Putting a Demand On The Word of God (part 2)
As we continue the message from last week, I am considering this topic in the context of Palm Sunday, also referred to as “The Triumphant Entry”...
Matthew 21:1 As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.” 4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:
v5 “Say to Daughter Zion, ‘See, your king comes to you,
gentle and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
Until now, Jesus is known as the son of Joseph... but here he is hailed as a king who is coming to take His kingdom.
Jesus knows that what is happening on Palm Sunday, will culminate in the resurrection 8 days later on Easter morning.
Palm Sunday was a forerunner event, declaring that Jesus was going into the enemies camp and taking back what he had stolen all the way back to the garden of Eden! He was righting a huge wrong that had held mankind under it’s power too long.
In a little place called Jerusalem, just a dot on the map, the kingdom of Satan was about to be overthrown, as Christ’s followers are empowered from on high, to bind and to loose. To redeem and restore, To overwhelm and over power, the power of the devil.
Jesus is proclaiming “Satan comes to steal, kill and destroy, but I have come to give life and that more abundantly”!
This is the day of Taking it back, and enforcing the victory of the king of kings and lord of lords!
As I think of Putting a demand upon the word of God, I think of Exodus 33:18 as Moses is standing on a mountain, and he has followed God’s commands and obeyed the direction he has been given. But the task is much greater than his ability. He is overwhelmed by the weight of the task he has been given. He needs some confirmation, some tangible witness that he’s on the right track and that he hasn’t missed it.... “And he said, I beseech You, shew me Your glory”. Moses is putting a demand upon the words he has been given, and the one who has placed him in the situation he is in.
God showed himself to Moses and displayed His glory before Him. Now let me take you to another verse that deals with here and now....
Haggai 2:7 And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts.
8 The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of hosts.
9 The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the Lord of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, (the word peace here means wholeness and completeness) saith the Lord of hosts”.
Joel calls this the last house, in the last days, where God will pour out His spirit upon all flesh....What if we put a demand on the word of God, for this house in this time....!!!! Acts 1:8 “But you shall receive power, after that the Holy Spirit is come, and you shall be witnesses unto me (of My power) both in Jerusalem, (your house) and in all Judaea, (your neighborhood) and in Samaria, (the surrounding cities) and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”
If you’re thinking right now that this is talking about somebody else, you’re wrong. It’s talking about you....
I submit to you that, Jacob was a deceiver, Peter had anger issues, David had an affair and arranged to murder someone, Noah got drunk, Jonah ran from God and became whale vomit, Paul was a serial murder, Miriam was a gossip and insurrectionist, Gideon was afraid of his own shadow, Sarah was a mocker and a scoffer, Elijah was bipolar, Moses was a stutterer, Abraham was too old, and Lazarus was too DEAD!
If God could reveal His power in these folks, then He’s able to use you and me.
A man entered the lobby of an apartment building and asked the cleaning person if they knew where Mr. Bob Smith lived. Oh, yes, said the man. They went up to the 4th floor and he knocked on the door several times and waited, then knocked again. He told the cleaning person, “I guess he’s not home”.... Oh, no, Mr. Smith is standing in the lobby, where you came in.....
Well, when God comes knocking on our door.... don’t be somewhere else...doing something else, because you didn’t put him first. Be there to answer the door.
He has more power than you will ever need to do what you need to do.
So last week, we talked about Dunamus power, “The power to overwhelm what has tried to overwhelm you”... “Power over all the power of the enemy”...Dunamus is the H.S. power source within us.
We also mentioned “Exesusia” power... which is delegated authority, as we are the called the Eclessia or “sent ones” who are his agents in this earth, who go in His name to enforce his judgment on satan’s kingdom.
The third Greek word which we covered for the power we have received, is “Ischus”, which means that a little becomes much. Jesus said, The little mustard seed becomes a mighty towering tree.... The little boys 5 loaves and 2 fish, fed a multitude when placed in the master’s hands.
A little widow’s oil and meal, fed the entire village through outthe famine because she gave it to God and operated in Ischuspower. Matthew 25:21 The master said unto him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’
We can see that how that as we are faithful in how we handle the little we have, it will determine how much we are given...
Ischus operates from a place of contentment. We are satisfied with what we have been given until the Lord chooses to give us more.
The fourth Greek word, for power, which we didn’t get to last week, is “Kratos”, which is invincibility. This means that the power you have within you cannot be defeated or overcome. Let me explain that....
In Mark 4:34 When Jesus told the disciples to go over to the other side of the lake, and He would meet them... They got into a storm that threatened to sink their boat and they were terrified. Jesus shows up, rebukes the storm, and then rebuked them for having so little faith... Why, because they were under His orders, to go to the other side. While they were under that powerful command, nothing could stop them except their own fear and unbelief. When you’re moving in obedience to the Lord, and you’re doing what He asks you to do... You have Kratos.
