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Hold Fast What God Has Entrusted to You
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Connected by scripture or shared themes.
Hold Fast What God Has Entrusted to You
Continue exploring
Connected by scripture or shared themes.
In the Book of Revelation, the Apostle John received a revelation from the Lord and wrote to seven churches in Asia Minor. John wrote three categories of books in scripture: the Gospel of John, the Johannine epistles (1 John, 2 John, 3 John), and the Book of Revelation.
These seven churches were Ephesus (the apostolic church), Smyrna (the persecuted church), Pergamos (the married church), Thyatira (the medieval church), Sardis (the denominational church), Philadelphia (the friendly church), and Laodicea (the lukewarm church). The churches were located in Asia Minor, a region robust with commerce, faith, and pagan practices.
Interestingly, only two churches—Smyrna and Philadelphia—received no condemnation. Philadelphia, whose name comes from the Greek word phileo (meaning friendly love), was a very pastoral church. Yet despite having nothing bad said about it, Jesus gave this church a critical caution.
Revelation 3:11 contains Jesus' powerful warning to the Philadelphia church: "Behold, I am coming quickly. Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown."
The phrase "hold fast" carries the meaning of grip, tighten, fasten, and guard—the same word used for a seal in Greek (sphragizo). Jesus is commanding: Hold fast what you have at all costs. Protect your assignment at the expense of your life.
Jesus makes it clear: "That no one—nobody at all, no family, no friends, no pastor, no bishop, no apostle, no children—no one may take your crown." This is your sole responsibility. One thing you must do, church: make sure no one takes your crown.
In scripture, there are two words for crowns. Diadema is a royal crown given to kings. But stephanos is a reward—the crown you receive because you have done work, the prize for the race you have run. Jesus is saying: "No matter how saved you are, at all costs, make sure no one takes that crown from you." This means there is a real possibility that someone can take it.
The crown stealers are not always enemies. Sometimes they are your closest friends—your BFF. The enemy will steal your crown and help you look for it. They will steal your glory and pray with you all night. They see that God is doing something in your life, they pervert the blessings of God, and call you for an all-night prayer.
Make sure that no one steals your crown. Your crown speaks of your royal authority—not just a regal title, but your position of authority. Crowns are the reward of good works. There are systems and structures whose assignment is to stop your reign.
Why would Jesus write this caution to the friendly church? Because the church has lost its apostolic prophetic vigor and has become so excessively pastoral that an enemy has put its hand on our head. The church has refused to cast out, bind, and burn because it has been taught to be gentle in the faith.
When it comes to your crown, there are no families. When it comes to your crown, there are no enemies. When it comes to your crown, there are no fathers and mothers. Your assignment is to protect. It's better to be your Holy Ghost hooligan than to lose your crown, because this is your life, your mandate, and your purpose.
Many of us have become too safe to rebuke an enemy who put their hands on our head. But I promise you tonight: anything that tries to take what God gave you, may fire find them before they stretch their hands.
Now let's look at Luke 13:10–17, which tells the story of a woman who was bent over for eighteen years. This story perfectly illustrates what happens when we fail to hold fast to our crown.
Jesus was teaching in a synagogue on the Sabbath. A synagogue requires a fellowship of at least ten Jewish people. Jesus, as an itinerant minister, was invited as a guest to teach. But there was a problem: it was the Sabbath.
The Sabbath was established before the law. When God created the world, on the seventh day He rested. This rest was not because God was tired—God rested because He had completed His work. The original concept of Sabbath was not tiredness from work but completion of service. God instituted the Sabbath as part of Israel's rights, saying, "Six days you may work, but on the seventh day you may rest."
While Jesus was teaching in this synagogue, Luke draws our attention to something remarkable: "Behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity." The word "behold" means to turn your frame, your entire position. When the Bible says "behold," you must look at what comes after it.
This woman had no name. She had a spirit of infirmity—asthenia in Greek, meaning feeble, weak, without strength. She was someone whose bones could not hold her together, so weak she could not stand on her own. Her spinal cord was so weak that her frame had been distorted.
But the problem was not medical—it was spiritual. She had a spirit that caused the problem. There is a distinction between what Satan causes and what biology causes. Some ailments need medication; others need deliverance. You cannot medicate an ailment caused by a spirit.
The Bible says this woman had a spirit of infirmity for eighteen years. She had been traumatized by this demon for eighteen years. Eighteen years is not a small time.
Eighteen years of frustration. Eighteen years of pain. Eighteen years of seeking medical attention. Eighteen years of broken bones. Eighteen years of not standing tall. Eighteen years of everything troubling up. Eighteen years of swallowing pills and nothing working. Eighteen years of going for massages. Eighteen years of not standing by herself. Eighteen years of tears. Eighteen years of pain. Eighteen years of molestation. Eighteen years of abuse. Eighteen years of anguish. Eighteen years of grief.
Yet despite all this suffering, she still came to the synagogue. She still came to church. She did not stop being in the presence of God. Call her religious if you like, but even though she knew there was a problem with her, she felt to herself: "I cannot miss out on what God is doing now."
She did not go to the synagogue expecting a miracle. The rabbis there did not cast out demons or perform miracles—they taught the law. She was not expecting the hand of God. She was going to church because it was part of the culture of the Jewish people to be in the synagogue on the Sabbath. She came because she was a faithful Jew.
The Bible says she was bent over and could in no way raise herself up. The Greek word is sukyo—meaning that her head was touching her knees. Some translations say she was bent twice over. For eighteen years, her head was on the ground. She was not bent like this; her head was on her knees. Her spinal cord was so messed up it could not hold her back any longer.
