(UK International Conference)

 CAST IF OFF

bartimeausMark 10: 46-52
Jesus Heals Blind Bartimaeus
46 Now they came to Jericho. As He went out of Jericho with His disciples and a great multitude, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road begging. 47 And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
48 Then many warned him to be quiet; but he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
49 So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called.
Then they called the blind man, saying to him, “Be of good cheer. Rise, He is calling you.”
50 And throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus.
51 So Jesus answered and said to him, “What do you want Me to do for you?”
The blind man said to Him, “Rabboni, that I may receive my sight.”
52 Then Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the road.

Cast off means to throw away: to put away your worries
Discard means to get rid of someone or something no longer useful or desirable
• Abandon means to give up completely a course of action, practice or a way of thinking
• Disown means to refuse to acknowledge or maintain connection with
Introduction
As I pondered upon the word of God in this scripture and topic chosen for your conference, I saw the blind man as one having an obstacle and in dire need to denounce his obstacle. In life journey we might encounter obstacles of different and various types. I hope the sermon would help you identify your obstacle and if it’s already known at the end of my message you would cast it off by allowing Christ Jesus to come into your heart and take control of your life allowing you to live a free and victorious life as the blind man experienced when he placed his trust in Christ Jesus.
The questions I posed to you today are:
• What do you need to cast off?
• How to go about casting off those obstacles?

Blind Bartimaeus acknowledged he had an obstacle he had to cast off and in doing so; he heard that Christ Jesus was travelling his way he knew he had to do something to get his attention so the best thing he could have done was to call on Christ. The Blind man needed to cast off his disability which hindered him for years. The disability prevented him from achieving lots of things in his life.
• He was unable to see
• He was unable to work
• He was unable to provide for himself
What do you need to cast off?
What is your obstacle that’s preventing you from achieving the things you need?
Your obstacle might be:
• Unemployment
• A struggle to forgive those who wronged you (wife/ husband/ family member/ work colleague/ church brethren
• Gossip/ Backbiting
• Fornication/ adultery/idolatry/ pornography
• Malice/ envy/ strife/division
Whatever the obstacles those are in our lives we need to learn to cast it off and continue serving the Lord with joy. By casting it off we mean give it to Christ Jesus he declared in the Bible to cast all your cares upon him for he cares for you. Cast it on him today.
If Christ Jesus is not your Lord and Saviour it’s time to cast off your hang-ups and give him your life so you can experience that joy he promised you.There must be something going wrong in your life which needs to be fixed. At the time Jesus went into the City of Jericho this man began to cry saying “Jesus thou son of David have mercy on me”
This man had no hope as he was born blind, he understood that it was only Jesus that can remove the curse of blindness upon him. Jesus came to set the captive free. The time has come for your deliverance.bartimaeus

Isaiah 61
“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me,  Because the LORD has anointed Me  To preach good tidings to the poor;  He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,  To proclaim liberty to the captives,  And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;  2 To proclaim the  Acceptable year of the LORD,  And the day of vengeance of our God;  To comfort all who mourn,  3 To console those who mourn in Zion,  To give them beauty for ashes,  The oil of joy for mourning,  The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;  That they may be called trees of righteousness,  The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.”
4 And they shall rebuild the old ruins,  They shall raise up the former desolation,
And they shall repair the ruined cities,  The desolation’s of many generations.  5 Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks,  And the sons of the foreigner  Shall be your plowmen and your vine-dressers.  6 But you shall be named the priests of the LORD,  They shall call you the servants of our God.  You shall eat the riches of the Gentiles,  And in their glory you shall boast.  7 Instead of your shame you shall have double honor,  And instead of confusion they shall rejoice in their portion.  Therefore in their land they shall possess double;  Everlasting joy shall be theirs.

How to go about casting off those obstacles?
Those of you who do not have a relationship with Christ Jesus, open your heart today and let him in as this blind man did.
CAST IT OFF AND GO ON WORSHIPING CHRIST JESUS WITH JOY

1 Peter 4:13
But rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.

HOW DO WE serve God with joy in the midst of our obstacles?
Through the Holy Spirit guidance we maintain our joy in the midst of the obstacles.
At times you will find things that would hinder you from wanting to gain your deliverance but you just have to do as the blind man did shout, praise, dance, worship the God of your deliverance.
Acts 5:40-41
And they agreed with him, and when they had called for the apostles and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. 41 So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His[d] name.
Matthew 5:10-12
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,  For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. 12 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
When things aren’t going as we expects or hope we need to continually praise and pray worshiping God in the midst of the obstacle.The blind man was in need so when Jesus was there he did not care what people thought or said, he was going to get the attention of Jesus! When Jesus called unto him the first thing he did was to cast off his garment. Therefore when Bartimaeus cast off his garment he placed his hope in Jesus that today I stand before you not blind but as a man in need of deliverance.

PRAISE YOUR WAY OUT
Acts 16:22-26
Then the multitude rose up together against them; and the magistrates tore off their clothes and commanded them to be beaten with rods. 23 And when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely. 24 Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.
THE PHILIPPIAN  JAILER SAVED
25 But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.26 Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed.

Paul and Silas taught us an important lesson about when obstacles arise in our lives, they taught us to get-our mind off our obstacles and onto the Lord Christ Jesus.

Once we live on earth there would always be obstacles in our lives because it’s what life is based upon. The many experiences we encounter allow us to mature in Christ teaching us wisdom.
Christ Jesus never promised that you wouldn’t have obstacles in life but he promised that he-would be with you always.

Why should we rejoice?
Praise allows us to cast the despairs away – it cast off the-obstacles because it takes us into the presence of God who ministers to our needs and gives us strength to endure.

PRAISE IT OFF

* David praised away evil spirits from Saul 1 Samuel 16:23
* Jehoshaphat appointed praise singers who praised off the threat of an invasion 2 Chronicles 20:21

* Israel shouted and praised around the walls of Jericho until it came down the walls Joshua 6
There’s alack of restriction sin worship because the Lord’s spirit inhabits the praise of his people and where the spirit of the Lord is there is liberty so cast off those obstacles and start singing a song of praise.

Conclusion
Today I would ask you, as you are in the presence of Christ Jesus, to make sure that he knows that you are here and that you need to meet him.
When Jesus calls out to you do you cast off the garment of your past sins and worries of whatever might be hindering you, or do you keep the garment of your past and present standing at your side? Today stand before God as a person in need of his help, without the shadow of your past standing at your side.

So today deal with your obstacle and sin, make yourself known to God no matter what people say, and throw off the garment that labels you to your past! Shout out and call out to Jesus for deliverance etc.
Stand on your feet and shout for Jesus of Nazareth take my burdens away from me remove my scale etc.
Cast off your old garments!!

 

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