Awake and Shake — David Wilkerson

Awake and Shake: Facing the Word of God

My message awake and shake. Awake and shake Heavenly Father awake us shake us stir us and help us to come honestly to grips with the Word of God. No excuses no bypassing it to face it head-on. This is the truth Holy Spirit anointed and we pray father that you would help us face it deal with it.

Accept it and then work its sweet fruit through our lives in Jesus name. Amen. Isaiah 52 1 2 3 awake awake put on your strength. Oh Zion put on your beautiful garments. Oh Jerusalem the Holy City for the uncircumcised and the unclean shall no longer come in to you.

Shake yourself from the dust arise and sit down. Oh Jerusalem. Loose yourself from the bonds of your neck. Oh captive daughter of Zion for thus saith the Lord you have sold yourself for nothing. You shall be redeemed without money.

Zion as the Captive Church

Now we have revealed here Isaiah's very pitiful vision of what the church had become the sad condition of the church and please keep in mind Zion is not just ancient Israel. Zion is any or all of us who are redeemed by the precious blood even in this midnight hour.

We are Zion. I want you to listen to his horrible description of what God's people have become. Here's Isaiah's vision of the church. A Daughter of Zion a once pure and beautiful woman who had given birth to many sons now lays as a slave.

Polluted in the dust sick and destitute. Having been abused by uncircumcised and the unclean. She's now a drunken likes in a drunken like stupor but not with wine. That's the description. Secondly, her garments are torn and filthy.

She's howling in despair. She's clutching at a chain that chokes her neck. You have to read the two previous chapters to get the whole picture. Her enemies are standing by mocking her. They're blaspheming the name of her God.

They're taunting her that her God has no power to free her from the slavery that she's under. Isaiah said that she faces three dilemmas. Number one. She has a desire to be set free from her bondage very quickly.

Number two, she hopes she'll not die in the state of slavery in captivity. Number three, she was praying that God would not cut her off from her spiritual food while she's in this condition. Then he said there are two horrible things that had come upon her.

This is the church no one was sorry for her and Secondly, no one could comfort her. Her own sons had fainted and lay at the head of the streets as a wild bull in a net. The scripture said there is none to guide her among all the sons whom she had brought forth.

Neither is there any that taketh her by the hand of all the sons that she has brought forth? But a terrible condition. None of her children could show her the way out of her despair and Then in her hand was a cup of trembling.

The enemy walked over her at his will. Because she lay trampled in the dust. She who had once born the holy vessels of God had become polluted and unclean and in her pitiful slavery. Her unsatisfied hunger her helpless condition.

She was falling into a stupor. Her sensibilities were nearly gone. There was a lethargy that was gripping her heart. She was mentally confused. She could only lay in the dust stunned into helplessness.

She couldn't move and Soon unless God did something she might fall asleep and die like an animal in a chain. And the tragedy if at all is that this poor enslaved daughter of Zion had sold herself into slavery for nothing for nothing.

No, satanic slave trader came along to the church. Hit her over their head and made her insensible and carried her off in chains. The devil didn't do it. She sold herself into slavery. She was not overcome by some great unseen power.

She sold herself into slavery for nothing. He sold you have sold yourself for not 52 -3 you've sold yourself into slavery for nothing. Now let's get down to business. Who is Isaiah here really talking about?

Who is this slave captive daughter who's been walked over who's chained around the neck like an animal? The captive daughter of Zion is any and all of us who number ourselves among the redeemed but who live in sin.

It's any of us all of us who profess one thing and live another. It's the believer who's chained by a secret sin who brings reproach on the house of God because of a double life. An Adulterer who still covers the altar with his tears?

It's the man or woman of God in a ministry who has won many souls to Christ but whose spiritual life is being drained by a secret lust. An Unforsaken sin now has them in chains face down in the dust of despair.

Howling with guilt. Walked over by the enemy who seems to be able to make this woman indulge in her sin at his own whim and wish and Believe-me Saints there can be no deliverance from your binding chain if there's a sin in your life and Tell you see yourself as this daughter of Zion.

In the dust with a chain around your neck being walked over slowly sinking into a spiritual stupor. You've got to hear and see this vision of Isaiah and say my god, that's me. I'm bound. The devil's been walking over me he's enslaved me.

I'm unclean. My pure robe is splattered and torn. No one's been able to show me how to get out of this dilemma. And there's no deliverance from a besetting sin until we face God's truth that we have sold out in this sin for nothing.

