Bondage Breaker - Part 2 — Neil T. Anderson

Authority Over the Kingdom of Darkness

Authority. Let's back up here a little bit, because when the Lord in the Gospels trained the twelve, in Luke chapter 9, verse 1, He sent them out and the first thing He said to them, He said, behold, I've given you authority and power over demons.

That's the first thing the Lord told those twelve. And then Luke chapter 10, after the seventy had come back, same kind of a training mission, the first thing they said was, Lord, even the demons are subject to us.

And the Lord responded, don't rejoice in that. And let me say the same thing, don't rejoice in that. That's not the issue, people. Rejoice in the fact that your name is written in the last book of life.

We're not trying to dispel the darkness, we're trying to turn on the light. And the difference is profound. The Lord went on to say, behold, I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning, but I've given you authority and power over serpents and scorpions.

That's not snakes and bugs, that's the devil and his angels. And that's what you and I have, because you and I are seated with Christ in the heavenlies. What's the difference between authority and power?

Well, authority is the right to rule. It's because of a position that we have. For instance, you could be a a rookie cop and just graduate from academy, and your first assignment is to go down into some intersection where there's four lanes one way and four lanes going the other way, and for whatever reason the signal light isn't working.

And you're supposed to go out there and direct the traffic. Now, as a rookie cop, that could be a little intimidating. I'm just going to walk out there and somehow direct that traffic, and that Mack truck is going to stop for me.

What would a seasoned cop do? Well, he'd just walk out there. He knows he has the authority to do it, and he would just blow his whistle and direct the traffic. And after a while, the rookie cop would establish the same confidence.

Now, does he have the power to stop that? The answer is no. He may be tempted to pull out his 41 Police Special and shoot a few radiators, but truth of the matter is, the truck would probably still keep coming.

Now, what if I went out into that intersection in the middle of the night and put a huge cement block? It would stop the traffic, too. Not because I have the authority to do it, but because it has the power.

Guess what every child of God has? Well, we all have both. We have the authority because we're in Christ. Now, that authority is not over each other. There is that kind of authority, too. We're dealing with the authority that the Church has over the kingdom of darkness.

And we have the power, as long as we continue to operate according to the Spirit. That's why Ephesians chapter 6, verse 10 says, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. It's not our might, nor is it our position, but because we're children of God and we are seated with Christ in the heavenlies, then we occupy that.

The Church's Authority and the Great Commission

Now, the Great Commission says, go into all the world and make disciples, but people don't ever read that without the preceding verse. All authority has been given to me in heaven and upon this earth.

Go therefore. Well, the Lord understands Management 101. You can't delegate responsibility without authority. And so, you and I are to carry on the work of Christ on planet Earth. And He has limited Himself to work and operate through that Church.

That's the divine purpose. We are clearly told that, by the way, in Ephesians chapter 3, verse 8 and following. It says, To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given to priests to the Gentiles, the unfathomable riches of Christ, and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things, in order that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the Church.

To whom? To the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. That's the spiritual realm. So, here's the eternal purpose of God to operate through the Church and to make His wisdom known to the principalities and powers of the spiritual world.

And if that be the case, how are we doing? Let me go on. Verse 11 says, This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and competent access to faith in Him.

And so, here's the work of God. First John 3 says that Jesus came to undo the works of Satan and now He's going to make that wisdom known around the world through the Church. Again, you'd have to ask the question, how are we doing?

And frankly, not very well. Half the Church doesn't even believe the devil exists. We're operating as though we're a hospital where sick people go when we're not. We're a military outpost that's been called to storm the fortresses and tear down those strongholds that thank God has an infirmary.

But we don't exist for the infirmary. The infirmary exists for the military outpost. I spend a lot of time in the infirmary because we've got a lot of wounded warriors out there. But we want to nurture them back in health, present a complete, pure, spotless, undefiled, in Christ, and help them find their rightful position, free from their past, alive in Him, so they can carry on the work of God on planet earth.

Qualifications for Spiritual Authority

Well, such is our battle. What qualifies me for this authority? Well, three things. This power that's been extended towards you who believe. See, everything is conditioned by how we believe. The Lord would say to the Church today, be it done to you according to how you believe.

