II. A pause in Ephesians 5.
A. A word spoken to a group of us gathered for corporate prayer.
1. 1 Corinthians 14:26
2. The Lord spoke to a group of us corporately at prayer last Tuesday night about a work He is doing here at TRC. I feel led to share that with the rest of us today.
4. We waited on the Lord in silence for a while, and as we did, the Lord spoke to us one by one and each individual word came together like the pieces of a puzzle.
5. The flow:
a. I heard Isa 14:13&14, about satan’s pride and rebellion.
b. Janelle: Psalm 72, the reign of Christ, specifically His millennial reign.
c. Roger: Rev 5:9&10 the victory of Jesus and our reigning with Him on the earth.
d. Steve: Rev 3:19-21 accept rebuke, overcome the evil one and sit on His throne.
e. Roger: 1 Sam 10:6, 9 Saul given a new heart by the Spirit of God.
f. Jackie M: Luke 15:4-7; Psalm 51 The Lord seeks the lost sheep, gone astray and the prayer for a new heart given by the Spirit.
g. Krystal Mann kept hearing “snake” for the last couple of days.
B. Synopsis.
The Lord is warning us about Leviathan’s influence in the world, the church and over us at times. This influence is usually manifested in pride, rebellion and dishonor, although these are not the only ways it is seen. Right now, the Lord is working in us to cleanse us from this evil influence. He asks us to accept His discipline, repent of our pride and rebellion and ask Him for a new heart. Only then will we experience true victory in this life.
We talked about imitating God last week from Ephesians 5:1&2. Another way that we imitate Jesus is by humbling ourselves (Phil 2:8). There are three main reasons why I sense the Lord is dealing with this issue right now.
Pride is a barrier to love, it feeds the spirit of lawlessness that is already at work in the world and it blocks a move of the Spirit.
Barrier to love. Pride will prevent us from laying down our lives for another, it will keep us trapped in offense, criticism and a false sense of superiority that shuts down true agapé love.
Lawlessness. But pride is even more dangerous than keeping us from love- it feeds the spirit of lawlessness in the world. We don’t have to follow satan to be complicit with him, all it takes is a prideful heart that does it’s own thing and we join in his ongoing rebellion. Job 41:34 says that Leviathan is “king over all the sons of pride.”
Hinderance to the Spirit. Pride and rebellion will hinder the Spirit from working out His will in us and through us. Speaking of Leviathan in Job 41:15-17, God says..
15 His rows of scales are his pride, Shut up tightly as with a seal; 16 One is so near another that no air can come between them; 17 They are joined one to another, They stick together and cannot be parted.
Air is symbolic of the Spirit. No air can get through because the scales are so close they form a seal against it. In the same way, a prideful person is unable to receive from the Spirit because their will, their opinions, their offenses, etc. is held so tightly that it prevents the Spirit from reaching their heart.
So the Lord is trying to do a deep work in us right now, a work of the heart. Refining us to love as He does, to make us shine His light in a world of lawlessness where everyone does what is right in their own eyes and to prepare us for a move of His Spirit. But our part is to humble ourselves, submit to God and ask for a new heart.
III. Three Key points. (A battle for thrones, reigning with Christ and asking for a new heart.)
A. A battle for thrones.
1. This comes from Isa 14:13&14 and Rev 3:19-21.
a. Isa 14:13&14
13 For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’
b. Rev 3:21
“To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.”
2. Do you see the conflict here?
a. “…said in your heart…” the attitude of pride lurks in the depths of our heart
b. “…I will exalt my throne…” self-promotion, self-seeking, self-will
c. But Jesus says “…I will grant to sit with Me on My throne…”
d. Which throne do we want?
3. A throne speaks of sovereignty, which means rule, authority, having your way. Are we trying to have our own way and establish our throne, or submit to the Lord’s way and serve His will.
a. Many times we think we can do what we want and then stroll into the present of the Lord whenever we feel like it and receive His blessing, etc.
b. I’m talking about a pattern of stubborn, prideful, rebellious attitudes, not occasional sin.