Eighteen years she could not see the sun. All she saw was the dust of the ground. For eighteen years, while everyone looked at the sun, she looked at the dust of the ground. She never saw the sun of the day. She never saw the faces of men—she saw only their feet. For eighteen years she was broken, bent over, bruised, and battered. But for that same eighteen years, she never stopped being in God's presence.
I began to ask myself: How do you fix a crown on the head of a woman whose head is on the ground? How do you fix a crown on the head of a woman who was twice bent over?
The problem is not your crown. The problem is your head. If your head is on the ground, your crown will not stay. The reason why the crown isn't on your head is because your head is bent over.
For eighteen years she had been to the doctor, but they could not help her because it was a spirit. Doctors do not cast out spirits. She had been through all the conferences in town, been through all the pastors for healing conferences, been through all the deliverance conferences. She had done everything, but could in no way raise herself up.
When I contemplate on this, I realize something profound: The spinal cord is what holds you standing tall and straight. In the physical realm, the spine gives structure. And I began to realize that in the spiritual realm, one of the reasons why things are not standing straight is because perhaps the spinal cord of that very element might be broken.
Apostle, why does my account not stand tall? Because your sukyo—the very thing that gives your finances grace to bubble is broken. Sukyo means that every single week you have to swallow pills. Sukyo means that your finances are feeble, your mind feeble, your marriage feeble, everything about you feeble.
What brought me to tears was not the fact that she had pain. What brought me to tears was the fact that with the pain, she was still serving and seeking God. How many of us would do that today? In the pain, still serving. She had every reason to say to God, "What's the point? You haven't been there for me." But she kept coming to church.
When Jesus saw the woman, there was no way she could have seen Jesus. She could not see Him. She would hear His voice but not see Him, because her head was on the ground. While the pastor was preaching, her head was on the ground.
All she could say was, "I can hear the voice, but I don't see the face." She could not raise herself up to look at the guest preacher. She came to the synagogue that faithful Saturday, and low and behold, there was a guest preacher in town. She did not see Jesus. The Bible said, "Jesus saw the woman."
Jesus called her to him. The Bible does not specify exactly how she came to Jesus—whether Jesus went to the woman and called her, or whether people held her hands and walked her toward Jesus—but Jesus called the broken woman. Yes, God calls broken people.
When Jesus called the woman and saw her condition—a woman who was twice bent over, a demon that had taken over her spinal cord—He did not ask her questions. He simply said to her:
"Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity."
The word "loosed" is the Greek word apolyo, which means to acquit someone from a penalty. When Jesus said to the woman, "Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity," He was saying: "I have come to become your judge. Because there is a hand that fights against you. You have been summoned for eighteen years before the council of Satan. The reason they have a legal right over you is because they have taken territory on your spinal cord."
When He said, "Woman, you are loosed," He was saying, "I have come to acquit you from this penal answer."
In that moment, Jesus changed roles. He was a rabbi, but when He saw the woman, He became a judge. And said: "Woman, do you know that by right an enemy is fighting you? What has been warring against you is a spirit that has laid its altars and foundations on your back. The reason you've been in pain is because you've been summoned for eighteen years. Your back has been the coven that they gather. For eighteen years, they have been cooking food behind your back. Your back has become the coven that they gather."
It is possible that she did something wrong that warranted her broken state. Yes, it is possible she did something wrong, said something wrong, and experienced the consequences of her life's actions. But when Jesus called the woman, He never asked her what she did to warrant her pain.
All He said to the woman: "I don't care what you did in your past. My assignment is not to condemn you. My assignment is to judge what judged you."
"I've come to fight what has fought against you. Apollyon! Woman, you've been acquitted. The handwriting of the ordinances that legally testified against you has been abolished."
For eighteen years, she had no right jury, no right judge, no right solicitor, no right lawyer to win her case. For eighteen years, she came to church on Sundays but nothing changed in her life. For eighteen years of trauma and pain. In the midst of that, still coming to serve in the house of God.
When Jesus came into the building—in the midst of ten and above in the synagogue—the Bible says that Jesus saw the woman. But what Jesus saw was a woman whose back had been used as a covenant for witches. Even though she was at church, the enemy was sitting on her back.
When Jesus saw the woman, the first thing He did was to call her. When Jesus called the woman, He said: "Woman, you are loose from your infirmity." Which means: "I understand there were powers that warred against you. But I come not just as a rabbi—I come as a judge. It is power against power. It is fire against fire. It is judge against judge. I don't care what you did, I don't care what you felt. My assignment is to decree that you are freed from the consequences of pain. Woman, you have been acquitted."
It means that she was summoned before a court or before a council. Each time they summoned the woman for eighteen years, no one represented her. She would go to court and the spirit of infirmity would speak their case. But there was no one to speak on her behalf. They would tell her, "Go back. Adjourned." She would go back home and they would continue pounding on her back.
For eighteen years, she got summoned before the magistrates, but there was no one to support her. I think she got tired. Then on a Sabbath day when Jesus was not meant to walk, He called the woman and said:
"I know. I know this is beyond you. I know the pain that nobody sees because they don't see your tears. Your head is on the ground. When you cry and call for help, they don't hear you because your head is on the ground. You haven't ever seen the face of your rabbi. You don't know when men laugh at you or scold you or scorn you because your head is on the ground. The thing you see the most is the dust of the ground. Your life was so reduced that all you saw was not the brightness of the day but the dust of the ground."
