- Week 37
- Scripture Reading: – John 11:4
- Topic: – Saved but still bound! [Israel out of Egypt, “let My people Go”]
Saved but still bound! [Israel out of Egypt, “let My people Go”]
John 11:4
When Jesus heard that, He said, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” John 11:23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” John 11:25 Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. 26 And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.
Do you believe this? Jesus spoke a word.
John 11:40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” 41 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. 42 And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.”
43 Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, ① “Lazarus [God has helped], come forth!” 44 And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, ② “Lose him, and let him go.” [Likewise, God wants to lose us and use us]
Start Speaking
Nothing happens until you start speaking, whether it’s God’s Word or your own words. You talk yourself into or out of trouble! Every time that you open your mouth to speak, you bring something closer or send it further away from you!
Jesus spoke life into existence! Deut 18:21 – DEATH & LIFE – Choose LIFE
We are all like Lazarus, wrapped in the graveclothes of this world. GOD CALLED Abraham to be a ‘father’ of many Nations even when Abraham had ‘no child’! That is the God that we serve!
God who takes nothing and can make something out of it! Job says that God takes the Moon, and He hangs it on nothing!
Rom 4:17 as it is written, I have made thee a (father of many nations,) before Him whom He believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, [and calleth those things which be not as though they were].
Matt 21:1 As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”
Know the power
There are many people who need to KNOW the power of those commanding words, “lose him, and let him go.” (John 11:44) They have been quickened out of a state of death, by the life-giving voice of the Son of God, but they come forth bound hand and foot with grave-clothes, and their faces “bound about with a towel.”
They have not been able to shake off the ways and problems of their former condition or go on their way in the liberty wherewith Christ makes His people free. That they have received divine life, is manifest from the very struggles, fluctuations, and conflicts of which they complain.
Those that are “spiritually dead” know nothing of such things. So long as Lazarus lay in the silent tomb, in the cold grasp of death, he never felt his grave clothes to be any hindrance to movement, or his napkin to be any hindrance to vision.
All was dark, cold, and lifeless; and the grave clothes were the suited trappings of such a condition. A man whose hands and feet were fast bound, in the fetters of death, could not feel any inconvenience from grave clothes; and one whose eyes were fast sealed, by the stern hand of death, could not feel any inconvenience from a napkin.
John 11:25
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
New Birth in Jesus’ Name!
Jesus did miracles so people would be saved. And you can be saved by believing that Jesus Christ can save you. John 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.
Colossians 2:13
You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. Exodus 5:1 – And afterwards Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, thus saith the LORD God of Israel, let my people go, that they may hold a feast [Worship] unto me in the wilderness.
Luke 13:11-13
“And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up. But when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him and said to her, ‘Woman, you are lost from your infirmity.’ And He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God”
Bound by Infirmity
The woman in Luke 13 was bound by a spirit of infirmity for 18 years while Lazarus had been dead for four days, bound with graveclothes, and buried before Jesus got to Bethany, his town (John 11:39, 44).
A person in bondage cannot fulfil the purpose of God for his life. Until such a person is lost, he cannot pursue and fulfil his destiny. Until the colt Jesus rode on to Jerusalem during His triumphant entry was lost and brought to Jesus, it could not fulfil its prophetic destiny.
The Abundant Life!
John 10:10
The thief does not come except to steal and kill, and destroy. I have come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly., 1 Cor 2:9 But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” Ephes 3:20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,
Looks like an impossible situation! But that is our God!
It’s only HE that can make the impossible possible for you! You see you don’t catch God off guard with your situation, He knows everything! God sees you; He knows you. ① Barren, ② Old, ③ Impotent!
Looks like a dead situation to me! No, but this is the ideal opportunity for the Glory of God to be manifested! Amen!
Isn’t it funny, when the world and yourself might give up, then God says “I’ll break through for you”!
It sometimes looks as if God waits until everything looks bad, and against you, no hope before God will show Himself in your life! It’s only God who can call the DEAD alive this morning! But do you believe that?
That is exactly what God did for Abram, “Now I can bless you”! You see the glory this morning is for God, not your own strength and your own ability! God said to Gideon only 300 men so that the Glory may go to God!
God wants to bless you.
God wants to ‘bless’ you so that you can become a blessing to others! That’s what God’s Kingdom is all about, God wants to use you so He can show you as an example to the world!
