WEST CENTRAL INTEGRATED TREATMENT FACILITY – Mar. 7, 2015
Set Captives Free Ministries (team of Wayne, Julia and Elizabeth) worshiped with 48 amazing ladies. The praise and worship was like nothing we have ever quite experienced before. It is always great, but it was "over the top!" The ladies came front in waves expressing their love for God ... crying, praising, praying individually and for each other and kneeling before the Lord. The Holy Spirit was so heavy in the room.
Wayne then opened with Matthew 12:43-45 and the parable of Swept Clean and Empty.
Wayne then opened with Matthew 12:43-45 and the parable of Swept Clean and Empty.
Set Captives Free Ministries (team of Wayne, Julia and Elizabeth) worshiped with 48 amazing ladies. The praise and worship was like nothing we have ever quite experienced before. It is always great, but it was "over the top!" The ladies came front in waves expressing their love for God ... crying, praising, praying individually and for each other and kneeling before the Lord. The Holy Spirit was so heavy in the room.
Wayne then opened with Matthew 12:43-45 and the parable of Swept Clean and Empty. It's a confusing parable to most but Wayne believes it tells us how to prevent ourselves from going back to the place we once were. The "unclean spirit" is not a demon but rather sin. We see from the parable that the sin had to leave but later it came back and the man was brought into more sin than before, making him worse than before. Why did the spirit have to leave and why was that spirit able to return? To find these answers, we look back into the context of Y'shua's conversation.
When we back up to verse 38 we see that Christ was talking to the scribes and pharisees. He then starts talking about Jonah and the queen of Sheba. The reason the spirit had to leave is in the explanation of Jonah. Nineveh REPENTED to the preaching of Jonah, but one better than Jonah is here. The man repented and the unclean spirit had to leave. We understand that we must repent. Y'shua said, "Unless you repent, you will all perish." (Luke 13:3). We see Peter telling the multitude to "Repent and be baptized... for the forgiveness of sin" (Acts 2:38). We have John telling the pharisees to "Bear fruit worthy of repentance" and "any tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down" (Matt 3:8-9). So we are suppose to bear fruit worthy of repentance... what is the fruit?
We looked at John 15:1-8 in looking at abiding in Christ. We often use this phrase but miss what it means. While abiding in Christ, we see we must produce fruit. Those who don't produce fruit are trimmed and thrown into the fire. This parallels what John was saying to the pharisees in that the tree will be cut down. Yet still, what is the fruit. Wayne referred to the parable of the sower where Christ says that good soil will produce fruit some 30, some 60, and some 100 fold (Matt 13:23). What are the numbers? The numbers are associated with the great commission. The numbers are people we sow the Kingdom of God into, the people we witness to.
Wayne turned to 1 Cor 9:24-27 and looked at the context of Paul running the race and receiving a prize. What is the prize? We often look at this passage as a manner in which we live but it is mostly directed at our witnessing to build into the Kingdom of God. When we back up and look at the context, we see that Paul is talking about how he becomes all things to all men so that he can "win" some. Right before Paul starts talking about competition, he mentions "win" five different times in regards to winning people to Christ. The people are our prize; they are what we are competing for.
The first way to prevent ourselves from returning to our old ways, while we must repent, we must bear fruit worthy of that repentance... we must witness and try to gain people into the Kingdom of God. When we are busying studying Christ (abiding in Christ) and witnessing to others, we are too busy to fall back into old addictions; and we are staying strong in God.
