God of Restoration

Sermon Delivered at NLAGC  OMR   KCG campus on 14th December 2025.

Let me start with a story. 

There was an old man who lived his life in the village. His Son studied well and was employed in the city. He decided to take his father to the city to experience the life in the city. After roaming around the city, they came to a big mall. The food courts were on the upper levels.

So, they waited in line in front a door which had some lights blinking on the top. The old man was very observant. He noticed that suddenly the lights would stop blinking when the door would open and people would come out and a new group of people would go in. The door would close and the lights would start blinking again. Then it would stop for a few minutes and the process would repeat itself.

 A little bit in front of him was a frail old woman who also got into the door. And the lights started blinking. Then stopped and then restarted again. This time when it stopped, out came a beautiful young lady.
The old man immediately told his son Come let us go and get your mother and come.

My topic today is about a God of restoration. Not the kind mentioned in the story

What is Restoration?

 Restoration can be defined as an act of returning something to its former condition. Making something anew or better than its current state.
Vintage cars are restored back to its original working condition.
Antique art works, Etc. Or as in the picture a restored jug. We have all seen it.

God wanted to restore creation to its original glory from the day that Adam and Eve sinned. Due to the effects of sin, we see a lot of broken, backslidden lives around us. 

Christmas season is a time of joy, thanksgiving, songs lots of good food, good gifts being shared.
Christmas is actually God’s gift of restoration. A process that God mentioned in genesis but now being accomplished through the birth of Jesus Christ as the son of man.

The next 33 years of the life of Jesus is all about how he is teaching man about Restoration.

God’s original intent was not for you and me to be just saved. God’s original intent was for us to live in His Glory.

In order for us to have Restoration, there must a standard that we are being restored to. In God ‘s mind restoration is not limited to a happy marriage or restoration of wealth. God’s standard of restoration is much higher.
God’s goal is to restore every person to His original intent for their life.

Our  Friendship with God was restored to us by the supreme  sacrifice of Jesus on the cross of calvary. 

Let us now delve into the scriptures to learn more about restoration.

The promise of restoration: 
Joel 2: 25-27  is the most famous passage in the bible about restoration.

  The context of this is that the people of Judah go through a time of drought, and locust infestation. The people took God for granted and became a decaying nation. Because they were turning away from God.  It was at this time that there was an infestation of locusts. They ate away everything that was green crops vines and trees. To the farming community that Israel was this was a huge economical loss. Their economy and hope were lost. It was at this juncture that God is speaking to them through prophet Joel saying … (ref Joel 2:25-27)

This passage is not talking only about the crops and fields but a restoration of Hope, Joy, and more importantly restoration of a covenant relationship with God.

Looking briefly at this passage we can learn three important things

1 I will restore to you    God’s Restoration is Personal.

God is taking personal responsibility for this restoration. Not assigned to any angel. He will personally monitor the restoration to completion.

2 Years that the             God’s Restoration is Comprehensive

It is not talking about what was destroyed yesterday or the day before, even for the years passed  by will be restored.

3 Praise the name of the Lord     God’s Restoration is Redemptive

When there is restoration that has happened, it will turn back from pain to praise. Turn back loss into a testimony.

Vs 27: God says “His people will never again be put to shame.”

Every believer will face moments of failure or shame or brokenness. Some fall publicly others silently; the Bible shows that even the greatest servants of God also have fallen and been restored.

The bible is full of examples of restoration

In Job 42:10 – the Lord restores Jobs fortune.

Zechariah and Elizabeth were restored through the birth of John the Baptist.

The Prodigal son was restored when he returned to his father’s house.

Mary Magdalene was restored from the seven evil spirits

The list can go on.

Today we will look at the two of the most powerful stories of restoration from the scriptures and see what we can learn from them.

The first is the story of David. The Man after God’s own heart who fell into sin.

The Ref is in 2 Samuel Ch 11.

