Do you remember when you first received a revelation about God? And how about when you first received a revelation from God? You can point to the highlights of your walk with God based on those times of revelation. Yet they seemed to flee so quickly. God would speak something to you that would carry you for days. You thought at the time that you had made the final association between you and God. You said in your heart "This revelation is the answer I’ve been seeking for a long time." You felt a sense of security, a sense of being connected.
Your confidence and faith was at an all time high. Your future looked secure and you were confident that you would never go back to the old ways again. You were relaxed in His presence. Your worship and adoration flowed like a river. There was no labor to your commitment and obedience to God. God was so close. You had arrived to spiritual adulthood: you were now a mature and seasoned saint.
Then one morning you woke up and you felt disorganized, distant, discouraged, disillusioned and disappointed. Everything seemed different. Where did that life go? Your prayers seemed to be going nowhere; judgment seemed to follow every act of disobedience; praise was only an exercise of your will. Silence gripped your hollow soul like cancer, eating away any sense of God’s presence. You faced closed doors, unforeseen bills, obstacles and hindrances to your blessings, while others around you seemed to be flowing in blessing and success.
You perceived the world filled with false hope and judgment. You wrestled with reasoning until you were flooded with criticism and doubt. The road back to God only seemed to be an exercise in religious futility. "Why me!" Your record of sins only seemed to justify God’s right to silence. Self-hatred mixed with a longing to please the Lord perplexed and frustrated your power to make right choses.
Romans 7:15, 24 "For that which I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate … Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?"
Solomon 2:15 "Catch us the foxes, The little foxes that spoil the vines, For our vines have tender grapes.
We often lose the big battles because we were unwilling to fight the little ones.
CHANGE!!!! When all truly comes to an end, then you will know that time was meant to develop patience, frustration to develop simple faith, self- hatred to culminate a love for others and finally a turn from the naturally dependent life to a spiritually dependent life. This metamorphosis comes from losing your life for the sake of His and the renewing of your mind with a constant focus on Him.
Where did that life you received in the revelation come from in the first place? Did it come from the truth of the revelation? Was it in the expelling of ignorance and deception? Why was revelation given and then seemed to lose its effectiveness? "Is it me?" "What have I done?" "I must have caused this emptiness and silence." "I feel a sense of hopelessly falling away." Your desperate tear-covered prayers are not able to return you to that place that you lost.
Solomon 5:6 "I opened for my beloved, But my beloved had turned away and was gone. My heart leaped up when he spoke. I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer.
Silence can be devastating and damaging. It incapacitates you and squeezes you like a vise. It causes you to wonder if God really spoke to you at all. Yet you can’t stop praying; you have nowhere and no one else to turn to. You feel that somehow God will sympathize with your pain and break through the clouds of despair and deliver you. "If He loved me, wouldn’t He deliver me?" Years go by and it causes you to wonder. Oh, if you could only find the answer, if only you knew how to please Him and end this longing. In your heart you know that there is nothing more that you want than to please Him. Yet your mind and feelings seem to be your worst enemy in your pursuit of Him. You find yourself a victim to your own destructive reasoning. The more you reason the more you fall into a sense of hopelessness. Has God closed the book on your life? You begin to deduce and therefore reduce your relationship with God. "Surely God is good and Christ is my substitute." "If good life and blessing have been removed from me, then surely God has left me. He must be finished with me." There seems to be no end to this pit in which you have fallen. "Who am I that God should look down at me?" The curtain falls…there is no answer, there is no voice, there is no hope, there is no one…
Time plays its eroding role and erodes every device, plan and purpose of your soul. Ministry was going to be the path to feed your ego; blessing was going to fulfill your lust and desires for contentment; obedience was going to make you happy and blessed; prayer was going to make you accepted; preaching was going to make you popular. Shall I go on? Can’t you see that you have been scheming with God and not seeing God? You have been religious expecting God to minister to your hidden agendas. Repentance and losing your life have only been words without commitment. You passively lose the battle in hopes that God’s pity will make up for your lack of obedience. You cry for the things you long for, but still there is that silence. The fire is out; the revelation that was going to lift you into the next level is useless now. How long will you spin your wheels going nowhere with God?
Let us go back to that question that we posed in the beginning: "Where did the life come from in the first place?"
The life was in the words, but was not the words. The life was in the one who gave the words. He is greater than true words. He is the Word. You must embrace Him and His word. He did not want you to have an answer, but life. He did not want us to be secure, but faithful. He gave us the Word that we might learn that man does not live by bread alone (his opinions, desires, goals, natural visible provision), but that we should cling and stand on every word that comes from the mouth of God. We should use his covenant word especially in the mornings of disillusionment.
Jesus stayed connected to the Father through His words. The Father’s word was his sword that He used to slay every demon and trial. The Father’s word was His purpose for living. The Father’s word was His basis for encouragement. For us, the Father’s word is the basis for our forgiveness, redemption, communion and fellowship. The Father’s words call us to Christ, to stand in Christ, to stay in Christ, to walk in Christ and in everything and for everything, to do it through Christ for the Father.
If you leave your sword in its sheath, every circumstance and every discouraging thing that comes against your expectations will destroy you. The word must find its link back to the Father through Christ Jesus. The word tells you your place, your purpose and His plan. Move away from it by an act of your reasoning and you will find life flowing out of you like a leaky bucket.
The word must be protected and guarded in your heart. We cannot just throw it away because of a situation that we cannot understand.
