Of Whom A Man Is Overcome

Greetings in the name of Jesus! This is Rob Haymes. This is 15 Minutes With Jesus. Wherever two or three are gathered together in My name, Jesus said, there am I in the midst of them. To those of you who love Him in truth: mercy unto you and peace and love be multiplied. (Jude 1:2)

Thank you Father for this day. We  thank you Lord, in Jesus name, for this program Father. I pray that you will bless me to speak clearly what you want spoken, Amen.

Psalm 118:8, It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes. Today’s program is called, Of Whom A Man Is Overcome. Let’s turn to Psalm 146:1, Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul! While I live I will praise the Lord; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being. Do not put your trust in princes, nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help. His spirit departs, he returns to his earth; in that very day his plans perish. Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God, who made Heaven and Earth, the sea, and all that is in them; who keeps truth forever, who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry. The Lord gives freedom to the prisoners. The Lord opens the eyes of the blind; The Lord raises those who are bowed down; The Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the strangers; He relieves the fatherless and widow; but the way of the wicked He turns upside down. The Lord shall reign forever—Your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the Lord! Verse 3, Do not put your trust in princes, nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help. His spirit departs, he returns to his earth; in that very day his plans perish. Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God… Hallelujah! Thank you Lord!. 

Let’s turn to 2 Pet 1:19, And so we have the prophetic Word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. Chapter 2, verse 1, But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber. For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly; and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly; and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)—then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment, and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries, whereas angels, who are greater in power and might, do not bring a reviling accusation against them before the Lord. But these, like natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed, speak evil of the things they do not understand, and will utterly perish in their own corruption, and will receive the wages of unrighteousness, as those who count it pleasure to carouse in the daytime. They are spots and blemishes, carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with you, having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children. They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; but he was rebuked for his iniquity: a dumb donkey speaking with a man's voice restrained the madness of the prophet. These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error. While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought into bondage. 

Recently I read what someone said about remembering certain things from your past, and how that can help you to be prepared for what is coming in the future. At first, I thought that was not true, because the Scripture talks about forgetting what lays behind and pressing toward the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. However, God started reminding me of something that I went through in my past which absolutely has everything to do with the things that are very soon coming upon the Earth, and that I better remember what I have learned, and not assume that I will not someday need to apply it in the situations that are yet to be. So today I’m going to share with you what I went through, and how God, in His great mercy, brought me through it and delivered me out of bondage. Of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought into bondage. 

In the late 1980’s I was a man in need of deliverance; I needed help. I started going to a church where they ministered deliverance. There was power there, and I started getting set free; I started getting help, and I’m very thankful for that to this day. When I first went to this church, I was looking only to Jesus to deliver me through that ministry. But, more and more, over the years, I was there for over 20 years, I began to trust in the man in charge. He was strong in the flesh, and he began to be lifted up more and more in the people’s hearts. It is not an easy situation to understand, and, unless you have been through it yourself and come out of the bondage, it may be hard for you to grasp. What makes it so hard is that good things were happening and truth was being taught, and yet, at the same time, evil things were happening and lies were being taught. When you listen to a man teach the Word of God for many years, it is very easy to begin to think in your heart that they are a man of God. One of the main things I learned through my experience is that a false prophet will teach the truth, the Word of God, until he has won the hearts of the people, and then he will begin to bring in the lies, little by little, and since you already have been convinced that he is a man of God, and you are trusting in him, you begin to receive them; you eat the fruit of lies. Hosea 10:13, You have plowed wickedness; you have reaped iniquity. You have eaten the fruit of lies, because you trusted in your own way, in the multitude of your mighty men. People trust in mighty men: strong men in the flesh, and they do not really trust in God with all their heart, and they reap iniquity. So it was with me. I ate the fruit of lies, damnable heresies, and I fell into sin. But God, in His great mercy, led me to real repentance: I had godly sorrow, and I confessed my sin to Him and He forgave me, for one reason: the sacrifice of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ upon the Cross at Calvary for my sins, and He washed me and cleansed me of my guilt and shame through faith in His precious shed Blood. Then, slowly but surely, He began to lead me out of darkness and into His marvelous light. I began to read the Bible and search the Word of God concerning the things that I had been taught. It was a fearful process, but God, through the truth of His Word, brought me out of that bondage. This man brought us into bondage by teaching us to fear him, and not God only. The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe, Proverbs 29:25.  

One day I made a commitment to God to believe what is written in His Word over what my preacher or any other man may say. It was a real commitment. As soon as I made that commitment to Him, my confusion left me and I began to see and understand God’s Word clearly. God led me to forgive my pastor and repent of my own sins, to my family and to God, before He would let me leave that church. Also, by the Word of God, He led me to judge what was going on in that church. I don’t have time to go there, but I recommend that you read the First Epistle of John. It is very powerful concerning deceit and deception. Since then He has continued to deliver me and walk me through many experiences to break me and teach me His good way. I know what it is like to be deceived by a man and to believe lies; I know what can happen to a person when you do. I also know that each one of us must take responsibility for our own sins before God. We are responsible for what we have done. We cannot blame someone else. 

After I left that church, I started following another preacher, and God went to great lengths to bring me to the place of repentance, where I finally stopped following a man; trusting in a man. It doesn’t matter how much truth they may teach, or how righteous they may appear, or even how much power they may demonstrate, you cannot put your trust in any man! You must trust only in the One who loved you and gave Himself for you: only in Jesus! I can remember sitting on the bed in my hotel room, when God delivered me from trusting in a man, and saying to Him, “Only you Jesus!” “Only you Father!” And so it is today. 

There is one coming very soon upon the world stage who will be walking in great power and deception, with a false prophet working great signs and wonders, so, if possible, to deceive the very elect. The Antichrist and the False Prophet are soon going to be revealed. The Antichrist, the man of sin, will be exalting himself above all that is called God. Don’t think that because you are a Christian that you will be ok. You must receive the love of the truth: His Word is truth. And you must be denying yourself, taking up your cross and following Jesus, and only Jesus, every day, continuing in His Word to be His disciple. If you truly do this, you may suffer, but He will never leave you or forsake you. He will preserve you if you will trust Him. There is a chorus that says, Turn your eyes upon Jesus; look full in His wonderful face, and the things of Earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace. 

Thank you for reading this message from 15 Minutes With Jesus at roberthaymes.com . May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you who love Him in truth, Amen. (2 Cor 13:14)