Two Kings Two Thrones Part 16

This week, we looked at how David handles an attack by the Amalekites on his people.  1 Samuel 30 opens with David and his men coming upon Ziklag, a Philistine outpost where he and his men have been hiding from Saul. When they get there, they discover that the city has been burned down and all of their families and possessions were gone, stolen by raiding Amalekites.

How could this happen? David is out trying to defeat Philistines, doing God’s work. Let’s look a little at what David was doing that kept him away from protecting his family. In chapter 29, we find David was in a year-long ploy to double-cross the Philistines. He had been hiding among them, and they were about to attack Saul. David offers to go into battle with them, all the while planning to double-cross them.  The advisors to the Philistine leader express that they think it is a bad idea to bring David and his men with them, so David is sent away. It seemed like such a great plan, but it was all for naught. Why?

Remember that Saul is a type of the law, while David is a type of grace. There are also a few other important types to understand. In the Old Testament, Egypt is a type for the world, the Philistines a type for our sin, and the Amalekites a type for unprovoked attack.  Law and grace do not mix. You cannot battle sin with a mix of law and grace. You can’t succeed in defeating sin with law, and you cannot do it mixing grace with some law.

David is prevented from going into battle against the Philistines in conjunction with Saul. That actually never happened in the story of these two kings, they never went into battle together against Philistines.  While David was out trying to do something that was outside of his purpose – specifically attempting a futile battle against “sin,” the Amalekites attack. This was an unprovoked attack. Have you ever been cruising along and felt like you were attacked for no reason?  I have always taught that there are three sources of trouble in life. There is certainly our sin that produces trouble. Sometimes the enemy is attacking. The third is “Amalekite” attacks, those troubles we face simply because the world is a mess, and other people do things that make a mess for us.

When David and his men see what has happened, it says that they wept until they could weep no more. All of their strength was gone. I know we have all been there before. The book of Psalms records David’s struggles in dealing with the troubles in life. He often asks God “what gives?” That is my paraphrase, of course. God knows we are human and that we get tired and frustrated with the things that happen in life sometimes. In the Psalms, we frequently see how David moves from that emotion to confidence and victory by reminding himself of how big God is and what He had done in the past.

David does the same here. His life was at a low point. Since he was anointed to be the next king, the current king sought to kill him and now he had lost his family. If that was not bad enough, now David’s men, in their frustration, want to kill him. Instead of doing what condemnation would do – which is recount all the ways in which he may have failed that caused this turn of events, he “strengthened himself in the Lord his God.”  That is the first step. After we’ve cried it all out and dealt with the emotion, we need to find strength in the Lord. That will only happen when we have a revelation of grace. We must know that, by the blood of Jesus, we deserve God to strengthen us.

David did not do what we so often do – make an emotional decision to take revenge on the Amalekites. It would have satisfied his emotions and might have appeased his men who wanted to kill him. Instead he found strength in God and then went right to God’s presence to inquire of God what to do next.  He goes to the priest and says, “bring me the ephod.” The ephod was a priestly garment made of precious metals and gems. In its center was a breastplate that was used in seeking God’s direction for the people. David was not a priest. He had no business under the law being near the ephod, but he needed to talk to God and saw the law as no obstacle.

David took a breath, let the emotions cool down and asked God what to do. We would have so much less trouble if we would follow that model. God tells him that he will be successful if he attacks the Amalekites.  Ultimately, David does successfully attack and recover all that was lost including all of their family members and all the plunder that the raiders had taken from other Philistine camps.

 How powerful we can be in this world to redeem it for God’s kingdom if we will walk in the grace He has given us!

 To listen to the entire sermon go to http://ahwatukeechurch.com/media.php.  To learn more about Living Word Ahwatukee, visit http://ahwatukeechurch.com/.