"And when you gave up, then the rabbi came, and then He called the woman and said: 'Woman, it doesn't matter what you did. I don't care what you did. But there's a court order against you. The reason why you've been suffering for the last eighteen years is because there is someone against you. You are loose from your infirmity. You've been acquitted. The handwriting that was written against you has been dropped down. The court case has worked in your favor.'"
Then Jesus laid His hands on the woman. One of the critical doctrines we must understand is the proper laying on of hands.
You do not lay hand on people; you lay hands on people. The purpose of laying hands is not just to empty a vessel—it is also to fill it up. Laying of hands is not just exorcism; it is impartation.
When you lay a hand on someone without filling them back, that spirit goes out through dry places and comes back and finds it empty. And it comes back with seven more. So the whole idea of laying hands is not just casting out a spirit, but also imparting grace.
When Jesus laid both hands on the woman, one hand cast out the spirit of infirmity, but the next hand established grace.
In the Hebrew tradition, hands are laid on heads. For Jesus to lay hands on the woman, He had to bend like the woman. He had to stoop like the woman. He knew her head was down, but He went down with her. That's what impartation does. Impartation means: I'm going down with you and I'm going to rise up with you. I'm not just going to lay hands on you there. I will prostrate with you down.
That's the reason why when Jesus went to Lazarus, the Bible said He stooped down and said, "Lazarus, come out." Why? Because Jesus cannot stand up to call someone who is seated. He has to take the position of the broken to release them.
The rabbi was teaching, and they had ignored the woman. She had become a consistent problem in the church. They had given her a name: Sister BB—Sister Broken Back. Everyone despised her because no one had seen her face. They had not seen her smile because her head is on the ground.
Do not blame the woman. She tried all she could. But the Bible says for eighteen years no help came for the woman. All she saw was the feet of men who laughed at her.
But on this day: Jesus called for the woman. As she came to Jesus, the first thing He did, He said, "Be loosed." And the word loose means apolyo—she has been acquitted. Every handwriting that spoke against her, walked against her, fought against her has been put down.
As Jesus spoke the word, it went to the woman. She was not standing straight. He also had to bend. Jesus had to bend twice also like the bent twice woman. And that's the reason why He could lay two hands on her.
It's very easy for me to lay my hands on you standing together. But if your head is down, that means Jesus was on His knees, laying His hands on the head of a woman. He understood that what she needed was intercession.
The Bible says He left the fact that He was God, humbled Himself, took the form of a man, and went to a woman who had no name, laid the first hand and cast out the demon, laid the second hand and imparted grace.
"He laid his hands on her. And immediately she was made straight."
The word "made straight" is the Greek word anorthoo (a-n-o-r-t-h-o-o). The word anorthoo means to build again.
When Jesus laid hands on the woman, she was not just made to stand straight. She was given grace to build again. So therefore, she was once a builder that the enemy came and broke.
Once a builder who built the kingdom of God. Once a builder who encouraged the church. Once a builder who paid the church's bill. Once a builder who cared for the pastors. Once a builder who gave to the things of God.
An enemy came in and broke her finances. An enemy came in and broke her health. An enemy came in and broke her mind. And she had been there for eighteen years.
Who knows? She might be the financier of the synagogue. She might be the support of the church. And the devil said:
"This one helps the church—let's break her." "This one helps the pastors—let's break her." "This one gives to the church—let's break her." "She always supports—let's break her." "She always encourages—let's break her." "She always gives—let's break her." "Let's make her tired."
But even though the devil broke her back, she still came to church with a broken back. The enemy could not take her praise. You could not take her money, you could not take her praise. You could not take her health, you could not take her praise. You could not take her joy, you could not take her praise.
Broken but blessed. Beaten but beautiful. She was wounded, despised, but she still had God.
But this is where the opposition arose. The Bible says: "The ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath."
I thought if you invite someone to your church to preach for you, you want a miracle to break out. But the host was angry. How dare He? Like many apostles and pastors who get frustrated because the miracle did not break out from them, they become the gatekeepers of the move of God. And they get frustrated when God decides to use the ushers.
The ruler did not speak to Jesus directly. Instead, he spoke to the crowd. He said: "There are six days on which men ought to work. Come and be healed on them, and not on the Sabbath."
What he was saying to the crowd: "This day is a day of no move of God. This day is a day of no deliverance from God. This day is a day of no breakthrough for you. Yes, come to church, but come to a dry church. Yes, come to church, but don't expect a miracle. For six days, yes, you can expect. But on this day, no miracle."
Then the Lord answered him: > "He hypocrites. Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or his donkey from the stall and lead it to water?"
It's interesting how religion can loose an ox but not loose a man. They have been losing oxes for days but refuse to loose a woman who was bound with a sickness.
But Jesus understood: if they can lose you on six days, I can loose you on the seventh.
Jesus says to the people: "You loose your ox and stall it and lead it to the water. So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?"
Hear me, church. The word Satan is Shaitan, which means the Accuser. It's not Lucifer (the bringer of light). Satan is the one who has accused this woman. She has been summoned before the court and the covenant. For eighteen years, she has been summoned by Shaitan. For eighteen years, she has been summoned by the great dragon.
"You celebrate all days loosing your ox, but you object to this woman? Aren't you ashamed of yourself? You call yourself a pastor, but cannot cast out a fly."
"So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound, be loosed from this bound on the Sabbath?"
She had a spirit of infirmity. The word infirmity is the word feeble. She was feeble because she was bound. And the spirit rode on the woman as a woman rides on a beast. The Bible says for eighteen years she was bound. "Be loose from this bound on the Sabbath."
And when He said these things, all His adversaries were put to shame. The word adversaries is also another word for diabolos—Satan is called the adversary.