David was at the height of his power. He was winning battles; The kingdom was prospering all around and in one such battle David decided to send his generals to war knowing that they will emerge victorious.
He decided against his calling of leading a nation and instead was idle. Since he did not have anything particular to do, he was loitering around at home and finally landed on the terrace of his palace.  His eyes wandered here and there till it got hooked on to Bathsheeba.

We know the rest of the story.

Sin begins in moments of Spiritual idleness.
When our eyes wander and hearts tend to drift - Satan is waiting to hook it up to his plan.

The consequence of his Act.
 David’s sin led to guilt, grief and distance from God.
He lost his peace, his Joy and his Moral authority.

 

 Sin always takes you further than you intended to go , 

 Keeps you longer than you intended to stay  AND

Costs you more than you intended to pay.

 

The confrontation

Ref: 2 Samuel Ch 12
God in His mercy sends Nathan the prophet to meet with David and through a story exposes David’s Sin.

Vs 13 So, David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.”

 

Restoration begins with Repentance- honest confession

David was instant in his reaction to accept his fault.

This confrontation leads David to cry out in prayer the Psalm that most of us know by heart. Psalm 51.  It is referred to as “The Cry of a broken Man”

David in this prayer is not asking for his throne, or his reputation or his power.
He is praying for his heart to be restored to God
He is praying for his fellowship to be restored back to God as God intended it to be.

PS 51: 10  Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.

David knew that only God could cleanse what sin had corrupted. He did not want forgiveness alone.                                                

He wanted Fellowship Restored.

This leads us to the 4C’s of restoration.

1 Conviction   - God Shows us our Sin

    David was shown his sin through a prophet, God will today use times when we read the word, or times of prayer or even when we worship through songs. If we are convicted our next action would be

2 Confession   - We agree with God about it.

Confess to God . The bible records that Jesus our mediator in heaven while He lived on this earthy lived a sinless life.  He will be our guide and helper if we yield ourselves to him
Post confession we should.

3 Cleansing      - God Forgives and Purifies us

God is not holding account to us for the sins we have committed . He is willing to wash us clean . For the propitiation of our sins, he bore the price  on the cross of Calvary.  Our Job is simple just claim this redemption

 It is like having a blank cheque in our hand. It is just a piece of paper till you write a value on it and deposit it in the bank.
We have the blank cheque from Jesus. We need to claim our redemption with his blood.

Finally, if we cleanse ourselves. We should

4 Consecration - We renew our commitment to Him

Renew our commitment back to God.

David reminds us in Psalm 51:17 That God is looking for a broken and contrite heart . He is not asking us to bring gifts to Him or do some acts to ensure that we are forgiven of our sins.

God will show mercy on us. He restored David back . His joy, his anointing of leading Isreal not because David was perfect but because David was humble before God David was willing to confess and accept responsibility before God and God restored his fellowship back with David.

 

Let us now look at another person from the Bible. This time from the New Testament
Simon Peter 

Simon was very outspoken. He was the bold leader among the 12 disciples. He was always reacting very fast to situations.

The background of this is when Jesus is at the upper room. He is having the Passover meal with the disciples and is in the process of instituting the Lord’s table a we call it today. Jesus  shares to them about how is body and blood will be shed and a new covenant will be formed. They sing a hymn and then move to the mount of Olives.  Once more Jesus tells the disciples about how they will stumble and fall .
Mark 14 : 27 Onwards
Bible records Peter’s instant reaction  “Even if all are made to stumble, yet I will not be.”

A very confident and bold statement.  From the time that Andrew his brother called Peter to Jesus, we see him always very brash but utterly committed kind of person who is always ready to take charge, someone who never minces any words. Someone who will call a Spade – A spade.

Peter was the one who jumped out of the boat to walk on water He was the one who said You are the Christ “In Mark 8

He also witnessed the transfiguration in Mk 9

Peter saw himself as being united with Christ and was ready to stay at His side even to death.

