THE POWER OF DIVINE AUTHORITY

APRIL 16TH

TEXT: 2 Kings 1:1-10 King James Version (KJV)
1.    Then Moab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab.
2.     And Ahaziah fell down through a lattice in his upper chamber that was in Samaria, and was sick: and he sent messengers, and said unto them, Go, enquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron whether I shall recover of this disease.
3.     But the angel of the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite, Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say unto them, Is it not because there is not a God in Israel, that ye go to enquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron?
4.     Now therefore thus saith the LORD, Thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die. And Elijah departed.
5.     And when the messengers turned back unto him, he said unto them, Why are ye now turned back?
6.     And they said unto him, There came a man up to meet us, and said unto us, Go, turn again unto the king that sent you, and say unto him, Thus saith the  LORD, Is it not because there is not a God in Israel, that thou sendest to enquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron? therefore thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die.
7.     And he said unto them, What manner of man was he which came up to meet you, and told you these words?
8.     And they answered him, He was an hairy man, and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins. And he said, It is Elijah the Tishbite.
9.     Then the king sent unto him a captain of fifty with his fifty. And he went up to him: and, behold, he sat on the top of an hill. And he spake unto him, Thou man of God, the king hath said, Come down.
10.     And Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, If I be a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And there came down fire from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.

2 Kings 1:13-15 King James Version (KJV)
13.     And he sent again a captain of the third fifty with his fifty. And the third captain of fifty went up, and came and fell on his knees before Elijah, and besought him, and said unto him, O man of God, I pray thee, let my life, and the life of these fifty thy servants, be precious in thy sight.
14.     Behold, there came fire down from heaven, and burnt up the two captains of the former fifties with their fifties: therefore let my life now be precious in thy sight.
15.     And the angel of the LORD said unto Elijah, Go down with him: be not afraid of him. And he arose, and went down with him unto the king.

When a man has a close walk with God, people begin to see him as the oracle of God. When he speaks, it is obvious he has the backing of God.
One character in the Bible who had such command and authority was the prophet Elijah. He was so confident as the servant of God because of his close walk with Him. When he needed to speak many of the time, he did not have to say “thus says the Lord,” instead he often said “by my word,” this shows how united he was with the will of God.

Some people in order to sound spiritual have to mention God’s name whenever they speak. But if you are intimate with God, when you speak, people can tell you have a close relationship with Him.
When King Ahaziah sent his captain of fifty with his fifty men to forcefully arrest Elijah, the captain was not careful with Elijah, he made a mistake to carry out the order without respect for God’s servant. Then Elijah called the fire of God upon him and his fifty and they were consumed.

Be careful how you obey an order to disrespect a true man of God. He did not have to ask God to release fire from above, he just called it.
There are people who do not need to speak in tongues or dance acrobatics before God manifests His power in honour of their words. Don’t take them for granted, you may be playing with fire. 
Know that when certain persons speak under certain conditions, their words automatically become decrees in the realm of the spirit. Such persons don’t joke with words because they know the God they serve. They are the apple of His eye.
Don’t be fooled by their short comings or struggles, be wise and learn from the wise captain of fifty who was wise to speak with much wisdom pleading. May you not be destroyed by the words of your mouth.