The Bible says: all his adversaries were put to shame. And the multitudes rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by Him.
It is my prayer tonight that when God makes you stand up tall, all your adversaries that celebrated your downfall, all your adversaries that mocked you while you dropped to the ground, all your adversaries—I prophesy that they shall be put to shame. All your adversary that rejoiced at your downfall, they shall be put to shame.
Let us walk this text closely. There was a wall that stands between our breakthrough and religion. And religion says that you cannot heal on the seventh day.
But what was called to wing? God called Joshua and said: "Six days march round Jericho and say no words. But on the seventh day, that's when you scream."
I'll say it again: "Six days march round Jericho and say no words. On the seventh day, that's the Sabbath—that's when you scream."
What did Jesus do? He inverted it. He changed the game. Six days you were meant to walk. But He says that Jericho be quiet. And the Bible says on the seventh day that was meant to be quiet, they screamed.
Jericho fell because God inverted the order. It was meant to be six days of work and the seventh day of rest. But He said to them: six days march round with no word. On the seventh day that you are meant to keep quiet, shout.
What Jesus did was also invert the program for the woman. He said: "You've been bound for eighteen years, for many seasons. On the seventh day, meant to be your rest. He did not break the rule. He gave her rest."
She has been bound for eighteen years. Broken for eighteen years. Weeping for eighteen years. But this was her day. This was her day. And this was the Sabbath.
Do you not understand that man was not made for the Sabbath? The Sabbath was made for man.
She has been working eighteen years. Eighteen years of pain. Eighteen years of tears. Eighteen years of grief. Looking forward to a Sabbath.
There were two words for Sabbath. The first word is called sabbatismos, which means to stop working. The second word is katapausis, which means to pause and think again.
The Bible says when Jesus healed the woman, it was called sabbatismos—which means that you stopped working this very moment and you enter your rest. You don't get it. She had not had rest. Eighteen years. No rest. Eighteen years of merry-go-round.
There was no point carrying another eighteen days, eighteen years, and one day. It had to end when the burden bearer entered inside the synagogue. It ends tonight because the burden bearer just walked through the door.
It ends tonight because the burden bearer is in the house.
Say to your neighbor: "It ends tonight because God is in the room."
Say: "It ends tonight because God is here."
I prophesy that everyone under the sound of my voice—it ends tonight.
When Jesus laid hands on the woman, one of the things that happened—the word paratithemi is where we get the word "fight" from. Paratithemi means to place aside.
When Jesus laid both hands on the woman, one hand was to cast out the devil, but the next hand was to build. Let me read from Jeremiah 1:9–10:
"Then the Lord put forth his hand and touched my mouth and the Lord said: Behold, I have put my words in your mouth. See, I have this day set you over nations and over kingdoms to root out, and pull down, and destroy, and throw down."
When Jesus laid hands on the woman, the first part of the hand was to destroy, was to pull down, was to throw down. But when He laid His next hand on the woman, it was to build—build again.
Tonight, church, I do not know what is fighting you or has summoned you. But I feel the hand of heaven upon your life tonight. Two things will happen at once: the demons will leave and grace will stand.
Where are my builders here? Those that are not afraid to build again.
I am speaking to builders that have started and quit because life happened. Builders who started an e-commerce shop but stopped because life got the worst of them. Builders who had all the plans to become something that God had told them but an enemy came in.
The Bible says: one man slept, an enemy came in and planted tares among wheat. When they woke up, they asked the master what happened, and the master says an enemy has done this.
I'm speaking to someone who was once a builder. You were building something that you knew was everything that you prayed for, but life happened. You chucked it aside.
I'm speaking to someone who started their New Year's resolution. You started by saying by the end of 2026, by June I would have been such and such. By May I will set up my first company. By April I will do such and such. A woman who was building, a man who was building. But an enemy came in.
Say to your neighbor: "Build again."
When Jesus laid hand on the woman, she was made whole and glorified God.
I wish it ended there, but it didn't.
Now, whatever kind of bending you are, whether twice bent over, quarter bent over, or one time bent over—tell your neighbor: "Build again."
I don't know how bent you are. But whatever kind of bending you are, say to your neighbor: "Build again."
Raising your hands is a sign of agreement. Say to the Lord: "Lord God, strengthen my posture for my crown to fit my head."
The problem is never the head. The problem is the spine. If God fixes the spine, the head has to stand still.
Your spine is your support. Say: "My Father, my Father, every support that I need to make me stand with my crown—fix it."
I don't know who has pain on their right shoulder. I can feel your weight on my shoulder. But right now, God is saying: it's time to stand tall again. Say: "My Father, my Father, every support, every man or woman, helper of destiny that you have assigned to me—wherever they are, fix them now."
Eighteen years is a long time. Although it is not the eighteenth today, I use eight because we are in August. Eight is the number of new beginning. Which means that from tonight will be the new beginning for you. You have been bent over your last season. But this day is the day of a new beginning.
Say: "Yes, Lord."
She was bent over twice. If she was bent over twice, and today's date reflects that pattern—the first nine is nine, the next bend is nine plus nine, which is eighteen—Who am I speaking to in this place that has been bent over? I prophesy this very moment: I decree that you shall stand tall.
Say: "Stand tall."
Now, this is the moment where you are going to prophesy to yourself. Look at someone by your side and say to them:
"Congratulations are in order. Brother and sister, listen—this congratulation is a down payment. This congratulation is a down payment on the complete redemption. Mark this date. You will come back and testify because your crown is on your head. On your head. On your head."
Your crown is on your head.