Part 15 Two Kings Two Thrones

This week, we looked at an interaction between David and a man named Nabal in 1 Samuel 25.  Nabal lives in Carmel. In Carmel, Saul had built a memorial to his own glory. This is the same place that Saul was told that he would no longer be king because he disobeyed God by sparing the life of King Agag the Amalekite. At the time, it seemed that was a harsh punishment for one mistake. When we read our Bible, we find out that King Agag’s life is spared, and he continues having children. Out of those children descends Haman. Haman is the one in the book of Esther who nearly destroys ALL of the Jewish people. Saul’s disobedience almost caused the destruction of God’s people – if not for God working through Esther and Mordecai.  Sometimes we don’t realize the significance of obeying God. It is not the act of disobedience that is the problem, but the fruit of that act. God’s grace and his mercy overcame Saul’s disobedience.

 

Nabal is devoted to King Saul who, as we have been studying, is a type and picture of the law, while David is a type and picture of grace. David sends his men to ask Nabal to share food with them from a festival that is about to be celebrated. Nabal refuses and insults the name of David. Remember that law (and those committed to it) hates grace and is jealous of it.  David’s men return and report what Nabal had said. David’s response was “grab your swords,” and let’s not let him disrespect us like that. Now, this is not in the character or in the purpose for David. He is about to make a grave mistake. vowed to destroy every male in Nabal’s household, which was the ultimate humiliation of a family name. 

Word of Nabal’s response to David gets to Abigail, Nabal’s wife. She is infuriated by her husband’s actions. She sets out to make things right with David. She arrives and convinces David that attacking Nabal is a foolish idea. She reminds him that doing what he plans makes him no better than Nabal or Saul and that his actions could adversely affect his purpose.  In this story, I believe Abigail is a picture of the Holy Spirit. You see, first we are told that she did NOT talk to Nabal. The Holy Spirit is not able to talk to law or reason with it. It talks to and through grace. She warns David in the same way that the Holy Spirit warns us when we are about to step outside of God’s will for us.  

In John chapters 14-16, Jesus talks a great deal about the Holy Spirit that would come to man after He completed His work. Among the things that we are told about the Holy Spirit is that He is a Counselor to us. The word used here for counselor is not like a person you go to for a counseling session. It is a legal term. It is best defined as one who assists those in trouble with the law, not just a lawyer but something beyond that. Isn’t that what we need? Our sin puts us in trouble with the “law.” 

Jesus also said that the Holy Spirit will convict us in sin and righteousness. Convict does not mean to condemn. Convict means to point you to the truth. The Holy Spirit not only tells us when we have already messed up, but it warns us when we are moving in the wrong direction. He is also there when we mess up and do that wrong thing anyway. That is when He reminds us that we are still righteous before God because of what Jesus did for us. He also reminds us to run to God when we sin and not hide in condemnation.   David heard from this voice of the Spirit in Abigail and heeded her warning because he lived by grace. Living by grace allows us to hear the voice of the Spirit, not just the voice of the law that condemns. He thanks her for her words, which allowed him not to make a grave mistake.  In the end, when Abigail tells Nabal, his anger burns so strongly that within a few days he is dead.  Law’s anger again is directed at grace in a very severe way.

Finally, there is another important detail in David’s story. Nabal, who was committed to Saul/law, refused to give David what he requested. When Abigail goes to meet David, she brings an abundant gift – far beyond what David had requested. The Spirit, by grace, can bring us abundance that law cannot. When we receive grace abundantly, we can also give it! What a great story that illustrates for us how God interacts with His people.

   To listen to the entire sermon go to http://ahwatukeechurch.com/media.php.  To learn more about Living Word Ahwatukee, visit http://ahwatukeechurch.com/.

  To listen to the entire sermon go to http://ahwatukeechurch.com/media.php.  To learn more about Living Word Ahwatukee, visit http://ahwatukeechurch.com/.

Part 14--Two Kings Two Thrones

In this part, we looked at the first of two opportunities that David has to take Saul’s life. This is in 1 Samuel 24. Before we went there, we backtracked just a little bit because I believe the Holy Spirit gave me deeper understanding on something we discussed a while back. 

