Commentary:  This parable gives us an illustration of the authority to exercise power through a word spoken with faith in God.  The unique element to this parable is the concept of one’s faith beginning as a seed that is germinated concerning a particular area of life.  And even as a seed, it contains within it the pure DNA to replicate itself.  So also, does the seed of faith germinate in the soul of the believer.  Do you have good ground for the seed to be sown into? The scripture says that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God, so we see that the Word is like unto a seed.  Scripture reference: Mark 4:31-32, “It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth: But when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches; so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it,” and Romans 10:17, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” 

EXERCISING AUTHORITY

When a born again, spirit-filled believer speaks a word in faith, unmingled with any doubt to a particular situation, to demon spirits, etc., it releases energy or power from the Holy Spirit through the one who is speaking through faith in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Acts 3:6, “Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.” 

Angels are also activated through a faith-spoken word. John 1:51, "Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man." 

Whenever we've seen Jesus throughout the four gospels healing or casting out devils, in most cases we will notice that He is speaking at or commanding the individual to be healed or a devil to go out from an individual.

Additional scripture references follow: 

Matthew 8:8, “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,”

Matthew 8:16, “When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick,” and

Luke 4:32-36, “And they were astonished at his doctrine: for his word was with power.  And in the synagogue there was a man, which had a spirit of an unclean devil, and cried out with a loud voice, Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art; the Holy One of God. And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And when the devil had thrown him in the midst, he came out of him, and hurt him not. And they were all amazed, and spake among themselves, saying, What a word is this! for with authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out.”

*  We must understand that behind the scenes, as one speaks a word in faith, they release a command backed by heaven itself. Matthew 16:19, “And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” 

The development of faith in the soul of a born again believer must occur, prior to the exercise of authority and this may take a period of time – weeks, months, and, yes, even years – as we are unraveling a program of doubt in our soul that did not exist in Christ.  Mark 11:23, “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.”

Of course, the way that faith is developed is through meditation on the scriptures that pertain to the area in which you are needing faith. Romans 10:17, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

Through the word of faith, Christ crucified and risen from the dead, a word of faith can be spoken to heal the sick or cast out devils, but it also can develop one's environment for abundant living through a general good confession such as, "I am healthy," "My life is prospering," "God uses me to win others to Christ," "My family is blessed," etc.  Adversities can be subdued through the utterance of a word spoken with total faith or trust in God, because power and authority is released through a faith spoken word against the circumstances that are opposing the believer. Mark 4:39, “And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.”

A key factor in exercising this authority is to not utilize the natural, conscious mind to try to figure out how the things we are speaking are going to occur.  Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”

We must remember we are moving according to the spiritual dimension that does not, for the most part, align itself with the natural or physical dimension.  1 Corinthians 2:14, “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned,” and 1 Corinthians 14:14, “For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful.”

We must assume the same attitude when exercising authority as we do in prayer. Many times in prayer, if we do not release a matter from our conscious mind, our faith will not begin to operate. We must learn to cast our cares upon God while exercising authority, even as when praying according to 1 Peter 5:7, “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.”

THE BASIS OF AUTHORITY

Before the born again believer can effectively exercise their authority, he or she must understand the basis of their authority.

All authority comes from God and the basis of authority is the Word of God. Jesus Christ is the Word of God made flesh and we must learn to abide in Him when exercising authority.  The Holy Scriptures give us the written basis for that authority but even they must be opened up to us by the Holy Spirit.  This is the result of abiding in Jesus Christ as even Jesus, Himself, said that He could exercise no authority except from His abiding position in His Father.  John 5:30, “I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.”

When taken into our spirit the seed of the Word will generate faith to believe that the things we say will come to pass.  In Mark 11:23 “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.”   Jesus said that we could speak to the mountain and it shall be removed if we do not doubt in our inner man.  In Matthew 17:20 “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,”  He was implying that faith must develop as a seed, that the evidence of faith might come forth. Hebrews 11:1, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

The human, conscious understanding is not the place wherein faith is developed, but rather the human spirit, for the Word is spirit.  John 6:63, “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.”   Through meditation on the scriptures, they are internalized into our spirit and our faith becomes operative.  Although all the information is already written in our spirit through regeneration, they become activated through internalizing it in our soul, and the soul and the spirit agree, and there is a release of the power that worketh within us.  Ephesians 3:20, “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.”