Say: "Congratulations. Congratulations. Congratulations. It is so. It's on your head. It's on your head."
In the Book of Revelation, the Apostle John received a revelation from the Lord and wrote to seven churches in Asia Minor. John wrote three categories of books in scripture: the Gospel of John, the Johannine epistles (1 John, 2 John, 3 John), and the Book of Revelation.
These seven churches were Ephesus (the apostolic church), Smyrna (the persecuted church), Pergamos (the married church), Thyatira (the medieval church), Sardis (the denominational church), Philadelphia (the friendly church), and Laodicea (the lukewarm church). The churches were located in Asia Minor, a region robust with commerce, faith, and pagan practices.
Interestingly, only two churches—Smyrna and Philadelphia—received no condemnation. Philadelphia, whose name comes from the Greek word phileo (meaning friendly love), was a very pastoral church. Yet despite having nothing bad said about it, Jesus gave this church a critical caution.
Revelation 3:11 contains Jesus' powerful warning to the Philadelphia church: "Behold, I am coming quickly. Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown."
The phrase "hold fast" carries the meaning of grip, tighten, fasten, and guard—the same word used for a seal in Greek (sphragizo). Jesus is commanding: Hold fast what you have at all costs. Protect your assignment at the expense of your life.
Jesus makes it clear: "That no one—nobody at all, no family, no friends, no pastor, no bishop, no apostle, no children—no one may take your crown." This is your sole responsibility. One thing you must do, church: make sure no one takes your crown.
In scripture, there are two words for crowns. Diadema is a royal crown given to kings. But stephanos is a reward—the crown you receive because you have done work, the prize for the race you have run. Jesus is saying: "No matter how saved you are, at all costs, make sure no one takes that crown from you." This means there is a real possibility that someone can take it.
The crown stealers are not always enemies. Sometimes they are your closest friends—your BFF. The enemy will steal your crown and help you look for it. They will steal your glory and pray with you all night. They see that God is doing something in your life, they pervert the blessings of God, and call you for an all-night prayer.
Make sure that no one steals your crown. Your crown speaks of your royal authority—not just a regal title, but your position of authority. Crowns are the reward of good works. There are systems and structures whose assignment is to stop your reign.
Why would Jesus write this caution to the friendly church? Because the church has lost its apostolic prophetic vigor and has become so excessively pastoral that an enemy has put its hand on our head. The church has refused to cast out, bind, and burn because it has been taught to be gentle in the faith.
When it comes to your crown, there are no families. When it comes to your crown, there are no enemies. When it comes to your crown, there are no fathers and mothers. Your assignment is to protect. It's better to be your Holy Ghost hooligan than to lose your crown, because this is your life, your mandate, and your purpose.
Many of us have become too safe to rebuke an enemy who put their hands on our head. But I promise you tonight: anything that tries to take what God gave you, may fire find them before they stretch their hands.
Now let's look at Luke 13:10–17, which tells the story of a woman who was bent over for eighteen years. This story perfectly illustrates what happens when we fail to hold fast to our crown.
Jesus was teaching in a synagogue on the Sabbath. A synagogue requires a fellowship of at least ten Jewish people. Jesus, as an itinerant minister, was invited as a guest to teach. But there was a problem: it was the Sabbath.
The Sabbath was established before the law. When God created the world, on the seventh day He rested. This rest was not because God was tired—God rested because He had completed His work. The original concept of Sabbath was not tiredness from work but completion of service. God instituted the Sabbath as part of Israel's rights, saying, "Six days you may work, but on the seventh day you may rest."
While Jesus was teaching in this synagogue, Luke draws our attention to something remarkable: "Behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity." The word "behold" means to turn your frame, your entire position. When the Bible says "behold," you must look at what comes after it.
This woman had no name. She had a spirit of infirmity—asthenia in Greek, meaning feeble, weak, without strength. She was someone whose bones could not hold her together, so weak she could not stand on her own. Her spinal cord was so weak that her frame had been distorted.
But the problem was not medical—it was spiritual. She had a spirit that caused the problem. There is a distinction between what Satan causes and what biology causes. Some ailments need medication; others need deliverance. You cannot medicate an ailment caused by a spirit.
The Bible says this woman had a spirit of infirmity for eighteen years. She had been traumatized by this demon for eighteen years. Eighteen years is not a small time.
Eighteen years of frustration. Eighteen years of pain. Eighteen years of seeking medical attention. Eighteen years of broken bones. Eighteen years of not standing tall. Eighteen years of everything troubling up. Eighteen years of swallowing pills and nothing working. Eighteen years of going for massages. Eighteen years of not standing by herself. Eighteen years of tears. Eighteen years of pain. Eighteen years of molestation. Eighteen years of abuse. Eighteen years of anguish. Eighteen years of grief.
Yet despite all this suffering, she still came to the synagogue. She still came to church. She did not stop being in the presence of God. Call her religious if you like, but even though she knew there was a problem with her, she felt to herself: "I cannot miss out on what God is doing now."
She did not go to the synagogue expecting a miracle. The rabbis there did not cast out demons or perform miracles—they taught the law. She was not expecting the hand of God. She was going to church because it was part of the culture of the Jewish people to be in the synagogue on the Sabbath. She came because she was a faithful Jew.
The Bible says she was bent over and could in no way raise herself up. The Greek word is sukyo—meaning that her head was touching her knees. Some translations say she was bent twice over. For eighteen years, her head was on the ground. She was not bent like this; her head was on her knees. Her spinal cord was so messed up it could not hold her back any longer.
