TOTAL LIBERATION FROM ANTI-PROGRESS FORCES II

The enemy called tradition

– don’t be afraid of confronting the enemy called tradition. Jesus confronted this enemy. The fact that everyone else is doing it does not mean that you, as a child of God, should do it. In the case of the man with the withered hand, it was a Sabbath tradition. The Pharisees were enforcers of the law; leaders of the Church then. They had a wrong spirit and were waiting for Jesus to make a mistake; they knew the letter but neglected the spirit. Anytime you discern a wrong spirit, run. You cannot have a wrong spirit and end well. This is why you must be able to discern all spirits so that you can know where to draw the line. Part of wisdom is to know the difference – difference between right and wrong, environment etc. Jesus understood His environment very well. He was empowered by the wisdom of God. The Holy Spirit is the right spirit; there is no mixture of spirit. Every mixture of spirit is called syncretism and every syncretism leads to death.

The enemy called wrong theology

– there is so much error in the Church today and what propagates the error is Babylon. Babylon has invaded the Church. The Church wants to be like the world; using worldly standard to run God’s kingdom. Jer. 27:18 says “but if they be prophets and if the word of the LORD be with them, let them now make intercession to the LORD of hosts that the vessels which are left in the house of the LORD and in the house of the king of Judah and at Jerusalem go not to Babylon”. Error is poisonous. The worst theological error is that grace has been reduced to licence to do anything. This is from the pit of hell. In verse 4, Jesus confronted the erroneous theology of the Pharisees; he was grieved; angry. Error is like cancer, you don’t deal with it with kid’s gloves. You must confront it with the fire of the Holy Ghost.

Hardness of heart

– this is a limiter of progress. Many unbelievers have this hardness of heart and what produces it is what is called a wrong spirit. The man was in dire need of help but the Pharisees began to rationalize whether it okay to do good on the Sabbath day; they had no human feeling. They found it difficult to empathize with the man.

Conspiracy

– they conspired against the man. You must stand upright. God will not withhold any good thing from you if you do. We must always create the necessary atmosphere that will magnetize the blessings of God. Jesus said stretch forth your hand. It means you must go the extra mile. Jesus asked the man to stretch out his withered hand. How can he stretch? This is what is called ‘acting upon the word of God’. The man did not question the command; he made an attempt and immediately heaven’s power was released to confirm the Word.

Go beyond the gate. The only place to go is forward; Jesus stretched forth. When the only thing hindering you from entering your Promised Land is a red sea, then that is the time to lift the rod; that is the time to stretch forth. Prayer can become counter-productive when your faith is no longer on God. If you pray the right prayer, God will give you the right strategy. Put to use the word that you have received.

to be cont………