Missionaries are people representing the Kingdom of God in contexts where Satan and his kingdom have had authority for thousands of years. Satan does not want to lose anyone and certainly does not want anyone to be saved, to be transformed, and brought into the Kingdom of God. Therefore, he will almost certainly attack the missionary and will attack those hearing the Gospel as well as new believers. Missionaries need to know their authority over demons and how to stand strong wearing the armor God has provided

 

Does the missionary have authority over Satan and the demonic powers? Yes, absolutely.  The Apostle John said that Jesus came “to destroy the works of Satan” (1 John 3:8). This is what he was doing as he “went around all of Galilee... curing every disease and illness among the people,” (Matthew 4:23) “preaching and driving out demons” (Mark 1:39). His final blow against the kingdom of darkness came when he laid down his life on the cross. Through his death on the cross, Jesus “disarmed principalities and the powers” of darkness (Colossians 2:15), breaking the power of sin and destroying the curse of death. But his death was not the end, for God “raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavens, far above every principality, authority, power, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things beneath his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church” (Ephesians 1:20-22).

 

Having stripped Satan of all power, Jesus could have ushered in the full manifestation of his Kingdom right then and there. Instead, he did something surprising: he commissioned his disciples to carry on his mission as his ambassadors (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:20). An ambassador is a term used in secular government referring to someone who has been appointed by a governmental ruler to negotiate with foreign governments. Ambassadors have no authority of their own but are authorized to speak on behalf of the ruler they represent. Just so, before Jesus ascended to heaven, he said to his disciples, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:18-19). What we see here is Jesus making some kind of “transfer” of authority to his disciples. Every missionary has this transfer of authority. But what does that mean? How far does that authority go?

 

In the first few verses of Ephesians 2, we read, “God, who is rich in mercy, because of the great love he had for us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, brought us to life with Christ, … raised us up with him, and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:4-6). In case you missed the connection, let me highlight it here:

 

Ephesians 1:20 — God “raised Jesus from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavens.”

Ephesians 2:6 — God “raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus.”

The connection couldn’t be clearer, and the implication is that we somehow also share in the very authority of Jesus who is “above every principality, authority, power, and dominion.” And we are called to exercise that authority by continuing his mission of destroying the works of darkness and bringing the authority of heaven to earth. It is for this reason Paul says that “creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God” (Romans 8:19), for in Christ we hold the keys to liberating this world from its bondage to Satan’s kingdom.

 

To be clear, this is not an addition to the mission of Jesus, but a participation in it, much like the way Jesus invited the Twelve to participate in the miracle of multiplication of loaves as they distributed the loaves that Jesus miraculously multiplied. Our spiritual authority is something we exercise “with” and “in” Jesus.

 

PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS

 

So what does it look like to have a Kingdom mindset that is rooted in an awareness of the spiritual authority we carry in Christ?

 

The Kingdom mindset knows that the victory over sin and darkness has already been purchased by Jesus on the cross, and our role is to apply that victory to every area of life that is groaning for freedom, restoration, justice, and order. It approaches every situation from the standpoint of victory, with the confident outlook that “the one who is in [me] is greater than the one who is in the world” (1 John 4:4).
 

The Kingdom mindset sees itself as primarily on the offensive, rather than on the defensive. It walks through life looking for opportunities to advance the Kingdom of God by pushing back the powers of darkness and introducing the transformative power of Jesus into every situation.
 

The Kingdom mindset does not shrink back in the face of opposition or brokenness, or passively accept it as just part of the way the world works. It takes a stand against the evil it sees, not only on the natural level, but by also addressing the spiritual roots behind those evils.
 

The Kingdom mindset believes Jesus’ words that “all things are possible” for one who believes, that there is no person or situation that is beyond the point of redemption, and no form of brokenness that the power of God cannot heal.
 

The Kingdom mindset prays with bold faith according to the standard of God’s will being done “on earth as in heaven.” It dreams big and asks big. It invites the miraculous in order to demonstrate the love and power of God.
 

The Kingdom mindset confronts evil with authority. It rebukes storms, casts out demons. It prays with persistence, not in a desperate attempt to convince a reluctant God to act, but to remind the Enemy of the defeat he suffered at the hands of Jesus.
 

The Kingdom mindset lives from heaven to earth. It takes up its place, “seated in the heavens” with Jesus, and seeks the supernatural wisdom, insight, and strategies available through Christ to bring heaven’s solutions to the problems of this world.

 

There are two distinct areas where spiritual warfare takes place:

 

1. The first is within ourselves, defeating Satan where he tries to get a foothold.  Every missionary needs to learn how to defeat the enemy in his or her own life.  For study of that and guidelines on how to clear the enemy’s hold in your life go to the video course below for video training or to (button—connect to the course “Victory in Spiritual Conflict” text folder, Mandarin text) for the text.  The text is easier to use because it has the prayers and declarations written down that you can use to cleanse your life of any area the enemy might use to attack you.

​

​

 

 

 

2. The missionary needs to know how to deliver others from demonic control and attack.  For study on this go to (button—Doug Vavrosky’s course, when it is ready) for text.