Eighteen years she could not see the sun. All she saw was the dust of the ground. For eighteen years, while everyone looked at the sun, she looked at the dust of the ground. She never saw the sun of the day. She never saw the faces of men—she saw only their feet. For eighteen years she was broken, bent over, bruised, and battered. But for that same eighteen years, she never stopped being in God's presence.
I began to ask myself: How do you fix a crown on the head of a woman whose head is on the ground? How do you fix a crown on the head of a woman who was twice bent over?
The problem is not your crown. The problem is your head. If your head is on the ground, your crown will not stay. The reason why the crown isn't on your head is because your head is bent over.
For eighteen years she had been to the doctor, but they could not help her because it was a spirit. Doctors do not cast out spirits. She had been through all the conferences in town, been through all the pastors for healing conferences, been through all the deliverance conferences. She had done everything, but could in no way raise herself up.
When I contemplate on this, I realize something profound: The spinal cord is what holds you standing tall and straight. In the physical realm, the spine gives structure. And I began to realize that in the spiritual realm, one of the reasons why things are not standing straight is because perhaps the spinal cord of that very element might be broken.
Apostle, why does my account not stand tall? Because your sukyo—the very thing that gives your finances grace to bubble is broken. Sukyo means that every single week you have to swallow pills. Sukyo means that your finances are feeble, your mind feeble, your marriage feeble, everything about you feeble.
What brought me to tears was not the fact that she had pain. What brought me to tears was the fact that with the pain, she was still serving and seeking God. How many of us would do that today? In the pain, still serving. She had every reason to say to God, "What's the point? You haven't been there for me." But she kept coming to church.
When Jesus saw the woman, there was no way she could have seen Jesus. She could not see Him. She would hear His voice but not see Him, because her head was on the ground. While the pastor was preaching, her head was on the ground.
All she could say was, "I can hear the voice, but I don't see the face." She could not raise herself up to look at the guest preacher. She came to the synagogue that faithful Saturday, and low and behold, there was a guest preacher in town. She did not see Jesus. The Bible said, "Jesus saw the woman."
Jesus called her to him. The Bible does not specify exactly how she came to Jesus—whether Jesus went to the woman and called her, or whether people held her hands and walked her toward Jesus—but Jesus called the broken woman. Yes, God calls broken people.
When Jesus called the woman and saw her condition—a woman who was twice bent over, a demon that had taken over her spinal cord—He did not ask her questions. He simply said to her:
"Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity."
The word "loosed" is the Greek word apolyo, which means to acquit someone from a penalty. When Jesus said to the woman, "Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity," He was saying: "I have come to become your judge. Because there is a hand that fights against you. You have been summoned for eighteen years before the council of Satan. The reason they have a legal right over you is because they have taken territory on your spinal cord."
When He said, "Woman, you are loosed," He was saying, "I have come to acquit you from this penal answer."
In that moment, Jesus changed roles. He was a rabbi, but when He saw the woman, He became a judge. And said: "Woman, do you know that by right an enemy is fighting you? What has been warring against you is a spirit that has laid its altars and foundations on your back. The reason you've been in pain is because you've been summoned for eighteen years. Your back has been the coven that they gather. For eighteen years, they have been cooking food behind your back. Your back has become the coven that they gather."
It is possible that she did something wrong that warranted her broken state. Yes, it is possible she did something wrong, said something wrong, and experienced the consequences of her life's actions. But when Jesus called the woman, He never asked her what she did to warrant her pain.
All He said to the woman: "I don't care what you did in your past. My assignment is not to condemn you. My assignment is to judge what judged you."
"I've come to fight what has fought against you. Apollyon! Woman, you've been acquitted. The handwriting of the ordinances that legally testified against you has been abolished."
For eighteen years, she had no right jury, no right judge, no right solicitor, no right lawyer to win her case. For eighteen years, she came to church on Sundays but nothing changed in her life. For eighteen years of trauma and pain. In the midst of that, still coming to serve in the house of God.
When Jesus came into the building—in the midst of ten and above in the synagogue—the Bible says that Jesus saw the woman. But what Jesus saw was a woman whose back had been used as a covenant for witches. Even though she was at church, the enemy was sitting on her back.
When Jesus saw the woman, the first thing He did was to call her. When Jesus called the woman, He said: "Woman, you are loose from your infirmity." Which means: "I understand there were powers that warred against you. But I come not just as a rabbi—I come as a judge. It is power against power. It is fire against fire. It is judge against judge. I don't care what you did, I don't care what you felt. My assignment is to decree that you are freed from the consequences of pain. Woman, you have been acquitted."
It means that she was summoned before a court or before a council. Each time they summoned the woman for eighteen years, no one represented her. She would go to court and the spirit of infirmity would speak their case. But there was no one to speak on her behalf. They would tell her, "Go back. Adjourned." She would go back home and they would continue pounding on her back.
For eighteen years, she got summoned before the magistrates, but there was no one to support her. I think she got tired. Then on a Sabbath day when Jesus was not meant to walk, He called the woman and said:
"I know. I know this is beyond you. I know the pain that nobody sees because they don't see your tears. Your head is on the ground. When you cry and call for help, they don't hear you because your head is on the ground. You haven't ever seen the face of your rabbi. You don't know when men laugh at you or scold you or scorn you because your head is on the ground. The thing you see the most is the dust of the ground. Your life was so reduced that all you saw was not the brightness of the day but the dust of the ground."
"And when you gave up, then the rabbi came, and then He called the woman and said: 'Woman, it doesn't matter what you did. I don't care what you did. But there's a court order against you. The reason why you've been suffering for the last eighteen years is because there is someone against you. You are loose from your infirmity. You've been acquitted. The handwriting that was written against you has been dropped down. The court case has worked in your favor.'"
