For Zion’s Sake – The Work

[00:00:00] I am sorry for any of you who are with us this morning, who've not been in these special times that we've had together, where we've really been considering this matter that we find in Isaiah, chapter 62 one for Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest until her righteousness go forth as brightness and her salvation as a lamp that burneth. We have ranged over a number of scriptures, both in the psalms as well as in Isaiah, on this whole matter of Zion. I'm afraid that for many people, Zion is an old fashioned word that we find in sankey type hymns. All which we see engraved upon rather grey, drab stone buildings aspire, especially in the welsh valleys. [00:00:58] And therefore, for some reason or another, we almost have a thing about Zion. [00:01:05] We sort of feel it, some sort of odd notion, some strange idea. But when we really look at the word, it is amazing, because we find that there's a tremendous amount about Zion in the word right the way through the Bible. [00:01:21] Now, we've talked about the battle over Zion. We've talked about the building of Zion. And last night we considered something of the travail for Zion in this Isaiah, chapter 62. [00:01:37] All I want to say for those who are not with us, you'll have to get the tapes to really understand all the background to this day's ministry. But let me just say this. Zion is the name that God gave to that matter which is most precious to his heart. [00:02:01] That is why he calls us the Zion of the holy one of Israel. [00:02:09] He says in psalm 132 and verse 13 and 14, in very well known words, for the Lord hath chosen Zion, he hath desired it for his habitation or home. This is my resting place forever. Here will I dwell. Now, we saw in psalm two that there were three things about that psalm. Two. First of all, you had the king, yet have I set my king. All the nations raging, and the peoples imagining vain things, and the kings and rulers setting themselves against the lord and is anointed. But the Lord says, yet have I set my king. That's the first thing, the king. The second thing is, yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion, or upon Zion, the mountain of my holiness, as it is literally in Hebrew. [00:03:00] And the third thing is the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession. Now, I'm thrilled that this morning it's been almost like a little theme running through this time. I wish we had another session with other than the ones we have available to us today. Just to finally talk about the uttermost parts of the earth, coming back to the Lord, the restitution of all things. What a wonderful subject. Because right almost at the beginning of the Bible, right in the first books of the Bible, we have this wonderful word of the Lord. But as truly as I live, saith the Lord, the earth shall be filled with the glory of God. [00:03:44] And then in another place, it comes not once, but two or three times, and the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of God as the waters cover the sea. And the psalmists speak about that day when even the trees, using mostly, almost emotional language, they speak of trees clapping their hands, of fields, exulting in joy, of hills and valleys, singing the praise of God, because something happens to the natural creation. Now the heart of the whole matter is the king. Thank God. He is the new man. [00:04:21] He is the last Adam. [00:04:24] He is the new man. And then we have his Zion. And that is the new man too. Those who are born of God, Jerusalem, which is above, which is free, which is the mother of us, all those who've been born of God, they're in this Zion. And what is Zion? Every real believer is a true zionist, I think in every way. But still, I'll leave that matter, at least spiritually, a spiritual zionist, because you and I belong to a movement, a divine movement for world liberation. [00:05:08] It is the liberation of this whole world, not only the peoples, not only the nations, not just individuals, but the very natural creation itself, the liberation of the whole earth back into the liberty of the glory of the sons of God. Well, its a tremendous subject and I wish we had another session for that. But we mustnt go on. We're just talking about the fact of Zion. We've looked at Zion. We've looked at what it means. We've looked at some of the scriptures. Now I want this morning, without any further to do, to come to Isaiah, chapter 58. [00:05:50] Isaiah, chapter 58. [00:05:55] And here we have the work of Zion. Of course you understand, we are in Zion and we're coming to Zion. Zion is as it were, gloriously completed, and yet it's being built. [00:06:10] It's a wonderful paradox. And we have all this travail for Zion, and yet we are watchmen on the walls of Zion. It says in Isaiah 62. Now we have this word here, let's read it from Isaiah 58. Six. Is not this the fast that I have chosen to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house when thou seest the naked that thou cover him, and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? Then shall thy light break forth as the morning and thy healing shall spring forth speedily, and thy righteousness shall go before thee. The glory of the Lord shall be thy reward. Then shalt thou call, and the Lord will answer, and thou shalt cry, and he will say, here I am. [00:07:08] If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking wickedly, and if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry and satisfied the afflicted, then shall thy light rise in darkness and thine obscurity be as the noonday. And the Lord will guide thee continually and satisfy thy soul in dry places, and make strong thy bones. And thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters fail not, and they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places. Thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations, and thou shalt be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of paths to dwell in. If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, and the holy of the Lord, honorable and shalt honour it, not doing thine own pleasure, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words, then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord. And