Megaton Power Now.) Then, power will take over your life. There is power inside you which gives you the right and ability to walk all over everything that the devil throws at you. Next, look at Luke 7 which explains the difference between power and authority.
Luke 7:1-10
1 Now when he had ended all his sayings in the audience of the people, he entered into Capernaum.
2 And a certain centurion's servant, who was dear unto him, was sick, and ready to die.
3 And when he heard of Jesus, he sent unto him the elders of the Jews, beseeching him that he would come and heal his servant.
4 And when they came to Jesus, they besought him instantly, saying, That he was worthy for whom he should do this:
5 For he loveth our nation, and he hath built us a synagogue.
6 Then Jesus went with them. And when he was now not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying unto him, Lord, trouble not thyself: for I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof:
7 Wherefore neither thought I myself worthy to come unto thee: but say in a word, and my servant shall be healed.
8 For I also am a man set under authority, having under me soldiers, and I say unto one, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.
9 When Jesus heard these things, he marvelled at him, and turned him about, and said unto the people that followed him, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.
10 And they that were sent, returning to the house, found the servant whole that had been sick. (KJV)
The Centurion in this passage was not a Jew. He was a Roman, but he was good to the Jews. Therefore, some of the Jews asked Jesus to heal his slave. They told Jesus that he was worthy because he was friendly toward them. So Jesus went with them. But while He was still far away from his house, the Centurion sent friends to Him with this message; "Lord, do not trouble, for I am not worthy that you come under my roof."
The disciples said he was worthy of Jesus attention, but the centurion said that he, himself, was not worthy. He said, "Therefore, I did not count myself worthy to come to you." In other words, if I am not worthy for you to come in my house, I am not even worthy to come to you myself. Then the message declared, "Say a word, let my servant be cured, for I also am a man having been set under authority." (Here is our word, authority.) The message continues, "I also have soldiers under me, and I say to this one go and he goes, and to another, come and he comes, and to my slave, do this and he does it." And hearing these things, Jesus marveled at him. And turning to the crowd following Him, He said, "I say to you, I did not find such faith in Israel." And returning, they found the sick slave well.
Notice some basic truths here. First, the Centurion said to these people and to Jesus, "I understand authority because I am a man who is under authority. I am a soldier and when my superiors give me an order, since they are my authority, I do what that order says for me to do. I understand authority, which works like this; when the one in authority tells a subservient one what to do, the person, who is subservient to the one in authority, must do what his superior tells him to do. He responds to words."
Second, he said, "Not only am I a man under authority, but I am also a man of authority, for I have other soldiers under me. All I have to do is say the word, and because they are under my authority, my word is my power, for they act on what I say. Therefore, I simply say go and they go. I say come and they come. I say do this and they do this." Do you see what he is doing? He is linking power and authority with spoken words! This is how you defeat demons and sickness.
So then, Jesus said, "I have given you all power and authority. I have given you ability over the authority of the devil and I have given you authority over the ability of the devil. I have placed it within your power to walk all over the devil. There is no demon and no sickness over which you do not have both ability and authority. There is no demon over which you do not have the right and the ability to walk over because I gave you that right, I gave you that authority, I gave you that ability and I gave you that power.
How then do I exercise this power and authority? The same way that the Centurion exercised it. He would say, "Go," to a soldier and the soldier would go. He would say, "Come," to a soldier and the soldier would come. He would say to a slave, "Do this," and the slave would do it. That is how power and authority is exercised. It is exercised through spoken words. Jesus told us this in Mark 11.
Mark 11:23
23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. (KJV)
Notice what He said. He said, "Say something to this mountain. Give it an order." Remember what the Centurion said. He said, "Say a word to the disease of my slave. Say a word to the disease of my slave and let it be cured."
He recognized authority, he recognized power. In Matthew 28, Jesus said that all power both in Heaven and in earth had been given unto Him.
Matt 28:18-20
18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. (KJV)
In verse 18 above, the word translated all power is the Greek word for all authority. Remember, authority is power with the right to use it. Jesus said, "All authority both in Heaven and in earth has been given unto me." Then He said, "Lo, I am with you always even to the end of the world."
Where is He with me always? He is in my spirit man. So what Jesus is saying is this; all authority, both in Heaven and in earth, (throughout the entire universe) has been given unto Him. Then He said, "I am with you always." In addition, we know from other Scriptures that He is indwelling us. "With us always," in this context, means "in us always," even to the end of the world. Therefore, Jesus brought all His authority and power into us..
Now, you can really see what John meant when he said,
I Jn 4:4
4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. (KJV)
Satan has some authority. Satan has some power. His power is second only to God. He has some rip roaring power. Look in the hospitals and see what disease can do. That is power. Go see what a demon can do to a person, how it causes them to make an absolute fool of themselves. It can cast them into a fire and make them walk on broken glass and mutilate their own body. That is power. Any force that can make a person do that is power.
But Jesus said that all authority, even over the things above, has been given to Him and He has come inside you to live, and He will stay in there forever. Therefore, "Greater is He that is within me than he that is within the world."
How, then, do I release this power of the indwelling Christ? I release it by words. This means that when a disease presents itself, I have two ways to handle it. I can handle it in the natural and I will say, "Woe is me." I can handle it in the natural and say, "I better get to the hospital fast." I can handle it through the natural and head for the drug store. There is nothing inherently wrong with this. But as you go to the drug store, combine the spiritual with it. The spiritual way to deal with any disease is take authority over it and tread it under with words.
