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"And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power (authority) against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease"  (Matthew 10:1).  Unfortunately in the KJV of the Bible, the Greek word for authority (exousia) is often translated power instead.

"And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach,    And to have power (authority) to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils" (Mark 3:14-15).

"And he called unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two; and gave them power (authority) over unclean spirits"  (Mark 6:7).

"Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases"  (Luke 9:1).

"Behold, I give unto you power (authority) to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you"  (Luke 10:19).

I. To receive authority, one must be submitted to authority.

"And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him,    And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.    And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him.    The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.    For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.    When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.   .....  And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour"  (Matthew 8:5-13).  The centurion recognized that Jesus was under authority and therefore had authority to heal his servant.  Jesus also ties the concept of authority to faith.

"And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you"  (Matthew 17:20).  We must believe that we have authority or we will never act in authority!

"And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.    For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.    Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them"  (Mark 11:22-24).  Do you believe that you actually the authority to speak to a mountain and command it to be moved?  You see how faith and authority are tied together.

"For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes"  (Matthew 7:29).

"And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed"  (Matthew 8:3).

"And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour"  (Matthew 8:13).

"And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.    But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!"  (Matthew 8:26-27).

"And he said unto them, Go. And when they were come out, they went into the herd of swine: and, behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters"  (Matthew 8:32).

Illustrations: (1) A judge must pronounce the judgment.  (2) A general must give the order.  (3) A counselor must share the Word.

"Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise" (John 5:19).  Even Jesus did only what the Father told him to do.

"For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak" (John 12:49).  Jesus only spoke what the Father told him to speak and nothing more.

"For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say" (Luke 12:12).  We must depend upon the Holy Spirit to speak.

"This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success" (Joshua 1:8).  We must learn to say what God's Word says.

"Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven"  (Matthew 18:18).

"And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.    He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.    And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;    They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.    So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.    And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen" (Mark 16:15-20).

"And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power (authority) is given unto me in heaven and in earth.    Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:    Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen"  (Matthew 28:18-20).  The same principle is given in what many call the great commission.  Is healing any different?

"And when the sabbath day was come, he began to teach in the synagogue: and many hearing him were astonished, saying, From whence hath this man these things? and what wisdom is this which is given unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands?    Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him.    But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.    And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them"  (Mark 6:2-5).  Because the people did not acknowledge the authority of Jesus, they saw but few miracles.

Illustration:  If you were walking down the street and a man came up to you dressed in everyday clothing and announced, "You are under arrest!", what would you do?  You would probably either ask for his identification or resist the arrest.  Why?  You would want to know that he was a policeman before you submit to the arrest.  If he were a uniformed policeman, it would be a different story.  So what identification should we wear as believers?

"Behold, I give unto you power (authority) to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you"  (Luke 10:19).  Here we find that authority supersedes the power of the enemy, but we also need power.

"Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases"  (Luke 9:1).

Illustration:  The policeman is to speak with authority, but he also has the gun on his him to enforce what he says.  We also need the power of the Holy Spirit to enforce what we speak.  See: "Motivated From Within".