Let Freedom Ring: Part 2
Breaking Through the Barriers to Your Blessing
Today we continue a series of messages, “Let Freedom Ring,” on deliverance from evil. Some of you may say, Pastor, I am saved, I already have been delivered from evil. I don’t need to hear a series of messages on deliverance. That kind of view almost begs the question: What planet do you live on? The
bible speaks of salvation in three tenses, past tense - we have been saved, present tense - we are saved, future tense - we shall be saved. But you need to remember The Lord thought so highly of deliverance, that He included it as an absolute necessity of prayer: “Deliver us from evil.”
We need deliverance from:
The power of evil, the planners of evil, the penalty of evil, the persons of evil, the proclivity to do evil, the person of evil, the purveyors of evil, the providers of evil, the presence of evil, the practice of evil, the plans of evil.
The Devastation of evil, the humiliation of evil, the domination of evil, the contamination of evil, the ruination of evil, and the indoctrination to do evil.
The injustice of evil, the instructors of evil, and the influence of evil. Deliver us from evil, should ever be our prayer. Today I am going to minister on, deliverance from the penalty of sins past, so you can break through the barriers of your blessings.
Some will say, Jesus paid the penalty for our sins. While that is true, some penalties remain for now. Thorns and weeds, increased pain in childbirth. In 2 Sam 12:13,14 we read that the prophet Nathan informs David that his sin (adultery & murder) is forgiven, but that the child that was conceived in that
situation would not live, but die. Even though David was forgiven their still was a penalty for what he had done. The prophet further informs him that their would be much suffering caused to and through David’s family as a consequence of that sin. Penalties can remain, and penalties can be removed.
I believe scripturally a family can have a curse on it. I believe if the right remediation is taken the curse can be removed and or turned into a blessing. The Levites were scattered in Israel by a curse, (Genesis 49) but became a blessing to Israel in that they became the priests and were then situated in every local
in the country. God turned the curse into a blessing!
2 Kings 2:21 And he went out to the spring of water, and threw salt in it and said, "Thus says the LORD, ’I have purified these waters; there shall not be from there death or unfruitfulness any longer.’"
We will be doing a prophetic act performed at the end of service. Taking handfuls of salt and casting them into a great pot of water while one of the pastors proclaims, “Thus saith the Lord, I have healed these waters....”
Setting the scene: Jericho was an awesome city that from every expectation should have been really prospering, but something very unusual was happening there: the crops were being aborted! It didn’t make sense because, "the situation of the city is pleasant".
The Calamity, the Cause, and its Cure
The Calamity
“And the men of the city said unto Elisha, Behold, I pray thee, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my Lord seeth: but the water is naught, and the ground barren” (2 Kings 2:19).
(From A.W. Pink):
Herein God had evidenced His displeasure on that accursed rebuilding of Jericho by making its water unwholesome and the ground barren, or as the margin notes, “causing to miscarry.” The Jewish commentators understood this to mean that these waters caused the cattle to cast their young, the trees to shed their fruit before it was mature, and even the women to be incapable of bearing children.
The Hebrew word which is rendered “the water is naught” (“ra”) is a much stronger one than the English denotes. In the great majority of cases it is translated “evil” (as in Genesis 6:5; Proverbs 8:13), and “wicked” no less than thirty-one times. Its first occurrence is in “the tree of knowledge of good and evil” (Genesis 2:9)! But it signifies not only evil but that which is harmful or injurious to
others, being translated “the hurtful sword” (Psalm 144:10).
Jericho then was a pleasant location, but there was no good water for its inhabitants or their flocks and herds. This was a serious matter, a vital consideration, for the Israelites were an essentially pastoral people. (Observe how often we find mention of the “wells” in their early history: Genesis 16:14; 21:25; 26:15, 22; 29:2; Numbers 21:16-18, etc.)
Jericho in spite of all its ideal qualities then lacked the one thing essential. How this reminds us of another and later incident in the career of Elisha:
“Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honorable, because by him the LORD had given deliverance unto Syria: he was also a mighty man in valor, but he was a leper” (2 Kings 5:1).
In spite of his exalted position, his wealth, his exploits, he lacked the one thing needful — health. He was a leper and that nullified everything else. And thus it is with every man in his natural sinful condition; however favored by creation and by providence, the springs of his life are defiled.