To this answer we see Jesus reply “Assuredly, I say to you that today, even this night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times.”

Peter does not wait for Jesus to continue but again replies saying “If I have to die with You, I will not deny You!”

Going further down this chapter we know how Peter is identified as one of the disciples and how Peter denies Jesus thrice before the rooster crowed.

Luke 22: 62 records “So, Peter went out and wept bitterly.”

The pain of failure made Peter go out and weep He was ashamed, confused and broken.

Some of us are in this situation, feeling unworthy after a spiritual defeat in our lives

Failure is not the end.  It is the beginning of Restoration

The Gospel of Luke records  In Luke 22: 31-32 that Jesus already knew of the fall of Peter and that He had already prayed for Peter 

Even before the fall of Peter – Grace was waiting.

 

All the gospels record nothing about the presence of the disciples after Jesus was taken by the soldiers. They were all scattered except for Peter who followed Jesus. But he too was forced to go away after the denial.

However, we do see in the Gospel of John a record about Jesus committing his mother to “ the disciple he loved” Bible scholars say that this is John to whom Mary was committed.
Post resurrection it is recorded that Jesus met the disciples’ multiple times. In John 20 : 21-23 it is also mentioned that He breathed the Holy Spirt on them.

A specific mention of Peter happens only in John 21: 33  and this is what it says   ‘Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.”

Why is Peter going back to fishing? A business that he had left three years ago? Why is he giving up on being a fisher of men?

If Peter had gone fishing just after the crucifixion, then we could have justified that the leader is no longer there and the disciples are scattered, just like any worldly outfit or a political group.

But this is now happening after the resurrection, after Jesus has manifested himself to the disciples a couple of times.

I feel Peter is going back because he is broken by his own terrible failure, filled with shame and crushing disappointment He is now suddenly feeling list and no one is near for him to look up to.

 

In his mind failure disqualifies him from any further service to the Lord. He had been a fisherman, but for a couple of years his life was different. His whole life seemed to be poised for something grander, something of more eternal significance and impact but now it seems all is over.

To this statement from Peter, we see the others also agreeing and together they desert the ship and jump into a boat and go to catch fish.

This is where the story takes an unexpected turn. 

They have been toiling all night. They were not able to catch any fish.  He sees their pain and disappointment.

Jesus stands on the shore and tells them to cast their nets to the right side, and now their nets could not hold the fish it was overflowing.
The moment Peter realized it was Jesus; he quickly wrapped himself in a towel and jumped out of the boat and swam toward Jesus.

Flashback to his first meeting in Luke Ch 6. There also he could not hold all the fish. There he asks Jesus “Depart from me I am a sinful man.”

Here is rushing to meet his Saviour.
In Luke 6 Jesus is coming to call them to become fishers of men.
Here Jesus is coming to remind them of their calling.

Jesus meets Simon Peter where he was.

Sometimes God comes to the shored of our old habits to call us back into our calling or purpose.

 

Jesus Calls out to all of them saying “Come have breakfast with me. “
He is not asking them why they went back to fishing? It is a loving call for a morning breakfast. The most important part of this breakfast conversation is the conversation with Peter.

We can use our imagination a little bit. Peter might be looking forward to a time when he can alone with Jesus confess the denial, ask forgiveness. But Jesus is always with the disciples. In the midst of this running in his mind is when Jesus is asking him a very straight question
“Simon son of Jonah, Do you love me more than these. ?”
Jesus knows Peter’s denials in the courtyard could hold him back forever. Jesus knew that He had to restore Peter back for the work he had to do later is very important for the kingdom

Three times he is asked “Do you love me?”

Three times Peter accepts his love for Christ.

Three times Peter is given different answers 

 Feed my lamb.

Tend my sheep 

Feed my sheep.

Jesus is standing in front of a failed, broken Peter, and is pouring forgiveness, grace and healing into his life.

When Jesus first called Peter, he changed his job from catching fish to catching people. Now Jesus wants to restore that job back to Peter.