In 1 Samuel 9:16, where Saul is about to be anointed by Samuel to be Israel’s first king, his purpose is stated. Previously we stated that his purpose was to destroy the Philistines. Technically, though, he was not destined to destroy the Philistines, but to “deliver my people from the hand” of the Philistines. There is a subtle, but important, difference. To deliver from the hand is more a defensive or reactive action.  When you examine Saul’s life as king, you find that he never initiates conflict with the Philistines. He either reacts in defense of Israel when they are attacked or joins in the fight already started by his son Jonathan.

 

This is not only in line with his purpose as king but also with his being a type and picture of the Law. The Law was never intended to defeat sin. It was a defense against it until grace, the power to defeat sin, came. King David, the picture of grace, defeated Philistines everywhere he went. In fact, when we look at his appearance on the scene, we find Saul and his army powerless against Goliath. David shows up, goes on the attack and is victorious. 

Law cannot defeat sin. Trying to make yourself not sin does not help you overcome it (though that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to have a little self-control). Only grace operating on the inside of you can change your heart so that you no longer desire to sin. Law is a defensive tool, and grace is an offensive weapon against sin. 

There are 3 reasons law seeks to destroy grace.  The first is jealousy.  We have discussed this quite a bit.  Law is jealous of what grace can do.  The second is that law thinks grace is undoing all its hard work.  The third is the opposite point of view on how to deal with sin.  Law thinks grace is dangerous.

Now, let’s get to 1 Samuel 24. In verse two, it says that Saul was pursuing David with 3000 men. The number 3000, especially in relation to law and grace, is important.  In Exodus 32:28, just after the giving of the 10 Commandments, 3000 people die. In Acts 2:41, when the Holy Spirit filled those in the upper room, Peter preached his first “Spirit-filled” sermon and 3000 people were born again – or received eternal life. Both events happened on the “Day of Pentecost.” In Exodus, that feast had not yet been established, but we can trace the day to 50 days after the first “Passover” as they were set free from Egypt. Of course, the coming of the Holy Spirit also happened on that 50^th day after the true Passover Lamb was slain.  The coming of the Holy Spirit was the true completion of Christ’s work. His death, burial and resurrection paved the way for the Holy Spirit to be able to come in power upon all believers. It is the sealing of the Covenant of Grace.  In 2 Corinthians 3:3 and 3:6, the Law is called a ministry of death and the Spirit a ministry of life. What amazing pictures the Lord paints for us!

In 1 Samuel 24:2 it says that Saul is looking for David in the “Crags of Wild Goats.” Remember that Saul was a donkey herder. God saw that His people were stubborn and needed someone accustomed to dealing with donkeys. Goats are much like donkeys in their stubbornness. They require strict boundaries – i.e. LAW.  David, the one who was a shepherd, was hidden in the caves along the way where the sheep grazed. Sheep are not stubborn but know the voice of their shepherd and obey. Grace leads sheep. We know His voice and do not need to be ruled by lists of rules, but His voice. These caves are where the sheep would be hidden to protect them when predators were near. This is also where Saul goes to “relieve himself.”

In 1 Samuel 24:4 David’s men tell him that Saul coming into this cave is confirmation that God was delivering his enemy into his hands. This is a great example of why it is so important to hear from God and not men. His men were getting it all wrong. First of all, the “enemy” God spoke of was not Saul, but the Philistines. Second, David was not called to destroy Saul.  David sneaks up and cuts a corner off of Saul’s robe. A king’s robe was an extension of themselves. It was also symbolic of their victories. When a king conquered another king, it was common to take a piece of the robe of the defeated king and attach it to his robe, thereby growing the “train” of his robe. This is why the train of God’s robe fills the temple. He has been victorious over ALL!

