Restoring The Roar (Part 4)
1 Thessalonians 5: 23
23 Now may the God of peace sanctify you (make you holy) in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again.
If we are going to live the life we were created to live, the life of care-free superabundance that never slides back into passive acceptance but is lived in active and aggressive expectancy to see and experience the goodness of God in the land of the living, then we must acknowledge and maintain God’s order of spirit, soul and body.
Proverbs 18: 14
The strong spirit of a man sustains him in bodily pain or trouble, but a weak and broken spirit who can raise up or bear
sustain – strengthen or support physically or mentally
A strong spirit = a strong mind and a strong body
To sustain can also mean to cause to continue for an extended period or without interruption, or to bear pressure without breaking or falling.
1 Corinthians 6: 17
17….the person who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him.
One spirit with the Lord. You can’t get any stronger than that.
Over the past couple of months we have looked at Caleb, who the LORD himself gave testimony of as having a different spirit, and Daniel who scripture records as having an excellent spirit.
This month we are looking at David.
Psalm 51
For the choir director: A psalm of David, regarding the time Nathan the prophet came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.
1 Have mercy on me, O God,
because of your unfailing love.
Because of your great compassion…..your tender mercies….
blot out the stain of my sins.
2 Wash me clean from my guilt.
Purify me from my sin.
3 For I recognize my rebellion;
it haunts me day and night.
4 Against you, and you alone, have I sinned;
I have done what is evil in your sight.
You will be proved right in what you say,
and your judgment against me is just.
5 For I was born a sinner—
yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.
6 But you desire honesty from the womb,
teaching me wisdom even there…..
You desire truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden parts you will make me to know wisdom…..
7 Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Oh, give me back my joy again;
you have broken me—
now let me rejoice.
9 Don’t keep looking at my sins.
Remove the stain of my guilt.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God.
Renew a right….steadfast….faithful….stable…..loyal spirit within me.
11 Do not banish me from your presence,
and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and make me willing to obey you……uphold me by your generous Spirit…..
13 Then I will teach your ways to rebels,
and they will return to you……sinners will be converted to you…..
14 Forgive me for shedding blood, O God who saves;
then I will joyfully sing of your forgiveness….. Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God of my salvation, and my tongue shall sing aloud of your righteousness…..
15 Unseal my lips, O Lord,
that my mouth may praise you.
16 You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one.
You do not want a burnt offering.
17 The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit.
You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.
18 Look with favour on Zion and help her;
rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then you will be pleased with sacrifices offered in the right spirit—the sacrifices of righteousness….
with burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings.
Then bulls will again be sacrificed on your altar.
I remember nearly thirty years ago preaching on this Psalm as representing a man on the threshold of personal revival.
Why revival? Because revival is spirit life. Revival is life restored to divine order.
This Psalm was the cry of David’s heart after he had sinned with Bathsheba and his sin had been exposed by Nathan the prophet.
God testified concerning him: “I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart….”
One of Jesus’ titles is the Son of David. If anybody knew about spirit life it was David. If anybody knew about the anointing it was David. If anybody knew about active and aggressive expectancy in regards to supernatural provision and protection it was David. If anybody knew about worship in spirit and truth it was David.
In fact, it is David’s tabernacle that God promised to rebuild, not the tabernacle of Moses. The tabernacle of David that had unlimited and unhindered access to God’s presence with 24/7 worship. The tabernacle that represented a heart after God.
And yet in Psalm 51 we find David coming before the Lord in repentance and appealing for restoration of a right, steadfast, stable, faithful, loyal spirit. What had happened?
According to 2 Samuel 11 we are told that at the time when kings go to war – to battle – David stayed at home. He was still the king, he was still on the throne, he was still in position. But he allowed his experience to fall out of alignment with his position.
David acknowledges that he had sinned. How do you sin? You move from your spirit to your soul, just like our first parents did in the beginning in the garden. When you move from your spirit to your soul you expose yourself and make yourself vulnerable to the power of temptation.
