You Once Served God Mightily… And You Can Again

In John chapter 14, verses 16 through 18, we read, and I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him because it isn't looking for him and doesn't recognize him. But you know him because he lives with you now and later will be in you. No, I will not abandon you as orphans. I will come to you. So there's a very damaging teaching that makes its rounds in various different churches, and this damaging teaching is that somehow God will curse the believer beyond the point of restoration. And because of this, there are many Christians who maybe once were in ministry or once were serving the Lord or once were what they would call on fire for God. And then when they begin to experience a lapse in their spiritual momentum, or maybe when they choose to compromise, or maybe they make a rebellious decision, and after this they feel condemned and like they've lost everything they've ever had with God, and they think, maybe I can be restored but not completely. Maybe I can come back but not in the exact way that I was once walking with God. Maybe the Lord will forgive me, but I'll always kinda have this mark on my life where God will look at me and say, I remember when you fell away. So when I talk about restoring the anointing, I'm not saying you get the Holy Spirit back. What I am saying to you is that the anointing of the Holy Spirit increases in influence and decreases in influence based upon how yielded you are to the Word of God. What is the anointing?

Well, read Acts 10:38.

It was the Holy Spirit coming upon Jesus in power, giving him the grace and the ability to do various different things, like healing all who were oppressed, like declaring the truth of the Word of God. In short, the anointing of the Holy Spirit is the power of God at work in our lives. And so, as we yield ourselves to the Holy Spirit, our our access to what is deposited within us is increased. For example, let's say that someone deposits a million dollars in your checking account.

Now I'm not trying to cheapen the anointing by.

I'm not saying that by comparing the anointing with $1 million.

It's just the principle of connection I'm trying to convey here.

Let's say I then give you a debit card.

Say that's your debit card to that account. The account's in your name, under your social, with your address. Your identity's connected to it. What happens if you lose the debit card? You lose your access to be able to make use of what belongs to you. That's right.

Now you lose that debit card, the account doesn't suddenly disappear.

The deposit doesn't suddenly go under someone else's name.

What was given to you still belongs to you. You just can't make use of it until you again gain your access point. In the same way, God has deposited an anointing within you.

1 John 2:27, there's an anointing within you, and your access to that anointing is surrender.

Your access to that anointing is obedience. So maybe you were walking with God in a way where you could point to the fact that you were passionate. You could point to the fact that you prayed every day, you read your Bible every day, you served in church all the time, you were constantly evangelizing on the streets. And we look at moments like that in our lives and we say, I was, quote, on fire. By that we simply mean we were obedient because the fire of God is not an emotion, it's obedience. And so now maybe you had this major fall. Maybe you committed this moral mistake. Maybe you did something that was so egregious that it's difficult for you to not identify with that for the rest of your life. Or maybe it's just been a simple compromise, if there is such a thing, but it's not one that could be immediately recognizable. It may— maybe it's just a change in your attitude. Maybe it's just a change in your heart. Maybe it's just a decrease in your faith or a small switch that went off that just kinda altered your devotion to God. That's right.

Praise God. Or maybe it's just a subtle weakening of your spiritual life, and there's just been this— there's been this, this slow drift in your mind and heart away from obedience. Whatever the case may be, whether it's one moment that was a major fall that haunts you, or if it's a subtle compromise day by day, moment by moment, that's slowly creeping in. Whatever the case is with you, you have not lost the deposit that God made in you. It is religion It is deception.

It is legalistic torment to believe otherwise. And so how do you begin now to increase again that influence, to see the manifestation of that power in your life once more?

Number one, you have to repent. You're not going to see that restoration come without repentance. It's just not gonna happen. Let me read something to you. 1 John 1:9: But if we confess our sins to him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. Now, what does the word repent mean? And this may upset some because it's gonna sound like I'm trying to soften what the Scripture prescribes. It's gonna— and if we're not careful, our guard goes up and we say things like, well, you're just—

you're watering it down. But I think it's important we get our biblical terminology correct because if we don't, then we're going to have trouble processing how exactly to go about all of this.

So to repent, you've been told, means to turn from. That's what it means to renounce. Repentance is a change in the mind. Now Christians, generally speaking, have mixed up the terms to where we say repentance is to turn from, and renounce means to read from a long list of things your grandparents did and you used to do and just saying, I renounce, I renounce, I renounce, I renounce. Now that's declaring, that's confession. To repent is to change your mind. To renounce is to turn from or to forsake.