You've sold out for nothing. I Think it's time you take an honest look at this thing in your life. This one ruling passion the one sin that you can't get the victory over the one sin that you keep going back to.

Because I believe most Christians Most ministers could be mightily used they they could have a great name before the throne of God. I'm not talking about before men, but they could be mighty men of faith except for one little fly in the ointment of the pocket.

Very just one little besetting sin. Something that keeps them from spiritual greatness. I See that in so many men today. I'm thinking of David Berg who founded the children of God. His daughter came out of it two years ago, and I just she sent me a copy of her book exposing her father's demon possession.

I didn't know until I read her book that he was our teen challenge director Down in Huntington Beach years ago. I knew David Berg as a man of God then. He was a powerful teacher and preacher and during the hippie movement.

He attracted three or four hundred around him. He had a charisma and a good knowledge of the Word of God. He wept over these kids. He preached the faithful gospel. He stayed up all hours of the night counseling them but David Berg who later changed his name to Moses Berg had a secret lust raging in his heart a sexual lust in him that caused him to Rape his own daughter when she was seven years old.

His sexual lust ended in him committing not only incest with his daughters. His lust made him abandon his wife of many years and pick up with many young women at one time. He was married to as many as five he began to cohabitate with those workers among him and then a Demon came upon him at a gypsy camp by the name of a beer Abraham H.

I am Abraham. He knew his name. He remembered the day that Abraham came upon him. Now, I don't believe that a demon can possess Some a Christian who is blood protected and whose will is totally yielded to Christ.

Because if God said when I see the blood, I will not Touch you. I will not. I will pass over you when I see the blood. I will pass over you. He's not about to let a demon cross a bloodline. He himself will not cross.

No way now you can be demon-possessed if you if you yield your will to him as David Berg did he yielded his will in a gypsy camp and Abraham came upon him and from that time on he developed that next day or thereafter.

He developed what he called flirty evangelism, and he turned six thousand of his girls into prostitutes. Today Moses Berg is hiding out. He makes pornographic cassettes and sends them around the world in the name of Jesus.

Totally demon-possessed. He said he doesn't sleep night or day. He's now he's tried homosexuality sadomasochism. He he has a sexual demon that drives him night and day. He has no rest. He's never satisfied.

He's going to die screaming before he goes into hell. Hey, listen, we've got to take an honest God-fearing look at our sin the besetting sin. I was so pleased the Holy Spirit had just to bring this out about our besetting sin and confirm what God was saying to my heart.

You've got to look at it and say I'm selling out for nothing. I'm not getting anything out of this this slavery this continuing indulgence is adding nothing to me. I've made a bad deal and How deceived are how deceived we come by our secret sins?

What really good do we get out of these indulgences. What benefit a few hours or moments of pleasure for what sleepless nights unbearable guilt a physical toll on our bodies. The fear and horror of grieving a loving Savior a fear we may become hooked or insensitive and end up in some kind of a stupor not be able to spin out of it and Compare the pleasure your sin gives to you to the pain that it's causing you.

Because you end up with nothing and until that truth touches you you'll never find deliverance. It was the prophet Isaiah speaking for God himself from the very throne room. You're enduring all this slavery God saying for absolutely nothing.

It's all in vain. You're selling out for worse than cheap. You're selling out for nothing. Now you're on the road to victory over any besetting sin when you can wake up one day To this truth that it's not worth it.

I'm paying too high a price. This is senseless. It's dead-end. I'm going to lose. Now you see Satan can't sell what he's never owned. We were bought with the price. Oh Satan can't sell you. He never owned you.

He can't sell what he didn't know. You sold yourself the scripture says for nothing. Now when the Bible said selling out for nothing It also is saying that you have it. You stand a chance at suggesting.

Not only are you not getting out anything from it, but you're going to lose everything as a result of it. When he says you're sending out for nothing means you have nothing left when it's all over. It Suggests that you can go and indulging and events.

It's going to cost you all you have. Because this daughter of Zion who was laying in the dirt with a chain around her neck had lost her Reputation had lost all her children had lost her virgin her or beauty her holiness her garments were tattered.

She'd lost everything her hopes her communion her future and. And this is a truth a powerful truth to face and deal with in your life when you can say my sins adding nothing to Me. I'm selling out for nothing and on top of all that if I continue in my sin It's one day going to take everything.

I have it adds nothing and it claims all. Now the Hebrew word here for not you sold yourself for not is Chin on and that means devoid of all reason. Devoid of any cause it means to bend or stoop down to an inferior and do a favor to an inferior.