I will make thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and I will feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father, for the mouth. The Lord hath spoken it. [00:08:26] Last night we ended considering these verses in Isaiah, chapter 62, from verse ten. Just go through, go through the gates, prepare ye the way of the people. Cast up, cast up the highway. Gather out the stones, lift up an ensign for the peoples. The Lord has revealed in this marvelous 62nd chapter of Isaiah that he that has revealed his determination, that he will not hold his peace, he will not be inactive and for zions sake, for Jerusalem's sake, he will not be silent or quiet until her righteousness go forth. As brightness clear shining after tempest, that is the word, as her salvation, as a flaming torch giving light to all who can see. [00:09:30] And then he said, I will not do this without the fellowship of my people. [00:09:36] I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem. They shall never hold their peace day nor night. Ye that are the lord's remembrances take ye no rest and give him no rest until he establish Jerusalem, till he make it a praise in the whole earth. Then comes the challenge. All right, you belong to Zion. You've been saved by the king of Zion through the Messiah, the Messiah king. You have come into the salvation of God. You have been brought into the kingdom of God. You have been brought into the purpose of God. Here comes the challenge. Commit yourself. Don't just dither. Don't just dither on the periphery. Don't just, as it were, be a spectator of things. Don't just taste what you like and leave what you don't like. Just be sort of irresponsible. Commit yourself. Go through the gates. This can mean either go through the gates into the city and commit yourself to the building of Zion, to the life of Zion, to all the battles and joys of Zion, to the ministry of intercession. And it can also mean once you've gone in and committed yourself that way, go out and prepare a way for the people. Now, what does this mean, this preparing of a way for the people? What does it mean casting up a highway? You notice the law doesn't say, I will go through the gates, I will prepare a way for the people. I will cast up a highway, I will gather out the stones. I will lift up. No, no, he says, you go through, you prepare a way for the people. [00:11:08] You cast up a highway. You gather out the stones, you lift up an ensign for the peoples. There is a responsibility that we, as the people of God, have got. Now, all of us know what a tragedy it has been, and we cannot point the finger at any group of the Lord's people. But what a tragedy it has been in the history of the church that no sooner does the Lord start to work and reveal things than some, somehow or other, we turn it all into a thing, and then we just have a routine, and somehow or other, we just go up and down and up and down. And really we never get to the real heart of the matter. We never get on with the job. [00:11:54] You know, it is entirely possible to see the purpose of God, to have a vision in one sense, an understanding of what the Lord really wants, and yet to deceive ourselves into believing that in seeing it, we are part of it. [00:12:08] Whereas the challenge is to come right down to the practical level. The builder's yard, the cutting and the shaping, the being fitted together, the opening up to one another, the real heart sharing of our beings with one another. Oh, we don't like this. We find this very hard we're so afraid that people are going to damage us, that people are going to manipulate us, that people are going to somehow or other tread over our sensitivities. Now I think that there is a likelihood that to a certain extent some of that could happen. [00:12:52] But you know, the Lord will turn it all to good account. Someone treads over your sensitivities. It's an opportunity to die. [00:13:00] People are always saying, oh, I wish I knew more deeply the way of the cross. And as soon as the opportunity comes, they run a thousand miles. [00:13:12] It is strange, isn't it? [00:13:14] We shall have plenty of opportunities of falling into the ground and dying. In this whole matter of being committed to the building of Zion. [00:13:24] It'll all be there. Now if you turn to Isaiah, chapter 58, I believe that we have some very practical and marvelous. [00:13:34] There is something we have to do. Now. What is the prophet speaking about in this 58th chapter? It is an incredible chapter and I don't want anyone to misunderstand us this morning. I believe that your seeking of the Lord in the last few months has been absolutely vital and important. So I'm not taking this chapter as if I'm saying all this seeking that you've indulged in is nothing. But what the prophet Isaiah is saying is, you seek me daily. He says, you fast. You put ashes on your head and spread out sackcloth. But he said, this isn't the fast I want. [00:14:12] Because in doing this very thing you are escaping the real issue. He says to these people, the real issue is here. He says, first of all, it is to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free and break every yoke. That's the first thing. And here is the second. Deal thy bread to the hungry. [00:14:39] Bring the poor that are cast out into thy house when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him and hide not thyself from thine own flesh. [00:14:52] Here is the third. Take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, the speaking wickedly. Draw out thy soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul. Here is the fourth thing. Turn away thy foot from the Sabbath from doing thy pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy of the Lord, honorable and honour it, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words. [00:15:26] Now the promise is just as marvellous. Each time the promise becomes more glorious than before. With the first two matters we have this promise. Verse eight then shall thy light break forth as the morning and thy healing shall spring forth speedily. Now, what a lovely promise that is. Dawn of a new day. It will be a new day. A new day, a new chapter, a new beginning, just like light