Make Demons Flee in Terror
Isaiah’s calling was a difficult one.
God essentially told him that he was called to preach a message that no one would listen to:
Go and tell this people: “Listen hard, but you aren’t going to get it; look hard, but you won’t catch on” (Isaiah 6:9 MSG).
The Word of God can either open people’s hearts or it can close them. It can bring them closer or push them farther away. When it’s declared in all its prophetic power, they will not be able to stay the same.
It’s no wonder Isaiah said, “How long do I have to preach with no one listening?” (see Isa. 6:11). After 40 years of seeming failure, any rational person would conclude that Isaiah’s ministry was a failure—but centuries later, when Jesus opened His mouth to preach His first sermon, He quoted Isaiah:
And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him (Luke 4:17-20).
What an endorsement! There are times when you may feel like your work for God is getting you nowhere. Be encouraged. Your reward is based on your obedience, not on the outcome or the results.
Isaiah was, as all prophets are, committed to the Word of God. He was committed to doing whatever God told him to do. With that in mind, let’s look at Isaiah 45:9: “Woe unto him that striveth with his maker.”
The sin and folly of resisting God and His commands is just as prevalent today as it was then. The infinite holiness and wisdom of God must be acknowledged for Him to be glorified. He is not to be questioned, second-guessed, or undermined. He is Yahweh, Elohim, our Maker.
The immediate reference of the text is those who murmured at the delay of their deliverance from exile and complained about the deliverer whom God chose to send. They thought that God should have delivered them much sooner and that the deliverer should have arisen from among themselves—not as a heathen prince. Many parallels can be drawn from this today.
They criticized God’s method. Criticism is a spirit unworthy of the Kingdom of God. Some people always have something negative to say. It’s easy to say what’s wrong, but it takes a man or woman of God to find what’s right.
They criticized, they condemned, and they even worked against God’s plan. Bad opinions always lead to bad conduct. Saul of Tarsus is a great example of this.
Before his conversion, he allowed his critical spirit to push him into persecuting Christians. Many people are working against the Lord and aren’t even aware that they have set themselves at enmity with the King of Kings.
We must align our thoughts with God’s thoughts:
And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God (Deuteronomy 28:1-2).
If ye love me, keep my commandments (John 14:15).
Isaiah embraced these truths; we would do well to also embrace them:
God demands compliance even when it’s carnally uncomfortable.
God demands obedience even when it’s traditionally untenable.
God demands submission even when it’s practically impossible.
Here are some biblical examples of these three truths. The prophet Ezekiel was commanded to lie on his side for a year covered in animal dung (see Ezek. 4:4). God commanded him to do something carnally uncomfortable. In the Gospel of Mark, we see Jesus order a man with a withered hand to “stretch it out” (see Mark 3:1-6). God commanded him to do what was physically impossible for him so that he could receive what was naturally impossible. In Acts 10, the apostle Peter is commanded to eat unclean animals. God commanded him to do something that was legally and traditionally untenable (see Acts 10:9-16). What’s the lesson?
Don’t resist God! When approaching a command from God, we must remember that “All things are possible to him that believeth” (Mark 9:23). Since obedience is an act of faith, all things are possible to him who obeys in faith believing. This is important because, although God will never command you to do anything contrary to His Word, He will often command things contrary to your personality, your cultural upbringing and traditions, or even your natural abilities.
It is very easy for those without a personal relationship with God or those with a critical spirit to misunderstand our obedience. They will begin to think that they are justified in saying like Peter, “Not so, Lord!” while condemning those who did so! Regardless, we must obey!
Here in Isaiah 45, our Creator is making this case for unquestionable obedience because He’s about to ask us to do something that’s unthinkable.
Regardless of what it is, we must obey! How many of you will obey the Lord? Say it out loud: “Lord God, You are my Maker and whatever You tell me to do, I will obey!” Here is what God is commanding us to do: “Command ye me” (Isa. 45:11).
There are those who would say, “Not so, Lord. It’s blasphemous to even presume to command God.” It would be, if He hadn’t commanded us to do so. However, with this command, it would be blasphemous not to obey it. He has commanded us to command Him! To command God is an expression of the highest relationship, friendship, and cooperation.
The “Hand of the King” is a position appointed by royal decree to one who executes the king’s commands, with all the kings’ resources at their disposal. This person doesn’t command the king himself to do anything, but rather can command all things at the king’s hand. We saw this in the life of Joseph when he was given authority over Egypt due to the trust he had built with Pharaoh (see Gen. 41:41). Here are some additional examples:
Moses commanded the hand of God in judgment against the Egyptians (Exod. 14:27).
Later, he even spared Israel with his authority in the spirit and caused God to repent (Exod. 32:14).
Joshua commanded the sun to stand still (Josh. 10).
Elijah commanded fire from Heaven (2 Kings 1:10).
Jesus commanded the wind and the waves (Mark 4:39).
The disciples and others commanded men to be free from infirmity (Acts 3:6).
You have been given a weapon that wields divine authority. It’s time to use it and not abuse it. We cannot command God with a limited acquaintance with Him. We must all go to God and get a word from Him. We must see that we are right with God. We must grow in understanding and oneness with Him in His work. Without that, we cannot command God.
How do we command the hand of God? That’s why we’ve been given the name of Jesus. When we pray in that name, we are commanding the hand of God. When we pray underneath the canopy of that authority, we are accessing all the power that is at the right hand of God.
What have you been petitioning Heaven for that God has given you the authority to command?
In 1885, the rattling of the world’s first automatic machine gun could be heard as its inventor Hiram S. Maxim harnessed the energy released in a firing cartridge. The nature of warfare changed in that moment as this new weapon came on the scene and dominated the battlefield. So it will be when the church begins to fire off rapid prayers of authority in the spirit. The enemy will flee in terror!
This is the time of the supernatural intervention of God into the natural affairs of men:
Jesus is seated at the right hand of God (Mark 16:19).
He has given authority to us as believers (Matt. 28:18-20).
He has seated us with Christ in heavenly places (Eph. 2:6).
We have entered into the dispensation of the Church; it is time to retrieve our spiritual weapons from the house of the Lord, recognize the authority we have in Christ, and move forward with boldness in Christ.