David, who was in the wrong place at the wrong time looked and saw, he liked what he saw, he wanted it, and he decided to take what he wanted regardless of the consequences. David was a warrior who knew that the Lord guaranteed him victory in every conflict, but he forgot that you still have to go to war and you still have to do battle. This is a common mistake, especially among those who are secure in their understanding of their position in Christ.
1 Corinthians 10: 12 – 13
12 Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. 13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
NLT
12 If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall. 13 The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.
I have experienced personally that the places where you think you are strongest are actually your weakest and most vulnerable.
I can remember back in the late 1970’s as a new believer being in a house in Stornoway with a group of people and stating quite categorically and with great confidence that it was totally inconceivable for me to even consider the possibility that I might ever backslide. And yet within a couple of years I was totally and hopelessly backslidden.
I could give another very specific example of another bold statement I made in the 1980’s. I wasn’t attacked on this statement immediately but I can tell you that it is a place of vulnerability that I still have to go to battle regarding.
We should ever allow any aspect of our relationship with our heavenly father to become a ritual, because our soul can do ritual. But only your spirit can maintain the intimacy of true relationship.
For a lot of people church has become a ritual. They haven’t lost their position but their experience falls far short of the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God.
It’s when our position and experience are aligned that we bring forth a testimony to God’s glory. David knew that from his encounter with Goliath. And yet somehow David had come to a place where he thought he could neglect warfare and still stand. He thought he was strong enough.
Jesus showed us that it is possible to never fall. He said that with God all things are possible.
In Acts 10: 38 we are told that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power and that he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed of the devil because God was with him. And with God all things are possible. He never did anyone wrong, only good; He never hurt anyone, he healed them; He never added to people’s affliction, he delivered them.
He never moved from his spirit to his soul. He stayed connected, spirit to spirit with his Father in heaven.
Even in the garden of Gethsemane, as his soul was exceedingly sorrowful even to the point of death, and as he experienced pressure that was so intense that he sweat drops of blood, he continued to draw on the resources of heaven by staying in the spirit.
He trusted in his Father’s ability to keep him, to provide for him and to protect him, even as he endured the shame of the cross. Even as he felt that he had lost intimacy and connectedness with his Father he still called out to God because he was still looking to God.
And at the end of his horrendous ordeal, as he yielded himself to take our place in death he cried out – he released a roar – IT IS FINISHED, and he bowed his head and [voluntarily] (AMP) gave up his spirit, fully trusting that the same Spirit who conceived him, the same Spirit who anointed him in ministry would fulfil his promise and raise him up victorious over death and the grave.
Jesus didn’t cry out “I am finished….” because that is soul-speak. He cried out from his spirit with a mighty spirit roar, “IT IS FINISHED….”
I can guarantee you that the powers and realms of darkness were shaken by that cry, even if at that moment they didn’t understand why.
Colossians 2: 13 – 15
13 You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. 14 He canceled the record of the charges……the certificate of debt that was…. against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. 15 In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross……he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it….
These three words – IT IS FINISHED – from the spirit of a believer still have the same powerful effect on the powers of darkness.
This is our na-na-na-na-na. I have taught this over the years and some folks have reacted like it is soulish and childish nonsense. But there is a na-na-na-na-na in our spirit that is powerful when we release it.
It is like saying, the Lord rebuke you satan, in tongues.
David, the man after God’s heart. David, the worshipper. David the warrior. David had messed up bad. But when he was confronted with the truth of what he had done he knew where to go with his sin. And he knew the reason for his sin. And he knew the solution for his sin. Not just for forgiveness for his sin, but for deliverance from the power of sin.
He cried out to the Lord.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right….steadfast….stable….faithful….loyal spirit within me…..
He was acknowledging that he had been out of order and so he was asking to have God’s order restored in his life.
11 Do not cast me away….banish me…..from your presence, and do not take your Holy Spirit from me…..
David knows God’s heart, and that his heart is always toward his children, even his fallen children.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me….
David knew that the strong spirit of a man will sustain him in trouble, temptation, test and trial. David also knew that God isn’t looking for religious ritual as some kind of cover up. He is looking for full disclosure in his presence so that there can be full salvation, healing and deliverance.