coming out of darkness, which brings hope to all men. And then healing speedily, springing forth. Recovery is the way it puts it in the new american standard, I believe. Healing or recovery, all the need that there is amongst the people of God for recovery, the need that there is all round here. It is a promise. And then he says, listen to this. Righteousness shall go before thee and the glory of the Lord your reward. Isn't that wonderful? Justification going in front. So no need for the devil to unnerve you by saying, oh, you, you are nothing before you will go. Justification, and behind you will come the glory of the Lord. It's the right order. [00:16:40] You'll never know glory unless you've been justified. But if you are justified, if you've been justified, you will be glorified. But what a wonderful thing. What a protection all around. Who is this? The Lord the Lord my righteousness. The Lord our righteousness and the Lord our glory. And then you hear this wonderful word. Then thou shalt call, and the Lord will answer. Thou shalt cry, and he will say, here I am. Then you have a second promise. Verse ten. Then shall thy light rise in darkness and thine obscurity be as the noondays beautifully put in the new american standard. As thy gloom shall be as midday. Anyone gloomy? [00:17:19] Lots of the Lord's people are gloomy. [00:17:22] It says, thy gloom shall be as midday. No gloom at all. Glorious light of the sun at midday. At noon. And then he goes on. The Lord will guide thee continually and satisfy thy soul in dry places. There are going to be many dry places in these days that lie ahead. If people are dependent upon our meetings in the years that lie ahead, we've got dry places to come. When persecution starts, when this whole Antichrist begins to become visible, when the very atmosphere is filled with evil. We're seeing the beginning of those days now. And there are dry places coming again. The word in Hebrew is really scorched places, places that are absolutely waterless and such a temperature that you cant breathe in it. Now, what does the Lord say? He says he will satisfy thy soul in such places and he will make strong thy bones. You know, bones are very important things. Did you know that? [00:18:24] Once your bones begin to deteriorate, your health deteriorates? I expect a number of, you know, especially you older ones, the trouble with bone crumbling, or whatever you like to call it. The doctors will put me right afterwards. [00:18:37] But I mean, in non technical language, bones start to crumble. The marrow is not good anymore either, and you have a lot of problems when that happens. Now, there's a lot of that amongst the Lord's people to look at. They seem quite okay. Only God knows their bones are crumbling. [00:18:59] The heart of the whole matter that gives health to them is in danger. Now. The Lord says, thy bones shall be strong. What a wonderful thing. Oh, strong bones. Wonderful. It often says, health to thy marrow, doesn't it? See, the Bible's got a lot to say about bones and marrow and so on. Thou shalt be like a watered garden, like a spring of water whose waters fail not. What's the point? Especially any of you who know anything about the east. What is the point of having a lovely garden with a well in the center of it? And the whole thing is luscious greenery, full of fragrance of flowers and full of fruit and all the rest? And the waters fail. If the waters fail, the whole garden's gone. There's nothing you can do. [00:19:48] The whole thing will die. [00:19:50] Now, the Lord says, this is his promise. If we are to take care of these other matters, then he says, we shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water whose waters fail not. And then he says, they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places. Thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations. Oh, what does that mean? Not despising church history, but recovering every value in the history of the church. I'm very sorry. When I go around sometimes to see how some people just want to cut themselves off from anything that's gone before, as if all the history of the church means absolutely nothing to us. In this new generation, we want to sort of be absolutely novel. We're in something totally new. All the rest have failed, but we haven't failed. This is a mistake. [00:20:37] God has done some tremendous things in the history of the church and recovered vital truths. And what a wonderful thing it is if we are so walking with the Lord that we have all of it like a great treasury. And at the end of the age, shouldn't the church be richer than any other phase in church history? We have behind us tremendous amount of battles won, truths recovered, deeper experiences of the Lord known. Well, I say it, thou shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of paths to dwell in, paths to dwell in streets in which to dwell. [00:21:16] In other words, it will not just be. I mean, some of you might wonder, how do you dwell in a path? I wouldn't like that. [00:21:24] Sort of sit in the highway with people going backwards and forwards. That doesn't seem to be a very pleasant place. It doesn't mean that. It means you shall be the restorer of streets to dwell in, you see? And then you have this last promise in verse 14, the most wonderful of all. Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord. And I will make thee to ride upon thy high places. And thou shalt and I will feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father. What a wonderful word that is as well, you see, riding upon the high places of the earth. Oh, for an experience like that. And I know many people who would love to delight in the Lord, but they can't delight in the Lord. Do you know that? To delight in the Lord is a gift. [00:22:09] God does not respond to cheapness. [00:22:15] To really delight in the Lord is something he gives. When we give him his rights, then it's as if he gives us and a special way with himself. [00:22:28] We'll look at that in probably this evening. But it's something just to point out now to delight in the Lord. [00:22:38] Now would you just look at the first of these two things a little more in detail? Because in actual fact we have found this whole matter linked again and again. In Isaiah 61, we find that where it speaks about the spirit of the Lord, God is upon me, because the Lord hath anointed me immediately. It goes on in verse four. And they shall build the old ways. They shall raise up the former desolations. In other words, the breaking of the bondage, the binding up of the brokenhearted, the proclaiming of liberty to those who are in prison. And all these things has a lot to do with the building of Zion. [00:23:17] Now again you will find it in psalm 102, which is another psalm we've looked at in these times. Remember verse 13. Thou wilt arise and have mercy upon Zion, for it's time to have pity upon her. Yea, the set time is come. Now listen to what it says. Verse 17. He hath regarded the prayer of the destitute and hath not despised their prayer. This shall be written for the generation to come, and a people which shall be created shall praise the Lord. This is the Zion, a people that shall be created. Thy sons marrying thee is the way it's put in Isaiah 62 five. [00:23:57] For he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary from heaven. Did the Lord behold the earth to hear the sighing of the prisoner to loose those that are appointed to death, that men may declare the name of the Lord in Zion. [00:24:11] In other words, this whole matter of really tackling some of these practical questions is very much related to the building of Zion and the completion of Zion. In other words, the realization of the purpose of God. Here is the first one then in verse six of Isaiah 68. Verse six of Isaiah 68, 58. [00:24:40] I got that right. [00:24:44] Four things. Will you notice them very carefully? [00:24:48] Is not this the chosen, my chosen fast? [00:24:54] Here they are. This is the chosen fast of the Lord. [00:24:59] Loose the bonds of wickedness. One, two, undo the bands of the yoke. Three, let the oppressed go free. Four, break every yoke. [00:25:13] Now this had particular reference in Isaiah's day to slavery. [00:25:20] And although the people of God were allowed to buy slaves that were not children of Israel, the one thing forbidden was that you could not have a hebrew slave. Now, if you look at this, you will find it in Leviticus, chapter 25. [00:25:40] Leviticus and chapter 25 and verse 39. [00:25:47] Here you have it. And if thy brother be wax poor with thee and sell himself unto thee, thou shalt not make him as a slave or a bond slave, bond servant, as a hired servant, and as a sojourner he shall be with thee, he shall serve with thee unto the year of Jubilee. In other words, if someone who is Hebrew Jewish were to come and say, look, I'm so poor, I want to sell myself to you so that I can pay for my family and so on, well, you can only take him on as a hired servant with wages, you cannot buy him as a slave. Now this is what Isaiah was really talking about in the first instance. Instance when he said to the people of God, if you want to see the salvation of Zion going forth as a burning torch, a flaming torch to the ends of the earth, if you want to see the righteousness of Jerusalem as brightness, then you must loose the bonds of wickedness. You must undo the bands of the yoke, you must let the oppressed go free, you must break every yoke. Now this word is interesting, bonds of wickedness, because the hebrew root is to bind or twist powerfully. And then it came to mean bonds or fetters or pangs, the pangs of wickedness. I find that most expressive, because I always find that the bonds of wickedness lead to the pangs of wickedness. Wickedness. [00:27:25] And dear people of God, are we not surrounded by a whole community that is in the bonds of wickedness? [00:27:34] It's not always their fault. They've been born into something. They've got a poison in their bloodstream. And the enemy has taken them captive at his will. He does with them just what he wants. He puts into their minds the ideas he wants. He leads them in the way that he wants them, them to go. Oh, dear ones, our job is to proclaim the liberty of the Lord. [00:27:59] The Lord Jesus said, the spirit of the Lord God is upon me. And what has he come? He has come to proclaim liberty to those that are captives, the opening of the prison to them that are in fetters, and so on and so on. Now, you know we have a job here. This word bands of the yoke are of the leather thongs that bind the actual word yoke. Here is the pole that goes across. And then the leather thongs bind the two poured animals to it, either one or two. And he says, we are to undo those thongs that bind people to that yoke. [00:28:42] And then he speaks of let the oppressed go free. And it is a very interesting word. It means those that are crushed. Those that are shattered. Now, do you notice? It's all in general terms here. It's nothing to do. He doesn't speak of bringing them into thy house or dealing out thy bread or taking out from the midst of thee. This is general. It's as if God puts his finger upon the whole situation in the world and says, there can be no zion until there is a people who are so built together in the Lord and so experiencing the salvation and the power of the Lord that they can then begin to minister to the world. They can go out in service to the world and they can proclaim liberation. For the captives. [00:29:33] It's the heart of the matter. [00:29:35] Satan's great weapon is bondage. [00:29:40] It says in Hebrews, chapter two and verse 15 that the Lord might deliver all them who, through fear of death, were all their lifetimes subject to bondage. [00:29:53] It is his great weapon. And it is not only in the world that we find it. Oh, anyone here who knows anything about the service of God abroad, you know just what I'm talking about. Now I want to tell you something. There used to be days when we used to be in Egypt, elsewhere, where you could almost feel the darkness tangibly. I remember there were times when I tried to pray, when it was as if some hand almost came round one's throat. Many servants of the Lord will tell you, in India, in Indonesia, in many of these parts of the earth, there is a sense of darkness, a bondage in the very atmosphere that when you try to pray, you remember how could not get through and in the end, this thought came into his heart that he