Peter after this conversation is finished with his fish and nets forever. His new job for the rest of his life is to look to look after God’s people.

Jesus Restored him from a fisherman to a Shepherd.

Love Restored what fear had broken.

Jesus restored Peter from someone who is unstable  and rash to Peter the Rock, Forgiven , Restored and Empowered for life.

Only a restored heart can lead others to Christ and this we can see

 

What do we learn from these stories about restoration 

1 NO ONE IS beyond restoration.

 Failure is not final when you turn back to God

No Matter how far we have fallen away from God His grace can reach , redeem and restore.
If God can restore a murderer and adulterer like David
Or If God can restore a denier like Peter

Then He can restore anyone.

 

2  Restoration comes through Repentance  not by following a religion or religious acts

David’s restoration came when he acknowledged his sin and then through the brokenness of his heart when he asked God to restore his Fellowship

Peter’s restoration came when he accepted his frailty. It took him time to realize that Jesus loved him more than his denial or his deserting the ship and going back to fishing.

Both of them humbled themselves and returned to the heart of God.

3 Restoration produces a Ministry.

David wrote most of his Psalms after his fall and those Psalms are an inspiration to all of us today.
Peter preached shortly after this incident and in one day we saw more then 3000 people were saved.

Look at what their transformation has done. Both their greatest works happened after restoration of the fellowship with God.

David teaches that God can restore a fallen heart.
Peter teaches that God can restore a fallen calling.

More importantly both stories show a saviour who does not give up
He is the same today and is not willing to give up on us. He will find us in our shame or pain, forgive us and say to us “Follow me .” 

Exactly what he says in Hosea 14:4

 I will heal their backsliding
I will love them freely.

What greater promise do we need?

Further Peter goes on to write in 1 Peter that we have a new identity.  If we the sinful, broken confused people  are ready to humble ourselves and accept His calling our new identity is a
A chosen people 

A royal nation

A royal Priesthood is what awaits us.

Jesus is calling some of us to leave our fishing nets and boats behind this Christmas season and be Restored to Him 

Let us pray. 

Father, We pray that you will help us to be like David with a repentive heart, to be like Peter to renew ourselves.  We pray and ask to create in us a clean heart,
Restore our Joy.
Rekindle our purpose.
Thank you for your unfailing love that restores us again and again.
In the matchless name of Jesus, we pray

AMEN 

Romans 9: 20-21 YOU ARE UNIQUE

Romans 9:20-21  (NKJV)

²⁰ But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?” 
²¹ Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?

 

All of us at some point in our lives, ask God Why am I created like this? He has so many gifts I don’t have any ? Why  am in such a situation when others are so well off ??   And the list goes on. I have been guilty of the saying these numerous times. Each time God has been patient with me.

This verse has been read so many times , but this week as I was reading it suddenly hit me back as an answer to all my questions.

Here is what I learnt. Please read the verse once again and you will have more learnings.

 

1 God as Creator .

      God is our creator. Just as a potter takes a lump of clay and moulds it into a vessel that he desires. He will sometime push it out or sometime push it in for the shapes that he desires. God also many a time gently pushes us in or out as the situation demands. He is ever so patient with us.

2 God has Sovereignty and  Purpose .

     God has a right to assign each mould of clay to what he desires. As much as potter does not make all in the same shape and size. Some he creates as a vase, some as a teapot. some just to hold water . In a similar way each of us are created in unique ways to fit the role that God the master has for us.

3 You are handcrafted

    You are Uniquely handcrafted.  We all have certain very unique gift, talents and abilities that God has given us . Perfect for the work he has crafted us for. We should  compare ourselves to anyone around us be it in terms of finances( that is what we all compare most), abilities , looks  etc…  There is a diversity in all he has created. So it is also important that we do not look down upon anyone for the role/ job He has marked us for.