Believing it doesn't make it true is true, therefore I believe it. We're not New Agers. We don't create reality with our mind. We respond to reality in an appropriate way. So, we got to believe. Secondly, humility.

Now, this is a tough one because about the time you think you've got that one licked, you're probably going to lose it. But what is humility? Humility is confidence properly placed. So, Paul says, put no confidence in the flesh, but we ought to have the greatest confidence in God and who we are as children of God.

That's why he says, you come before Him with confident access through faith in Him, with boldness. And thirdly, boldness. That's a tough one because fear is such a critical part of this problem. But listen to what the Word of God had to say to Joshua before he went into the promised land.

Joshua chapter 1, four times, he says, only be strong and courageous, only be strong and courageous, only be strong and courageous, only be strong and courageous. Proverbs 28, verse 1 says, the wicked flee when no one is pursuing, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.

In Acts chapter 4, verse 31, it says, the place where they prayed was shaken, they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the Word of God with boldness. God hasn't given us a spirit of fear, but a power, love, and a sound mind.

Courage, Fear, and Dependence on God

In Revelation chapter 21, verses 6 through 8, it says, and he said to me, it is done. I am the Elf and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.

He who overcomes shall inherit these things, and I will be his God, and he will be my son. But for the cowardly, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and immoral persons, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.

Now, if you were going to make a list of a rogues gallery, would you have the list with cowardly and unbelieving? God did. See, I don't believe the Lord looks with favor upon a church that acts in unbelief and cowards as though we don't have an answer.

We can't significantly contribute to what is taking place in the world. Paul writes to Timothy, the church is the pillar and the support of truth. We've got to take our rightful place. You know the passage well, where the Lord fed the 5 ,000, and then he went up to the mountain to pray, and he sent his disciples across the Sea of Galilee, and they were just rolling against the storm, and they weren't getting anywhere.

And then the Lord came walking by, and the text says in Mark, that the Lord intended to pass them by. I believe that the Lord intends to pass by the self-sufficient today. Go ahead, roll against the storm if you want to, but the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh.

You will never accomplish anything that way. And when they call upon the Lord, as we must today, when we call upon the name of the Lord, then we shall be saved. And we have to have a strict dependence upon God throughout all of our life.

Now, if boldness is a problem, then fear is a major, major issue. And I want to submit to you that it is. Anybody caught in a spiritual conflict is probably going to struggle with fear. Fear is a little bit different from anxiety.

Anxiety has sometimes been understood as fear without an adequate cause. And so, if I'm anxious about something, it's because I don't know. That's why scripture says, don't be anxious about tomorrow, because I don't know what tomorrow is going to bring forth.

The answer to that is, we've got to trust God. If He takes care of the lilies of the field, etc., then much more so will He take care of us, because we're of infinite more value than a lily of the field or the bird of the sky.

Fear is different from that, because fear has an object. In fact, fear is categorized by its identifiable objects. For instance, agoraphobia is fear of the marketplace. Claustrophobia is fear of enclosed places.

Now, in order for a fear object to be legitimate, it has to have two attributes. Somehow, that fear object has to be present and potent. Now, let me illustrate. I don't like rattlesnakes. I never have liked rattlesnakes.

But, I sit here right now, I have no fear rattlesnakes. The reason is, there's not one present here right now. But, if you were to open that door and throw one of those babies through that door, and it landed at my feet, from a scale of 0 to 10, I'd be at a 10 and exit stage left immediately.

Because, in my mind, it is now both present and potent. It has a power over me, because I would fear it could bite me, and I could potentially die. Now, if you open the door and throw a dead one in, it is also present, but it's no longer potent.

And, I would no longer have to fear it. I probably wouldn't go to 0, because I would always have that lingering doubt, is it really dead? But, the point of it is, all you have to do is to remove one of the attributes, and that fear object is no longer valid as a fear object.