would go up onto the highest mountain in Lisulan and shout at the top of his voice, north, south, east, and west. Jesus Christ is Lord. [00:30:44] And when he did that, the break came. And the first Lisu family to turn to the Lord turned to the Lord. It is a tangible thing. Now, I want to tell you something. [00:30:54] Each time one comes back to this country, one senses a little bit more of that atmosphere, that bondage in the atmosphere. Now, that's why we're having a greater battle in prayer, and we're going to have a greater and greater battle, because our whole country now has gone back to paganism and with it all other kinds of things. And into the atmosphere comes this bondage. Now, you and I, we have a job to do. We're never going to see Zion built. Do you honestly think we're just going to see Zion? I mean, we can go out, we can testify, we can go from house to house. [00:31:32] We can go do coffee bar work. We can have evangelistic meetings, but we all know that we can do all these things and nothing happens. Why does nothing happen? All the work, all the endeavor, even the prayer. Because unless we get behind the scenes to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, we can never let the oppressed go free. [00:32:01] It is an amazing fact that once we start to really learn this lesson, things begin to happen. Now, this bondage covers everything, whether the unsaved world or the people of God. Don't you think? Our greatest problem as the people of God is bondage? [00:32:19] It's not just bondage to bad habits. Sometimes it's bondage to tradition. Sometimes it's a terrible inhibition. Sometimes it's some kind of complex which has settled on us. We cannot get free from it. [00:32:37] I think that this is a tremendous command of our Lord to us to face this whole matter. [00:32:47] He has most certainly dealt with it. [00:32:51] You know, the kind of thing I can tell you from my own experience. You know, people sometimes come to me and say, I want so much for the last month that I wanted to do this and this and this. I can't. [00:33:05] And sometimes it's just a matter of expressing a bit of love to somebody and they can't do it. [00:33:12] Now, I wonder if that's the experience of anybody here this morning. You really want to contribute, for instance, in praise. You really would love to, and you just can't. [00:33:22] It's as if there's something in the atmosphere which says, no, this shall not be. [00:33:28] Now, I know it myself. [00:33:31] I know what it is. Sometimes sit there and feel that the Lord wants us to do certain things. And then I immediately become afraid of everybody else and think, well, they'll think I'm nutcase if I get up and say this and this and this. See, everyone thinks, oh, well, one of the leaders, I mean, if they get up, of course, everything's different. But it's amazing. It's something almost in the atmosphere, as if you can't be free to do the will of God. As if. Don't you lift your hands up? [00:33:56] What do you think they're all going to think of? You suggest that they shake hands with one another. [00:34:05] What do you think you're doing? [00:34:10] It'll be the end. You'll embarrass them. [00:34:15] And so you sit there in a kind. And the interesting thing is this, that no one knows what's going on in one's heart, but an atmosphere of heaviness settles upon the whole gathering and the whole work, because somehow we don't want that kind of freedom which is licensed, where people just do all kinds of weird things because they say they're free. God preserve us from that kind of freedom. But we do need the freedom to do the will of God. [00:34:43] We really do need the freedom to do the will of God. And when we know that we should do this or that, just to love each other, just to care for each other, just to express concern for one another, it's amazing to me when someone comes to me and says, I've had this concern for so and so for a whole month, and they've never voiced it. And when you say, well, why on earth didn't you say something? Well, I just felt I couldn't. [00:35:06] Thats bondage to me now. Im not saying that. Were now got to lay hands on everybody and sort of say, you know, that kind of one almighty deliverance ministry. We will now start upon every one of you, one by one, and go through you all. I mean, very much of this bondage is in the atmosphere now. It isnt anything to do with the company here. [00:35:27] Indeed, I would say very much more than this. I would say that if the Lord is amongst us, we shall know this bondage in the atmosphere all the time there, unless it is resisted in the name of the Lord, because the enemy is always present where the Lord is present in order somehow to alienate the people of God from the Lord, somehow to bring a kind of dampening, heavenly, heavy influence upon the whole. Stop real worship, stop real prayer, stop real ministry, stop anything from really coming through. So I say that this whole matter of loosing the bonds of wickedness, undoing the bands of the yoke, letting the oppressed go free and breaking every yoke, is very, very important indeed. It has got to be a part of an ongoing ministry. [00:36:24] On the practical side, how can we do this? Well, there are one or two ways. We've got to always be careful of everything. That it doesn't become a thing or a method. But one way is to praise the Lord. Have you noticed that whenever we really praise the Lord, that atmosphere of bondage recedes always by intercession? I am now. I say intercession. Not just prayer, intercession. There is no way to deal with bondage in the atmosphere or in the life of the church, except by taking action in the place of prayer. Not just saying, Lord, free us, Lord. Do this, Lord, but announcing that we are the freed people of God, that we are in the freedom of Christ, wherewith he has made us free. [00:37:08] What does the word say? It is very interesting. Listen to it. In Galatians five and verse one, it says, for freedom did Christ set us free. Stand fast, therefore, and be not entangled again in a yoke of bondage. Did you hear that? Stand fast. Be strong. Stand in this freedom. Don't just think it's going to be there because you were freed and liberated ten years ago. It's going to be there today. No, not