Our Response –

  Seek God’s Purpose in our life :- Pray and diligently seek God. He will speak to you in a unique way just as He has created you.

 Honor others’ roles  :- Every one of us has a role to play in this life, Respect and love each other.

Trust the Potter:-   Even when we feel life is confusing, unfair, or unjust just remember that you are in the hands of the Wise Creator. There is no one like our God who loves us so much. Inspite of all that we have done, He is merciful and just. 

Your Authority in Christ - Sermon notes

Your authority in Christ.

We are in the season of the Celebrating the birth of Jesus. Jesus came into this world for the redemption of sins and also to hand over the authority that Satan had taken from Adam.

Many of us Christians today ask/ pray to God to increase our faith as we face situations in life but like Christ answered the apostles, the solution is not getting more faith. The faith we have in sufficient enough to uproot a tree and cast it into the ocean.  The Solution is how do we use our FAITH. 

This is what I am going to be discussing today and I have titled the sermon as

 Our Authority in Christ

Authority by definition means- The power to give orders and make others obey. 

This is seen in everyday like. The policeman Teacher, Head of an organization etc. are who comes to our mind first when we think of people in Authority. 

A policeman has authority for the position or the uniform that he wears. In plainclothes we might not recognize him. However, in Uniform everyone does and just by lifting his hand cars stop or at-least they slow down.  He does not have the physical ability to force the car to stop. But the authority he has is what makes the car stop 

Let us look from the Scripture and learn more about this subject. This is a very vast subject and today I am only going to scratch the tip of an iceberg. I would urge each of you to go back home and read through the scriptures and understand this better. 

Three topics I will be covering today. 

1 Do we have authority?

2 What types of Authority do we have?

3 How to use this Authority?

  Years back I heard a man of God preach and he said that if you want to learn anything in the Bible, you should go back to the place where it is first mentioned and from there start the journey to study it. Let us also look at the Book of Genesis.

In the 1st chapter we see that everything God created was created by HIS WORD. 

We also see that He created Adam and Eve in His image and likeness. Then we see that He gave them command to have dominion over everything on the earth. They had the power over all the earth.  God had vested His authority to Adam and Eve.

But Adam and Eve gave this power over to Satan at the fall. Then came the Redemption plan through Jesus Christ. This same dominion over the earth is what we have today. “In His Likeness” when He created man, he vested in him the authority. He gave us the free will to decide what we can do. But we also have the ability to work like God did. 

There was power in the words that God spoke to create everything. In the Old Testament references we can see that Elijah used this power in James 5 :17 to stop the rain. We can see Joshua stopping the Sun in Joshua 10: 12 .They did this by the use of the word that was given to them. Both of them exercised the power that was vested in them. 

Moving to the New Testament we see the works that Jesus did. He Spoke to the Storm and it was still, he spoke and the lepers were healed, He spoke and the withered hand became whole He spoke and Lazarus came out of the grave. He Spoke and the fig tree withered away.

Let us look at Luke 10: 17-19   

The Seventy Return with Joy

17 Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.”

18 And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

These 70 were not disciples. They were called lambs- younger ones. There is no mention of their name or any other details. - Yet they were given authority over serpents and scorpions.   Remember these were not the chosen 12. 

Further reading the same in Vs 23 we a read Jesus Rejoices in the Spirit

21 In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight. 

Jesus rejoiced over the good report from the seventy.

When we go through the scriptures further, we read in John 14:12   The Answered Prayer

12 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.

When Jesus ascended into heaven, he has given us the holy spirit to permanently reside in us. He has given us Power and Authority over every power of the enemy. We can do more works with the help of the Holy spirit that is residing in us. 

We will see more scriptures as we go on about the authority that He has given us. 

Now that we know we have Authority. 

Let us look at the types of Authority that is vested upon us I am going to just show three types of authority. You can define more as we read scripture. 

A Inherited Authority 

    A couple of weeks back when Ps Abhilash was sharing the word, He talked about the Kingdom. 