Freedom from the Fear of Death and Man

Now, we are told in scripture that we're to fear neither man nor death. Let's look at death for a moment. Death is still imminent. It's appointed unto every man that one day he shall die. Now, how then has God removed fear of death as a legitimate object?

Death is a legitimate object for our fear. The answer is, he's removed his power. It is no longer potent. That's why in 1 Corinthians 15, it says, where, O death, is your sting? And so, he has removed that.

That's why Paul could say, for me to live is Christ, to die is actually gain. I've asked some people, I said, tell me what's the worst thing that could happen to you? Well, I could die. Well, actually, biblically, that may not be the worst thing that could happen to you.

It could be the best thing that happened to you. That's not advocating suicide or something, but it's just simply saying that if I have today no fear of death, then I'm really free to live today. Man.

Why is man such a fear object in our life? Suppose you're a secretary, and you're just intimidated by your boss, and whenever he's around, what controls you is not faith or responsible Christian living, but fear of your boss.

But you're probably listening right now, and you're not afraid of him. The reason is, he's not there. But if he walked in the room, suddenly he would be there. But the question is, what power does he have over you when he is present?

Well, he could fire you, I suppose. How would you resolve that? Well, quit. Or, better, be willing to quit. I'm not advocating that we are not to be submissive to our masters. What I'm saying is, when we give somebody that kind of power over us, it is really going to wreak havoc with our Christian life.

I honestly believe that's why it says in 1 Peter chapter 3, around 14 and 15, it says, we are not to fear their intimidation, but we're to sanctify Christ as the Lord of our lives. Now, the moment we do that, then there's only one legitimate fear object in our life.

Now, what two attributes of God make him the ultimate fear object in our life? Well, he's omnipresent, and he's omnipotent. Now, if we keep that in mind, that becomes the one fear object that expels all other fear objects.

Let me read to you Isaiah chapter 8, verse 12 and following. It says, you are not to say it is a conspiracy in regard to all that this people call a conspiracy, and you are not to fear what they fear or be in dread of it.

It is the Lord of hosts whom you should regard as holy, and he shall be your fear, and he shall be your dread, then he shall become a sanctuary. When you sanctify Christ as Lord of your life, when the Lord becomes the ultimate fear object in your life, then it expels all other fears.

You'll stop a problem like this. Whoa, there's something in my room last night. I said, no, God was there. No, something else. No, God was there. See, God is always there. He's here right now. He's omnipresent.

He's omnipotent. You see, people caught in spiritual battles. They get a posture after a while that they see Satan over there, kingdom of darkness, battle Satan, and good old God over here, poor little me, caught in between these two equal and opposite powers.

If that's what you believe, you're defeated. You couldn't help but be defeated. The truth is, and what the New Testament is trying to tell us, is that God is off the charts. He's omnipotent. He's omnipresent.

He's omniscient. He's kind. He's loving. And Satan is a defeated foe, and I'm in Christ. I'm seated with Christ in the heavenlies. And you realize, because of that position you have, because of your dependency upon the Lord, you can say to Satan any time, take a hike, submit to God, resist the devil, because you have that authority because of your position in Christ.

Spiritual Authority and Spiritual Warfare

Two cautions here, though. One, this is not an independent authority. I can't just go out and do what I want to do. It's determined by my position in Christ and my dependency upon him. And you think this is some ritual or magic formula, you might find yourself like the seven sons of Sceva in Acts chapter 19, when they try to somehow effect some spiritual deliverance just by some ritual or slogan or using the name of Jesus.

And the demonic person looks back and says, Jesus we know, Paul we heard of, who are you? And Satan says, I'm a child of God. You would strip them of their clothes, beat them up and kick them out. But if that confronted you today, how would you respond?

Well, I'd say I'm a child of God. That's what I would say. Now, let me illustrate that, because when people are under that kind of attack, pressure come upon them, overwhelming fear, whatever else, in our secular world, they call that a panic attack or an anxiety attack.

Why do they do that? Because they cannot identify the fear object. Well, if you cannot identify what it is, you're overcome by a wave of fear. I'll tell you what it is. It's spiritual. As I do conferences, I ask thousands of people around the world three questions.