Luke 10:19 “Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you”.
When the 3 Hebrew children were thrown into the fiery furnace by the king, they were able to walk around in the flames with the fourth man, without being consumed, because they had Kratospower. They were fire proof! The power of the flames was not greater than the power that was with them.
Kratos is about living in obedience to God and seeking to live in the will of God. Jesus said, “Father, not my will but thy will be done” look at several scriptures on this... Romans 8:31 “What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can stand against us? 32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? 33 Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies (restrains, conquers, prevails)”.
Also look at...1 Corinthians 6:12 “Many things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient or profitable for me: Many things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any (but Christ).”
This power comes as we surrender more and more to the lordship of Christ in our life. You see, this authority and power is not something you struggle to get. If you’re still struggling, you haven’t understood it yet. If you’re struggling you haven’t surrendered.
I was hanging out with a friend who is a Christian but doesn’t always act like it. Our eyes met and I really wanted to say something to him, but decided to just let the Holy Spirit speak to his heart, knowing that my words wouldn’t be as powerful as holy Spirit’s inner work. So I just prayed for him, and after a little while I walked away from the mirror.....
(Tell someone, “you just need to stop struggling and just surrender”)
Ephesians 2:19 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and outsiders, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole building, is fitted and joined together, and grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
We are more powerful together than we are apart. Jesus sent his followers out 2 x 2 so they could strengthen one another.
I remember once two of us were in Philly, and we were knocking on doors, for the purpose of witnessing to those who didn’t know Christ. Well, a fellow let us in and he had porn all over his walls. (I mean wall to wall) Well, my witness buddy, started in judging him and I had to grab my partner and take him outside to instruct him. I told him, you pray and I’ll talk. Well we showed the man the love and acceptance of God, because this man had a perverse, orphan spirit. But when he felt real compassion, he began to open up and received Christ, and then he was open to scriptural teaching.
I was witnessing to one fellow who had chosen the gay life, and as we talked, he said he had committed every sin a person could commit. When I told him he had not committed the greatest sin of all because he wasn’t dead yet... He asked me what it was.
You know, folks think of many things when you say the greatest sin... Well I told him the greatest sin is refusing to accept Jesus Christ as savior. We ended up praying together and he received Christ...
You can put a demand on any circumstance and any situation, and command it to fulfill God’s purpose and plan.
I need to close this with a revelation that Holy Spirit brought to me, and I call it the Prayer of Peter.. I use it when I’m not sure exactly how to pray because I’m not sure what God’s will may be in a situation. You remember when Peter saw the Lord walking on the water. He said Lord if it is you, bid me come to you on the water. (He put a demand upon the Lord, to reveal himself) So wherever Jesus is in any situation, that’s where I want to be. At that time, Winnie was scheduled for a total hysterectomy. Which meant she could no longer have children. As we brought it before the Lord, and prayed the prayer of Peter, Holy Spirit told me that if she went to the hospital, it was because there was someone who needed Christ, and she was their last hope.
Well I accepted that and added.... Lord, I can only accept that she is going into the hospital if it’s for that reason, but once she witnesses to that person, I expect her to be totally healed. Soafter several cancellations, one of the new converts in our church, came up to her and asked to pray for her. He prayed and she was instantly healed. Servant authority meant that whatever purpose God had in the situation, it came first and then, all the other would be added unto us.
Matthew 6:33 “For the Gentiles strive after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you”.
Can you see here, that the things you might struggle to get, will come through surrender, and putting God’s plans, and his purpose first in our lives....If you’re struggling, you haven’t surrendered.
Jesus said, Matthew 9:5 “For which is easier, to say, Your sins be forgiven you, or to say, Arise, and walk? 6 But that you may know that the Son of man has power on earth to forgive sins, (then He said to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house”.
What the Lord is telling us is that salvation is a package deal, for spirit, soul and body.
The Greek word for salvation, which is the language the new testament was originally written in... is “Sozo” which means wholeness, completeness, and wellness. It carries the idea of being physically healed of diseases and to be delivered from the power of sin and Satan.
Psalm 103:2-4 “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy…”
We see this also in Isaiah 53:5 “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities, upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.”
We need to accept the whole ball of wax, the package deal. Your complete salvation package is waiting to be received. We not only are able to say, Thank God I am saved, but we can say, thank God I am healed and delivered from the power of sin and Satan!
Our actions in faith, put a demand on God’s power
It’s time to put a demand on what God said was yours!
Jesus said more blessed are they who not only hear my word but do it!
