1. TWO SECRETS to authority: words and position

1. Jeremiah 1:9–10 ESV — 9 Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me, “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth. 10 See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.’”
2. God told Jeremiah (v. 5 NKJV), “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.” (THAT WAS HIS POSITION). God had called him when he was in his mother’s womb (and he also called you in your mother’s womb).
   1. YOU HAVE NO IDEA THE POSITION YOU HAVE BEEN GIVEN.
3. Jeremiah pushed back and said, “I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth” (v. 6 ESV).
   1. HIS WORDS DID NOT LINE UP WITH HIS POSITION.  
   2. WE PUSH BACK AGAINST GOD’S AUTHORITY THAT IS UPON US. WE DISQUALIFY OUR OWN POSITION AND HAVE NO AUTHORITY. 
4. God responded to Jeremiah that He had put His words in his mouth and had set him in a position over all the nations and kingdoms to “pluck up and break down, to destroy and overthrow, to build up and to plant” (v. 10 ESV).  
   1. The POSITION gives you the WORDS, and the WORDS come from the POSITION.
5. Jeremiah 51:20 ESV — You are my hammer and weapon of war: with you I break nations in pieces; with you I destroy kingdoms.
   1. I AM GOD’S WEAPON OF WAR. THROUGH ME, HE BREAKS DOWN NATIONS. THROUGH ME, HE DESTROYS KINGDOMS.

2. NEW TESTAMENT AUTHORITY

1. Matthew 10:7 ESV — And proclaim as you go, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” 
   1. WHEN YOU SAY THE WORDS, YOU ARE ESTABLISHING YOUR POSITION.
2. Matthew 16:19 ESV — I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth [BY SAYING THE WORDS] shall be bound in heaven [I GIVE YOU THE POSITION], and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
   1. HEAVEN DOESN’T DO ANYTHING UNTIL WE DO SOMETHING.
3. Luke 10:19 ESV, emphasis added — Behold, I have  given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power [ABILITY] of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.
4. Ephesians 1:18–23 ESV, emphasis added — 18 Having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you [like Jeremiah], what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might 20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places [this is HIS POSITION], 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
   1. QUESTION: What has the power: the head or the body?  
   2. Ephesians 2:5–6 ESV — 5 Even when we were dead in our trespasses, [he] made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.  
      1. IN THE MIND OF GOD, WHEN JESUS WAS RAISED FROM THE DEAD, I WAS RAISED FROM THE DEAD AND MADE TO SIT TOGETHER WITH HIM IN HEAVENLY PLACES. THIS IS MY POSITION! 
   3. GET A CHAIR —The authority that belongs to Christ belongs to you and me. WHATEVER CHAIR YOUR HEAD IS SEATED ON, YOUR BODY IS SEATED ON ALSO.