And I caution them, because the answer to all three questions has been asked from me a number of times. You can't do my kind of ministry and not have that kind of opposition. But ask yourself some questions.

Number one. Have you ever personally had some direct encounter with some presence or struggled with thoughts in your mind and just seemed to be paralyzed by that kind of a problem and didn't know how to get out of it, knew it was spiritual or suspected that it was?

And the answer, if not for you, in the general population, is always between 50 and much, much higher than that. In some Christian leadership circles I've been in, when I ask that question, the percentage is usually around 95%.

Let's go one step further. Have you ever awakened, either terrorized or alertly awake at some precise time in the morning, like 3 o 'clock? And if you respond to that, you say, what was that? What happened?

Usually the response to that, the minimum response is 35%. The maximum response I've seen, again, about 95 amongst Christian leaders. And you say, what is that? Well, I didn't know what that was. For me it was 3 o 'clock.

I don't mean 2 .59 or 3 .01. I mean, bam, I was awake at 3 o 'clock. And I started to see that in some other people's writings and experiences. And I had the privilege several years ago, people in ministry full-time came to me after a conference and shared their story, which is remarkable, of their involvement in Satanism as little children and by the grace of God coming out of that years ago.

And I asked them, I said, what's with 3 o 'clock in the morning? And they said, well, that's prime time. They didn't hesitate a moment. Satanists meet from midnight to 3 in the morning, according to them, and basically we've been targeted.

Well, that's the fiery darts of which we put up the shield of faith. Just remember that greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. For me, that's just a nuisance. I may wake up, typically I go right back to sleep, or I know how to pray.

But let me move one step further. Let's ask the question, have you ever had a wave of fear come over you? It could have felt as though you were half asleep or just coming out of your sleep. You felt a tremendous sense of fear and couldn't respond physically.

You tried to say something like Jesus and just couldn't seem to get it out. If you ask that question in any place in America, you will get about a third of your population saying, yes, that's happened to me.

Now, you describe that symptom. You have probably described what the secular world would call an anxiety or panic attack. How do you respond to that? Well, the order of Scripture is critical here. In James 4, 7, it says, Submit to God, resist the devil.

You try to resist the devil without first submitting to God, you probably won't get out of that. Now, realize that you could not for some reason call upon the name of the Lord. The reason is that the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh.

We try to always physically respond to something like that, and we can't seem to do that. Inwardly, God knows the thoughts and intentions of your heart, so you can respond back to Him freely. Inwardly, God knows that always.

And as soon as you acknowledge His authority, He is Lord of your life, you will be freed up. All you'd have to say is Jesus. That's all you'd have to say, and that attack would stop immediately. Let me illustrate how transferable as well as universal this is, because every child of God is in Christ and seated with Christ in the heavenly and has the same authority that I do.

Testimony of Freedom from Paralyzing Fear

Some people wrongly think, well, God has called you into this or you're unique or you have a strong personality or a big body. That has nothing to do with what we're talking about. I was the speaker for a national convention of churches and the pastor went home and just based on the information in this book, sat down with one of the dear people in this church and led her to freedom.

I want you to hear her testimony.

For the past 35 years, I have lived from one surge of adrenaline to the next. My entire life, the portion I can remember, has been gripped by paralyzing fears which seem to come from nowhere and everywhere.

Fears which made very little sense to me or anyone else. I invested four years of my life obtaining a degree in psychology, hoping it would enable me to understand and conquer those fears. Psychology only perpetuated my questions and insecurity.

Six years of professional counseling offered little insight and no change in my level of anxiety. After two hospitalizations, trips to the emergency room, repeated EKGs, a visit to the thoracic surgeon and a battery of other tests, my panic attacks only worsened.

By the time I came to CU, full-blown panic attacks had become a daily feature. It has now been three weeks since I've experienced a panic attack. I have gone to malls, church services, played for an entire worship service, and even made it through Sunday school with peace in my heart.

I had no idea what freedom meant until now. When I came to CU, I had hoped that the truth would set me free, but now I know it has. Friends have told me that even my voice is different and my husband thinks I'm taller.