Abraham was called a ‘friend’ of God, but Abraham was no angel, he lied about his wife being his wife, and he took Lot with him when God said no! Just like you and me, not perfect at all!
What Abraham did right, was to BELIEVE God! Without faith, it is impossible to please God! God’s arm is moved only in the faith you and I have in Him. Gideon – 300 men.
Hebr 11:1
[now faith is] the substance [Touchable] of things hoped for, the evidence [Result] of things not seen. 2 For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. 3 By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.
4 By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts, and through it, he being dead still speaks.
5 By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, “and was not found, because God had taken him”; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God.
6 But without faith, it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. 7 By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.
8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise;
10 for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
11 By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age because she judged Him faithful who had promised.
In Life, if you can see the invisible, you may expect the impossible from God.
That is when you can walk searching for a job, praying for sales, trusting God for a breakthrough, to expect God for the IMPOSSIBLE! For your faith is not in the world’s system or in man, but in the Creator of the Universe!
God says you are his friend because you DARE TO BELIEVE HIM! Praise God! Abraham did not doubt but relied totally on God!
Dare to believe in the Great Almighty God
You see with people things are impossible, but for those who dare to believe in the Great Almighty God, -anything becomes possible! Daniel 10:12 Then he said to me, “Fear not, Daniel, for [from the first day] that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and [I have come because of your words].
Have you ever prayed or trusted God for healing or for supplying your needs, and nothing happens? That is exactly what the devil wants you to believe, that is where most of us are missing out on our deliverance! [The Resistance in the Spirit World]
You may be here as a living witness to what God has done for you! But Is HE still your First Love?
You see there is POWER, FIRE, SWORD, HAMMER in the WORD of God, but God wants you and I to be in a living relationship with Him. That we will not only seek God for the miracles but honour and praise and worship God for WHO He is!
God speaks to us and gives us instructions, but then I must obey and DO what God expects. I also must be in the ‘place’ to hear God’s VOICE!
When God speaks to us.
You see, when God speaks to us, it is important to let go of everything else and ONLY believe in His Word! God shouted his name twice! First in Heaven. It then echoed on Earth!
Moses, Moses take off your shoes! Verily, verily, surely, surely etc. Remember that HE is a COVENANT GOD! If you believe it, God is READY to bring a change in your life! God will even mess up your life to get your soul saved! He is God, He can do anything!
God is calling your name!
God is calling your name from Heaven! Can you hear it? He is the God who can call the dead situations in your life alive! Return to God and watch Him call alive that which is dead!
Your marriage, your finances, your job, your relationships, your rebellious child! “But you need to come back to ME, leave the WORLD behind and follow ME!
You see it’s going to cost you a price, but God knows the END of the BEGINNING, trust Him with your FUTURE!
You see when God called Abraham, then he left everything behind and followed the VOICE of GOD! Faith in what you cannot SEE!
Don’t accept what is happening in your life, trust the POTTER with the pieces of your life! God does not look at how bad your life is and wonder how HE is going to help you. He knows everything, you just need to BELIEVE it!
God wants you to accomplish the plans He has for you! Don’t miss it!
God bless His wonderful Word.
The Author: Pastor Johan Venter
From: Impact Pentecostal Ministries
Pastor Johan Venter was born in 1961 and grew up in Odendaalsrus (Freestate) where he matriculated. Whereafter he attended the Police Force College for 2 years in Pretoria and served in the Army for 2 years during which Johan met his wife Charmaine.
Between 1997 and 1999 Johan and Charmaine completed Pastoral training at the Christian Revival Church Bible School under the leadership of Pastor At Boshoff. Over the years they both faithfully served in various Ministries until 2019, when God led them to ‘step out of the boat’ and start the “Impact Pentecostal Ministries” in Newcastle, KwaZulu-Natal.
They currently host the Church service at La Gratitude Home for the Aged every Friday morning. They are truly blessed and grateful for God’s Grace and are excited to see what God is going to do for the ministry in the future.
You can make a difference
With your assistance, the volunteers at La Gratitude will be able to take better care of not only the residents at the old age home but also the greater Newcastle community. La Gratitude is constantly involved in outreach projects to help the elderly in need in and around Newcastle.
Your donations will be greatly beneficial in the provision of food and other basic necessities for the less fortunate elderly people that require assistance.
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