Immediately after doing, so David is “conscience stricken” (verse 5). He realizes he had declared before Saul and God that he would never harm Saul, even though Saul was trying to kill him. His guilty conscience did what it is supposed to do and can do only under grace – deal with the problem. A guilty conscience, under law, will bring condemnation and separation. Law-mindedness would have cause David to declare he was no longer worthy to be king. Grace says your mistakes do not cost you your future – not if we bring them to God.  David ends up apologizing for this in the end. 

Hebrews 9:14 tells us that the blood of Jesus cleanses us from a guilty conscience. Hebrews 10:22 says much the same. Grace does not cleanse us from the need of a conscience all together, just a guilty conscience. Grace leads us to bring our failures to God, not hide in fear and condemnation. This is a hallmark of David’s life. He deals with his failures head-on before God and finds grace and mercy.   Just as Saul did not provoke attack against the Philistines, David never attacks Saul. He continued to serve a king who wanted to kill him. Meanwhile, he continued destroying Philistines.

In Matthew 5:17-20, Jesus talks about how He did not come to destroy the Law, but fulfill it. David did not destroy Saul, but served him faithfully (with Saul as a picture of the Law). Going on, Jesus says that not one “jot or tittle” of the law would pass away until all is fulfilled. The law-minded like to point to these words directly from Jesus as evidence that we must still uphold the Law. What is missed is the fact that He said that it was until all was fulfilled. He had just stated that He came to fulfill the law. He is saying this before He had finished that work.  Praise God, He DID fulfill all the righteous requirements of the Law.  The law is there for instructions about how to interact in life, but it does not rule us any more.  He did what we could not. He delivered us from the ministry of death!  Don’t ever let your failures disqualify you from your purpose. Continue to run to God with your failures and see what He will do with your life.

   To listen to the entire sermon go to http://ahwatukeechurch.com/media.php.  To learn more about Living Word Ahwatukee, visit http://ahwatukeechurch.com/.

Part 13--Two Kings Two Thrones

In this part, we saw David run from Saul.  We noticed that David attracted the distressed, those in debt, and the discontented to him when he goes home to the tribe of Judah.  I believe these 3 categories are the people who need grace the most.  Distress comes when we are faced with situations where there is no hope. Grace gives these people hope.  Those in debt are imprisoned, often literally, until it is paid.  They are held back by these burdened.  Grace offers freedom to those who are in bondage.  Discontented person are those you are usually told in leadership to remove from your team.  People who are disenfranchised from the church are mad at God and are in need of His grace.  They are mad at Christians who lived judgmentally and in condemnation.  Love doesn’t ignore sin, but it does cover them up.  These people became a mighty army (started with 400 and constantly grew) because they didn’t stay distressed, in debt, and discontented.  This army is not used to fight Saul but to fight the Philistines.  He is still serving Saul.

 

We looked at Luke 13:10.  Jesus sees a woman crippled, not by God, but just by life.  He immediately acts and speaks that she is set free from her infirmity.  He is setting her free from her prison.  He lays hands after setting her free.  Then she straightens up and praises God.  Jesus healing people involved them believing and receiving healing.  He doesn’t say “I have healed you” but instead “you are set free.”  They still have to believe what he says to receive it. The synagogue rules say the Sabbath is not the day to be healed.  They are angry both with Jesus and with the woman. 

 

In Mark 5:21-43 we see a synagogue ruler who by approaching Jesus, with whom other synagogue rulers are angry, is risking his position, seeing his daughter healed.  In the midst of the story, the woman with the issue of blood is healed by simply touching the edge of Jesus’ robe (a robe was considered the extension of a person’s power). 

   To listen to the entire sermon go to http://ahwatukeechurch.com/media.php.  To learn more about Living Word Ahwatukee, visit http://ahwatukeechurch.com/.

