Subject: Untie Your Donkey
by Rick Welborne
Isaiah 45:1-3 (NKJV)
1 "Thus says the LORD to His anointed, To Cyrus, whose right hand I have held-- To subdue nations before him And loose the armor of kings, To open before him the double doors, So that the gates will not be shut:
2 'I will go before you And make the crooked places straight; I will break in pieces the gates of bronze And cut the bars of iron.
3 I will give you the treasures of darkness And hidden riches of secret places, That you may know that I, the LORD, Who call you by your name, Am the God of Israel.
1 "Thus says the LORD to His anointed, To Cyrus, whose right hand I have held-- To subdue nations before him And loose the armor of kings, To open before him the double doors, So that the gates will not be shut:
2 'I will go before you And make the crooked places straight; I will break in pieces the gates of bronze And cut the bars of iron.
3 I will give you the treasures of darkness And hidden riches of secret places, That you may know that I, the LORD, Who call you by your name, Am the God of Israel.
Luke 13:10-17 (NIV)
10 On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues,
11 and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all.
12 When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, "Woman, you are set free from your infirmity."
13 Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.
14 Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue ruler said to the people, "There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath."
15 The Lord answered him, "You hypocrites! Doesn't each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water?
16 Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?"
17 When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.
10 On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues,
11 and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all.
12 When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, "Woman, you are set free from your infirmity."
13 Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.
14 Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue ruler said to the people, "There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath."
15 The Lord answered him, "You hypocrites! Doesn't each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water?
16 Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?"
17 When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.
--For the last several weeks we have been talking about opening the double doors, talking about why God would tell us to shut our doors, and why we need to close the door to the enemy.
--A few weeks ago Holy Spirit really moved and three people raised their hands wanted to close the door to the enemy and wanted Jesus to be the Lord of their lives.
--Tonight is going to be a little bit different because I am going to tell you that if you will go through the double doors, it will be because you untie your donkey. It has to do with initiative.
1. Untie your donkey or get off your donkey and take initiative.
--To make sure you understand what I am saying tonight…I must give you the KJV of Luke 13:15 lest you be confused about what I am saying. Just read it!
Luke 13:15 (KJV)
15 The Lord then answered him, and said, Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering?
15 The Lord then answered him, and said, Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering?
--We must take initiative if we going to untie our donkey and get it going God’s direction.
Initiative – the power or opportunity to act or to take charge in a given situation.
--We can believe and have faith all day long but there comes a time when there has to be actions with our belief. We must untie our donkey! We must act or take charge based on our faith in Jesus! Go thru the double doors!
James 2:14-18 (NIV)
14 What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?
15 Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.
16 If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?
17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
18 But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.
14 What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?
15 Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.
16 If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?
17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
18 But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.
--Jesus had very little tolerance of the religious Pharisees and hypocrites of His day. He had taken the initiative to heal (a daughter of Abraham – a Jew) who had been crippled for 18 years…and yes, it was the Sabbath.
--Jesus said You untie your donkey to lead it to water but you will not get off your donkey to help a cripple woman who needs healing…Jesus had no problem with initiative…He healed the woman.
--Bill Wilson, who for many years had the largest children’s ministry in the US had no problem with initiative or untying his donkey. He explained it like this:
Wilson – Many are waiting on a call from God to do something or to do anything. The need you see at work, in your neighborhood, at school, wherever, is the call. Just do it!
--He was saying that if you really want to go through those double doors, if someone else is struggling to fulfill their destiny…you untie your donkey and help them. Get off your donkey and be a blessing!
James 4:17 (NKJV)
17 Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.
17 Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.
--Jesus wants us…no, He requires us to untie our donkey and to take the initiative and do something…He told us to give and we withhold, He has told us to go and we sit, He has told us to tell them and we keep silent.
--When the Lord told Cyrus I will hold your hand and I will go before you…that meant Cyrus had to follow.
The Lord said together we will subdue nations…He had to put action with his faith.
--Maybe the double doors you want to go thru is in the area of finances…Bring your tithes…untie your donkey and put up the credit cards, stop buying what you do not need, stop spending more than you make.
--Faith without action is dead…it is not hard to see people who have initiative…they are the ones who are working in concert with Jesus…Jesus said follow and they are following!
2. Untie your donkey or get off your donkey so you will not die.
--Oh, Pastor, I will not die. That sounds just like the serpent in the garden when Eve was tempted to eat the fruit…you will surely not die. Maybe they didn’t die physically but there was definitely a spiritual death.
--Why do we keep sitting on our donkeys taking no initiative to draw near to God and to trust Him? We sound like the lepers in 2 Kings who finally said we have to do something. A siege and a famine besieged them.
2 Kings 7:1-8 (NLT)
1 Elisha replied, “Listen to this message from the LORD! This is what the LORD says: By this time tomorrow in the markets of Samaria, five quarts of choice flour will cost only one piece of silver, and ten quarts of barley grain will cost only one piece of silver.”
2 The officer assisting the king said to the man of God, “That couldn’t happen even if the LORD opened the windows of heaven!” But Elisha replied, “You will see it happen with your own eyes, but you won’t be able to eat any of it!”
3 Now there were four men with leprosy sitting at the entrance of the city gates. “Why should we sit here waiting to die?” they asked each other.
4 “We will starve if we stay here, but with the famine in the city, we will starve if we go back there. So we might as well go out and surrender to the Aramean army. If they let us live, so much the better. But if they kill us, we would have died anyway.”