(End of Pink’s comments)
So the calamity was that, though th ings ought to be going very well (at least it seemed that way) something was being a barrier to their blessing.
It’s Cause
The source of the problem was a mystery.
To the residents of Jericho yes, to us no.
What was the problem with their water?
v.18 tells us the name of the city....Jericho!
See Joshua 6:17,18,26, the city was under a curse!
The problem then was not with the land or the water, but with a curse!
Can you imagine all the things the people of Jericho did to try and make their
land fruitful, but to no avail. Can you see all those wheels spinning, but no advance is made?
Jericho had at least 50 prophets living in the city. But they did nothing to change the situation, in all likelihood because they were addressing the symptom and not the root.
Iceberg principle. That which is below the surface is the true problem.
How does this relate to us? Are we sometimes dealing with penalties for sins past? Are there things that we have done, and even though we are Christians they have become, “barriers to our blessings,” and in point of fact are causing our blessings to be aborted?
Absolutely!
We are going to identify a few things that we believe can create barriers to your blessings.
1. Willful neglect of a command of God.
Exodus 4:24 And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the LORD met him, and sought to kill him. God sought to kill Moses after calling him to deliver the Jews! Why? Because Moses had failed to circumcise his son. Don’t tell me you don’t have to be water baptized - it is not an option but a command of God! Now we are not baptized in water to be saved, but because we are saved, and because Jesus told us to do so.
2. Breaking a covenant.
2 Samuel 21:1 Then there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David enquired of the LORD. And the LORD answered, [It is] for Saul, and for [his] bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites.
David and the nation of Israel had a three year famine because of covenant Joshua made and Saul broke. David did not make the covenant, nor did he break it, but because he was part of the Jewish family, he suffered with them.
God puts way more value in covenants than we do! Psalms 25:14 The secret of the LORD [is] with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant.
Some people have never repented of sinful divorces. Some people have never repented that they were dating before their divorce became final, and they never seem to connect the dots between their broken covenant and the fact that their are barriers to their blessings.
3. Setting a stumbling block for others
Luke 17:1 And He said to His disciples, "It is inevitable that stumbling blocks should come, but woe to him through whom they come! Luke 17:2 "It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea, than that he should cause one of these little ones to stumble.
There are people that we put stumbling blocks in their lives and have never done anything to help change that. We had premarital sex with them. We got them involved in drugs. Now we are saved and they are on their way to hell. And, we have never done anything about the stumbling blocks we put into their lives.
We need to pray those things we did to encourage them in sin would no longer be stumbling blocks in their lives.
4. Messing with your woman.
1Pe 3:7 Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with [them] according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.
Now that we have identified the source lets identify the cure.
2 Kings 2:20-21 And he said, Bring me a new cruse, and put salt therein. And they brought [it] to him. And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said, Thus saith the LORD, I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or barren [land].
1. You have to deal with the source and not the symptom.
He went to the source of the waters. The Hebrew words translated spring is mowtsa’ mo-tsaw’ or aum motsa’ motsaw’
1c) place of going forth
1c1) source or spring (of water)
Elisha brought the remedial action to the source of the problem. (Spiritually speaking he removed the curse which was the true source of the problem).
2. You have to put something in the source that nullifies its ill effects.
Exodus 15:23-25 And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they [were] bitter: therefore the name of it was called Marah. {Marah: that is Bitterness} And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink? And he cried unto the LORD; and the LORD shewed him a tree, [which] when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them,
Into the bitter waters of Marah Moses threw a tree which the Lord shewed him. Surely this is symbolic of how the merits of Christ on the Cross can make the bitter waters of life sweet.
3. He utilized salt in the cure.
Salt symbolizes that which overcomes sins effects. It overcomes other flavors. It kills bacteria, and preserves meats. Jesus said we are to have salt in ourselves. Salt that He can use to cure the foul fountains in the lives of others. We are to be the salt of the earth.
4. He performed a prophetic act.
The act had three parts.
The people had something to do: bring salt and a cruse.
The prophet had something to do: Pronounce the word of the Lord
God had something to do: Cure the water.
As we close the service we are going to reenact this prophetic act and believe God for both forgiveness and a removal of barriers to blessings.