 

Two Kings Two Thrones Part 12

This week, we continued the “Two Kings, Two Thrones” series. In this part, we looked at David fleeing Saul and running to the house of God.  We started in 1 Samuel 20.  David has had a third spear thrown at him and decides he needs to flee.  David tells Jonathan that Saul is planning to kill David.  They devise a plan so Jonathan can find out what Saul’s intentions are.  There was a feast of the new moon, David does not go.  On the first day, Saul does not notice.  On the second day, Saul notices but assumes David is ceremonially unclean and can’t attend.  On the third day, Saul hears that David just decided not to come and Saul throws a spear at Jonathan.  Jonathan then alerts David that he should flee

In 1 Samuel 21, David has finally convinced Jonathan that Saul wants David gone. His anger toward David was fierce. When David gets to the tabernacle he speaks to Ahimelech, the priest. He asks if there is any food for him and his men. Ahimelech says that there is no food except for the consecrated bread from the tabernacle. This bread was only to be eaten by the priest in the Holy Place. If there was bread leftover, the other priests could eat it. A non-priest was not to eat this consecrated bread, yet, Ahimelech offers this bread to David.  Notice also that David asked for 5 loaves, just like the 5 loaves (and 2 fish) Jesus multiplied to feed thousands.  I have not had time to research further the correlation here, but I’m sure there is one.

This event illustrates how the spirit of the law is more important than the letter of the law. It was unlawful for David to eat this bread, but the hunger of David was more important than that law.   Jesus uses this event to illustrate that same point in Matthew 12. The Pharisees confront Him because His disciples were picking and eating grain on the Sabbath.  This was unlawful. Now, Jesus was not doing so, but only his disciples. Remember, He was fulfilling the law for us.

In verse 6, Jesus tells them that one greater than the temple was here. We generally believe He is speaking of himself. The Greek word that is used for “one” is more frequently translated “something.” This means He may have been saying “something greater than the Temple” was here. In the context of what He had just said in the previous verses and was about to say in the next verse, that actually makes more sense. That “something” was grace. In the next verse, He says that mercy is greater than sacrifice (quoting Hosea 6:6). The temple was the picture of sacrifice. It was where the people made their sacrifices to Him. Grace was going to make the sacrifice for us and eliminate our requirement of making those sacrifices. Jesus became THE sacrifice.

Jesus used the same verse just a couple chapters earlier in Matthew 9. There He told the Pharisees to go learn what it meant. Now, by their words and accusations, they demonstrated they had not learned – which is why in Chapter 11 he says, “If you had known” instead of “go and learn.”   Finally, Jesus says He is Lord of the Sabbath. Another way of saying that is “ruler of God’s rest.” As the ruler of rest, He determines what is most important – the rules for how to rest or the needs of one who cannot rest.  He is calling us to enter His rest. We no longer must make sacrifice for our sins, but receive the gift of salvation and His righteousness. Then we can help others enter that rest. Sounds like He has a plan!

 

  To listen to the entire sermon go to http://ahwatukeechurch.com/media.php.  To learn more about Living Word Ahwatukee, visit http://ahwatukeechurch.com/.

two kings two thrones part 11

This week, we continued the “Two Kings, Two Thrones” series. The premise is that King Saul is a type and picture of rule by law and King David is a type and picture of rule by grace.  In this part, we examined the growth of Saul’s jealousy toward David. Law is always jealous of what grace can accomplish. It can’t understand how God can possibly use someone “less obedient” than itself. Doesn’t God know they smoke? Maybe I need to remind Him. He must not notice how good I am. Maybe I should remind Him of that too J  

We see in 1 Samuel 18:12-14 that whatever David was given by Saul to do, he did with great success because the Lord was with him. If the Lord is with us, we can be nothing but successful. There is not one single instance of anyone in the Bible having God with them and following His lead who lost.  Grace is what gives us the full confidence that God is with us. When living under law, we have no confidence that the Lord is with us. According to law, any sin might cause the “Spirit to lift,” but under grace we have full confidence that He never leaves us or forsakes us – through the blood of Jesus.  1 John 3:19 tells us how we have this confidence.  Notice that the only commands that are considered part of the deal are to believe in Jesus and love one another.  Sin doesn’t rob us of confidence God is with us.  A guilty conscience does.