at all. If you are the Lord's child, you can be sure that the enemy's out to bind you and he'll put a thong and another thong and another thong and he'll bind you to a yoke. And it means you will have to go that way. The yoke and the yoke will be very heavy on you. It'll cause sores. [00:37:58] So you see, we have a job to do here. There's another way in which bondage is destroyed is by truth. [00:38:09] It's so simple when it comes to the proclamation and declaration of truth. Why do we often assert that Jesus is Lord? Because that's truth. [00:38:18] And it's when there is that declaration of truth that something happens in the unseen. You know, when we have a time of ministry just like this sometimes and a real truth comes under anointing, the whole atmosphere is cleansed. Have you noticed it? Ive seen it again and again. Its as if you are clean through the word which the Lord has spoken to you. Its as if a whole cleansing comes into the air. As if by the very proclamation of truth, something happens. I notice it in towns where they've had a history of the preaching of the gospel, there is an atmosphere in the streets which is freer because the truth itself has effect. Don't despise truth. Don't despise preaching. Don't despise the ministry of God's word, because the enemy and all those invisible, that invisible host that watches on, they know very well when it's true. And truth has a tremendous effect upon it all. Then, of course, there are many other ways. Executive action. There are times when we have to lay hands on one another in the name of the Lord and declare that a person is free. That's wonderful, isn't it? Many of you have known what it is to have someone in the name of the Lord minister to you and to declare that you are free. And you know it. You are free. Something has broken inside. Isn't it wonderful about baptism? I have seen people again and again in the waters of baptism come out. [00:39:48] Something's been. Some fetter has just been snapped in the waters of baptism. [00:39:55] It's extraordinary. You see all these things. They're all part of this ongoing ministry. [00:40:01] We need to care for one another in this matter. And of course, evangelism is another way, because by going out, taking the whole thing onto the offensive, we go out and we proclaim the Lord. We proclaim the salvation of the Lord and the ascension and authority of the Lord. [00:40:20] The surest way you and I can be in this matter of freedom is to hold fast the head. If I really hold fast the head, I shall be free. Because it says, if the son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. [00:40:38] So when I really have a living experience of the Lord, I'm free. For where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. [00:40:46] But don't we all know this as a continual battle? It would be lovely to think that we could just leave it. [00:40:52] I want to tell you something. [00:40:55] Bondage is not something that just leaves you static. [00:41:02] When the enemy binds a person or a company, it is progressive, and the end is always the destruction and subjugation of that person to the enemy's will and mind or that company. Now, never forget that. That's why if you know any bondage in your life and heart, you need to really start looking to the Lord, deal with this thing. Lord, let's all rise up together and help one another in this matter, that we may be the freed people of the Lord, not only freed from evil Egypt, but Egypt out of us. [00:41:36] Sorry, I don't mean that wrong. You understand? [00:41:42] You see, it's a wonderful thing when we really can walk with the Lord in this matter. [00:41:48] Let him do it. Now, there's one other thing I want to just underline this morning, and that's this verse seven of Isaiah 58. Here it is, is the second thing. [00:41:58] Three things. Deal thy bread to the hungry. Bring the poor that are cast out to thy house. When thou seest the naked that thou cover him, hide not thyself from thine own flesh. [00:42:10] Deal thy bread to the hungry. Interesting, isn't it? Do you notice straight away that this is not general at the first? This is all to do with you and me. Deal thy bread to the hungry. [00:42:22] When thou seest the naked that thou cover him, bring the poor that is cast out into thy house. Hide not thyself from thine own flesh. It's all gone on to a much more personal level, hasn't it? It's come to us now. The first thing was, general, the whole weapon of the enemy against us and indeed against the Lord in this world. [00:42:53] Now it comes home to us. What is this whole matter? Surely I could cover it by saying love and compassion in all relationships. [00:43:04] I think we have to remember that there are times when we ought to deal our bread physically. I mean, new american standard Bible says, share thy bread. Well, I think it's about time we woke up to this. It's all very well to talk about the building up of Zion, but there are some people who've never, ever exercised hospitality, hardly with anybody. [00:43:22] What does the word of God say? It says in Hebrews, chapter 13 and verse two. Forget not to show love unto strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Think of that sometimes we only have very close friends home. What a wonderful thing it is to have the stranger home. Share a meal with them. Share your bread with them. Has God given you a home? Has God given you bread? Has God given you some kind of income? Share it. Don't hold it to yourself. If you do, you will have multitudes of troubles always. It's always the same. Hold to yourself your things and you will have problem after problem after share, and the Lord will take responsibility for you. There's great joy in sharing. You'll get some difficult people. [00:44:12] You'll also get angels unawares. Isn't it best to put up with ten difficult people? If you can get the angel unawares at the end? [00:44:20] I mean, think it might all be a training ground, but finally youve got the angel. [00:44:26] And what a blessing sometimes it can be. Someone youve taken into your home in the end becomes such a blessing to you and your family. To all of us. Deal thy bread to the hungry. Or again, I think of what it says in James two and verse 14. What doth it