My Sunday morning message, April 3rd, presented at Eagle's Rest Ministries, Located in the Double Tree Resort, Key West, Fl. Join us each Sunday Morning in the Tortugas Banquet Room, at 10:30, for a time of prayer, praise, worship and the Word.
This message is titled
Putting a Demand On The Word Of God
Hebrews 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of God, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
OK....Fasten your seat belts boys and girls, we’re going to cover a lot of ground today as we encourage one another in the Lord...
I will open this message by saying that when we put a demand on God by declaring and standing in faith, on His own word over a situation, He is obligated to back up what He has promised. Isaiah 45:23 “I have sworn it by My own self, truth has gone out from My mouth, a word that will not be revoked: Every knee will bow before Me, every tongue will swear allegiance”.
When God told Moses what to do to open the Red Sea, and he did it, God was obligated to cause the waters to part and open a path across.
When we obey the requirements which the Lord gives us, which tells us the things that are pleasing unto Him, He says that it puts a demand upon His integrity, because God cannot lie... so that He must honor what He has said, when we come in the right spirit.
Isaiah 45:11 “Thus saith the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and God His Maker: Ask me of the things that are to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands, command ye me”. (Let me give you an example) When you put a seed or a plant in the ground, it immediately puts a demand on the soil, to nourish, supply and sustain it. God’s word is seed which we plant by faith in every situation and circumstance of life, and by doing so we put a demand on the situation and command that it line up with God’s word which He has sworn by His own immutability.
When a woman is pregnant, the baby inside begins to put a demand upon her body, which changes her physical appearance. The baby feeds off of the mother’s system, demanding nutrition and whatever it needs to come to the place of development so that it can be ready for birth and survival outside of the womb when the time of deliverance and manifestation has come.
When we are born again, (which is another term for salvation), we are placed in a womb of spiritual development. In that place, we grow and develop by feeding on the word of God, we draw nutrition from Christian fellowship, as fellow believers impart guidance and wisdom from their own experiences, and we gain insights into the practical application of truth and knowledge. God provides pastors, teachers, those with spiritual discernment, and leadership which keeps us from error and deception.
Look at Acts 1:8 “But you shall receive power, after that the Holy Spirit is come, (He came once on the day of Pentecost, so He doesn’t keep coming, now He in-dwells us, the moment we receive Christ) and you shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”
There is no Holy Spirit for children and another for adults... We all receive the same Holy Spirit when we are saved. The only difference is that we are in different stages of development in understanding spiritual principles and concepts.
I wouldn’t give a 10 year old child the keys to my car and say “drive down to the grocery store and do my shopping for me”...If they somehow made it, I would probably be eating candy, ice cream and soda pop all week!
Scripture is clear that there is a “filling” of the Spirit, which brings us into the operation of the gifts of the Spirit.... 1 Corinthians 12:4-11 — 1. The word of wisdom 6. The gift of prophecy 2. The word of knowledge 7. The gift to discern spirits 3. The gift of faith 8. The gift of tongues 4. The gift of healing 9. The interpretation of tongues
When Acts 1:8 says “You shall receive power, after the Holy Spirit is come”....
This word Power, has 4 Greek meanings... (I realize we have touched on this several times, but it’s at the core of this message...”Putting a Demand on God”....and we need to revisit it...
The first word in the original Greek, in which it was originally spoken, is “Dunamus’, Which means “The ability to overwhelm what’s been overwhelming you”.... Someone said, If what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, I should be able to bench press a semi-truck by now!!!
It also indicates that the very source of power is now within us, by the Holy Spirit! It’s not your might or strength, it is God’s power flowing through you....The source of the power, the dynamo or generator of power, is now within us.
Listen to the words of Jesus... Matthew 12:28 “If I am casting out demons by the Spirit of God, then the Kingdom of God has arrived among you. 29 For who is powerful enough to enter the house of a strong man and plunder his goods? Only someone even stronger—someone who could bind him up and then plunder his house”. Strong men are demon spirits which rule over strong holds. Strongholds are addictions and patterns that people struggle to overcome. They may be Unbelief, or Orphan spirits where you Feel Unloved or unwanted, it can be Sexual strongholds, Feelings of shame or guilt, poor self worth on one hand or pride and hedonism on the other. A stronghold is a lie that we have allowed to distort or confuse our thinking. With our permission, a lie can gain the power to affect our behavior and our life style. A stronghold is an incorrect thinking pattern that has molded itself into our way of living and it keeps us from spiritual freedom, development and success. Satan takes advantage of these patterns to get authority in our lives ...
2 Corinthians 10:4 “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of this world (or human origin). On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.”
There are strongholds over people’s lives, over businesses, over communities and cities as well as countries.
To change these things, we must attack the strongman that is holding it together through the divine power of Jesus Christ and His words which He has put in writing for us to use.