Also, Saul tries to pin David with a spear not once but twice, but David didn’t leave.  He stayed faithful.  Also, why does verse 10 say Saul’s evil spirit was from God?   This is probably a translation issue, but we looked at 1 John 1:5. God’s mercy and protection were gone from Saul. When God’s anointing was gone, Saul began to reap the fruit of what he had sown.  Mercy protects us from that.

 Now, does that mean you can do anything you want and God will make you successful? If I told you that you would likely call me a liar. We’ve all experienced doing things we thought were of God and failing. There are a few parameters we want to follow if we want to have success in the Lord in all we do:

 1.       You will experience success in those things the Lord calls you to do.

2.       You will experience success in those things that are part of your God-given destiny

 Now, those things might be a little hard to specify. Looking at some of what does NOT qualify as things that the Lord will be with you on might help…

 3.       No guarantee of success in selfish or sinful plans (he’s not going to help you destroy yourself or others).

4.       No guarantee of success in “good ideas” that were not “God ideas.” We often fail because we endeavor to do something that is good, but not something God anointed us to do.

5.       No guarantee of success in working on His plans MY way.

 The next thing we looked at in David’s story was Saul’s offering of two of his daughters in marriage and why one was accepted by David and the other not accepted. First, Saul offers his oldest daughter, Merab, to him. This would have been tradition – that the eldest daughter would be married first.  Saul puts a qualification on David obtaining this bride. The groom traditionally paid a dowry to the father of the bride. David knew he could not afford the dowry of a king’s daughter. Saul says he can have her if he fights Saul’s battles against the Philistines and leads his armies.

A couple thing are important about this exchange. First, this bride was rightfully David’s because he defeated Goliath. It was part of what was promised to the victor. Secondly, law is always going to keep demanding more before you can earn the promise.  Merab’s name in Hebrew means “increase” or “multiplication.” David had already earned it, but the law keeps adding more qualifications. We’ll never be perfect and qualified to receive the blessing of God. It can only be obtained as a gift through Christ.

Also, Saul made this offer with the hope that the Philistines would do his dirty work. He wanted David dead (law wants grace to just go away). He wanted to send David out to battle worldly sin (what the Philistines represent – see previous messages in this series). If you continue to try and battle sin with more law, eventually sin is going to destroy you.

Then there is Saul’s next daughter, Michal. Her name means “who is like God.”  Isn’t it cool that the person who is like God is drawn to grace.  It is discovered that she is in love with David. Saul sees another opportunity to complete his plan to have David murdered by the Philistines. This time David accepts Saul’s offer because he sees the price as something he is capable of paying, and this daughter loves him.  The gift of salvation is available to ALL of mankind, but only those who choose to love Jesus are going to receive that gift and enjoy that gift.

 

Saul’s price is 100 Philistine foreskins (eww!!!). David actually delivers 200 (double eww!!!). What a great picture of Christ. Jesus will not only pay the debt to purchase us, but far exceed it for those who love him! Now, we love Him because He first loves us – but receiving that love depends on making a choice to love Him. What a great exchange.

   To listen to the entire sermon go to http://ahwatukeechurch.com/media.php.  To learn more about Living Word Ahwatukee, visit http://ahwatukeechurch.com/.

Two Kings Two Thrones Part 10

This week, we continued the “Two Kings, Two Thrones” series. In this part, we began seeing Saul’s jealousy toward David emerging. After the men return from the defeat of Goliath, the people are shouting and singing about how Saul slays his thousands and David his tens of thousands. Needless to say, Saul was not happy about this.

Law will always be jealous of grace and what it can do – particularly what it thinks grace is not qualified to do. It just doesn’t seem fair to those living by law that some sinner can be used by God. After all, they’ve done all the works necessary to be deemed qualified. If the work truly had qualified them, they would be used, but works are not the qualifier – faith in His grace and a desire to partner with God is the qualifier. It is not about obedience to the letter of the law, but obedience to the voice of the Spirit.

