You can count on one hand the number of times in the Bible that Jesus marveled at someone’s actions. In order to shock the Son of the living God, something highly significant has got to take place. One of those events can be found in the story of the centurion officer, which Dr. Tony Evans will look at in this message on acknowledging God’s authority.

faith must always precede site. Once you put site in front of faith, you’ve negated faith, faith is based on what you do not see if you got to see it first, you won’t see it. The euphemism of walking in the bible means to live according to because you’re moving with the mind of christ, you’re not just doing that on sunday morning when it’s church time because he wants to know that you want him. So if you’re in distress, don’t let that drive you away, draw you near closer so that you like Jacob and say I’m not gonna let you go until you answer me when you get close and want to live for him, want to please him, want to honor him, want to exalt him, want to draw near to him, then heaven opens up and he lets you find, he lets you find welcome to the fire. Everything about jesus’s life and ministry is special But Luke chapter seven verses 1 to 10 is unique. Why do I say that? Because according to verse nine, after he has the conversation with the centurion, it says when jesus heard this, he marveled at him, there is a centurion, a centurion was A mid level officer in the Roman Army who oversaw 100 soldiers, The Centurion Century 100, he had a servant who got ill, he got sick and was about to die. It says that the centurion heard about jesus word had gotten out that this, jesus is something else. The blind see the lame walk, the dumb talk, I mean it’s just just this, jesus is is blowing folks mind with what he’s doing. So he sends a couple of jewish leaders to ask jesus to come and save his servant who’s about to die now. That’s unusual within itself because the jews hated the romans, but this roman was cut in different cloth because the jewish leaders said he loves our nation and he even went into his pocket to build our synagogue. This this guy is different, there’s a great lesson there and that is just don’t judge people because they belong to a certain group and you ought to help him, you ought to save his servant. So jesus is now on his way to the centurions house who has made a prayer request save my servants life so far so good, jesus is on his way, he’s gotten the prayer request, looks like the answer is on the way. However, before jesus gets to the house, the centurion sends the message, he says In the end of verse six, I am not worthy for you to come under my roof, don’t don’t come any further. He sends some of his his friends and says tell jesus, don’t come any closer, I’m not worthy. So one of the things we need to note as we get into this is this centurion, he may have had a lot of money, may have had a lot of clout, but in the presence of jesus, he was a nobody, so this highfalutin centurion understood uh he knew his place in the presence of jesus. He says, don’t come to my house, I’m not worthy for you to come, but wait a minute, you just ask him to come, you just ask him to come, save your servant, but now you’re telling him not to come or what do you want him to do? The centurion says, he says, I’m not worthy verse seven, but just say the word and my servant will be healed. The key to this whole story is verse eight, I need to read it again for I also am a man placed under authority with soldiers under me and I say to this one, go and he goes and to another come and he comes and to my slave do this and he does it. Now when jesus heard this, he marveled what was jesus saying that he wants us to say or think or do that will blow his mind, let’s parse this, I am also a man under authority. Let’s back up to one word also. I am also a man under authority. When you use the word also, you mean like something else, I am like something else or in this case, I am like someone else. I am also a man under authority. Well who is he talking to and who is he talking about? He’s talking about jesus, he says jesus, I’m like you, I am just like you, I am a man under authority. Why does he say that word has gotten out about jesus doing all these miracles. You are also you’re pulling all this off because there is somebody over you allowing you to do it. You you are under authority. I also jesus christ in his humanity, operated not by virtue of his deity but by virtue of his submission, Jesus says in chapter five of john verse 19, these words therefore Jesus answered and said unto them truly, truly, I say to you, the son can do nothing of himself unless it is something he sees the father doing for whatever the father does these things. The son also does in like manner for the father loves the son and shows him all things that he himself is doing and the father will show him greater works than these so that you may catch his word marvel. I just wanted to know before we go any further. Is there anybody here with guts to shock God? Everything Jesus did. He did in submission to his father and because of jesus God, the son was perfectly submitted to his father. He got miracles done. I am also a man underneath authority. Just like you, jesus. And when I tell folks what to do who are under me, they do it okay, I don’t want to miss this. The reason why I’m over is because I’m under the reason why I can tell folks the 100 guys underneath me and my servants what to do. It’s because I got some folks over me telling me what to do. I’m under authority. Therefore I can speak with authority to those who are underneath me. He uses the word authority. So let me give you the principal and then break it down further because this is a principle that will give you access to the miraculous. You cannot exercise legitimate authority over what you’re supposed to be over unless you learn to be under what has God what God has put over you. If you’re not under what God has put under you, you can’t ask God to help you to deal with stuff that’s underneath you. If you are out of alignment with that, which is legitimately supposed to be over you, you lose heaven’s