This country began under a stronghold of greed and lust for power. There are many great things, but these constantly want to undermine it. Our city has many great things going for it, but underneath everything, there is a stronghold of pleasure, perversion, and excape-ism, constantly at work.
Our capital in Washington, is a symbol of our democratic form of government, but it is under a constant threat from the strongholds of lust for power, greed, lawlessness, and deception.
If you can identify the strongholds you can bind the strong man and dismantle his kingdom which he has built around himself.
Listen to something powerful from Jesus....
John 16:7 “It's for your advantage that I'm going away, because if I don't go away, the Helper (Holy Spirit) won't come to you. But if I go, I will send Him to you. 8 When He comes, He will convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment 9 upon sin, because they refuse to believe in Me; 10 of righteousness, because I'm going to the Father and you will no longer see Me. 11 and of judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged”.
I want everyone to see here, that The strongman, has already been judged. You are appointed to carry out the judgment that has already placed upon him! As we enforce what God has already judged, we’re putting a demand upon His judgment, that it be carried out in the earth.
Jesus sent 72 followers out into the surrounding area to practice what He had been teaching them.... Luke 10:17 The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name.” 18 He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions (demons) and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. 20 However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
Notice he said as he sent them out, that “Satan had fallen from heaven.’ That was describing the judgment upon the devil... so as he sent them out, it was to enforce the judgment which had already been passed on Satan. Satan falling, meant that he had lost his authority with believers who know how to command through God’s word.
The strongman of sickness, injustice, poverty, lack, deception and perversion has already been judged.... Now, we are impowered to enforce that judgment. When a law has been established, the judge has the power to carry out or enforce the sentence.
Pray this prayer with me.... “Lord Jesus, help me to see any area of my life that is dominated by rational or irrational strongholds. Forgive me for allowing the devil to develop his lies into my mind, and help me now to uproot and cast down every one of his lies by the power of Your word. I know that Your Word will renew my mind to think in agreement and in harmony with You, so that I can put a faith demand, on all that you promised. I am asking You today to help me make Your Word a priority in my life! In Jesus name”.
It starts with me. I must be willing to honestly face any stronghold in my on life, and pull the log out of my own eye, so I can see to take the splinter out of someone else’s eye!! As I grow in spiritual practice, I will begin to bring others with me on the journey of freedom and authority.
Sometimes our problem, as one fellow said, is that I want to follow Jesus, but I just want to give a good slap to some people too!
The Second, word for power, is the Greek word “Exusia” which is delegated authority.
Ephesians 1:22 “And He (the Father) has put all things under His (Jesus’) feet and given Him to be head over all things unto the Church, (that is a description of delegated authority and power of attorney) which is His body (His physical and spiritual representative in the earth). You and I, as believers, have become God’s agent in the earth, with all of heaven backing you up.
With that authority, you are like the police officer, who steps out in traffic, puts up his hand, and 18 wheelers grind to a halt, because he has delegated authority and the entire police force stands behind him and backs him up. That truck knows that it may be bigger than the officer, but it’s not bigger than the entire nationwide police force that backs him up! In Christ, you are far more than you may be seeing right now!
Our authority is servant authority.... Our authority is always given to serve others and lift them up. The believer’s authority is never to lord it over, or to elevate ourselves. If we are doing it right, others will elevate us and give us position and recognition.
Mark 10:42-44 Calling the disciples to Himself, Jesus *said to them, “You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them; and their great men exercise authority over them. But it is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant... Jesus washed the disciples feet.....He cooked them a meal on one occasion, He paid the ultimate price for our sins, by taking our place on the cross....
Power always has within it the possibility to corrupt and be used for selfish gain unless it is servant authority. We don’t have to blow our own horn all the time. If you play the piano, you don’t just tell them, you convince people by sitting down and playing the piano! Someone said that every parent of teenagers should have a dog, so that when they get home someone is glad to see and appreciate them.
I recall in a blizzard in Connecticut, a lady came flying out of a side street and crashed into the side of my car. I pulled over, said a little prayer and walked over to her car. She was crying and in shock. I asked her to crack the window and said “God has brought us together today”... I prayed with her, my wife and I followed her to her house to get her information, and led her to receive Christ. She was in church that Sunday and many Sundays after. She went off to Bible college and became a missionary. Servant authority operates in compassion.
I had to choose to operate in servant authority, not civil authority....or human strength and effort, I only had to let the compassion of Jesus shine through me.
Our authority is always to serve and lift those around us.
Next week I will continue this message, Putting a demand upon the Word of God...
If you would feel led of the Holy Spirit to support this ministry, you may send your donations to "Eagle's Rest, P.O box 2820, Key West, Florida 33040.... Thank you in advance and God richly bless you..