5 So at twilight they set out for the camp of the Arameans. But when they came to the edge of the camp, no one was there!
6 For the Lord had caused the Aramean army to hear the clatter of speeding chariots and the galloping of horses and the sounds of a great army approaching. “The king of Israel has hired the Hittites and Egyptians to attack us!” they cried to one another.
7 So they panicked and ran into the night, abandoning their tents, horses, donkeys, and everything else, as they fled for their lives.
8 When the lepers arrived at the edge of the camp, they went into one tent after another, eating and drinking wine; and they carried off silver and gold and clothing and hid it.
1 Elisha replied, “Listen to this message from the LORD! This is what the LORD says: By this time tomorrow in the markets of Samaria, five quarts of choice flour will cost only one piece of silver, and ten quarts of barley grain will cost only one piece of silver.”
2 The officer assisting the king said to the man of God, “That couldn’t happen even if the LORD opened the windows of heaven!” But Elisha replied, “You will see it happen with your own eyes, but you won’t be able to eat any of it!”
3 Now there were four men with leprosy sitting at the entrance of the city gates. “Why should we sit here waiting to die?” they asked each other.
4 “We will starve if we stay here, but with the famine in the city, we will starve if we go back there. So we might as well go out and surrender to the Aramean army. If they let us live, so much the better. But if they kill us, we would have died anyway.”
5 So at twilight they set out for the camp of the Arameans. But when they came to the edge of the camp, no one was there!
6 For the Lord had caused the Aramean army to hear the clatter of speeding chariots and the galloping of horses and the sounds of a great army approaching. “The king of Israel has hired the Hittites and Egyptians to attack us!” they cried to one another.
7 So they panicked and ran into the night, abandoning their tents, horses, donkeys, and everything else, as they fled for their lives.
8 When the lepers arrived at the edge of the camp, they went into one tent after another, eating and drinking wine; and they carried off silver and gold and clothing and hid it.
--You see, we all have a choice. We can get up off of our donkeys and do something or we can just sit on our donkeys until we die. What if I do the wrong thing…the lepers thought the same thing.
--They came to the conclusion that at least trying was better than sitting there until they died. Maybe the enemy has besieged you and your family…you don’t have to take it anymore…get off your donkey.
--Somebody needs to get up and march toward the enemy’s camp…who knows, your initiative may be exactly what is needed to save your family, your friends, and even yourself.
--Instead of sitting on your donkey until you die…with a little initiative from Holy Spirit and with trusting the Lord with all your hearts, you may just become the hero of the story.
--Pastor, there is nothing I can do to fix my situation…wonderful, the lepers were powerless unless God showed up and did something miraculous…guess what? He did!
--They had the same choice you have, play the victim card and sit on your donkey till you die or get up and do something…I have said something for years…Let’s do something even if it is wrong! Idleness is death!
--I can’t wait to get to heaven and to meet the first guy who said, “Why should we sit here waiting to die?” Who knows, one ridiculous decision can be the salvation of an entire city.
--They were lepers (unclean and isolated) outside the gate (the double doors) but God wanted them to be heroes outside the gate bringing good news.
--Pastor, you do not know the enemy I have…No, you don’t know the God I serve…He made the enemy hear horses, chariots, and a large army coming…He put such fear in them that they fled.
--We must make a decision to draw as close to Jesus as we can, to get filled with Holy Spirit, and to get off our donkey and do something…stop tying your donkey up because it neutralizes you!
James 4:7-8 (NKJV)
7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
3. Untie your donkey or get off your donkey and watch what God does.
--We keep waiting on God to move…we keep whining about what is not happening in our lives and God is waiting on us to get off our donkeys and go thru those double doors.
--Can you imagine these lepers, starving and just waiting to die, but they got up…they got off their donkey and look what God did…food, drink, riches right before them for the taking.
--This should be a God moment for someone who is starving spiritually and who is tired of the enemy holding you and your family captive…why do I keep sitting here till I lose everything? Get up!
--During the creation Holy Spirit was hovering over the earth and when the time was right, God spoke, and everything fell into its proper order.
Genesis 1:1-4 (NKJV)
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
2 The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
3 Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light.
4 And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness.
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
2 The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
3 Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light.
4 And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness.
--I believe Holy Spirit is hovering tonight just waiting on someone to get off their donkey and take that step toward the enemy’s camp. He can separate you from the darkness trying to take over!
Isaiah 60:1-5 (NKJV)
1 Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the LORD is risen upon you.
2 For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, And deep darkness the people; But the LORD will arise over you, And His glory will be seen upon you.
3 The Gentiles shall come to your light, And kings to the brightness of your rising.
4 "Lift up your eyes all around, and see: They all gather together, they come to you; Your sons shall come from afar, And your daughters shall be nursed at your side.
5 Then you shall see and become radiant, And your heart shall swell with joy; Because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you, The wealth of the Gentiles shall come to you.
1 Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the LORD is risen upon you.
2 For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, And deep darkness the people; But the LORD will arise over you, And His glory will be seen upon you.
3 The Gentiles shall come to your light, And kings to the brightness of your rising.
4 "Lift up your eyes all around, and see: They all gather together, they come to you; Your sons shall come from afar, And your daughters shall be nursed at your side.
5 Then you shall see and become radiant, And your heart shall swell with joy; Because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you, The wealth of the Gentiles shall come to you.
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