Much the same in a court of law, if one does not understand their rights, they will find themselves inhibited and intimidated and lacking natural confidence in the natural realm. Likewise in the spiritual realm, if ones does not understand their spiritual rights they will lack spiritual confidence or supernatural faith. It is imperative; therefore, that one develop a spiritually discerned knowledge of the Word of God, rightly dividing it and thereby develop spiritual confidence and faith.  2 Timothy 2:15, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

HOW DOES IT WORK

How it works can be understood by an observation of the authority backing the President of the United States, and the leaders and/or authorities in other governments. Under the powers given to him by the Constitution, he can exercise certain authority.  As the Commander in Chief of the military, he has the entire armies of the United States of America backing him, enough power to destroy the entire world!  Without this backing, his authority would be hollow when confronting an aggressive nation that might have it in mind to attack us.  If an enemy ship were to invade the territorial waters of the United States, they might be told to leave those waters or we would use force.  The thought of force backing those words to an aggressor will be a deterrent to them and more than likely, rather than engaging in a battle, they would probably withdraw knowing they could very well be destroyed. No other force need be used other than words.  "Leave our waters or we will destroy you!"  The thought or the knowledge of our military force is enough to let that one ship know that they should leave. Also, if it were necessary to use force, it would all begin with verbal commands.

Likewise, when we speak a word of authority, we have the standing armies of heaven, angelic hosts, backing us.  It must be noted though, that the words we speak in authority must be spoken in a state of faith.

The centurion, whose servant Jesus healed simply by speaking a word, understood this authority and caused Jesus to marvel and make a comment concerning the greatness of his faith. Matthew 8:5-13, “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 has believed, so be it done unto thee.  And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.”  The centurion understood that when Jesus said something that He had authority and things happened.  Jesus spoke to Nathanael regarding angels in John 1:51, “And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.”

The angels that Jesus was referring to were the ones coming from and going to Heaven dispatching gifts and carrying out orders given through the words that Jesus spoke as He ministered.  In addition, He said, I could call upon my father and He would send me 12 legions of angels to defend me. Matthew 26:53, “Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and He shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?”  Although He did not do so because it was His plan, with the Father, to give Himself as a ransom.   Through our words, angels can be activated.  Hebrews 1:14, “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?”

THROUGH FAITH WE UNDERSTAND

Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed and brought into existence through the spoken Word of God.   Hebrews 11:3, “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.” 
 

In Genesis, Chapter 1, we see the creative force of God being exercised simply by commands such as, “Let there be light,” and “Be fruitful and multiply,” and nothing more.  Note: the result of some commands occurred immediately and some have been occurring over a period of time.  Therefore, we must not put time frames on our statements of authority but rather stay in a state of trust or faith in God concerning them.

In Romans 4:17,  “(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were,” the Word says that God calls those things that are not as though they were.  In other words, the things that we see in the natural can be altered by a command from one who is acting from a spiritual vantagepoint, while in a state of faith.

Many of the prophecies of the Old Testament are being fulfilled today as a result of the command that exists in the prophecy given. They were inspired by God's Spirit and He is seeing to it that *  His Word, spoken by the prophets, is doing that which it was sent forth to do.  He has set His agreement upon His Word from heaven, (Matt 18:19) that has been spoken on earth by men and women of God, and is watching over it to bring it to pass.   Isaiah 45:23, “I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear,” and Isaiah 55:10-11,  “For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” 

An example of this can be found in Ezekiel's prophecy to the valley of dry bones.  This was not only a prophecy but also a direct command of authority given by God through Ezekiel (Ezekiel 37).  Ezekiel was told to command the gathering of bones and flesh into an army. Afterward, he was told to command the four winds to come together and fill them with life.  We are seeing this prophecy/command coming to pass as the nation of Israel gathers back to their homeland.

The formation of many spirit-filled churches unifying as soldiers in a vast spiritual army could be the spiritual counterpart to the natural part of that prophecy/command.

UTILIZING AUTHORITY

If we do not exercise the authority we have, the Word of God says that authority will be taken away. The parable of the talents (Matthew 25) is an example of spiritual authority.  If we do not utilize the authority we have, Jesus said it will be taken away, but if we utilize it, it will increase. Matthew 25:29, “For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.”  If you will learn to exercise your authority on a regular basis, you will find that your faith will multiply concerning this ability and privilege. Paul said our senses are exercised by reason of use. The more you stay in a dimension of a good confession of faith, that is to say, speaking good things continually and dwelling on good things, confessing the work of Christ on a regular basis, the more your faith will multiply and develop. 

I must caution you at this point that it is because of the work of the cross that you have any spiritual authority at all.  Otherwise, as many Christians have done, you may find yourself trying to utilize this authority from an egotistical standpoint of self and find yourself being entangled with over-exertion or positive thinking based on self.  The seven sons of Sceva experienced the negative results of the aforementioned scenario (Acts 19:14-16).

Your faith will grow day by day, step by step. James 1:4, “But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing,” and 2 Peter 3:18, “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.”   Do not try to reach out beyond the proportion of faith that you are at.  Romans12:6-7, “Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching.”   Trying to exercise more authority than we actually have (being that authority is based directly on the amount of developed faith of an individual), will only result in damage to one's faith and a healing will be needed. 

Be prayerful about the utilization of your authority and exercise it on a regular basis.  Don't do it too much and don't do it too little.  But rather learn consistency in your attitude and confession.  Some examples of this kind of confession are as follows: "I am dead to sickness and resurrected to health upon my body," or  "Be blessed and multiply," and "May the peace of God be multiplied unto you."