authority to be able to ball situations that’s supposed to be under you. If you rebel against the authority up here, up here is not gonna help you with your situation down there. I am a man under authority, but I’m over stuff because I tell stuff what to do. I tell them go, they go stay, they stay, I tell stuff what to do and the reason I can tell stuff what to do is because I tell them what to do because something’s over me telling me what to do. The centurion says you don’t have to come, all you have to do is speak the word because I know how authority works and like you, I know there’s all this stuff you pulling off down here on earth that is now you controlling diseases, You controlling demons, you controlling people, you controlling circumstances. I know how you’re doing that jesus, you’re doing that because you are perfectly aligned with the father and I know how that works in the military so you don’t have to come here, you cannot have authority over, you cannot have authority over until and unless you are submitted under. And because most people do not understand this theological principle of authority, prayers don’t get answered because the prayers are being prayed out of alignment that were not properly under what we should be under or were not properly over what we ought to be over or both. And once you are misaligned in God’s kingdom program what you have done is cut the cord of the transfer of authority the centurion says because I know how this thing works. You don’t even have to come here just talk because I know you’re operating under in jesus case perfect authority. The bible makes it clear that satan it’s supposed to be under the believers feet roman 6 20 crush satan under your feet. Under the foot means to be under the authority of you put your foot on somebody, you hold him down says, satan is to be under our feet. That is subject to our authority. in Luke chapter Chapter 9: verse one We read this verse this verse and he called the 12 together and gave them power and authority over all the demons and to heal diseases. Guess how they got authority? He gave it. He gave it. So they had it, they had it over the very things that was trying to have them. He knew jesus’s access to God. Jesus said all authority is given to me in heaven and on earth Matthew 28 18. All authority. I’m in charge now. So the alignment to jesus christ is critical if you want heaven to join you in history, if jesus can’t overrule you, you’re not under authority. This alignment thing is critical because it is how authority flows. He makes a request and the centurion says, I know how this deal works. You’re under your daddy’s authority. That’s why you can pull all of this off. So since you’re under his authority and I know how authority works, you speak the word because if you speak it, it’s gonna happen because you’re only gonna speak because your daddy approved it and you will change things on earth in this case the servant In Colossians chapter three kind of breaks it down into some categories. Let me review some of these categories real quick with you. Beginning with verse 17 We read in colossians three. Whatever you do in word or deed do all in the name of the Lord, jesus giving thanks through him to God the father. So do it under jesus authority. Then he starts breaking it down, wives be subject to your own husbands as is fitting to the Lord. If you as a wife are out of alignment with your husband’s legitimate authority. Keyword legitimate, then you are out of alignment with God. And if you’re out of alignment with your husband’s legitimate authority and therefore out of alignment with God, you cannot then go and ask God for help. He goes on, he says, husbands love your wives, do not embitter being bitter against them. 1st Peter 3: verse seven says husbands treat your wives with equal honor. So your prayers are not hindered, you are underneath authority, the bible says. And if jesus, the man of all man, men had to be under his father’s authority, what makes a man think that he can be independent of jesus’s authority, That makes you a male rebel, he goes on and says, Children be obedient to your parents and all things for this is well pleasing to the Lord. The reason why you should teach your Children to obey is not just because you’re their parents, of course they should because you’re their parents, but because they want to make God happy. Because when they make God happy, God will even answer their prayers because they have come under the legitimate authority, not not wrong authority, but legitimate authority of their parents. In fact, when uh if he just talks about this, he says, and tell the Children this will help to enable them to live long on the earth, then he comes to parents, he says In verse 21, fathers do not exacerbate your Children so that they will lose heart. That’s a parent. The reason why he says fathers, by the way, is in the bible men, men are supposed to raise the Children, not the women. Okay, I ain’t talking about you. I’m talking about the culture. Talking about the bible Ephesians. Chapter 6: verse four says, fathers raise your Children all the time. It’s the father who raised their Children. When you say, well, what’s the woman supposed to do? One word, Help slaves in all things. Verse 22 says obey those who are your masters on earth. We would say today, employees obey your employer’s not with external service or as those who merely please men, but with sincerity of heart fearing the Lord. When you go to work verse 23, whatever you do, do your work hardly as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord, you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ who you serve. You don’t whistle while you work, you worship while you work, he says, when you go to work, you go to work for the Lord. You don’t only work for the man. You work for the Lord, you to look at, you want to look at that job as pleasing the Lord. So don’t steal from the Lord when you go to work because he says it’s from the Lord christ, who will reward you. So if you are a bad employee, you’re gonna be and unanswered prayer person. He goes on and he talks about employers. Chapter four