You're stooping down and doing the devil a favor. You're stooping down having been devoid of all reason having lost all sensibility in This stupor you've bent down and done a favor to an inferior. Who enslaved you in the process?

Sin’s Deception and the Cost of Selling Out

Incredible a Minister friend of mine confided in me once said brother David mom Mary's a prison. My wife doesn't understand me anymore. We have no communication and If I don't get out of it soon, I'm never gonna find happiness.

He said I found a beautiful young woman in the church very spiritual. They're always very spiritual and The relationship is always spiritual. We paint this blackest sin with spiritual brushes. Said she's kind and understanding.

She meets every need in me. She fulfills me completely. My wife was materialistic. She's so spiritual. He divorced his wife the following year. He married this younger lady forsook two lovely daughters.

Within a year it cost him his ministry. Within a year that marriage turned a total bitterness. The second woman the young woman walked out in it. This man woke up he's he. There's nothing wrong with selling insurance.

But it's a far cry from the anointed ministry and the fruitfulness that he once had. That man goes night and day. Mourning the loss of his beautiful family. Christmastime. He said is the hardest time of all what he had and what he's lost.

He sold out for nothing and his sin claimed everything that he had. The man is just the shell he's lost. He sold out for nothing. Now you keep in mind that this polluted daughter of Zion this captive daughter is not Jezebel.

She's not a child of the devil. But rather she's one of those who scripture said who swears by the name of the Lord and who made mention of the God of? Israel but not in truth and not in righteousness.

The Bible said she's one who had called herself by the Holy City and who trusted upon the God of Israel. That's not Jezebel. Now you stop and think about that a minute could God be looking upon me in the same light that he sees this church depicted this captive woman in the 52nd chapter of Isaiah.

Could it be that God looks upon me if I have sin in my life? He said yes, you're still my child. I always love you, but you're dealing treacherously with me. You've closed your ears. You've hardened your neck.

You've become like this slave daughter chained in the dust to your lust. Do you hear these words raging in your heart be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord? Be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord.

And now look at what you have come to in your own life now because of a besetting sin. How low it has brought you how unclean how hard it makes you how blinded how bewildered and? How close you come to falling into a drunken stupor not with wine.

Once you admit When you have secret sin in your life or besetting sin once you look at yourself as still being loved. Yes. But being this captive daughter of Zion laying in the dust a slave With a chain around your neck.

You can't be helped. You've got to see yourself. That's me and Secondly you've got to say I've been selling out for nothing. You've got to see the nothingness of what you're doing. You've got to see the hopelessness of it, and you've got to face it hallelujah now Isaiah 52 is really all about the deliverance of this captive daughter of Zion, and it's also a Beautiful picture of how you and I can get free.

Listen there's no preacher in America that studied this question more than I have. I believe that with everything in me I don't say that apologetically. I've read every Puritan writer. I could get my hands on.

I've studied All kinds of books on the depravity of the sin nature the origins of sin. I've studied Romans and Hebrews, and I've had a thirst all my life. I've written books on the subject and I've had a Unbelievable thirst to bring to people drug addicts alcoholics prostitutes a message and how they can be delivered from their sin.

Because you just don't go out and preach theology and it's been well said a man's morals determines his theology. You show me a preacher who lives in sin and I'll show you a preacher who preaches a loose gospel.

A man's morals determines his theology and that's true, but God For weeks has been bringing me to this point. I've come to this point through failure. I've come through it through prayer. And now I believe I've come to it through revelation and I believe the 52nd chapter of Isaiah is a marvelous testimony of how you and I as God's people can be totally once I'm all delivered from the besetting sin or from a ruling passion.

I'm gonna bring you some principles. I believe the Holy Spirit's revealed to me Principle number one and this is where you begin. I'm going to cover this ground before I go any further. I See myself when I am sinning and in the ministry as Touching the holy vessels with unclean hands.

I'm still loved but I'm that captive daughter with a chain on my neck and I'm really in the dust no matter how proud I may be and God sight my face is in the dust. I've got to admit that I've been selling out for nothing and Now we're ready to deal with their sin.

We're really now to come to a place of deliverance. Don't even talk about deliveries till you come to that place. I'm the woman and I've sold out for nothing now. Let's talk about deliverance. Here's the principle number one.

God loves even his most disobedient children and he is set Not on condemning them but delivering them. I'll run it by you once more. God loves even his most disobedient children and he is set not on come condemning them but on delivering them.