The Kingdom has a King, The kingdom as a territory, The Kingdom has subjects, there is a certain rules that govern the kingdom and I am adding one more to that . There is power in the word of a king. 

In the natural realm we do not have many kings / Queens around today, but when Queen Elizabeth passed away the kingdom was inherited by Prince Charles,  He now has authority over the lands and the regions and the people of the United Kingdom 

We as believers in Jesus Christ have also inherited this authority. 

ROMANS 8 14-15 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”

Only my son will call me Father , to the others I will only be uncle or Anna . That privilege of calling God Father is only given to us as Sons and Daughters.  This was completed on the cross of Calvary when Jesus redeemed us. From  bondage and gave us the ability to call GOD our Father.   YOU HAVE BEEN ADOPTED INTO HIS KINGDOM.

Galatians 4:5-7

 to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.

6 And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out,  “Abba, Father!” 7 Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. 

we will inherit all that God has. As a son , we will only be able to inherit the physical land and house etc of what our earthly father has given to us that which is divided among all the siblings. . As a spiritual son, we have access to all of God’s promise. It is not given in pieces to anyone . The full measure of it is given to all of us. 

Another familiar passage is ROMANS 8 16-17

 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.

We are called to be joint heirs.  We are the SON and Daughter of the KING and we are called joint heirs 

This is a crude example The Chief minister of TN has complete authority over TN  He has a deputy and also a council of ministers. Each of those council of ministers are ruling over a portion of the kingdom. One is handling the finance one is handling agriculture  and so on. Yet the whole authority rests with the CM. 

Likewise in the kingdom of GOD you are placed as an heir to have dominion over the time and the place that you have been placed in. your workplace, your locality, your street your apartment complex. You have been placed there to have dominion over that land. Are we exercising this authority over where we are placed now?

Another aspect of the inherited authority is seen in Ephesians 2 : 4-6 

Ephesians 2:4-6 

4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,    

We have been given a new address.  Many of us would have shifted home etc, what are the things you will do when you change your address??   ASK CONGRETATION 

We need to update our new address first in the Aadhar card, then bank, --etc. 

You are informing the WORLD that you have a new address. Here we are given a new address we Need to PUBLISH IT TO THE WORLD. Our old address where we  lived in Defeat where we lived in bondage is no longer our address 

We have been ushered into a new address where there is no bondage. There is no fear.  Christ defeated Satan and put him beneath His feet. You are also seated at the right hand of God with Satan as a defeated foe under you. You should in no way keep a window or door open for him so that he can sneak in and come to destroy you. 

How did we get this new address?

Romans 5:17

17 For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)

This is a big GIFT given by Jesus to his children.  This is the gift of righteousness that we have received. 

B DELEGATE AUTHORITY 

Mathew 10: 1 ,7-8

And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.

7 And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. 8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give

We see Jesus here delegating the authority to the disciples and sending them out. They are sent out with a specific command. And what was the command?? – power over unclean spirits, heal all manner of sickness and disease.

We also read about being an Ambassador for Christ 

An ambassador is one who represents his or her country in a foreign country. They have been delegated from their country to a new country to act on behalf of their country 

We are also delegates of heaven , sent to a foreign country – right now each of us are in Tamil Nadu chennai. We are called to act on his behalf as a representative of the kingdom of Jesus Christ.? How do we do it ? let us read  Mark 16 :17-18

And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

IN MY NAME- This is a Badge of Honour given to us to represent Jesus on this earth. This is a very BIG responsibility  God has given us the POWER OF ATTORNEY FOR  representing HIM on this earth in the place you live and work.  You have been made the LEGAL Heir to the kingdom of GOD.  What would you do if you were passed on the legal heirship of a very large and profitable firm.  How would your lifestyle change ? Will you walk with the same drooping shoulders thinking of all the bills to pay or now will you walk with your shoulders upright and straight.  ( wait for answer)

 

IN HIS NAME also means that I am here representing Him , Standing in His place, to act on HIS behalf, and DO exactly what HE would do. 