When you live in a constant state of anxiety, most of life passes you by because you are physically, emotionally and mentally unable to focus on anything but the fear which is swallowing you. I could barely read a verse of scripture at one sitting.

It was as though someone snatched it away from my mind as soon as it entered. Scripture was such a fog to me. I could only hear the verses which spoke of death and punishment. I had actually become afraid to open my Bible.

These past weeks, I have spent hours a day in the Word, and it makes sense. The fog is gone. I am amazed at what I am able to hear, see, understand, and retain. Before the bondage breaker, I could not say Jesus Christ without my metabolism going berserk.

I could refer to the Lord with no ill effect, but whenever I said Jesus Christ, my insides went into orbit. I can now call upon the name of Jesus Christ with peace and confidence and I do it regularly.

That kind of freedom is something that we would like to.

See every child of God around the entire world experience. Not only that, but every church could help that kind of person find their freedom in Christ. One would have to wonder how a defeated foe like Satan could carry on such an effective work.

If he has lost that sense of power, then why isn't this working for us better than it should be? Well, we have been talking about deception. We have been talking about fear. Let me illustrate in a childhood story.

Resisting Fear and Taking Thoughts Captive

When I was a boy, I was raised on a farm in Minnesota. We had some Norwegian bachelor brothers who we used to share product and labor and service with. My dad, my brother, and myself would get in our old pickup and drive over there.

As we entered their barnyard, they had this yappy little dog that would come barking around the corner. As we got out of our pickup, that dog would start chasing us and I ran. Guess who he chased? He didn't chase my brother, he didn't chase my father, he chased me.

He chased me right up on top of the pickup cab. I would sit down and look at that ornery little mutt barking at me and my brother standing right beside him and my dad standing right there. It wasn't bothering them a bit.

One day, Dad said, Son, this is kind of embarrassing. That's just a little dog. Why don't you stand your ground? We went over another time and I worked up my courage and great big beads of sweat welled up in my forehead.

As that dog came barking at me, I kicked a rock at it. Guess what happened? He took off. You resist the devil, he'll flee from you. Well, one would ask the question, what power did that dog have over me?

The answer is only what I gave to it. What he used was fear. How did I get up on top of that pickup cab? That dog used my mind, my will, my emotions and my muscles. That's how I got up there. We literally have Christians all around the country on top of a pickup cab frightened to death of things that go bump in the night and oftentimes no fear of God.

Something is radically wrong in our orientation and in our understanding. The practicality of this cannot be overstated because everybody struggles with thoughts. Everybody has tempting thoughts and accusing thoughts.

The tragedy of some of this is that we just think maybe we're weird and so we can't bring it out into the open. Suppose you're driving down a freeway and suddenly you have a little thought. Drive into that railing or jump over that cliff.

Or as we found out amongst our teenagers that grab that knife and stab somebody and you ask the question, man, where did that come from? Is that me? Am I feeling this way? If you don't realize that that's just a spiritual battle you will personalize that yourself and then suddenly you'll freak out.

It's like the horrible problem that some of our wives face after they've had maybe a second or third child in postpartum depression. As I've shared this across the country I'm amazed at how many ladies have come up and said that's exactly what happened.

Here is a mother she's depleted physically, she's come to the end of her resources oftentimes and the other kids are maybe raising a fuss and then a little thought, kill your baby. Kill my baby? How could I be thinking that?

That's not you ma 'am. That's not you thinking that thought. But if you think it's you then suddenly you just overcome by a wave of depression and the answer of course is to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.

This is so profound when we start realizing that that battle is there for a mind and the fear that induces. We had a dear colleague in ministry who has a wonderful wife wonderful marriage. He's very educated very mature, very pious suddenly his wife became sick with pneumonia and got to the point after a while where she could really not function.

So they took her in surgically removed a liter and a half of fluid from her lungs and then they found the cancer, a big mass of cancer and when I come back from a conference tour one summer he called me and asked if I could speak with his wife and so we went over to her house and sat down.