prefetch? Prophet, my brethren, if a man say he hath faith but have not worked, can that faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked and in lack of daily food? And one of you go in peace, be ye warmed and filled. That means praise the Lord. Slap on the back. [00:45:02] But we all do this, don't we? Someone is in desperate need. They may not have brought it out into the open, but we're not even sensitive to the Lord, at least for the promptings of the spirit to tell us that someone says, and ours is, praise the Lord. [00:45:16] What we've said is, go in peace, be warmed and filled, and notwithstanding we give them nothing, what does the word say? What doth it profit? It says, give them not the things needful to the body. What doth it profit? [00:45:33] Pray for somebody's spiritual increase and their dying of starvation. [00:45:42] Well, we need not only to pray for their spiritual increase and so on. We need to care for them as well, in a practical manner. Now, all these things have so much to tell us. In Romans chapter twelve and verse 13, you have the same thing again. [00:45:59] It says, communicating to the necessities of the saints, given to hospitality. Now, this word communicating is an old fashioned word which really means giving your money. So it's a nice old word. Some of you may prefer to leave it as a nice old word, but actually what it means is sharing your cash with the saints. [00:46:20] Communicating. It's exactly the same. When you find it again in Galatians and chapter six and verse six, which says, let them him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in good, all good things. [00:46:37] It doesn't mean communicate. You go up afterwards and say, that was a wonderful word, boy. I've communicated with him. [00:46:44] That's good. It doesn't mean that. It means you share your money. [00:46:49] It's very practical, isn't it? So we're not meant just to just look at one another in a kind of spiritual way and never do anything for one another. We are to share our bread with the hungry, care for one another. Now, there's a lot to this. Bring the poor that is cast out into thy house. Cover the naked. You see, it's not only the spirit, the physical side, the natural side. There is the spiritual side, too. We are surrounded with people that are hungry. We have been greatly blessed in this company with much that the Lord has given us, but we're surrounded on all sides by the people of God who are in terrible hunger. [00:47:31] Years ago, a dear servant of the Lord, I asked him, what do you think will be the end of this pouring out of the Holy Spirit, this charismatic experience all over the earth? He said, in ten years time there will come a cry for teaching and for the word of God such as we have never seen in our lifetime. It's exactly what has happened. This moving of the Holy Spirit has produced a hunger in the people of God and everywhere, everywhere, everywhere. We've got experience, but we have no teaching. We need teaching as well. We need to be deeply taught. We need to share what we have of the Lord. Has the Lord given us spiritual bread? Let us share our spiritual bread. Thank God for practical things like the tapes ministry, which seemed to be so technical and so. And yet what? A lot is done to that. When we hear of lives that have met with God and little groups that have come into something more. It is a sharing of our bread. [00:48:37] We need so much this to look at these kind of things. [00:48:43] This the people who are poor, that are cast out. There are many amongst the Lord's people who are afflicted, who are destitute, who are lonely, caring for them. Hide not thyself from thine own flesh. What does that mean? Well, it's very interesting. If you turn to Deuteronomy chapter 22, you will find that it is actually mentioned. [00:49:10] Deuteronomy 22 one thou shalt not see thy brother's ox or his sheep go astray and hide thyself from them. Thou shalt surely bring them again unto thy brother. And if thy brother be not nigh unto thee, or if thou know him not, then thou shalt bring it home to thy house, and it shall be with thee until thy brother seek after it, and thou shalt restore it to him. And so shalt thou do with his ass, and so shalt thou do with his garment, and so shalt thou do with his every lost thing of thy brother's, which he hath lost and thou hast found. Thou mayest not hide thyself. [00:49:44] Thou shalt not see thy brother's ass or his ox fallen down by the way, and hide thyself from them. Thou shalt surely help him to lift them up again. [00:49:53] How practical the word of God is. What does it mean, hide thyself? It just means this. You don't want to know. [00:50:01] You don't want to know. [00:50:04] Now this has very real relationship to our own families. I know people who are the lords, who never do a single thing in their family, never help. They don't want to know if there was a ceiling that needed to be to be painted. They don't want to know if there was a practical job that ought to be done. They dont want to know. [00:50:26] Now, anyone who doesnt care for his own household is worse than an unbeliever, Paul says in the second letter to Timothy. So we must first care for our own flesh and see. Honor thy father and thy mother all the days of thy life, it says, and many other things about our relationships, to children, to husband, to wife, to family. All these things we have to take real note. We mustn't hide ourselves. You see, much of life is spent in just not wanting to know something. You know, we say that what the eye doesn't see, the heart doesn't grieve over. [00:51:05] So here is the word given in Jews. Wrong. Some might wonder why it's in the word. It says, now, if you see yourself, your brother's ox or ass and so on, and you've got to go and catch the wretched thing. Now, have you ever tried to catch an ass? [00:51:26] I mean, oxen and ass are not the easiest of things to really get hold of once they've gone astray. Now, I can imagine a farmer with a busy life, as I say, that stupid brother of mine, why doesn't he keep his own animals under control? Why should I spend the whole day having to leave my farm while I go round and try and find this and that on the other? [00:51:52] But it says, thou shalt not hide