David cried out in Psalms 119:11, "I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you."
Memorizing it won’t do it, preaching it won’t do it, just knowing it won’t do it, telling others won’t do. But living by it will do it. Living by it when you fall, living by it when you are filled with discouragement, living by it when you see the faults of others, living by it when others lift you up or tear you down, living by it when no other answer seems to connect you to God.
There are times when you must remove the enemy’s accusations and plans with the word before you can stand before God. That’s called growing up.
Ephesians 6:14 states, "Stand firm then….” Ephesians 6:17 says, “Take ……the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."
A king that had won many great battles gave a promising knight one of his swords. It was decked with fine jewels and sharpened as fine as a razor. It was made from the finest steel and shined like a mirror in the sun. Its weight and balance was perfect. There was no excuse not to use it in battle for it was inferior to none.
As an enemy approached our promising knight, he flung out his fist and called on the name of his great king for victory. But the blows of the enemy were too great for our promising knight to combat. He retreated in amazement. He thought to himself, "Surely there is power in the king’s name." He didn’t understand the gift of the sword.
More enemies, seeing his defeated position, approached him in battle. He was driven further and further from the place of rest that he once enjoyed in the presence of the king. At one point in the battle, he even thought he caught a glimpse of the king standing on the wall observing the fight. "Surely he would step in and defend me." He didn’t understand the gift of the sword.
His every attempt to advance was met with striking blows and defeat and retreat. Every part of his body was bruised and wounded, except for his right arm and hand. There seemed to be no further reason to fight anymore. He had exhausted every resource in his own power. And even the name of the king didn’t bring him any victory. There was nothing left but his right arm and the sword. He took his right arm and withdrew the costly sword from its sheath.
The enemy advanced as usual, but this time they found a weapon that could not be defeated. The enemy identified this weapon that had brought death and destruction to their kingdom as belonging to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The promising knight wielded his sword and slayed his enemies one after another. As they advanced they fell to the ground in defeat. They knew the power of the sword. As the knight advanced, he found himself drawing closer and closer to the presence of his conquering King….. he understood the gift of the sword.
You were given a sword, and it was your responsibility to use it. You enjoyed the gift. It cost you nothing to receive it. It was beautiful and shiny, greater than any other weapon that you have ever seen. You wore it with pride; you thought others would just see it and fall at your feet. You thought your enemies would be frightened of it and flee from its presence. You were convinced that you found the ultimate deterrent. You thought, "My problems are over."….But were they?
Soon your enemy rushes you into battle. You think he will see the sword and run…he doesn’t. He throws his poisonous darts at you. You fall to your knees; he strikes you in the back; he hits you in the side; you call on the Lord, you pray, you praise, you tithe, you read the Bible, you attend church faithfully, but you fall. You look at the sword and wonder. You are surrounded from all sides, you are limping and your left arm is bandaged. You notice that your right arm has never been touched. Every other part of your body is in pain.
What are you going to do? The enemy came against you and you did not use your sword. What is going to happen to you? Your superior weaponry is not benefiting you….is it? You fought him in the flesh and he has slowed your progress in the Lord. You have been stopped in your walk with God and have reached an impasse. You have found yourself in the enemy’s territory doing the will of the enemy, at his will.
2 Corinthians 10:3 "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh."
Romans 8:8 "…and those who are in the flesh cannot please God."
Romans 8:13 "For if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live."
Judges 2:2-4 “And you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall tear down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed My voice. Why have you done this? Therefore I also said, "I will not drive them out before you; but they shall be thorns in your side, and their gods shall be a snare to you."’ So it was, when the Angel of the LORD spoke these words to all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voices and wept.
Have we found ourselves agreeing to do those things that we know are wrong and worldly? Do we have altars in our hearts that the enemy has inflated and established?
You don’t fight to get the victory, no more than you fight to get the sword. You fight with the sword to develop and establish your relationship with the Lord. The enemy wants you to make a covenant with him and establish his altars….that’s his sword to kill you and your brother. His words will make you bitter, jealous, backbiting and critical. You will advance no further.
Revelation, when it comes, is like the Lord driving out the enemies of the land, but with the revelation there is the responsibility of using it. David hid it. He made sure that the enemy would not find it and take it.
John 15:7 “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.”
You must permit the word of the Lord to destroy the word of the situation. If you don’t, the word of the situation will destroy the word of the Lord in your heart.
Romans 10:17 "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. "(KJV)
Your victory is based on what you will do with the word. The word of the situation is the word of the devil and many have fallen victim to it and that is the reason that many have lost their peace and joy.
Our sword is a gift and we need to understand that. Don’t let the enemy push you back any more. You have a mighty and powerful weapon - - use it!
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, - 2 Corinthians 10:3-5
Don’t be satisfied with just owning the sword; learn to use it. Don’t be satisfied with the doctrine of the sword; experience its benefits. Don’t let yourself be intimidated by your adversary, but fight the good fight of faith until you regain the presence and joy of the Lord for His glory. Don’t just show the enemy the sword - - cut him down with it! God gave it to you for just this purpose!
I John 5:4 "For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith" (which comes from hearing the Word).
If you are seeking victory this morning remember, you’ve been given a wonderful and powerful gift, the Word of God. Let’s make a practice of opening it up and reading it as a love letter from God because that is exactly what it is.
For God so loved the world (this includes you and me) that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. – John 3:16