I don’t know if you have ever thought about HOW Jesus was able to live life without sinning. Perhaps you just assumed it was because He was God, but, if Jesus were not capable of falling to temptation, He would not have been a truly sympathetic high priest. Jesus was God, but He was also man. So what gave Him the power to overcome sin? It was the Holy Spirit inside of Him.  No one had ever lived on earth since the Garden with the Holy Spirit inside of them. The Holy Spirit is our teacher and our tutor. He is our supervisor. He is all the things that the law tried to be but failed.  Also, as in Matthew 3, the Spirit descended on Jesus as well.

You see, learning all about the grace of God is vitally important, but unless we learn to be led by the Spirit, we can make grace the “license to sin” that some make it out to be. In fact, it is interesting to note that the churches and denominations that are very strong in their admonishment against the grace message (calling it dangerous and a license to sin) are also generally the ones that do not believe in the baptism of the Holy Spirit or that the gifts of the Spirit are for today.  Apart from intimate relationship with the Holy Spirit, grace can indeed become dangerous. If we have NO tutor or supervisor and are simply left to what the flesh feels like it wants to do, we will find destruction because of destructive behaviors.

The Holy Spirit is alive in us once we are born again. When we seek and receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit, then the Spirit is also ON us – empowering us to follow His leading.  Jesus had that Spirit alive in Him from the very beginning. It was literally in His DNA. The Holy Spirit came upon Mary and she conceived. In a sense, the Holy Spirit was His “daddy.” We were not born in such a way. We are born entirely of the flesh – of a man and a woman. We must become born again to ignite the Spirit in us. The Spirit is then alive in us and speaking to us – leading us into all truth. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is what gives us supernatural power to DO what the Spirit is leading us to do.

Many Christians receive that gift of salvation and the Spirit in them, but without the power of the Spirit in and on them, they return to being governed by law. The law is a poor tutor because it can only govern the outside of man. The Spirit desires to work inside of us and change us in a way that law cannot – at the heart level.  Remember what Paul told us – that the law is no longer written on stone tablets, but upon the hearts of men. It does not magically appear there, but the Spirit is doing the writing. As He writes, the heart changes.

We also spent some time looking at how this worked in Jesus’ ministry on earth. At the end of Matthew 7 as the “sermon on the mount” draws to a close, the people are amazed at the authority with which Jesus speaks – an authority that the teachers of the law lacked. The Holy Spirit in Him gave Him that authority. There is no authority in the law – only hopeless submission. Grace allows the Holy Spirit to operate with authority through the believer.

When we think about what Jesus was teaching at the sermon on the mount, we could say He was teaching us how to slay the giants in our hearts – much like David had just slayed the giant Goliath and brought the jealousy of Saul upon him. After Jesus teaches and then demonstrates this authority through healing and casting out demons (all symptoms of sin and loss of authority to the enemy), we see that the teachers of the law and the Pharisees were becoming jealous of Jesus. He was doing what they could not; what they had no authority to do. He was taking authority over the fruit of mankind’s sin – sickness, affliction, and disease.

In Matthew 9, a paralytic man is brought to Jesus. Instead of focusing on the man’s body, He tells him that his sins are forgiven. This man’s sickness may have been a result of sin. Ultimately all sickness, disease and lack is a result of the sin of mankind. Jesus was getting to the root problem. He was also irritating the Pharisees with the authority He was exercising. Since He was without sin, He had authority to demand its effects to stop.  So, it was the Holy Spirit that empowered Jesus to not sin. That is the same Holy Spirit you have in you. It is also the same power made available to us on the day of Pentecost. It is not just Spirit in us but also on us.  Unlike Jesus, we were not born that way, and we must continually renew our minds to this new way of thinking that is in line with the Spirit and empowered by the Spirit.

 

  To listen to the entire sermon go to http://ahwatukeechurch.com/media.php.  To learn more about Living Word Ahwatukee, visit http://ahwatukeechurch.com/.