Therefore, repentance is a change in mind that results in a change in direction. Many of you have been trying to renounce things you haven't repented of, and what I mean by that is you're trying to change your habits when you haven't even made up your mind. In other words, you're battling against yourself. Because the flesh is so subtle and so deceptive to where you'll tell yourself, that's the last time I do that, and your flesh whispers, for now. Or you say, I'm completely done with this, and your flesh says, for the next few weeks.

Can I tell you just how deep this deception goes?

And then people think that because they had 3 weeks of good and 1 week of compromise, 3 weeks of good and 1 week of compromise, they say, well, at least I'm living a lifestyle of repentance. When what repentance actually is, is to look at that wrongdoing And to say, not only does that have to go right now, but it has to be gone forever. Because the flesh looks for relief. The flesh can wait you out. The flesh will say, okay, okay, I can hold on for another month.

But as long as I know I'm eventually going to get what I want, I'll let you just kinda go through the motions there. And then Christians go back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, never being solidified in their repentance.

To repent is to say, God, I agree with you that this is wrong.

It needs to go now.

It needs to be gone for good, and I'm not gonna have any plans in the back of my mind or any safety net for my flesh to give me a sense of relief that maybe I might struggle with it again in the future. And, you know, You may, but don't accept that as an inevitability. And, and then not only does it need to go now and forever, but it needs to go in all forms and in all measures. All measures, meaning every version of that compromise, large or small, needs to be completely uprooted and removed. That is repentance. And some of us mistake guilt for repentance, feeling bad for repentance.

No, my friend, to repent means I'm making up my mind today that I'm done with this forever.

And once you've repented, now you can renounce. Now you can forsake because you're not fighting against yourself. So if you want to see the influence of the anointing restored upon your life, number one, you have to repent.

Number two, you have to return. You have to return to prayer, to the Word, to worship.

In Revelation chapter 2, verses 2 through 5, we read this. I know all the things you do.

I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance.

I know you don't tolerate evil people.

You have examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but are not.

You have discovered they are liars. You have patiently suffered for me without quitting. But I have this complaint against you: You don't love me or each other as you first did. Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to me and do the works you did at first. Now, few believers know what it is to truly repent. Even fewer know how to return, because what's happening now is after they've gone through a season of compromise or mistake, now they embrace that season as a part of their identity.

Can I just be very straightforward with you here? I thank God, and please don't hear what I'm not saying because there are going to be many wonderful testimonies that come out of this movement. But, but I think sometimes we have to be careful with how we share testimonies because some people in sharing their testimony are still identifying with who they once were. Who wants you to look at your past more than anyone? It's Satan.

And because of that, I'm not saying don't share your testimony.

I'm not saying we're not gonna share testimonies.

What I'm saying is many people embrace that as this component of who they are, and they wear that testimony The shame of some of those dark things. Okay, let me just call some things specifically because we think, oh, I told a lie or I lost my temper.

Yeah, I could put that behind me.

No, no, even darker than that. Some of you sitting in this room, you've had an abortion. Some of you sitting in this room cheated on your spouse. Some of you sitting in this room Committed acts of violence, and you carry this now after you've repented.

You carry this now as a part of your identity, and you live with this weight over your shoulders.

And you say, "Yes, yes, yes, I know the Lord forgave me, but I still have to bear this guilt." I still have to bear this shame, and I'm bearing it over me because I deserve to suffer for what I did. That's self-righteousness. You think you have to suffer when Jesus already did. That's self-righteousness. It's a means by which you are trying to redeem yourself. And some of you are stuck and bound in that mindset, and because of that, you're having trouble returning to your first love, returning to that prayer life, returning to that worship, returning to who you once were and what you once embraced. Number one, you repent. Number two, you return. Get back to prayer. Get back into the word. Come back to the place where you recognize no longer I live, but Christ lives in me. Step into the new creation that you are and stop identifying with the past. You're not doing you any favors, you're not doing God any favors, and you're not doing your loved ones any favor. Because, because when you live with that guilt and shame, it's unbearable to be around that kind of misery.

Now listen, number three: you have to realize.

You have to realize that God has forgiven you.

Oh, this is the hardest part right here because some of you are like the prodigal son.

You have a speech prepared and you're fully expecting that God will embrace you, but not as a son or as his child or as he wants to. But this time is gonna be a little different. You'll be a servant. No, when God forgives you, he separates from his mind your sin as far as the east is from the west. His mercies are new every morning. His love never fails. This is how it looks with some of you. God, forgive me. I'm sorry.

He says, I see you've truly repented.

Forgiven. And then you go, thank you, Lord.

And then the sting of guilt comes back into your heart and you run back.

You go, Lord, please forgive me. He goes, of what? He puts it out of his mind. And if God is for you, who can be against you? If God declares you justified, who can speak a word of accusation?