verse 1 Masters. These are the ones over the servants grant to your slaves, Justice and fairness, Knowing that you two have a master in heaven. You see the authority Masters be fair and just you can’t abuse your employees, you can’t misuse your employees. And the reason why you don’t mistreat your employees is because you’re not the only master. Chapter 4: verse one says, remember you have a master, so if you’re gonna be over, you better be under be under your master. If you’re gonna be the right kind of master and get the right kind of service and benefit and blessing in your company. Do you really want to see heaven do stuff that will blow your mind? Because you didn’t shock jesus, whoa, because I’ve come under and now I have authority legitimately over to see God invade things that look like they’re dying. The servant was dying, anybody got any dying situations just dies is dying. Well you need to make sure your alignment is straight so you can shock jesus, what does jesus say about this man, Jesus is stupefied and in Chapter seven he says when jesus heard this, he model at him and he turned and said to the crowd who was following? So now you’re talking to the he talked to the everybody who’s who’s there. So it’s it’s it’s it’s like me talking to you. He turns to the crowd, he says, did you see that? I say to you, not even in Israel, have I found such great faith, I got an uncircumcised gentile, who’s got more faith than a church folk them. And then and then Israel, I got somebody who doesn’t even understand theology on a broad scope, who’s got more faith? So the question is who you identifying with, you better identify with somebody who’s in alignment because they’re the one who have access to authority in prayer, because it was a prayer, he said, come here my servant as a prayer request, It says in verse 10, when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health, not when Jesus, Jesus didn’t go to the crib, jesus didn’t go to the house. When the ones he sent came back to the house, the servant is healed. Okay, I don’t want to miss this, jesus is on his way, The centurions send, some guys tell him, don’t come here, I’m not worthy, but if he’ll just talk speak the word, that would be good enough because I know how this authority thing works, Jesus is shocked and he says, well, what kind of faith is this, This is, this is some kind of faith, I’m just stupefied, They go back and the man is healed, the servant is healed. So what’s my point, Jesus believes in long distance prayer answers because he’s not physically there. He didn’t physically go to the house, he just sent the word to the house, even though he was absent from the location. No, you have to understand all the other miracles, Jesus did he was there now? Why do you need to know that now? Because he’s not here? But the good news is he does long distance prayer answers. He doesn’t have to be here to get stuff done. That’s why I love Hebrews chapter seven verse 25 which says jesus, our great high priest ever lives as an intercessor for believers, he ever lives to invade our circumstance and he doesn’t have to be here to get it done. So I want to challenge you to go for a piggyback ride because Jesus wants you to ride on this authority principle because only when we submit in the line that God has established over us, will he give us authority and victory for the stuff under us. And if we do not make that decision, we live with unanswered prayer and unrealized authority. If I get on jesus back and ride this horse, because I’m underneath his authority, that his faith will cover my faith, giving me great faith in the situations I got to deal with in my life. So I know you’re gonna leave here and you’re gonna face some situations. But here’s what you ought to say, ride on King jesus, You ought to say ride on King jesus, you ought to call him and be aligned under him. So you have the authority of him over the things that he has placed you over. So that now you walk with your head up high because you walk as a victor and no longer as a victim because you’re in alignment right, mm hmm, mm hmm. When my kids were small, I would give them piggyback rides, I would let them get on my back and I’d be on two knees and two hands or two elbows and I would be moving them all around the house. They would be piggybacking off of my ability to carry them. What Jesus offers all of us is a piggyback ride. He offers us the opportunity to get on his shoulders, his back to ride through around and even over the circumstances of life. Yeah, you cannot access jesus authority unless you are placing yourself underneath his authority. The reason why my kids could piggyback on me is they recognized their inability and recognize my ability. It is only in that recognition that you feel secure, safe and you feel assured that it can be handled jesus is offering you a piggyback ride. He’s saying I will carry you through this thing. No matter how deep the difficulty is. In fact, the deeper it is, the greater the dependency on his ability should be. Just as in politics or the military. Your authority is tied to how you operate underneath the one who’s over you. Your authority. And my authority is how we operate in conjunction to jesus’s authority over us. Remember all authority has been given to him in heaven and on earth, he’s not only authoritative up there, he’s authoritative down here. So don’t lean on what you know you can do alone lean on the fact that you are depending on him in your prayers and in your following his instructions to give you the ability to ride out whatever is tossing your world and turning it upside down. Piggyback on jesus’s authority, he’s got enough strength to carry you from where you are to where you need to go. Yeah, when you’re in the spirit. But the bible calls the spirit a win a wind that blows my opinion. Nobody’s opinion. When it conflicts with God, is to be considered as truth, the bible says, let God be true and every man alive, mother nature doesn’t work without daddy. God. That’s because truth then adjust. Because if it comes from God, it’s true because God has absolute standard by which reality is measured