Rev.Dr.Jeffry David Camm

The Cart Before The Horse

                            ~ by Rev.Dr.Jeffry David Camm  Toowoomba, QLD Australia    (c) September 13th, 2018

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My title of this teaching today is putting “the Cart before the Horse”, and you may be wondering why such a strange title. But unfortunately I find that many churches in the 20th and 21st centuries are doing just that!  When Jesus started his ministry, he did not start by instituting “social programs”, he started by following on from the teachings of John the Baptist, who was the voice crying in the wilderness, “prepare ye the way of the Lord, for the Kingdom of the Lord is at hand, and will very soon be here amongst us. Get ready to receive the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the whole world, “one soul at a time”. John proclaimed; “I baptise you with water for the sin of repentance, but there is one coming after me, who sandals I am not even worthy enough to tie up, He is coming to baptise you with the Holy Spirit and with Fire”.

 

When Jesus appeared at the River Jordan to be baptised, the Holy Spirit inside of John, which had been there since before his birth, immediately recognised Jesus and he proclaimed: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.”  John was thrown into a spiritual turmoil when Jesus asked him to baptise him. John said “You should be baptising me, for I am a sinner, who am I to baptise you?”  But Jesus told John to do this, as a sign to be given for others. Jesus was in fact confirming the teachings of John the Baptist, who had been teaching that sin was on two levels:

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1. The first level was individual sin. Each person was responsible before God, for their own individual sins, and each one of us is outside of God’s covenant when we do sin. The only way that was can once again be under the covenant of grace, is to ask God for forgiveness by confession and repentance of our sins.  This was not what the Sanhedrin and the Priests had been teaching. Even though they knew the Old Testament Law, they were wrapping the people up in so many rules and regulations, that it was impossible for them to fulfil the Law. The Priests themselves were not even fulfilling these laws, even though they knew them intimately.
    

2. The second level was the sin of the nation. Here again the people in the Old Testament believed that because they were “the descendants of Abraham” they were part of God’s promised people for eternity, and God in his infinite mercy loved them, and that he would never cast them out of his eternal kingdom, irrespective of what sins they  had committed. They may be punished, as a nation for their sins, even allowed to be put into captivity, and/or disbursed for their sins, but they believed that their God would fulfil his promises in his word, that he would never leave them nor forsake them, because he chose them to be his people for all generations to come.

 

 

When Jesus came back from the wilderness, after being tested by Satan, he immediately started by proclaiming his divine purpose for being on this earth. He quoted: Isaiah 61 verses 1 & 2.  "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me, to preach Good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty, all who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord."

So now let us unpack this scripture, which is the “Mission Statement” from the God the Father, to Jesus, His Son.

1. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me. His authority to preach is established first, by proclaiming His authority comes from the Lord and He has been anointed by the Lord to do the following things.

2. The first thing is “to preach Good News to the poor”.

   1. It is not to set up “social programs”, or

   2. To “fight for justice”, or

   3. To establish any other “do good programs”.

   4. The primary role of Jesus coming to this earth was to preach the Good News,

      1. About God’s Kingdom,

      2. About sin,

      3. About Hell and spiritual death,

      4. About repentance, and

      5. About salvation being in no-one else.

3. The second thing Jesus came to the earth for was to “proclaim release to the captives”.

   1. To teach people that sin captures you, and places you into the domain and power of Satan, and therefore separates you “individually and corporately,” from God and His promises.

   2. He also came to teach that you do not have the power within yourself, to break free from this captive state, because Satan is more powerful that you are, because without Christ in your life, your “spirit–man” is still dead, just as it was for Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, after they ate the forbidden fruit, of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

4. The third thing Jesus came to earth to do was “to give sight to the blind”.

   1. This comes in two parts:

      1. To remove the scales of “spiritual blindness” which the Sanhedrin had placed upon the nation of Israel, making them more concerned about “following the rules”, than developing a living, one-on-one relationship with God Almighty.

      2. The second part of His mission was to come and “heal all manner of sickness and disease.”

      3. Jesus did not come to just pray for the sick, He came “to heal” the sick ~~~ a very big difference.

      4. James chapter 5:13-20 makes it very clear.
         Is there any among you who are suffering? He should keep on praying about it. And those who have reason to be thankful should continually be singing praises to the Lord.

      5. Notice that both of these things focus our attention, time, and energy, on the Lord, not on “social programs”.

      6. Is there any sick among you?  James clearly writes a series of “how to” instruction for the church here, and maybe we need to get our focus back on doing things “God’s way” ~~ not “our way.”

         1. He should call for the elders of the church, and

         2. They should pray over him, and

         3. Pour oil upon him, calling upon the name of the Lord to heal him, and

         4. Their prayer, if offered in faith, will heal him, for the Lord will make him well; and

         5. If his sickness was caused by some sin, the Lord will forgive him.

      7. Admit you faults one to another (not to the priest in a confessional), and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous man has great power and wonderful results.

   2. Elijah was completely human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for the next three and a half years! Then he prayer earnestly again, this time that it would rain, and down it poured, and the grass turned green and the gardens began to grow again.

   3. Dear brothers, if anyone has slipped away from God and no longer trusts the Lord, and someone helps him to understand the Truth again, that person who brings him back to God will have saved a wandering soul from death, bringing about the forgiveness of his many sins.

5. The fourth thing that Jesus came to earth to do was “to set at liberty, all who are oppressed”.

   1. Oppression does not come from God. It comes from Satan, the Prince of the Air, who has dominion over all who are sinners, and who have not given their lives to God the Father, through Jesus Christ His Son.

   2. It is made very clear in scripture that Jesus came “to set the captives free”, to release them from the grip of Satan, sin and death.

   3. To prevent them from ending up in hell, separated from God for eternity.

6. In Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus made this statement to His disciples, just before He ascended into heaven. We need to examine it very carefully;

He told His disciples; “I have been given all authority in heaven and earth. Therefore, (because of this authority) “GO” (an action word) and “MAKE” DISCIPLES” (another action word), in all the nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

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THAT IS THE MISSION STATEMENT OF THE 21ST CENTURY CHURCH!

It has not changed in 2,000 years, but the “corporate church leadership” think that they know better than Jesus, (who has been given all authority on earth) and they have introduced rules and regulations, which are contrary to God’s laws, and support programs, which keep people bound up, just like the Sanhedrin did at the time Jesus commenced His ministry.

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Nowadays, programs are more important than salvations inside the churches. Church leadership in many churches are not prepared to preach salvation messages inside the churches, let alone out on the streets where the people are hurting, sick, diseased, oppressed, and “Needing to hear the salvation message”.

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For far too long, the church has been putting “the cart before the horse!”

 

It is high time to “wake up out of our sleep” and put things right, in accordance with God’s commands, God’s instructions, and God’s ways of doing things, so He can bless His people, with an abundance of blessings reigning down from Heaven.

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Create in me a clean heart oh God, and renew a right spirit within me.

Create in me a clean heart oh God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence oh Lord, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of your salvation, and renew a right spirit within me.

It is time to clean the swamp inside the church, or Jesus may appear once again with His whip, and drive out all of the evil merchants from His Father’s Temple, and remind them that “His House” shall be a “House of Prayer for all Nations”. It is not a “House of Programs”, but a “House of Prayer “, for ALL Nations”.

Those who have an ear, let them hear, what the Holy Spirit is saying to the churches.

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