BREAK THE CHAINS and shackles that hold you back. The Lord has told me tell His people they need to break the spirit of restraint on their lives. Say to the devil, Lose me and let me go, so I can fulfil my assignment.
With these words Rev. Dr Wesley Rock proceeded to explain to the congregation at Sion Hill New Testament Church of God that restraint was the state of being physically constrained and lacking development.
“Restraint limits your freedom and controls you. It restricts, confines and imprisons you. It is Satan’s subtle weapon over the believer, where he does not stop us totally, but restrains us through conditions around us.”
Rock was speaking during a two-week crusade hosted by Pastor John Austin at this St James sanctuary.
Prior to the sermon, Sister Celesta Martin led in worship during a service driven by dancing, tambourine beating, handclapping, guitar strumming, drumming and other musical instrument playing.
Rock, an evangelist, shared primarily from Isaiah 52, Verses 1 and 2, where God encourages His people to stir up their own deliverance; pluck up their spirits, and encourage each other that all will be well. They are told to shake themselves, wake up from their own mistrust and distrust, and look to the things that are ahead.
“The devil knows he cannot stop you; so he restrains you and causes you to accept your current circumstances,” Rock stressed.
He referred to Pharoah and Moses, and noted that while God promised the Israelites freedom, Pharoah did whatever he could to restrain them.
Rock noted: “Pharoah told Moses, I will let the Israelites go, but I won’t let them go too far. The second thing Pharoah told him was, I will let them go, but just the men. And, the third thing Pharoah said was, Don’t take everything. Leave the cattle.”
The evangelist reasoned that just as Pharoah sought to restrain God’s people, “Satan is today, seeking to restrain believers”.
“The devil wants people today to be saved, but to still dabble in the things of the world. However, if we are to come out of the world, we must go all the way.
“He also wanted only the men to go, because he knew their hearts would still be back in Egypt.” (Exodus 10: 11)
Rock stressed: “If we are to be saved, everybody that belong to us must be saved also. There must be deliverance in every part of your lives.”
He said the spirit of restraint “has targeted some key areas in the lives of people”, including their health, family system – the structure of the family in both the church and the world; their finances and spiritual lives.
Rock told his congregation they “have a right as believers to walk in good health”, and noted that “Satan is doing all he can to affect the family”.
“Whenever the family disintegrates, it affects the church and society. Pray for your families,” he urged.
He also told his listeners that financial restraint had invaded the lives of many – due to selfishness – and called on them to be more giving.
Rock charged them to walk in the victories made possible through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, before he prayed specifically for some, and invited others to stand at the altar for special ministry.