She wanted to see me alone. She pointed to her Bible and said see my Bible there? I said yes and hanging out of it was a piece of paper. She said that's a list of who I am in Christ. I heard you speak two years ago and I just want you to know that that has really kept me going for these two years.

Then this very lovely pious woman looked at me and said Neil I'm not sure I'm a Christian. I was shocked I said ma 'am if you're not a Christian I'm in deep trouble. I said why would you ever even think that?

She said well I go to church and I struggle with these blasphemous thoughts and foul thoughts go through my mind. I said that's not you? How do I know that's not her? What we read earlier Romans chapter 7 you joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man that's the real you.

Well with her maturity and love for the Lord within a half an hour she is free to those kind of thoughts and she went on through the most horrendous year of physical treatment to try to recover physically and the last I heard she was doing very very well.

Well I remember the first time I encountered this. I was a young pastor and this gal was classified as paranoid schizophrenic and fear was just plaguing her life and she finally told me one day of the snakes I said well tell me about the snakes.

She said I go to sleep at night and these snakes crawl over my bed on me. I said what do you do? I go running into my mother. I said well this is years ago now and I said well try this just say get behind me Satan.

She came back the next week and I asked her how it went she said I couldn't say it. I said why not? She said I didn't want Satan behind me. I laughed. I said well that's just a figure of speech and you learn after a while and trying to deal with people's fears and phobias like this I said well you just call upon the name of the Lord and she did that.

Came back the next week and said the snakes were gone. Now people if that's neurological if there's a chemical imbalance here that isn't going to work obviously but it doesn't cost you anything to take that position in Christ and to exercise your authority.

I remember a gal that was referred to me by a local Christian counselor actually I went to his office to provide some sense of diagnosis he had been counseling her for four years. I was with her about five minutes and I said there's a battle going on for your mind and she said oh thank God somebody will listen to me or believe me.

She had been given EKGs and CAT scans and her counselor was a very fine Christian man he just never had any experience in this at all and when I walked in and saw a pentagram cut into her skin I thought gee there's a clue.

So anyway the next week she came into my office and she was a very large girl and halfway through our conversation time she got up out of her chair and started to walk towards me. What would you do? Well I looked at her and I said I'm a child of God the evil one can't touch me.

She stopped right in her tracks. Listen to me carefully people. Authority does not increase with volume. We're not called to shout out the devil. If we're in that mode you're probably operating out of the flesh somewhere you've already lost control.

It's the same thing when we're dealing with parents with our children. When we start screaming and yelling at our children chances are that's just a deed of the flesh. We probably ought to stop ask God for forgiveness and maybe our children too.

Maintain that sense of control by not losing our position in Christ which you can't really lose anyhow but you start operating as a deed of the flesh instead of operating by the fruit of the spirit which is the whole intention of this fear and so I'm powerless then to deal with this as an issue.

I had a man who was a doctoral student on the east coast had heard that illustration and said I want to thank you for that. I said why? He said well I went to the train station to catch a commuter train and three thugs came up and demanded my money.

He said Neil it was like I could see right through them. I said what did you do? I said I looked at him and said I'm a child of God the evil one can't touch me. They said what? And he repeated I'm a child of God the evil one can't touch me.

They said oh and walked away. I had a very disturbed husband was really creating tremendous problems for his wife and I suggested that she respond to him if she ever has that sense of discernment that there's something more going on here than just a difficult husband.

One morning he started to come after her when she was in the shower and she looked at him and said I'm a child of God you can't touch me. He got disoriented and actually ran out of the house. Well people listen we do have that position in Christ.

We are alive. We're seated with Christ in the heavenlies. Don't let anybody take that away from you. Otherwise we have no power to stand against the God of this world. But because we're seated with Christ in the heavenlies we have a position to do this in and we are not left down here on planet earth without some sense of defense.

Deliverance, Authority, and the Armor of God

I want you to hear a tremendous letter that was shared with me by a gal who attended one of our conferences.

Dear Dr. Anderson I attended your Sunday sessions but while waiting to talk to you after the Sunday evening meeting I suddenly felt ill. I was burning up like I had a fever and I got so weak I thought I was going to faint so I went home.