Hold On Tight

Isaiah 35:3; Hebrews 12:12

NKJ Isaiah 35:3 ‘Strengthen the weak hands, And make firm the feeble knees’.

NLT Isaiah 35:3 ‘With this news, strengthen those who have tired hands, and encourage those who have weak knees’.

NKJ Hebrews 12:12 ‘Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees’,

NLT Hebrews 12:12 ‘So take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your weak knees’.

Context in Isaiah: In Isaiah 35, the prophet is speaking about the coming of the Lord God to save His people, to ransom them from their enemies and from their exile.

Context in Hebrews: The writer of Hebrews is encouraging the readers to persevere in their faith and to help one another.

Strength and Stability

Transition: So let me begin with the strength part:

1. Strengthen Your Grip

Application: I think of two things. Tug of War and Arm Wrestling.

Professional Tug of War

Arm Wrestling – What is the best grip for arm wrestling?

‘When you grip your opponents hand, you want a VERY hard, firm grip. a good thing to do is to hide your thumb underneath your index and middle finger. This allows you to tighten your grip even more’. Sep 12, 2014

Next: Strengthen your grip and Firm up Feeble Knees.

1. Firm Up Feeble Knees –

Foundation & Stability

Knees:  Here’s a more detailed breakdown:

• Standing:

Your knees support about 80% of your body weight when you’re standing still.

• Walking:

When you walk, the force on your knees is about 150% of your body weight or more.

• Stairs and Incline:

The pressure on your knees increases even further when you walk up or down stairs, or walk on an incline.

• Squatting:

Squatting or bending down to pick something up can put 2 to 5 times your body weight on your knees.

• Weight and Pressure:

For every pound of excess weight, an additional 4 pounds of pressure is placed on your knees.

Knees hold all of our weight (pretty much).

Transition: I would like to encourage you about 3 different that could use so ‘shoring up.’

1. Faith

1 Timothy 4:1-5 ‘The Spirit clearly says that, in later times, some will fall away from the faith, because they devote themselves to deceitful spirits and the doctrines of demons, 2 in connection with the hypocrisy of liars, whose own consciences have been seared. 3 They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. 4 In fact, everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, 5 because it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer’.

NKJ  2 Timothy 4:10, (Part of Salutation) ‘for Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world, and has departed for Thessalonica — Crescens for Galatia, Titus for Dalmatia’. (NKJ)

The Greek verb used in the original implies that Demas had not merely left Paul but had left him “in the lurch”; that is, Demas had abandoned Paul in a time of need.

• The apostle was in prison, facing a death sentence, and that’s when Demas chose to set sail. Undoubtedly, Paul was deeply let down by Demas.

NLT  1 John 2:16 ‘For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world’. (1Jo 2:16 NLT)

Apostosy: The abandonment or renunciation of a religious or political belief. (Total and Complete abandonment)

Application: I hope and pray that none of you will ever do that but I have seen a lot of people (even former Pastors and Leaders).

Application: When I was very young in my spiritual walk, I saw several of my favourite preachers, fall and get lost in the shuffle of sin and personal decisions.

Ways to protect our faith:

1. Nourished
2. Strengthen
3. Protect

https://www.faithcoffeeandakid.com/post/how-do-you-nourish-strengthen-protect-your-faith

Transition: Secondly, let me address needing to reestablish our grip and strengthen our knees when it comes to our convictions.

II. Convictions

Most significant Christian Convictions:

General Convictions

• Salvation Only through Jesus
• Salvation (through faith alone)
• Infallibility of Word
• Marriage (sacred union) between one man and one woman.
• God’s view of Sex as reserved for the institution of marriage.

Transition: One more for us today. We need to pursue, and protect and the presence and anointing of the Holy Spirit!

III. Holy Spirit Anointing

Anointing = Presence/ Blessing / Demonstration of

Sampson – Judges 16:20-21, ‘NLT  Judges 16:20 ‘Then she (Delilah)  cried out, “Samson! The Philistines have come to capture you!” When he woke up, he thought, “I will do as before and shake myself free.” But he didn’t realize the LORD had left him. 21 So the Philistines captured him and gouged out his eyes. They took him to Gaza, where he was bound with bronze chains and forced to grind grain in the prison. (Jdg 16:20 NLT)

Saul –First Samuel 16:14 says, “The Spirit of the LORD had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD tormented him.” This is also mentioned in 1 Samuel 16:15–16, 23; 18:10; and 19:9.

Saul’s Sin’s / Failures:

1. Saul disobeyed God’s command to completely destroy the Amalekites, instead sparing livestock and other spoils.
2. He also waited impatiently for Samuel at Gilgal, leading to his own actions instead of waiting for God’s guidance.

• Self-Exaltation and Pride:

• Saul sought to prove himself as a great leader, even when it meant disobeying God.
• He was willing to sacrifice others, like his son Jonathan, to enforce his own desires.
• He set up monuments to himself instead of God, further highlighting his self-centeredness.

Question: Is part of God evil and does God have a part an evil spirit from the Lord Why did God let an evil spirit torment Saul? In what way was the evil spirit “from” the Lord?

• First, the evil spirit was “from” the Lord in that it was allowed by God to harass Saul.
  
  
• Ultimately, all created things are under God’s control. It is likely that this evil spirit was part of God’s judgment upon Saul for his disobedience.
  
  
• Saul had directly disobeyed God on two occasions (1 Samuel 13:1–14; 15:1–35).
  • Therefore, God removed His Spirit from Saul and allowed an evil spirit to torment him.
    
    
• Likely, Satan and the demons had always wanted to attack Saul; God was now simply giving them permission to do so. (?)

• It is important to note that this evil spirit that troubled Saul was only temporary. The final verse notes that the evil spirit came on multiple occasions to bother Saul, but also it departed from him.

As opposed to Saul:

Samuel Anoints David as new King – 1 Samuel 16

David – Psalm 51 – Take not thy Spirit

Holy Spirit as Strength & Power

Isaiah 10:27, ‘Anointing breaks the yoke of bondage.’

• a biblical concept, rooted in Isaiah 10:27, suggesting that God’s divine power and favor (the “anointing”) can liberate people from burdens and constraints (the “yoke”).
• Meaning of “Yoke”:
• The “yoke” symbolizes burdens, constraints, or oppression that hold people back.
• The Message:
• The phrase “anointing breaks the yoke” suggests that God’s power and grace can free people from the things that limit or oppress them.

Acts 1:8; Power of the H.S. for witness