God’s Love and Deliverance for Disobedient Children

Now here are the precious words of our Heavenly Father. Is he approaches this captive daughter of Zion? She's laying in the dust a captive of the enemy enslaved. Listen to the words awake. Awake put on thy strength.

Oh Zion put on thy beautiful garments. There's not a single rebuke here. There's no condemnation. There's not one bit of the hiding of God's love and mercy. God can never forget or abandon you when you're hurting or when you're enslaved.

God will not abandon you but Zion said the Lord had forsaken me and my Lord's forgotten me. But can a woman forget her suckling child that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb. Yeah, they may forget yet will I not forget you.

Behold I've engraved you from the palms of my hand. Now here it is. Thy walls are continually before me. Thy walls are continued before me. I'm going to come back to that in just a moment. But how alone we feel when we're battling against sin in our lives this struggle to get free.

How often we think that God has to shut himself away from us or out of our presence because of anger. Leaving us to battle the enemy in our own strength we think only of his wrath and judgment as though the Lord said when you work your way through it come back and commune with Me and I disagree with those who preach that when you're in a battle or when there's a besetting sin and you're struggling with it.

And hating it that God cuts off his face and that there's no more communion. No Atea when I need him more than everything else is when I failed that's when I need my communion. He kept coming to Adam though Adam sin said where are you?

No, it's what we see of our sin in the way of condemnation and guilt. We are the ones who hide. We are the ones who cut off the communion not father. But here's not a single word of rebuke. No wrath. No judgment and Here we find a profound and glorious promise.

I will not forget thee thy walls are continually before me. The Hebrew word here is Kalma for walls and it means joined to a wall. God is saying I am joined to you in your struggle your walls are my walls.

It's another way of saying I'm touched with the feeling of your infirmity and All through the Word of God you see him Joining himself to the struggle of his men and women who loved him. You see him placing himself behind their walls.

To be touched and to show them love during their struggle. He said your walls are my walls. That blew me away your walls are continually before me. I'm joined to you there consider Job. Here's a very disobedient servant of God.

He was anointed servant whose sins brought him brought him and his family to rock-bottom. You remember at Bethel how God appeared to him. He saw a ladder with angels ascending and descending. He had an actual visual glimpse of the Heavenly Father.

The Father audibly spoke to him and said Jacob. I'm with you. I'm gonna keep you in every place you go and I'm gonna bring you again into this land. I'll never leave you until I'm done with that. Which I've spoken to you off and when God says I'm gonna go all the way through with you.

No demon, no devil in hell can stop him. God said I've made up my mind. I'm joined to your problem. I'm going through with you. I'm not here to condemn. I'm gonna bring you out. Hallelujah, he's joined to me in my problem.

The devil can put up any wall he wants, but it's He puts himself within my walls so that he can break them down for me and show me the glory of it all. Here we find God joining himself to Jacob putting him behind his walls.

And Jacob awakened out of his sleep and he said surely the Lord is in this place and I knew it not. And he was afraid and said how dreadful is this place reading the Greek or the Hebrews? How awesome how powerful?

There's none other but the house. This is none other but the house of God. This is the gate of heaven. This is where I see the open heaven. All right, 20 years 20 long years go by years of trial and sorrow.

And God was always joined to him in every battle, but Jacob settled down in apathy. He forgot the glory of Bethel. He became cold calculating and he gave himself over to lust. He lived a terribly lustful life.

The end of these 20 years the Lord appears to him again remembering his word that he's joined to him. He said to Jacob. I'm the God of Bethel. Where you made a vow to me now arise get thee out of this land and return.

It was God saying Jacob you remember how I touched you one day. Remember the promises you made to me. I want you to go back to the altar once you go back to your first love I'll tell you something. That's better than first love.

It's tried love. Better than first love tried love. Instead of instead of going back to Bethel though Jacob goes to Shechem and Shechem in the Hebrew has two meanings going back or backsliding and a place of burdens.

And now where we all go we go to Shechem when we should be running to Bethel. No wonder we have so many burdens. That Shechem he gets into all kinds of trouble. His house is dishonored. His daughter is raped.

His sons commit murder a horrible burden. Not once does he relate the burdens of Shechem to being disobedient in the wrong place. And if it had been us we'd have told Jacob off. We just said Jacob you're in this mess because of the disobedience.

You've got secret sin in your life. You're disobeying God. You brought shame and sorrow on your fame on and on and on. Thank God Jacob wasn't in our hands. Thank God. I'm not in the hands of some preachers.

