Spirits
Psalms 51:10-12
***READ BEFORE TEXT***
I’m going to preach tonight about Spirits. The Bible says there are many spirits moving around in the earth. (there are some even in this room just going around) In the midst of all these spirits, there are 2 diverse types: good spirits, and bad spirits. Good spirits come from God, so we’ll call them “God spirits”, with the central captain the Holy Spirit. Bad spirits come from Satan, so we’ll call them evil spirits. Irregardless, both have a purpose/determination to control your life. (We hear about Satan/demons out to get you, but even more the Holy Ghost is out to get you, for he wants to dominate and empower your life.) As much as their desire for control may be the same, there’s one distinguishable difference between the 2. The Spirit of the Lord liberates, and the evil spirit of Satan binds.*REMEMBER* It has always been the demise of Satan to put God’s people in bondage, but it has always been the will of the Holy Spirit to set men free.* (ex. Rom. 8 spirit raised Jesus from the dead, same spirit will quicken our mortal bodies, liberated Jesus from death, and will liberate us from this world)
NOW, I am convinced not everyone is possessed by the Devil. Some obviously are, but not near as many we think. Yet there is a multitude of folks that are oppressed, or bound by the bad spirits of the devil. And whether we realize it or not, even Christians can be bound by the bad, binding spirits of Satan. HOW DO I KNOW?
**READ TEXT**
Understanding the text, this is the time when David has been caught/confronted in the sin of adultery with Bathsheba by Nathan the prophet. He knew he had just messed up big time, and God sent the prophet to tell him about it, and about the punishment that would follow.
Now look, v.11 says “cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy holy spirit from me”. He confesses that the Holy Spirit was in him, even though he messed up. But he asks God in v.10 to “renew a right spirit within him”.
WHAT HAPPENED? A wrong spirit got a hold on David’s heart, and that led him to sin. **He tells God, “cleanse me from this sin, but not only that but please put a right spirit back in me, and get rid of the wrong spirit”. WHY IS THAT? Because he knew even if he received pardon for this sinful incident, if that binding spirit is still inside him, he most likely will mess up again. But if God will remove that spirit out of him, he won’t have to worry about doing that again.
**UNDERSTAND** The act of sin is not the root of the problem. It is merely a manifestation of what is going on inside. It is a reaction to the spirit within you. “Of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh…” What we need to do is not just ask God to forgive us when we do wrong, but especially to get rid of the spirit within us that caused us to do it!
THERE ARE 5 MAIN BINDING SPIRITS I WANT TO LOOK AT TONIGHT
(there’s a man in David’s life history that was bound by all 5 of them, his name is Saul)
(1)Binding Spirit of Rebellion
When Israel desired a king, here comes this tall, nice looking man looking for his father’s asses. Samuel meets up with him, and the next day anoints him as Israel’s 1st king. He begins to take over the ranks, and God began to give him some great victories over several enemies. But all the sudden, something begins to transpire in Saul’s life: after all the victories, he begins to think he has arrived, he thinks he’s “somebody”. This pride builds up to the place he decides he don’t need God’s instruction anymore. So he begins to do what he wants, and the spirit of rebellion begins to set in.
Prov. 16:18 says “pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall”. The reason is, when pride sets in, you begin to realize you have arrived. You begin to consider yourself to be wise, powerful, and so special that you don’t need instruction anymore. Suddenly, you emphatically refuse the wisdom of Godly people, because you know it all. But more than anything, you refuse the direction of God, and because of your pride, you become rebellious. And rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft. It is a slap in the face of God for you to become rebellious to his will, and He won’t tolerate it out of anybody!
(2)Binding Spirit of delegation
In I Sam. 17 we read the familiar story of David coming to check on his brothers only to discover Israel was being intimdated by the great giant of Gath. Now, if you know anything about O.T. history, you know that when all of the army was in the camp in situations like this, it was the king’s responsibility to go in front and fight the enemy. But this king was in the barracks like the rest army, and instead of going to fight, he was trying to delegate this job to someone else. And when he heard David speak boldly of his confidence of victory over Goliath, he was ready to talk to him.
NOW, WHAT’S THE PROBLEM WITH THIS? (1)When you delegate all of your responsibility, you are left with nothing to do, and your mind becomes the devil’s playground. It is a binding spirit, Satan trying to get you to where you push off all the work/labor so he can focus directly on you because you have no work to do! It’s a lot easier to put the responsibility on someone else, but if God dropped it in your spirit, run with it. Prov. 18:9 “he that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster”.