thyself. [00:51:56] If you see his oxen fallen into a ditch, you know how big an oxen is? Can you imagine it fallen into a ditch? You shall help him lift it up. He can't do it alone. There's the poor man straining. He can't get it. So you go and give him a hand. Now, it may take hours out of your time schedule, but you've got to do it. Hide not thyself from thine own flesh. Now, did you realize this is part of the building of Zion? [00:52:22] You see, it's very easy to be sort of all like Mary's and no Martha's. We know the Lord said she has chosen the better part, sitting at his feet adoring. [00:52:34] But I mean, sometimes I feel some people would like to sit at the Lord's feet adoringly while there's a whole thousand and one things they ought to be attending to. [00:52:43] And Zion is not going to be built by people sitting at our Lord's feet adoringly, unless hand in hand, a lot of practical things get done too. [00:52:54] We can forget that there's a world in bonds of wickedness all around us, that is, in bands of the yoke upon them, that they're crushed and shattered, and that somehow or other we have not only just said, Lord, please do something. We've got to take action in the name of the Lord. We have a spiritual authority over the area. We have a spiritual authority in the name of Jesus to break the bondage and the power of the enemy in these lives and in the community in which God has placed us. And so it is here with this matter of love and compassion, we are to care for one another, not only physically, but spiritually. We're to share what God has given us. We're not to hide ourselves from our own flesh. What a lot there is, that love and compassion is the key to all true service. Then there's no better way to prepare a way for the people or to gather out the stones. There are many bold that have tripped up many people in the world and many young believers who wanted to come into the things of God. These boulders have tripped them up. They've made the going difficult for them. And we are to blame. [00:54:10] Why are we to blame? Because we should have taken out the boulders in the way, gathered out the stones. How do we prepare a way? We prepare a way by love and compassion. I wonder whether that comes home to you as it comes home to me. You know, it's interesting that in Galatians chapter six, and with this we must finish chapter five, the apostle Paul said, for freedom did Christ set us free. Stand fast, therefore, and be not entangled again in a yoke of bondage. And then he says in verse 13, for ye brethren, were called for freedom only. Use not your freedom for an occasion to the flesh, but through love be servants one of another. [00:55:03] Now, here you have, interestingly enough, the two things that we have in Isaiah 58. 1st, liberation, freedom. Secondly, love loving service. [00:55:18] Through love be servants one of another. [00:55:24] Do you want to see Zion built then? Dear friends, if we're really going to see this, and we're in the day when our Lord will return and this work is going to be completed, we need also to understand a little bit about the ministry of Zion. [00:55:48] First thing is this matter of bondage. It would be a very interesting thing to me, but I'm not going to do it. Fear not. If I were to say everyone who feels that there's an area of bondage in their life. Please stand up. [00:56:01] It would be very interesting, I reckon that about two thirds of us here would probably stand because we know there are areas of bondage, you know. Now listen, we need to open up to one another on these things, it's two sided. One side is the house of God really caring and moving out, but the other side is yourself. How can every yoke be broken if people don't come out into the open? And then again, sometimes things, people can be free, but they'll fall back, because somehow or other they expect to be carried. They will not themselves walk in the spirit. Do you understand? So they will fall back again. There are many, many problems in this whole matter, but if it could only be two sided. On the one side, we caring for one another and going out to one another, and on the other side, our opening up of ourselves to one another and coming out into the open. After all, if there is a bondage, if there is a limitation, if there is an inhibition, and if it really is hindering the Lord's work in your life and then through you in the family, isn't it best to come out into the open and just say, could you pray for me? [00:57:18] I have a need here. [00:57:20] Because it is in so doing that we face reality and we get to know each other and we get to love each other. [00:57:27] Because when people come out, you can't help, but your heart goes out. Anything of the spirit of God in you, your heart goes out. You know it's cost them something. You know that it's meant something to them. And if your heart begins to warm toward them, they're not just sitting there like some little dear church member, but they are really moving, seeking to move with God. May the Lord help us in this matter. I think there's such a need, dont you both? On the one hand of this real knowing and experiencing of the freedom of our Lord, and on the other hand, really knowing that love of God filling our hearts and lives. Shall we pray now, Lord? Oh, we just commit this to thee. Thou knowest all the area of need in our lives here, Lord, and thou knowest the area of need in us as a people. [00:58:23] Dear Lord, how glad we are that thou has spoken to us about doing something. [00:58:31] Lord, let it come home to us that there's some responsibility placed on us to loose bonds of wickedness, to undo bands of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, to break every yoke, to deal our bread to the hungry, to bring the poor that's cast out into our house. [00:58:52] And when we see him that's naked to cover him and not to hide ourselves from our own flesh, Lord, grant that we may hearken to this. Only thy holy spirit can make it real in each of our circumstances, in each family, each home, in each life, and in our life together as a people. Lord, watch over this word and let it really be translated by thy spirit into practical outworking. [00:59:21] And we ask it all in the name of our Lord Jesus.