Thank God you're not in my hand and I'm not in yours. How different our loving father deals with this man who's living in sin and disobedience? Not one word is said to Jacob about the disobedience of Shechem not one word of the rape that Came to his home.

Not one word about the murder the pollution the uncleanness. No reproof. No guilt trip. No condemnation. We've got a simple positive message delivered to Jacob about how to be delivered again. The Lord's comes lovingly said now Jacob arise go to Bethel.

Go back to the altar. He Didn't say to Jacob. Why are you doing what you're doing? Why are you so disobedient? Why are you such a weak personality simply says Jacob get up, you know the way I'm still with you.

Go back to the altar. Go back to your first love. Jacob strips all his idols from the family buries them beneath the oak tree and returns to Bethel and the glory of God Returns to him. Hallelujah. Isn't that God's Word all of you to me?

You know the way get back to the altar. I think one of the big dangers in America today and The tragedy to some of our preaching we preach an altar without the throne. You don't get to the altar, but by way of the throne.

Isaiah before he got the coal from the altar had the vision of the throne and the awesome holiness of Christ and We get people the altar without taking by way of the throne. And I think that can become dangerous.

Christ’s Restoration of Failing Disciples

Consider Peter and how Christ restores this weak cowardly disciple. Poor failing Peter out in the boat fishing trying to soothe his troubled conscience. Remember he said I go fishing. You know why Peter went fishing.

He said I failed. I blew it. That's it. God can't use me anymore knees out fishing trying to soothe his conscience and the one he denied. With his black horrible infamous sin is on the beach and he's building a fire and he's cooking a fish.

There's Peter on the boat. And the Lord sees him and he says Peter Come and dine. This is incredible the love of our blessed Lord. He's on the shore. Peters on the boat. Peter jumps out of the boat and Peter didn't say gentlemen.

Look I've just sinned. I've hurt this man. I'm not worthy. I'm gonna take the humble place someone else jump out and go after him. No, you see the Lord when you failed he doesn't make you go back to the point zero.

He picks up right where you left off. You never lose anything. God gives you Hallelujah. Peter hadn't lost a step. He comes to the Lord. Isn't it a beautiful thing? He sits down and the Lord Looks at him lovingly.

Peters afraid to look in his face and Lord just interested in feeding him. Come and dine Peter. He didn't say Peter. Do you understand what you did? You hurt me. You failed me. There were no lectures.

There was no running again before his face. The past and all his failures. Come on, Peter. Sit down and feast with me. And that incredible how we fail God and the Lord still feeds us and he says come and dine.

Don't walk out on me. And the heart of Jesus hadn't changed toward Peter. He's gonna satisfy his hunger first. No, he didn't say come and be judged. Come and eat with me.

Please turn the tape over for the remaining part of this message.

Beloved Christian if you failed the Lord and if you've done despite to the grace of God. Have you been living as a slave in the dirt? Have you been afraid of God's wrath and you've been in turmoil because you think God wants revenge on you.

Then look at this beautiful example and hear him say to you come on and dine. And then after feeding Peter the Lord lovingly revealed to him the root of his problem. He laid the axe to the root. In essence, he said Peter I delight in your fellowship.

I've forgiven you. I've got no guilt trip to put on you. But now to make your deliverance complete. Let me get to the root of your problem. And the scripture says so when they had dined Jesus said to Peter Simon Peter Lovers tell me more than all these.

Suddenly Peter knows why he sinned. The axe is laid to the root. Because you see before Peter fail he thought of himself as being someone especially holy pious strong in wisdom full of character. Though others fail not I.

This man truly believed that he loved the Lord more than all the other disciples. He was more sober more sincere than his peers. He was more zealous for the work of God closer to the heart of Jesus. Israel sin had been pride all along.

And you some people don't believe but I believe though God cannot wink at sin he allows sin to serve his ultimate purpose. And when Peter Failed the Lord and he's walking over the Judean hills and he's weeping and he's crying and he's broken.

He was closer to victory and deliverance that he'd ever been. Because the cross throws a long shadow. David said when I walked through the valley in the shadow of the death. He's talking to the shadow of the cross and when you begin to seek the Lord with all your heart the Spirit moves you to the cross.

And he put your face in the dirt. You see your hopelessness and when you take a vision of the cross and you see it. The first thing you see is a serpent you see the snake. And if you're not careful, you'll come up out of the dust saying I see nothing but the devil in his power and Those who speak so much of the devil today.