Then Jesus laid His hands on the woman. One of the critical doctrines we must understand is the proper laying on of hands.
You do not lay hand on people; you lay hands on people. The purpose of laying hands is not just to empty a vessel—it is also to fill it up. Laying of hands is not just exorcism; it is impartation.
When you lay a hand on someone without filling them back, that spirit goes out through dry places and comes back and finds it empty. And it comes back with seven more. So the whole idea of laying hands is not just casting out a spirit, but also imparting grace.
When Jesus laid both hands on the woman, one hand cast out the spirit of infirmity, but the next hand established grace.
In the Hebrew tradition, hands are laid on heads. For Jesus to lay hands on the woman, He had to bend like the woman. He had to stoop like the woman. He knew her head was down, but He went down with her. That's what impartation does. Impartation means: I'm going down with you and I'm going to rise up with you. I'm not just going to lay hands on you there. I will prostrate with you down.
That's the reason why when Jesus went to Lazarus, the Bible said He stooped down and said, "Lazarus, come out." Why? Because Jesus cannot stand up to call someone who is seated. He has to take the position of the broken to release them.
The rabbi was teaching, and they had ignored the woman. She had become a consistent problem in the church. They had given her a name: Sister BB—Sister Broken Back. Everyone despised her because no one had seen her face. They had not seen her smile because her head is on the ground.
Do not blame the woman. She tried all she could. But the Bible says for eighteen years no help came for the woman. All she saw was the feet of men who laughed at her.
But on this day: Jesus called for the woman. As she came to Jesus, the first thing He did, He said, "Be loosed." And the word loose means apolyo—she has been acquitted. Every handwriting that spoke against her, walked against her, fought against her has been put down.
As Jesus spoke the word, it went to the woman. She was not standing straight. He also had to bend. Jesus had to bend twice also like the bent twice woman. And that's the reason why He could lay two hands on her.
It's very easy for me to lay my hands on you standing together. But if your head is down, that means Jesus was on His knees, laying His hands on the head of a woman. He understood that what she needed was intercession.
The Bible says He left the fact that He was God, humbled Himself, took the form of a man, and went to a woman who had no name, laid the first hand and cast out the demon, laid the second hand and imparted grace.
"He laid his hands on her. And immediately she was made straight."
The word "made straight" is the Greek word anorthoo (a-n-o-r-t-h-o-o). The word anorthoo means to build again.
When Jesus laid hands on the woman, she was not just made to stand straight. She was given grace to build again. So therefore, she was once a builder that the enemy came and broke.
Once a builder who built the kingdom of God. Once a builder who encouraged the church. Once a builder who paid the church's bill. Once a builder who cared for the pastors. Once a builder who gave to the things of God.
An enemy came in and broke her finances. An enemy came in and broke her health. An enemy came in and broke her mind. And she had been there for eighteen years.
Who knows? She might be the financier of the synagogue. She might be the support of the church. And the devil said:
"This one helps the church—let's break her." "This one helps the pastors—let's break her." "This one gives to the church—let's break her." "She always supports—let's break her." "She always encourages—let's break her." "She always gives—let's break her." "Let's make her tired."
But even though the devil broke her back, she still came to church with a broken back. The enemy could not take her praise. You could not take her money, you could not take her praise. You could not take her health, you could not take her praise. You could not take her joy, you could not take her praise.
Broken but blessed. Beaten but beautiful. She was wounded, despised, but she still had God.
But this is where the opposition arose. The Bible says: "The ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath."
I thought if you invite someone to your church to preach for you, you want a miracle to break out. But the host was angry. How dare He? Like many apostles and pastors who get frustrated because the miracle did not break out from them, they become the gatekeepers of the move of God. And they get frustrated when God decides to use the ushers.
The ruler did not speak to Jesus directly. Instead, he spoke to the crowd. He said: "There are six days on which men ought to work. Come and be healed on them, and not on the Sabbath."
What he was saying to the crowd: "This day is a day of no move of God. This day is a day of no deliverance from God. This day is a day of no breakthrough for you. Yes, come to church, but come to a dry church. Yes, come to church, but don't expect a miracle. For six days, yes, you can expect. But on this day, no miracle."
Then the Lord answered him: > "He hypocrites. Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or his donkey from the stall and lead it to water?"
It's interesting how religion can loose an ox but not loose a man. They have been losing oxes for days but refuse to loose a woman who was bound with a sickness.
But Jesus understood: if they can lose you on six days, I can loose you on the seventh.
Jesus says to the people: "You loose your ox and stall it and lead it to the water. So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?"
Hear me, church. The word Satan is Shaitan, which means the Accuser. It's not Lucifer (the bringer of light). Satan is the one who has accused this woman. She has been summoned before the court and the covenant. For eighteen years, she has been summoned by Shaitan. For eighteen years, she has been summoned by the great dragon.
"You celebrate all days loosing your ox, but you object to this woman? Aren't you ashamed of yourself? You call yourself a pastor, but cannot cast out a fly."
"So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound, be loosed from this bound on the Sabbath?"
She had a spirit of infirmity. The word infirmity is the word feeble. She was feeble because she was bound. And the spirit rode on the woman as a woman rides on a beast. The Bible says for eighteen years she was bound. "Be loose from this bound on the Sabbath."
And when He said these things, all His adversaries were put to shame. The word adversaries is also another word for diabolos—Satan is called the adversary.
The Bible says: all his adversaries were put to shame. And the multitudes rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by Him.