4. Why be seated on His throne instead of ours? Because:
a. righteous and justice are the foundation of His throne
b. all authority in heaven and earth has been given to Him
c. He has the Key of David
d. He has the keys of death and hell
5. “To him who overcomes…” Overcomes what? The context: Jesus spoke this to the Laodicean church.
a. Lukewarm, spiritual pride, Pharisee, self-righteous, etc.
b. “I am rich and have need of nothing”
c. In reality, they are wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked
6. What response is the Lord looking for? Vs 19 “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.”
7. We’ve got to humble ourselves and receive the rebuke and correction of the Lord. Remember, the throne is at stake here.
B. Reigning with Christ.
1. This comes from Psalm 72 and Rev 5.
a. Psalm 72 is about the Millennial Reign of Christ.
b. Rev 5:9&10
9 And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You
were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and
nation, 10 and have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth.”
2. We only reign if we are in submission to Christ, all authority and righteousness comes from Him.
3. Priests: have to walk in holiness, no strange fire, immorality, etc.
a. Lev 10:1&2 Nadab & Abihu, two priests, offered strange fire to the Lord. This means unholy, profane, unclean, and fire came out from the Lord and killed them.
b. Pride will deceive us into thinking that we can live in habitual, unrepentant sin and still walk into the presence of the Lord and demand His attention, blessing, provision, etc.
4. Kings: have to first be in submission to the Lord and then we will see victory.
a. 1 Sam 15 Saul was the first king of Israel, his reign represents the reign of the flesh, which means choosing our will over God’s will but still expecting to be blessed.
b. Saul was told by Samuel to wipe out the Amalekites, all the people and animals. But Saul kept the bets animals and did not kill the king.
c. This was rebellion and he lost his kingdom for it.
5. James 4:7-10
7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.
6. So we have to be on guard against the tendency to exalt or will over God’s will, our way over His way. By acting in pride, we rebel against God and feed the lawlessness that is at work today.
C. A New Heart.
1. This comes from:
a. 1 Sam 10:6, 9 Saul given a new heart by the Spirit of God.
b. Luke 15:4-7; Psalm 51 The Lord seeks the lost sheep, gone astray and the prayer for a new heart given by the Spirit.
2. We just talked about Saul and how he chose to follow his own will and that rebellion against God cost him his kingdom.
3. Saul is a cautionary tale for for us. In 1 Sam 10:6&9 Saul is given a new heart and changed into another man right at the start of his reign.
4. That speaks of us being given a new heart and becoming a new creation when we are born again.
a. The good news is that we can start reigning with Jesus from day one.
b. The bad news is that we will have to take up our cross every day and crucify our flesh to do that, or else we will lose our ability to reign with God’s blessing, anointing and power.
5. There are consequences to our obedience and disobedience, this king that Saul was supposed to kill was named Agag, years later, a man named Haman the Agagite tried to exterminate all the Jews in Persia.
6. But the Lord will have grace and mercy on us if we repent. This is what Luke 15:4-7 speaks of. Jesus is faithful and will leave the 99 to come and bring us back into the fold when we go astray.
7. It’s helpful to pray and ask the Lord “Am I lost in my ego?” “Am I wandering in selfishness, self-pity or self-preservation?” Ask the Lord and He will faithfully restore you.
8. Lastly, Psalm 51 is a model prayer for us in this season.
a. Vs 1-3
1 Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.
b. Vs 10-12
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit.
IV. Closing.
A. Love in a time of lawlessness.
1. Matthew 24:9-13
9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. 10 And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. 11 Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. 12 And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But he who endures to the end shall be saved.
2. We live in a time when lawlessness is increasing and Jesus warned us that it will tempt us to let our love grow cold.
3. As we near the return of the Lord, there will be an increase in offense and betrayal and hatred, but we have to humble ourselves and resist the prideful urge to retaliate or become hard hearted.
B. I submit this to you because I believe it is fresh from the Lord this week for TRC.
1. Please pray into this and ask the Lord to confirm it and for how to apply it.
2. The choice of thrones is before us, our own throne with no power and authority that only lasts a short time, or the Lord’s throne, with righteousness and justice, power and authority forever.
3. We have to humble ourselves and ask the Lord to rid us of any pride and all of it’s manifestations, i.e., stubbornness, withholding, resentment, bitterness, etc.
4. And we have to ask Him for a new heart. We are a new creation, yes, but we need to ask Him to renew our heart and transform us daily to be more like Jesus.