Amen.

You see, some of you, the only reason you haven't stepped back into who you once were isn't because God hasn't ordained that position for you. It's because you're having trouble accepting that he could forgive you like that. You're having trouble. Yes, let me tell you, David wrote, restore unto me the joy of my salvation. He said, your hand weighed heavily upon me, so I turned and I confessed. I repented. I, I gave it to you.

Amen.

And now, please let me rejoice in my salvation again. Some of you know how to accept the forgiveness for the legal ramifications in terms of the heavenly realm. Oh, the blood covers the sin. I know I'm justified before God, but you haven't yet embraced the blessings of the joy of your salvation. So let me be the one to tell you. You can stop looking over your shoulder now. You can stop looking backwards. You can stop waking up with that guilt on your mind. Yes, you can live in the blessing of God. Yes, you can live in the joy of the Spirit. Yes, you can live with the peace of God reigning in your mind and in your heart. Yes, you can look forward to a bright future in Christ. And yes, God could use your life again because God Restores broken people.

I feel the anointing so strong right now. Even now, as I'm talking to you, I feel just burdens being lifted from off of people. You realize that God has forgiven you.

Psalm 103:8-14.

The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. He will not constantly accuse us nor remain angry forever. He does not punish us for all of our sins. He does not deal harshly with us as we deserve, for his unfailing love toward those who fear him Is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west. The Lord is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him, for he knows how weak we are. He remembers that we are only dust. One of the most difficult things about returning to the Lord is realizing that you're restored because of the psychology of regret. Can I tell you something that it's going to get me in a lot of trouble with online heresy hunters? Hey guys. But it's biblical. There is grace even for those who knew better. There is grace even for those who knew better. Now let me be clear, for the sake of the people that God has given me the responsibility to teach. I am not saying, therefore go and live as you want. I'm saying that When you want to come to repentance, don't let a lie concerning your past hold you back.

I knew what I was doing was wrong, and I did it anyway.

Someone asked me, would God forgive willful sin? I asked, is there any other kind? Not permission to continue in wrongdoing. It's permission to be free, to live righteously, to live in holiness, to embrace the goodness of God. Finally, number 4, you have to reach ahead. Once your soul has been restored, it's time to reach ahead. Only the Lord can determine this time frame here.

Reaching on ahead to your future in God.

Philippians 3:13-16 says this: Know your brothers and sisters. I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead. I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God through Christ Jesus is calling us. Let all who are spiritually mature on these agree on these things. If you disagree on some point, I believe God will make it plain to you. But we must hold on to Forgetting those things which are behind, it's time to press on. Get back to serving God. Get back to reaching the world. Get back to ministry. Get back to the prayer group. Get back to To the church attendance. Get back to the gathering with the believers. Get back to teaching your children the Bible. Get back to praying with your spouse. Get back to making an impact for the kingdom of God.

Think about Jonah. He ran from God's call but had no choice but to fulfill it.

God used him. God knows how to keep his children on track. God knows how to correct those whom he loves. God knows how to keep your divine destiny intact. Some of you, like Jonah, you've run. Not outright saying, Lord, I don't want to do it, but through compromise, through disobedience. Yet Jonah saw God use him.

Why?

Because it wasn't about Jonah. Do you know what main character syndrome is? It's where these people have it in their mind that life is like a movie and the whole world revolves around them. It's basically a Gen Z way of saying selfish. Main character syndrome. They think all the attention's on them. You know, you know, this main character syndrome is partly why many believers don't think God wants to use them again.

Amen.

There's a world that's dying, lost, going to hell, souls slipping into eternity without Christ every day, and you think it's about you?

God's restoring you, yes, because he's merciful to you, but it's not about God used Jonah not because it was about Jonah and his call as a prophet.

It's because there was a people he wanted to save. Lift your hands, receive this, church. Lord, we thank you for your mercy and your grace. We thank you for your steadfast love. And I pray over your people now, and by your Holy Spirit, I pray you would begin to soften their hearts.

Call your people to repentance, I pray.

Grant them the grace to change their mind about every compromise. Cause them to not embrace their mistakes As their identity. Cause them to realize you're a good God who forgives. And then, Lord, I pray that you would give them the strength to reach ahead, to forget about the past, to move forward, granted by your grace.

Use them for your glory.

Lift your hands, say, Lord, use my life for your glory. Lord, use my life for your glory. In Jesus' name. And the church said—

Give the Lord a hand of praise.

Wow!

Can you feel that?

How many of you can feel that, just the sweetness of God on the room right now? Lord, we love you.