It is my prayer tonight that when God makes you stand up tall, all your adversaries that celebrated your downfall, all your adversaries that mocked you while you dropped to the ground, all your adversaries—I prophesy that they shall be put to shame. All your adversary that rejoiced at your downfall, they shall be put to shame.
Let us walk this text closely. There was a wall that stands between our breakthrough and religion. And religion says that you cannot heal on the seventh day.
But what was called to wing? God called Joshua and said: "Six days march round Jericho and say no words. But on the seventh day, that's when you scream."
I'll say it again: "Six days march round Jericho and say no words. On the seventh day, that's the Sabbath—that's when you scream."
What did Jesus do? He inverted it. He changed the game. Six days you were meant to walk. But He says that Jericho be quiet. And the Bible says on the seventh day that was meant to be quiet, they screamed.
Jericho fell because God inverted the order. It was meant to be six days of work and the seventh day of rest. But He said to them: six days march round with no word. On the seventh day that you are meant to keep quiet, shout.
What Jesus did was also invert the program for the woman. He said: "You've been bound for eighteen years, for many seasons. On the seventh day, meant to be your rest. He did not break the rule. He gave her rest."
She has been bound for eighteen years. Broken for eighteen years. Weeping for eighteen years. But this was her day. This was her day. And this was the Sabbath.
Do you not understand that man was not made for the Sabbath? The Sabbath was made for man.
She has been working eighteen years. Eighteen years of pain. Eighteen years of tears. Eighteen years of grief. Looking forward to a Sabbath.
There were two words for Sabbath. The first word is called sabbatismos, which means to stop working. The second word is katapausis, which means to pause and think again.
The Bible says when Jesus healed the woman, it was called sabbatismos—which means that you stopped working this very moment and you enter your rest. You don't get it. She had not had rest. Eighteen years. No rest. Eighteen years of merry-go-round.
There was no point carrying another eighteen days, eighteen years, and one day. It had to end when the burden bearer entered inside the synagogue. It ends tonight because the burden bearer just walked through the door.
It ends tonight because the burden bearer is in the house.
Say to your neighbor: "It ends tonight because God is in the room."
Say: "It ends tonight because God is here."
I prophesy that everyone under the sound of my voice—it ends tonight.
When Jesus laid hands on the woman, one of the things that happened—the word paratithemi is where we get the word "fight" from. Paratithemi means to place aside.
When Jesus laid both hands on the woman, one hand was to cast out the devil, but the next hand was to build. Let me read from Jeremiah 1:9–10:
"Then the Lord put forth his hand and touched my mouth and the Lord said: Behold, I have put my words in your mouth. See, I have this day set you over nations and over kingdoms to root out, and pull down, and destroy, and throw down."
When Jesus laid hands on the woman, the first part of the hand was to destroy, was to pull down, was to throw down. But when He laid His next hand on the woman, it was to build—build again.
Tonight, church, I do not know what is fighting you or has summoned you. But I feel the hand of heaven upon your life tonight. Two things will happen at once: the demons will leave and grace will stand.
Where are my builders here? Those that are not afraid to build again.
I am speaking to builders that have started and quit because life happened. Builders who started an e-commerce shop but stopped because life got the worst of them. Builders who had all the plans to become something that God had told them but an enemy came in.
The Bible says: one man slept, an enemy came in and planted tares among wheat. When they woke up, they asked the master what happened, and the master says an enemy has done this.
I'm speaking to someone who was once a builder. You were building something that you knew was everything that you prayed for, but life happened. You chucked it aside.
I'm speaking to someone who started their New Year's resolution. You started by saying by the end of 2026, by June I would have been such and such. By May I will set up my first company. By April I will do such and such. A woman who was building, a man who was building. But an enemy came in.
Say to your neighbor: "Build again."
When Jesus laid hand on the woman, she was made whole and glorified God.
I wish it ended there, but it didn't.
Now, whatever kind of bending you are, whether twice bent over, quarter bent over, or one time bent over—tell your neighbor: "Build again."
I don't know how bent you are. But whatever kind of bending you are, say to your neighbor: "Build again."
Raising your hands is a sign of agreement. Say to the Lord: "Lord God, strengthen my posture for my crown to fit my head."
The problem is never the head. The problem is the spine. If God fixes the spine, the head has to stand still.
Your spine is your support. Say: "My Father, my Father, every support that I need to make me stand with my crown—fix it."
I don't know who has pain on their right shoulder. I can feel your weight on my shoulder. But right now, God is saying: it's time to stand tall again. Say: "My Father, my Father, every support, every man or woman, helper of destiny that you have assigned to me—wherever they are, fix them now."
Eighteen years is a long time. Although it is not the eighteenth today, I use eight because we are in August. Eight is the number of new beginning. Which means that from tonight will be the new beginning for you. You have been bent over your last season. But this day is the day of a new beginning.
Say: "Yes, Lord."
She was bent over twice. If she was bent over twice, and today's date reflects that pattern—the first nine is nine, the next bend is nine plus nine, which is eighteen—Who am I speaking to in this place that has been bent over? I prophesy this very moment: I decree that you shall stand tall.
Say: "Stand tall."
Now, this is the moment where you are going to prophesy to yourself. Look at someone by your side and say to them:
"Congratulations are in order. Brother and sister, listen—this congratulation is a down payment. This congratulation is a down payment on the complete redemption. Mark this date. You will come back and testify because your crown is on your head. On your head. On your head."
Your crown is on your head.
Say: "Congratulations. Congratulations. Congratulations. It is so. It's on your head. It's on your head."
