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Jesus’ Manifestos
Song: My God is a miracle God (2x) He will never fail (2x) He will do what he says he will do He will do what he promised to do
"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour." (Luke 4:18-19). Manifesto is a public written declaration of principles, policies, and objectives, especially one issued by a political movement or candidate. Men may fail and of course many have failed, politicians may fail and indeed many have failed and very deceitful but Jesus the King of kings and the Lord of lords has never, will never and can never fail. Since you became a child of God and a born again Christian may I ask what your visions are? What are your ambitions and aspirations for the work of the Lord? 2. Notions to clear Do not say that only pastors, priest or special people have a role or work to do in the Lord’s vineyard. Do not consider them as special people and indeed even Christ never said the mission was meant for him alone. He has consistently called all to share in his mission on earth. “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” (John 14:12) . “As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.” (John 4:9). St. Peter believed in this and he did exploit for the: “As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter's shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by.”(Acts 5:15). St. Paul was not left out: “God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.” (Acts 19:11-12). So you can if you want to and firmly believe: “With flattery he will corrupt those who have violated the covenant, but the people who know their God will (do exploit) firmly resist him.” (Daniel 11:32). 3. Is the Spirit of the Lord upon you? The Spirit of the Lord is that which engineers, motivates, inspires, pushes, encourages, … you to do something for the Lord. You be anointed instantaneously when he comes upon you. Honestly, in one way or the other we’ve being given the Spirit (at baptism, confirmation, when you got born again, when hands were laid on you…) but we have quenched the Spirit, “Do not put out the Spirit's fire;” (1 Thessalonians 5:19). And we’re urged to: “For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.” A Christian whose Spirit’s fire is put out becomes a dry bone and log of wood: The Valley of Dry Bones The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. He asked me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" Then he said to me, "Prophesy to these bones and say to them, 'Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! This is what the Sovereign LORD says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the LORD.' " So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, "Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, that they may live.' " So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army. Then he said to me: "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, 'Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.' Therefore prophesy and say to them: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: O my people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. Then you, my people, will know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the LORD have spoken, and I have done it, declares the LORD.' " (Ezekiel 37:1-14). 4. You are not an idler in the house of God Jesus has chosen you to go and bear fruit and not just any fruit but the fruit that will last. (John 15:16). Unfortunately some Christians today are not bearing any fruit; instead they are reaping the fruit of others. Depend on prayers, teachings and songs of others. They are ministered to and not ministering to others. Nobody is an idler in the vineyard of God. So you do not have to sneak in and out like a stranger. Get committed! This is clearly demonstrated in the parable of the talents and obviously the master gave all his three servants talents (gifts) to work with; even though not in the same proportion. And he expected them to put whatever talent they have into productive use. Matthew 25: 14-30. What ministry are you for the many years you’ve been attending that Church, prayer meeting, fellowship, etc. How are you serving the Church? Some believers are very quick in giving excuses (flimsy of course) for their inefficiencies and worst still some consider themselves unworthy for anything. Did you say: I wish I was youthful; I would have been very involved in the Church? I wish I had money; I would have more time for the Lord? Stopwishing and just get committed! Remember excuses never finish. Do not be a run of the mill but be somebody! And if for any reasons you have put out the Spirit’s fire through any form of secret sin, the Lord is now calling you to repentance. There is an urgent need for more labourers in the vineyard of the Lord! Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." (Matthew 9:37-38). 5. The tasks Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Matthew 28:18-20). “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.” (Joshua 1:8). “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,” (2 Timothy 3:16). “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15). “In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16). “Leave them; they are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit." (Matthew 15:14). “You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody.” (2 Corinthians 3:2). “For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task? Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, like men sent from God. (2 Corinthians 2:15-17). b. Freedom must be proclaimed to the prisoners, the broken-hearted must be healed, the captives must be set free and restoration of sight to the spiritually blind. We need to do this by fervent prayers and offering honest counsel to these people. “They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.” (2 Peter 2:19) . “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4). “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone—, I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing. (1 Timothy 2:1, 8). “pray continually;” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). “For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:14-21). “For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, (Colossians 1:9-10). c. The oppressed must be released! These are people who suffer injustices; maids, servants, employees etc. “Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a Master in heaven.” (Colossians 4:1). “And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favouritism with him.” (Ephesians 6:9). Shalom! Evang. Oseh J. Bamidele |