The second point that Christ brought up was the “Queen of the South" who traveled a long distance and with great riches to seek after Solomon. There is a danger in living a comfortable and full life. there is an inherent danger in not pursuing Christ with our whole life... including our money (1 John 2:15-17). Wayne brought up the story of the rich man who inquired of Christ on how to go to heaven (Mark 10:17-22). In the Old Testament, it would be seen as a blessing to be rich; but in the New Testament, we see it's a blessing to give it up for the Kingdom. This is not a universal teaching; which means, there is no command for everyone to give up everything they have. We also need to be careful not to minimize what Christ said. Y'shua's call to Salvation requires TOTAL surrender. That's why, with the multitudes that followed Christ, theres only 120 people left when you get to Acts. Christ is not saying, "be WILLING to sell", He said to "sell". The theology of "be WILLING" is only held by people wanting to comfort themselves by twisting Scripture around their lifestyle. The fact that Y'shua did not command ALL of His followers to sell everything they have brings comfort only to the kind of people to whim He would issue that command.
He did not tell him to sell his stuff because Christ did not love him (vs 21). He does not want to strip us of our pleasure, He wants to give us HIS Pleasure. Materialism is not pleasure. If we are holding onto anything in this world then we have no clue of what it means to have treasure in Heaven.
The man "asked Him, "Good Teacher...". There was a flaw in this mans perception of Christ. Christ is not saying there is something we must do to be saved; except follow His commands - that's what it means to abide in, to follow Christ. All this man had to do is follow the commands of Christ and he would have been on the inside, one of Christ's disciples. Yet, this man wanted Y'shua as a good teacher but he did not want Him as his Lord. And, the love of possessions will rob us of the joy for which we have been created (vs 22). Why did he refuse? Money blinds us (Matt 6:22-23). Matthew 6:22-23 talks about how the lamp is the eye and how that lamp can be darkened. In context, Christ is saying that its darkened by money (Matt 6:19-21; Matt 6:24).
So the second point of the parable of Swept Clean and Empty is to seek after God with our money; give it up for the Kingdom. What does that have to do with not falling back? In the context of 1 Cor 9, looked at earlier on how we witness, Paul continues the thought in chapter 10 in that we should not lust after things of this world as Israel did (1 Cor 10:1-7); and be satisfied with what we have (Heb 13:5). Besides the fact that, if we give away all our money, we have none left to buy drugs or get into a materialistic state that would put us in danger of missing God.
The conclusion to the parable of Swept Clean and Empty is that the unclean spirit had to leave because the man repented; that swept the person clean and put him into order. Notice why they were able to move back in... he was empty. He was empty because he did not pursue God, he didn't witness to those around him, he did not chase after His wisdom with his riches.
Wayne talked about how the glory of God had been in the service and how much it excited him watching the ladies during praise and worship. He gave the altar call asking them if they want that in their lives and to be free of the unclean spirits. Every lady in the room came up front for prayer.
Submitted by Wayne Smith
Wayne then opened with Matthew 12:43-45 and the parable of Swept Clean and Empty. It's a confusing parable to most but Wayne believes it tells us how to prevent ourselves from going back to the place we once were. The "unclean spirit" is not a demon but rather sin. We see from the parable that the sin had to leave but later it came back and the man was brought into more sin than before, making him worse than before. Why did the spirit have to leave and why was that spirit able to return? To find these answers, we look back into the context of Y'shua's conversation.
When we back up to verse 38 we see that Christ was talking to the scribes and pharisees. He then starts talking about Jonah and the queen of Sheba. The reason the spirit had to leave is in the explanation of Jonah. Nineveh REPENTED to the preaching of Jonah, but one better than Jonah is here. The man repented and the unclean spirit had to leave. We understand that we must repent. Y'shua said, "Unless you repent, you will all perish." (Luke 13:3). We see Peter telling the multitude to "Repent and be baptized... for the forgiveness of sin" (Acts 2:38). We have John telling the pharisees to "Bear fruit worthy of repentance" and "any tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down" (Matt 3:8-9). So we are suppose to bear fruit worthy of repentance... what is the fruit?
We looked at John 15:1-8 in looking at abiding in Christ. We often use this phrase but miss what it means. While abiding in Christ, we see we must produce fruit. Those who don't produce fruit are trimmed and thrown into the fire. This parallels what John was saying to the pharisees in that the tree will be cut down. Yet still, what is the fruit. Wayne referred to the parable of the sower where Christ says that good soil will produce fruit some 30, some 60, and some 100 fold (Matt 13:23). What are the numbers? The numbers are associated with the great commission. The numbers are people we sow the Kingdom of God into, the people we witness to.
