Spirits

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.