(2)When David came before Saul, he tells David to put on his armor, for after all, he’s not going to need it because he isn’t going to fight his own battle. But David refuses it, because it didn’t fit. **The binding spirit of delegation will cause you to have strife/be aggrevated with others because they didn’t do things the way YOU wanted it done. Get a clue! Your way is not always the only way! And if the kingdom is built up, who cares!
(3)Binding spirit of jealousy
David now has killed the giant, cut his head off, and headed out. A celebration parade was going on, commemorating the Israelite victory over the Philistines. The ladies that sang shouted out “Saul has killed his 1,000’s, but David has killed his 10,000’s”. This infuriated Saul; he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He thought “I’m the king, and he’s just a kid!” All this time the spotlight was on him, but now the tide is turned and someone else is being recognized instead. REMEMBER THOUGH, If he hadn’t delegated his responsibility to someone else, he wouldn’t have this spirit of jealousy. But the person he gave the job to is the one that was receiving praise! And from that moment forward he kept his eye on him.
Jealousy is one of the most subtle spirits there is. For, it can sneak up on you in a moment’s notice. “They let someone else do the S.S. board and not me”, “They didn’t ask me to take up the offering”, “they didn’t ask my opinion before they made a decision”, “they didn’t ask me to sing”, “he hasn’t let me preach in a while”, etc. You may not even physically say it, but if it’s in your heart it’s all the same. Prov. 6:34 “for jealousy is the rage of a man: therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance”. If you would just stand up and make some use out of yourself, you wouldn’t have any reason to be jealous.
SO GROW UP!!
(4)Binding Spirit of Anger
All of the sudden, the nice looking, vehement man is becoming a creature of his own making, and a horrible spirit of anger begins to come upon him. There were times when he would just be sitting around, and decide he wanted to throw something at David trying to hurt him. And many instances you could find him chasing David up & down the mountain in a rage of fury, determined to kill this man who would take over his throne.
This spirit is one of the most obvious known. And it is bondage, for no one wants to be angry all the time. No one wants to have the sensation to lash out at someone for no apparent reason at any given moment. No one likes the feeling of the pressure of anger resting on your chest. But it happens. And more and more Christians are being infected with it everyday. And it ruins the reputation of Christians supposed to be peace makers. Anger will embarrass you, and it will keep you from the blessings of God. *Ex. Moses: killed an Egyptian, broke the tablets w/ 10 Commandments, struck rock for water. God prevented him from going to Canaan because of his anger problem. **You don’t need another pill, you need the anointing to deliver you from the spirit of anger!!**
(5)Binding spirit of division
Saul’s life was heading in such a bad place, that it even got to the place he was against his own son. I Sam. 20, David hiding in field, new moon came king sat to eat w/ family & household, David’s seat empty, 2nd day still not there, Saul questions his whereabouts, Jonathan makes up excuse that David went to sacrifice w/ family in Bethlehem, Saul outraged against Jonathan, “do you not think that I know you have chosen to join yourself to David, shaming yourself & your family?”, Jonathan asks “what has he done to be killed?”, Saul throws javelin at him hoping to smite him.
Isolation is the key tool of the devil. For God is into unity. Yet, a binding spirit of division separates you from the rest of the crowd. Division only brings confusion & turmoil. And, if Satan can cause you to be divided from those of the household of faith, he can also use you to divide the household of faith. One little leaven destroys the whole lump. One person to stand up and stir up strife will ruin a life’s work of ministry. It would only take one move to split this church up, or any other one. I’m sorry if you don’t like growth, but we’re going to grow anyway. I’m sorry if you don’t like shouting, we’re going to shout anyway, I’m sorry if you don’t like speaking in tongues, we’re going to anyway, I’m sorry if you don’t like choruses, we’re going to sing them anyway, I’m sorry if you don’t like the manifestations of the H.G., they are going to take place anyway! We need to just get in line together, and work in unity. We need to learn to compromise some, just to maintain peace. You don’t always need to speak your mind, etc. Because if it causes hurt, confusion, or division it is not of God!
CONCLUSION:
Binding spirits are real, and they can hold you down from your race toward Heaven. It will manifest itself in the form of sin, and will thoroughly ruin your witness.
Jesus said the spirit of the Lord was upon him to release those who are captive.