Wayne turned to 1 Cor 9:24-27 and looked at the context of Paul running the race and receiving a prize. What is the prize? We often look at this passage as a manner in which we live but it is mostly directed at our witnessing to build into the Kingdom of God. When we back up and look at the context, we see that Paul is talking about how he becomes all things to all men so that he can "win" some. Right before Paul starts talking about competition, he mentions "win" five different times in regards to winning people to Christ. The people are our prize; they are what we are competing for.
The first way to prevent ourselves from returning to our old ways, while we must repent, we must bear fruit worthy of that repentance... we must witness and try to gain people into the Kingdom of God. When we are busying studying Christ (abiding in Christ) and witnessing to others, we are too busy to fall back into old addictions; and we are staying strong in God.
The second point that Christ brought up was the “Queen of the South" who traveled a long distance and with great riches to seek after Solomon. There is a danger in living a comfortable and full life. there is an inherent danger in not pursuing Christ with our whole life... including our money (1 John 2:15-17). Wayne brought up the story of the rich man who inquired of Christ on how to go to heaven (Mark 10:17-22). In the Old Testament, it would be seen as a blessing to be rich; but in the New Testament, we see it's a blessing to give it up for the Kingdom. This is not a universal teaching; which means, there is no command for everyone to give up everything they have. We also need to be careful not to minimize what Christ said. Y'shua's call to Salvation requires TOTAL surrender. That's why, with the multitudes that followed Christ, theres only 120 people left when you get to Acts. Christ is not saying, "be WILLING to sell", He said to "sell". The theology of "be WILLING" is only held by people wanting to comfort themselves by twisting Scripture around their lifestyle. The fact that Y'shua did not command ALL of His followers to sell everything they have brings comfort only to the kind of people to whim He would issue that command.
He did not tell him to sell his stuff because Christ did not love him (vs 21). He does not want to strip us of our pleasure, He wants to give us HIS Pleasure. Materialism is not pleasure. If we are holding onto anything in this world then we have no clue of what it means to have treasure in Heaven.
The man "asked Him, "Good Teacher...". There was a flaw in this mans perception of Christ. Christ is not saying there is something we must do to be saved; except follow His commands - that's what it means to abide in, to follow Christ. All this man had to do is follow the commands of Christ and he would have been on the inside, one of Christ's disciples. Yet, this man wanted Y'shua as a good teacher but he did not want Him as his Lord. And, the love of possessions will rob us of the joy for which we have been created (vs 22). Why did he refuse? Money blinds us (Matt 6:22-23). Matthew 6:22-23 talks about how the lamp is the eye and how that lamp can be darkened. In context, Christ is saying that its darkened by money (Matt 6:19-21; Matt 6:24).
So the second point of the parable of Swept Clean and Empty is to seek after God with our money; give it up for the Kingdom. What does that have to do with not falling back? In the context of 1 Cor 9, looked at earlier on how we witness, Paul continues the thought in chapter 10 in that we should not lust after things of this world as Israel did (1 Cor 10:1-7); and be satisfied with what we have (Heb 13:5). Besides the fact that, if we give away all our money, we have none left to buy drugs or get into a materialistic state that would put us in danger of missing God.
The conclusion to the parable of Swept Clean and Empty is that the unclean spirit had to leave because the man repented; that swept the person clean and put him into order. Notice why they were able to move back in... he was empty. He was empty because he did not pursue God, he didn't witness to those around him, he did not chase after His wisdom with his riches.
Wayne talked about how the glory of God had been in the service and how much it excited him watching the ladies during praise and worship. He gave the altar call asking them if they want that in their lives and to be free of the unclean spirits. Every lady in the room came up front for prayer.
Submitted by Wayne Smith