How do I do it? I do it with words. I will turn on that thing with words. I will do exactly what Jesus and the apostles did. I will say, "I rebuke you, sickness, in the name of Jesus. Come out of that man's body and leave him whole." That is how authority is exercised. When I encounter someone that is demon possessed, I will turn on that thing and I will rebuke it. I will say to that thing, "Foul spirit, come out of that women's body in the name of Jesus." That is authority. That is how you exercise it. You do it with words.
I want everyone reading this page to learn how to use the words of God to accomplish the works of God. Jesus said, "The works that I do shall you do also." Then He said, "And greater works than these shall you do because I go back to my Father."
John 14:12
12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. (KJV)
What kind of works did Jesus do? He spoke words. Sometimes He would spit in the dirt and make a mud pie and smear it in a man's eye and make him see. Most of the time, however, He spoke words. He would say, "I rebuke you foul spirit." This is what we are to do also. There is no power on earth that can stand against you when you have enough courage to use words against demons, circumstances and sicknesses.
When you really get a handle on who you are and what you have, you will be very bold. You will be as bold as a lion because there is absolutely no force, man, devil, denomination or group that can stand against you and win. Why? Because Jesus said, "I have given you authority over all the abilities of the enemy. I have given you the right to trample him right under your feet."
You do it with spoken words. Therefore, you must issue a command in Jesus' name. Give that demon an order in Jesus' name. It will do exactly what you tell it. Does this sound too good to be true? Maybe! Nevertheless, it is true. When you walk it out, you will find that it is true.
When I first began to do this, it made me shake and tremble. I said Lord, "What if I rebuke something, cast the demon out and everybody laughs at me because it didn't work?" He said, "You must put it to the test. There is no other way."
So I put it to the test and discovered that I can pry the hinges off any door the devil can set up in front of me. I found there is no power, no man, no angel, no devil, no nothing that can stop me as long as I speak the Words of God, combined with the authority in Jesus' name.
When I began to speak words to demon induced sicknesses using the name of Jesus, I was aware of three things. First, I recognized my authority that Jesus had given to me. Second, I recognized the fact that all power and all authority there is in this entire universe is living right now in my chest trying to come out. Third, I recognized that all this power will come out if I just convert it to words and speak the things of God. The power will come right out of me. It will hit the works of the devil and dash them to pieces.
We must stop demons from coming against our homes, our churches, our children, our jobs, our businesses and our health. Say, "I rebuke you in Jesus' name! Stop it." It will come to a grinding halt. "All power." Jesus said, "both in Heaven and in earth have been given to me." He also said, "I am never going to leave you." He said, "I am going to be with you always, even unto the end of the world." He said that He will live within you and bring all His authority into you."
You have this authority now. It only works when you work it. It works with words. When something comes against you, rebuke that thing in the name of Jesus. Give it an order and things will happen. A demon does not live that can make me scared of him. Any little pip squeak demon, in the natural, makes me scared of him. In my natural flesh, I am scared of things like this. But as long as I am walking in the Spirit, standing in the power of God and knowing who I am and what I have, I am not scared of one thing any demon can produce.
Even as a Baptist, I was so aware of the necessity for the Holy Ghost, that I took my Greek Bible and underlined, in bright yellow (the brightest yellow pen you can buy), every verse in the Greek New Testament that had the term Holy Ghost in it. I studied everyone of them. I found the exact relationship of the Holy Ghost to the church, to Christians and most of all to me. I discovered that I had been operating in the Holy Ghost all my ministry and did not even know it.
I just believed what the Bible said, preached what it said and did what it said. Then, the Holy Ghost fell in my meetings. Hundreds upon hundreds, even thousands upon thousands of souls were saved in my ministry down through the years.
Then, I discovered that the Holy Ghost would heal and I began having healing services in the denominational church that I pastored. I laid hands on one girl one night in that church. She had a migraine headache. I laid hands on her and anointed her with oil. She said, "I felt something warm come out of your hands and go all the way down my body." Then she said, "My headache is gone."
I just did what God said and it worked. I began to deal with sickness speaking the Word of God combined with the name of Jesus. I would tell that demon and that sickness exactly what I thought about it and where I wanted it to go. They would do it.
I had a healing service one night in a denominational church and I gave an invitation for healing. Twenty two people came down the isle, one of which was an elderly man. He had devastating, debilitating diabetes. He took insulin shots.
He said, "I want to be healed." I anointed him with oil, laid hands on him and commanded that diabetes to come out of him. That was years ago. I know from personal evidence, because I know somebody that knows him, that he has never had another insulin shot.
"I give you authority over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you." I like that expression, "nothing shall by any means" hurt you. That means there is no devil, no demon, no committee, no denomination, no power, no man, no disease and no nothing that can hurt you. That is your authority. It operates with words.
I used to wonder how you could get this to work. It was so simple I missed it. The Bible said words release it. But I said, "This can not be. This is just too easy." But it kept saying words. So I said, "All right I am going to try it." Before I did, though, I got scared. I said, "Lord, what if I do this and it does not work? I will be out on a limb. I will saw myself off and my ministry will be over. Everybody in this world will laugh at me from now on."
God said, "There is no other way. You have to get in the water. You will never learn how to swim until you get into the water. You will not learn to drive a car until you get behind the wheel. You must do what I say do or you will never work my works." I said, "Here I go." And I did. Even in the denominational church, it worked.
You can use words also. Go to it. When you do, no demon will be safe around you. No disease in anyone's body will be safe around you. No pain in anyone's body will be safe around you because you have Jesus' power and have learned to release it by your words.
How do you defeat your personally assigned demon and sickness? Use words against them. We present more on words in the next chapter. We shall see that words take five forms.
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Date Last Updated:
February 26, 2008
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