I don't say that's error. I say that's not the elevated view of the cross. Because if you just lift your head a little higher you'd see a head on his heel on his head. He's been bruised by the Son of God.

And he's lost his power. He's been stripped. For the believer he's been totally stripped and rendered useless according to the Greek. He's been rendered useless. Oh I want that elevated view of the cross and the glory of the finished work of Calvary.

But when the Lord takes you To that point where you're about to die You'll have one last wing because you know that you have a destiny with the cross you know the day is going to come where you've got a dad a sin and You'll reach for everything in sight.

And I tell you now whether you want to believe it or not. I have known men Who though they were in their worst condition they've ever been were closer to the cross and closer to victory because they were in the shadow of death and they were feeling the agony and the throes of death and They were about to die to it all.

Peter Was to die to it all and upon those Judean hills. He's now closer to victory than he ever was because he's crying and he said yes. I'm the rock look at me. I'm Peter. I'm that great. Holy pious man of God who would never fail him now.

Look at me Saints I heard him more than all the prostitutes. I ever prayed for a wonder Christ in my life. I've seen worse than anybody. That man's on the way to victory that man has won his victory. Why.

Because the axe has been laid to his root he thought well I'll never fail. And I have known many men of God who failed for that very reason in his spirit of pride. They came into their temptation because of this pride in your life.

God will allow the most severe temptation to come to test it and tear it out of your soul and. So many men and women of God approach their temptations with this thought of their piety their holiness their self-righteousness.

Will bless God. I've been walking with God. I cannot fail. They're not one of us who could not fall into this if we allowed pride To continue its course unchecked and Peter now Knows why he sinned. And I know that's the root of all my problems.

I know that's the root of most problems. Peter do you really love me now? Do you think you love me more than everybody else lovers now me more than all these? And Peter was able now to get about the business of feeding sheep rather than boasting to his strength and power in himself.

The root had been touched. What is God's message? To be delivered to captive children of Zion in these last days. Is it a message of wrath? Revenge and judgment. No, because my master won't add any sorrow to that troubled woman whose heart broken and howling and hurting lying in the dust.

Listen to what he chooses to do rather how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings. That publish of peace that bringeth good tidings of good that establishes salvation.

That sayeth undesired thy God reigneth. There's no guilt to that. There's no condemnation. There's no wrath To this troubled hurting woman. He sends people upon the mountains preaching peace. And to say thy God reigneth.

Hallelujah. There a man of God woman of God is your message to this bruised and broken captive world. The watchman shall lift up the voice with the voices together. Shall they sing. For they shall see I to I when the Lord shall bring again Zion.

So break forth into joy sing again. Ye waste places of Jerusalem. For the Lord hath comforted his people. He hath redeemed Jerusalem. Lord has comforted this woman who lies in the dust. Poor captive daughter.

He said wake up. You're still loved you sold yourself for nothing. But you're going to redeemed for no cost either freely by grace alone. Good news woman. You're going to sing again and shout for joy.

Your chains are coming off. There'll be a new robe on your back. You're going to be restored. God's going to restore his bride to his son. Hallelujah, all right. Principle number two. The captive daughter of Zion will never be delivered until she herself takes dominion in the name of the Lord.

Taking Dominion Over Sin

She herself must take dominion over her sin. She's got to shake herself rise from the dirt cast off the chains and take a rightful place in the heavenlies with Christ Jesus. And here it is. Shake thyself from the dust.

Arise and sit down on Jerusalem loose thyself from the bands on your neck of captive daughter of Zion awake and shake and Put on thy strength. Now strength here in Hebrew is ooze OWC and it means self boldness with an impudence of A lion that is shaking its mane and standing to roar.

That's the Hebrew definition of put on your strength. Put on your strength. Wake up to who you are in Christ. This captive daughter was greatly loved though. She was sinful and enslaved. But she's going to die as a slave until she does something about it.

Because the scripture indicates that the chain around her neck is not locked. There's no demon or devil holding it because he's been defeated and just one Lamb with a lion nature can put a legion of demons to chase.

It's not being held. She's not being held by some invisible power. She needs no longer stay in the dirt. She's free to walk away from her slavery. She's free to put on the garment of holiness. She's free to take her rightful place seated in the heavenlies.

Arise and sit down. Sit down where in the heavenlies we are seated with Christ in the heavenlies. Paul said God is saying to those of his children who are enslaved by sin. Wake up to your responsibility to get free.