Remember, Jesus came full of grace and truth – in that order. God’s heart is always for reconciliation and restoration.
David had done bad, really bad, but he trusted in the goodness of God that had sent the prophet with the word of truth to lead him to repentance, and to restore him to the life he had been created and destined to live.
David knew that his sin was primarily against the God who had created, called, anointed and blessed him. He knew that he had stepped out of order, but he knew the way back and he was intent on taking it. Never again would he allow his position to be a substitute and cover for his failure to maintain his experience.
There is nothing sadder or more pathetic than a minor celebrity showing up somewhere and demanding special attention with the words, “Don’t you know who I am…..”
Remember what the demons said to the seven sons of Sceva, “Jesus we know, and Paul we know, but who are you….”
When we are restored to God’s order and our spirit roar is restored the demons will know exactly who we are as our position and experience are restored to alignment with the throne of heaven.
Every time Jesus said I AM the powers of darkness were stirred because that reality will always seal their defeat.
And so, how do we do battle, how do we defeat sin?
Hebrews 12 tells us how…..
1….let us lay aside every weight (throw off everything that hinders) and the sin which so easily ensnares us (that so easily entangles us, that so easily trips us up) and let us run with endurance (with perseverance) the race set before us (marked out for us)
And here is our battle strategy, our guarantee of victory in every skirmish.
2 …looking unto Jesus (fixing, keeping) our eyes on Jesus, the author and the finisher (the pioneer and perfecter) of our faith, (the champion who initiates and perfects our faith, Jesus who both began and finished this this race we’re in)
Jesus has already finished the race and he has won the prize of victory over sin and death, sickness and oppression.
When we keep looking to him, keeping our eyes fixed on him, it connects us to his strength, his life, and his ability to overcome.
As long as Peter was looking to Jesus he could walk on water regardless how powerful the storm or how big the waves were. But when he shifted his focus from Jesus to the storm he began to sink. Thankfully he didn’t quit there – he cried out to Jesus, and Jesus saved him.
Stephen said, “I see Jesus standing at the right hand of God…..” How did he see that? He was looking to Jesus, he had his eyes fixed on Jesus.
When we take our stand of faith we need to know that Jesus is already standing with us. When it is time for kings to go to battle our victorious King is with us in that battle and his supernatural presence guarantees our victory.
Looking to Jesus, keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, keeps us aligned with the throne of God and keeps us connected with the power and provision of heaven. Then the authority of heaven flows through us and the world around us will be impacted and sinners will be converted.
David knew that because David was a worshipper.
Recent surveys of what have been termed as the “nones” and the “dones” – those with no affiliation or interest in the church – have come back with one word in regards to what these folks are looking for: authenticity.
To be authentic is to be: authoritative, reliable, dependable, trustworthy, honest, faithful, accurate, valid, true, the real thing.
We will be recognised as authentic and valid and the real thing when our position and experience release the authority of heaven that comes to bless people – to save, to heal, and to deliver in an atmosphere charged with mercy and grace.
The Father is seeking worshippers in spirit and truth, authentic worshippers.
He wanted David back, and so he sent the prophetic word. The prophetic word always resonates with worshippers.
Maybe you’ve messed up. Maybe you messed up bad, even real bad.
Are you a worshipper? Then there is a way back for you.
Pray this simple prayer:
Father, thank you for your prophetic word that reminds me to keep looking to Jesus.
Thank you for the opportunity for full disclosure in your presence without a sense of fear or shame.
Thank you that I can confess my sins and failures knowing that you are faithful and just to forgive me and to cleanse me from all unrighteousness.
Father, thank you for creating a clean heart in me.
Thank you for renewing a right, steadfast, stable, faithful,
loyal spirit within me.
Thank you for restoring to me the joy of your salvation and giving me a strong and willing spirit to sustain me in temptation, trouble, trial, or testing.
Thank you for opportunities to enter the battle and to see others saved, healed, and delivered.
Thank you for restoring my roar.
In Jesus name, amen. Bring it on, Lord……