Repeat the above   ( pay close attention to this ) 

As you read this on the screen, please read It out LOUD with YOUR NAME instead of I  George is here representing HIM , 

George is Standing in HIS Place 

George Is acting on HIS behalf and

George is doing exactly what He would do.  

Think about what you just said – We need to act on behalf of Jesus and act just as He would have acted if He were here today. 

What did Jesus do , when he saw the sick, he healed them. He spoke to the storms and it was calm, He would comfort those who are depressed,   THINK back Are you really representing  Jesus in your daily walk of LIFE 

This is a very big authority that is been passed on to you , many of our prayers is “ If it is God’s will I will be healed “ If it Is God’s will it will work for me.  ‘  God’s will for your life is  that you prosper and be in good health and be a blessing to many. 

He has completed His work. On the cross of calvary and  now it is left to us to work in His Authority. 

The last type of Authority

The Authority vested in us through the Anointing of the Holy Spirt - 

Jesus was full of the Spirt when He was performing miracles on this earth. 

Acts 10: 38

38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.

Jesus exercised his authority over all forms of sickness and Demons by the spirit that was in Him.  The same Spirit is what enabled Peter when he healed the lame man as we see in Acts 3 : 4-6

Acts 3   

And fixing his eyes on him, with John, Peter said, “Look at us.” 5 So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. 6 Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” 

We see this at work here. Peter did not pray to Jesus before this,  Peter exercised the Authority given to him and he Spoke the healing into the lame man and the lame man received his healing in his legs and he was praising God. 

He exercised the authority vested on him by the Holy Spirit 

There are so many examples of the working of the holy spirit though the apostles. 

Another one that we often read is  Acts 14 :7-9   Paul, observing him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed, 10 said with a loud voice, “Stand up straight on your feet!” And he leaped and walked.

In both these examples we see that Peter and Paul , who were filled with the Holy Spirit are performing miracles. They used the authority that they received by the power of the holy Spirit. They did not wait and ask God what has to be done. Nor did they pray to God and confirm if the miracle will happen. They knew that they power was inside of them and hence they spoke it out 

The book of acts records more such instances where the apostles performed miracles of Healing, Chains breaking off etc.  

 By the power of the Holy Spirit which is within we also are called to exercise this authority 

Acts 1 : 7-8 

And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

This is the power that is within us today for us to exercise 

2 Corin 1 : 21-22

21 Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, 22 who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.

3 How to use this Authority?

It is good to know that we have authority. But how , where when, do we use it ? 

          My mentor always talks about this example of a young man who learnt various forms of Karate and he received gold medals and certifications in all. However, one day when a thief entered his house, he was thinking which form of martial art to use and by the time he could make up his mind, the thief had already tied him down and taken away his valuable. Knowledge about authority is good but we need to exercise it. 

The Bible reminds us to be DOERS of the word and not listeners only - You too can exercise this authority    let us look at how do we exercise this authority    

A) By Prayer. 

    A few weeks back Ps Chad was speaking on the “ASK “and receive We need to ASK God for guidance to use this Authority in our daily walk and be in alignment with his will for our lives. As Ps mentioned whatever we ask should be in the will of God. 

    Prayer is also to be used for us to resist the viles of the enemy, it is in situations of life that we face that the devil sneaks in and plants seeds of doubt and despair. These times we need to rely on God more. 

B) BY WORDS 

     In the beginning of this sermon, I had mentioned about Elijah and Joshua who used their words to stop the rain and the sun. The bible reminds us to bridle out tongue in James 5: 6 

6 If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless.

     Bridle means to have control. It is not only about restraining our mouth from speaking bad things but also to speak good things. A bridle means to train to speak what God wants you to speak, Speak words of Authority over your situation. Train yourself to speak TO THE Situation., Speak to the mountains, and it will be moved. This is not something that we can change overnight, - we need to learn to bridle our tongue.  

