After Jesus delivered the Sermon on the Mount, his listeners sat in awe. Scripture says, “The people were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes” (Matthew 7:28-29). The Greek word for authority in this verse means “with mastery, power, as one in control.” Jesus’ listeners were saying, in essence, “This man speaks as if he knows what he is talking about.”
Note, the verse does not say that Christ spoke “with authority” but rather “as one having authority.” It is one thing to speak with what we think of as authority — in loud, boisterous tones — but quite another to speak with spiritual authority.
The authority Jesus wielded shook up the entire religious system. Jewish leaders kept coming to him demanding, “By what authority are you doing these things? And who gave you this authority?” (Matthew 21:23). But Jesus knew he didn’t have to answer the devil’s questions.
If ever the church of Jesus Christ needed his power and authority, the time is now. The devil has brought his own false Christs into God’s house — weak, godless preachers who speak as angels of light and turn churches into feel-good comfort zones where sin is never mentioned and people’s consciences are dulled. As a result, the church is filled with hurting, withered people who do not know how to challenge Satan’s invasion into their lives.
When the disciples were helpless against the enemy, Jesus told them that power over Satan came only by prayer and fasting. Why is this so? I believe it is because the Lord wants time to work on our inner man. He wants our hearts completely attuned to him.
Beloved, righteousness is believing that what God says is true and then committing your life to it. It’s that simple. As you learn to grow in your hidden man and trust his word to you in every crisis, you will be given all spiritual authority.
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David Wilkerson (1931 – 2011)
Founder of Times Square Church in New York City with over 100 different languages spoken in the congregation. Wilkerson wrote many powerful books such as: The Vision and Cross and the Switchblade. His ministry was prophetic as God called him to be a watchman to the Church in North America. He gave clear messages on repentance to the Church.Wilkerson also founded Teen Challenge where there are hundreds of centres for Christ-centered drug recovery and addiction recovery. He also organized and spoke at pastors gatherings in many countries where he gave prophetic strong messages to encourage pastors and leaders.
Recommends these books by David Wilkerson:
The Vision and Beyond, Prophecies Fulfilled and Still to Come by David Wilkerson
Knowing God by Name: Names of God That Bring Hope and Healing by David Wilkerson
God's Plan to Protect His People in the Coming Depression by David Wilkerson
David Wilkerson is an American Christian evangelist, most well-known for his book The Cross and the Switchblade. He is also the founder of Times Square Church in New York, an interdenominational church.
Wilkerson is well-known for these early years of his ministry to young drug addicts and gang members in New York City in the 1950s and 1960s. He co-authored a book about his work with the New York drug addicts, The Cross and the Switchblade, which became a best-seller, selling over 50 million copies in over thirty languages since it was published in 1963. The book was included among the 100 most important Christian books of the 20th century.
For over four decades, Wilkerson's ministry has included preaching, teaching and writing. He has authored over 30 books.
David Wilkerson is the founder and president of World Challenge, Inc., a nonprofit organization incorporated on September 22, 1971. Reverend Wilkerson, the author of over thirty inspirational books, is perhaps best known for his early days of ministry to young drug addicts and gang members in Manhattan, the Bronx, and Brooklyn. His story is told in The Cross and the Switchblade, a book he co-authored which became a best-seller. (The story has been read by over 50 million people in some thirty languages and 150 countries since 1963. In 1969, a motion picture of the same title was released.)
For over four decades, Reverend Wilkerson's evangelistic ministry has included preaching, teaching and writing. Throughout that time a distinctive characteristic of his work has been his direct efforts to reach the neediest members of the population with help for both body and soul. Even now, the almost 70 year-old minister often goes out alone or sometimes with an assistant to walk through the streets of New York City, along Broadway and Eighth Avenue or down 42nd Street and nearby "Crack Alley" on 41st Street. His mission is always to seek out the lost, the disoriented, and the addicted , to tell them of the power of the risen Christ to set them free.
David Wilkerson, born in Hammond, Indiana on May 19, 1931, was married in 1953 to Gwen Carosso. The Wilkersons' two sons are ministers, and their two daughters are married to ministers. They have 11 grandchildren. The Wilkersons served small pastorates in Scottsdale and Philipsburg, Pennsylvania, until Reverend Wilkerson saw a photograph in Life magazine of several New York City teenagers charged with murder. Moved with compassion he was drawn to the city in February 1959. It was at that time he began his street ministry to what one writer called "desperate, bewildered, addicted, often violent youth.