29/02/12

Proclaim liberty to others or else face the consequences

Jeremiah 34:17-18 -
17 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother, and every man to his neighbour: behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, saith the LORD, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.
18 And I will give the men that have transgressed my covenant, which have not performed the words of the covenant which they had made before me, when they cut the calf in twain, and passed between the parts thereof,


When Jesus said, as His disciples we are to proclaim His Gospel to the ends of the world, baptizing them and teaching them the Word of God, it was not an option but a solemn vow which is part of the our condition of being free from the bondage of sin.

We Christians struggle with our sinful nature or with the problems that keep coming in our lives not because God is unable to handle them, but it is because we fail as Christians to keep our part of the promise made when we are set free of the sins be committed and are baptized Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.

The Bible says we were slaves to sin and were bought to freedom by Jesus Christ and His Spirit. This freedom although is paid for by Jesus Christ it has a condition and these conditions are found in the book of Moses.

The Lord gave some laws concerning freeing of slaves in the books of Moses and in today's message Jeremiah touches those Laws. In Jesus Christ these Laws are bought to light in its Truth.

We need to understand although we did not pay the price for our freedom from being slaves to our sins we still have a price to pay to the Lord to be completely out of our sinful nature and become overcomers. This price is not paid to the Lord but the price requires us to free others from sin like it has been done unto us.

We hear a lot of testimonies about the Lord Jesus Christ appearing to Muslims in dreams in the Middle East and Africa sometimes to a whole village at the same time and how they are accepting Him as their Saviour. No doubt there is happiness that people are getting saved but these testimonies shame us. It shows how we are failing in the task which the Lord gave us. The Lord will not loss even one of His sheep because of our reluctance to do our part of our commitment.

Today's message is strong words from the Lord warning us if we continue to not fulfil our part of our commitment of being free, the Lord is going to turn our lives upside down. It is time we stop warning our seats, sitting in our homes due to fear of men, more bothered of our own small family but not concern of our greater family.

Let me tell you, if we continue being a non performing Christian we will have a testimony. This testimony will not be good. If we want a good testimony then let us do our part of our commitment and let us go out from our comfort zone and free others from sin. If you do not know how, take help. Take help from the Helper (the Holy Spirit) and if you have a problem hearing Him ask a brother or sister in the Lord who is performing his or her commitment.


[ Prayer Starter ]
Lord, through the mouth of Moses You gave your Law but by our receiving of the Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ You have made known these Laws. They were hidden from man for they did not know You. Now that we know your Law we do not have an excuse to hide behind. You gave us freedom when we were slave to our sins and You require of us to do the same unto your children who are still under bondage. Lord we do not want to face your anger, help us to realize the seriousness of our solemn oath when we are baptized in the Holy Spirit. Help us to reach out to your yet bonded children and proclaim liberty into their lives...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.


[ Reference Scriptures ]
Jeremiah 34:14-20
14 At the end of seven years [symbolizing when one is baptized in the Holy Spirit] let ye go every man his brother an Hebrew [means 双ne from beyond' symbolizes God's children], which hath been sold unto thee; and when he hath served thee six years, thou shalt let him go free from thee: but your fathers hearkened not unto me, neither inclined their ear.
15 And ye were now turned, and had done right in my sight, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbour; and ye had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name:
16 But ye turned and polluted my name, and caused every man his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom ye had set at liberty at their pleasure, to return, and brought them into subjection, to be unto you for servants and for handmaids.
17 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother, and every man to his neighbour: behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, saith the LORD, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.
18 And I will give the men that have transgressed my covenant, which have not performed the words of the covenant which they had made before me, when they cut the calf in twain, and passed between the parts thereof,
19 The princes of Judah, and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land, which passed between the parts of the calf;
20 I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life: and their dead bodies shall be for meat unto the fowls of the heaven, and to the beasts of the earth.

Mark 16:14-19
14 Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen.
15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. 19 So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.

The Word of God was given free to us, therefore we should also share it freely with others. (All rights are with God)