 In Matthew 18:18-20

18 “Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

We have been given authority to bind and Loose 

What do we mean by these two terms

  BIND meaning to tie the hands of a person and make them inoperative  We need to learn to BIND Sickness, Addictions, Learn to bind all these and cast is out. Jesus has already won the victory and defeated the enemy He is already a defeated foe, but he is always trying to see which window or door is kept open for him to enter in.  Once in he will Deceive , Divide and Destroy.

  

    LOOSE  - TO free people of the   Bondages and  Oppression from the enemy . Bondages could mean, Fears that people have, Corruption, Habitual sins,    Cast out demons and 

You are authorised to BIND and LOOSE on earth, what is bound and loosed in heaven What God permits – within HIS will is what you are authorised to bind and loose.

  Jesus  asked us to speak to the mountain and it will move, When we speak  we need to speak to the problem, This will take a time for us to get used to , We have been used to speak about the problem or sickness, Our tongue is very powerful, we need to train it to conquer over the enemy and his schemes 

Death and Life are in the power of the tongue. 

  This is what is exercising our faith.  We should bridle our tongues to be under the power of God’s word.  God’s word says In Duet 28: 13  And the Lord will make you the head and not the tail; you shall be above only, and not be beneath, if you [d]heed the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, and are careful to observe them

We are not exercising our authority when we pray if it is your will. Or pray please heal me.  I am not saying that we should not visit hospitals or doctors. They are definitely needed. Infact a study in the US among doctors and their patients have revealed that patients who had higher faith levels have recovered much better and faster. 

“If it is God’s, will I will be healed”  what we are indirectly saying is God wants us to be in pain and agony, that is not what God wants for your life. We are created in His likeness and image. In His likeness there is completeness. We are living in a fallen world and the consequences of Sin is all around us.

Jesus has paid the price for our sins He shed his blood and redeemed us. His work is already over and we have been given authority to speak to the sickness and command it to leave our body.  

Disclaimer-  We are here talking about Binding and loosing sickness,  demons etc. This is not applicable if we have a rude boss and we want to bind him. That is not what the Bible teaches us to do. 

C BY our actions 

     Our lives should be a testimony of the power of God vested in us. We are surrounded by people of different faith. How are we exercising our faith in the office?  How are we handling situations ?  Are we 

A prayer that we hear commonly  is about finances and asking God for finances, God is not in the Money printing business, that is illegal, that is to be done by the governments. People are the ones who give you money. You should pray for people to come into your business or pray for the situations to improve in your office for a bigger bonus.  If you are self employed you should ask God to help you do your work more efficiently, or give you ideas to make it more valuable for your customers, thereby you can make more money. 

 I recently heard a testimony of a person who lost a large sum of money through a WhatsApp scam.  An impersonator sent a whatsapp message as his boss and asked for money to be sent to collect gifts for the office staff. He send money and then when the imposter asked for more money, he borrowed from colleagues and sent. By the time he realised he was being scammed, he had already lost one and half lakhs. He informed the office and the office chided him for being careless. His wife and my friend continued in prayer for a solution. About a year and a half later, the company decided to reimburse the money to him This is how God’s provision works.  

Ps Abilash mentioned about being Yoked with Christ two weeks back.  Only if you are Yoked with Christ- walking in Sync with God will you be able to exercise the authority that God has given you .  

You cannot be behind him or before you , you need to be with HIM. Remember you are a Son and Daughter of the most high God.   I would urge you to go back home and read through the scriptures to understand more about the authority that God has given you and exercise it daily in your life. 

1 John 4:4  

4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world

Let us pray  

you can reach out to me on gpkoshy@yahoo.com for any details regarding the above sermon. 

Your Authority in Christ

 
Your Authority in Christ 

Sermon at NLAG OMR centre on 8th of December 2024.

Sermon notes is updated separetly