More than a Conqueror

We’re called to rule and reign as kings – in this life: 

how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!  (Romans 5:17 NIV)

And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.  (Revelation 1:6 KJV)

They sang a new song, saying, “You are worthy to take the book and to open its seals:  for you were killed, and bought us for God with your blood out of every tribe, language, people, and nation, and made us kings and priests to our God, and we will reign on the earth.”  (Revelation 5:9-10 WEB)

Jesus, of course, ruled and reigned as King over everything, including demonic influence, lameness, blindness, deafness, disease, and even laws of nature.  Peter said that Jesus could do this because God had anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and power:

God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and … he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.  (Acts 10:38 NIV)

I watched an old black and white video of Jack Coe in one of his healing services, and I saw people approach him one by one.  He would ask what was wrong, and then he would begin to command devils to leave.  A cancerous growth fell off a woman’s face into his hand.  People on literal deathbeds would get up and walk, even run around the tent, praising God for their healing.  Jack Coe was a spiritual king who put demonic enemies under his feet. 

There have been others throughout history with this kind of ruling authority over disease, like Kathryn Kuhlmann and AA Allen.  Not many, but enough to know that the ruling authority is still available and attainable.

But how? 

In the Old Testament, which I believe is a shadow to help us understand our spiritual blessings in the New Covenant, good kings seemed to understand that in order to be victorious they had to rely not on armies, or horses, or their own strength or power, but on the power of God.

King Asa got a harsh reminder of this after he bribed another king with silver and gold to garner his protection against an enemy. 

At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him: “Because you relied on the king of Aram and not on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped from your hand.  Were not the Cushites and Libyans a mighty army with great numbers of chariots and horsemen? Yet when you relied on the Lord, he delivered them into your hand. For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. You have done a foolish thing, and from now on you will be at war.”  (2 Chronicles 16:7-9  NIV)

King David wrote this this song:

No king is saved by the size of his army; no warrior escapes by his great strength.
A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; despite all its great strength it cannot save.
But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love, to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine.  (Psalm 33:16-19 NIV)

Zerubbabel wasn’t a king; he was put in charge of building the temple, but he was told to follow the same advice:

“This is Yahweh’s word to Zerubbabel, saying, ‘Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says Yahweh of Armies. (Zechariah 4:6 WEB)

From David to Zerubbabel to Jesus, it seems that ruling authority has always been dependent on the power of God. 

In Acts 1:8, Jesus said that we will receive this power when the Holy Spirit comes on us, and several other verses seem to imply that the power grows as we speak in tongues.

Paul said, “when I am weak, then I am strong”  (2 Corinthians 12:10 NIV).  He also said, “I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you” (1 Corinthians 14:18 NIV).  And, in Romans, he seems to connect our weakness with speaking in tongues:

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.  (Romans 8:26,27 NIV)

In other words, when he was weak, he lifted that weakness up to God in tongues, and then he became strong. 

Jude briefly discusses the importance of tongues.  In verse 12, he warns that there will always be men in the church who are, among other things, “clouds without rain,” and “autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted – twice dead.”  (NIV)  In other words, they will be men without power. 

But Jude tells us how to avoid such a powerless fate in verse 20, when he says:

But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.  (NIV)

Praying in the Holy Spirit then, (i.e. tongues), according to Jude, is the way to build ourselves up in faith, love of God, and power.

The Old Testament also gives us a couple of connections between tongues and the Power of God.

Joel prophesied that one day an army would appear.  Before it a fire would devour and behind them a flame would blaze.  This army would have the power to:

charge like warriors

scale walls

plunge through defenses

enter through windows like thieves  (See Joel 2:3-9 NIV)

Hundreds of years later, the army of Fire came on the Day of Pentecost the year that Jesus died and was resurrected.  One hundred-twenty people had fire from Heaven drop on their heads, and they began to speak in other tongues.  Peter explained that this was the army of Fire that Joel had prophesied about.

The army of fire – Peter and the 120 tongue speakers, ran into the streets unashamedly speaking their new languages.   As they did this, Joel’s prophecy was enacted in the spiritual realm.  This army of tongue speakers was unknowingly scaling invisible walls that the devil had built, plunging through defenses and entering through windows to take back from the devil all the captives that had been held in bondage until that day.  Spiritual ears and eyes were opened and over 3,000 people came to the Lord that day.  (see Acts 2)

And I want to close with Isaiah 28.  As we read this chapter, we have to remember that this is the chapter Paul referred to when explaining tongues.  (See 1 Corinthians 14:21)

According to Isaiah, one day, the Lord Almighty will be a “source of strength for those who turn back the battle at the gate.”  (Isaiah 28:6 NIV) 

God will speak to those people with “foreign lips and strange tongues” and will say, “This is the resting place, let the weary rest.”  (Isaiah 28:11,12 NIV)

Keeping in mind Paul’s explanation that Isaiah was referring to tongues here, Isaiah really seems to be telling us that the people who will have the strength (i.e. force… victory… might… power) (Strongs) to turn back battles at the gate will be the ones who choose to speak in strange tongues.

They rest from all human effort by lifting their problems to the Lord in tongues, and God turns back their battles at the gate.

The book of Hebrews tells us to “make every effort to enter the rest,”

… For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.  (Hebrews 4:11,12 NIV)

Once again, as in Isaiah, tongues are connected to rest.  And rest is connected to God’s alive, active, double-edged sword.

St Patrick was a spiritual king who knew the power of God.  Many supernatural miracles, even raising people from the dead, are attributed to him.  In his own words, he wrote this of his prayer life:

Another time, I saw in me one who was praying. It was as if I were inside my body, and I heard above me, that is, above my inner self. He prayed strongly, with sighs. I was amazed and astonished, and pondered who it was who prayed in me; but at the end of the prayer, it was clear that it was the Spirit. At this I awoke, and I remembered the apostle saying: “The Spirit helps the weaknesses of our prayer; for we do know what it is we should pray, but the very Spirit pleads for us with unspeakable sighs, which cannot be expressed in words.” And again: “The Lord is our advocate, and pleads for us.  (McCarthy) 

In Romans 8, just three paragraphs after Paul talks about the Holy Spirit interceding for us with wordless groans, we are told that we are “more than conquerors” (NIV).   How can you be more than a conqueror? 

If you were just a conqueror, you’d be a king who fought battles and won.

But you’re more than a conqueror.  You’re a king who doesn’t have to fight. 

You’re a king whose God fights your battles.

You’re a king who rests in foreign lips and strange tongues, and in doing so, you activate the power of God. 

While you speak in tongues, your God comes out with His two-edged sword and His army of fire and turns back your demonic enemies at the gate. 

 

References:

 

“Confession: St. Patrick's Confessio.” Translated by McCarthy, Confession | St. Patrick's Confessio, www.confessio.ie/etexts/confessio_english#.

 

Strong, James. Strongs Exhaustive Concordance: Showing Every Word of the Text of the Common English Version of the Canonical Books, and Every Occurrence of Each Word in Regular Order, Together with Dictionaries of the Hebrew and Greek Words of the Original, with References to the English Words. Baker Book House, 1983.

 

Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV  Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.  Used by permission of Zondervan.  All rights reserved worldwide.www.zondervan.com.  The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.