The month of February 2013 has been declared a month of Divine Cleansing by God Almighty through His Prophet as inspired by The Holy Spirit.
The month of February is a month of fasting in the R.C.C.G worldwide every year, and God is saying to someone here this morning I will wipe every tear from your eyes, I will turn around every issue that is bordering or giving you concern in your life around for good in Jesus name, He says you will testify in Jesus name.
The word cleanse means to remove dirt or filth from, to remove guilt from and when it is Divine Cleansing it means it is done by The Lord Himself.
It is only Jehovah The God of heaven and earth that can cleanse a man and no one can cleanse like he does, The Bible says in the the Bk of Isaiah 1:18 ‘Come now, and let us reason together saith The Lord, though your sins be as scarlet they shall be as snow, though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
In the Bk of 2Kings 5: 1-27, The Bible makes us to understand that Naaman the Syrian General (Captain of the host of the King of Syria, a great man with his master and honourable, a mighty man in valour, loved by his master but he was a Leper, but Brethren when he met with Jehovah Rapha The Great Healer (The God of Elisha) his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child (baby’s skin) and he was clean in verse 14 ( I want to believe that the River Jordan (physically) he dipped himself seven times was the pool of the blood of the lamb of God spiritually. Naaman became a new man after that day.
The lame man in Acts 3: 1-11 was sat at the beautiful gate outside the Temple of God, he was sat at the gate called beautiful but his life was not beautiful in anyway, Brethren because of his infirmity he could not go into the temple to praise and worship God, but he chose to be dropped outside the beautiful gate, the Bible says he was dropped off at the gate daily, he was never missing from the gate and Brethren at the appointed day he was not at the wrong place at the wrong time but rather he was at the right place at the right time the Bible says in the BK of Eccl. 9:11 NLT ‘ I have observed something else under the sun the fastest runner does not always win the race and the strongest warrior does not win the battle. The wise sometimes go hungry and the skilful are not necessarily wealthy. And those who are educated don’t always lead successful lives. It is all decided by chance by being in the right place at the right time.
At the appointed time and day this lame man from birth met with destiny helpers (Peter & John) sent by God the re-writer of Destiny and he was not only cleansed but he was made whole and he began to do what he had longed and desired to do for a very long time, dancing and praising God in the temple of God. God is taking someone here this morning from lame-ness to greatness.
Our main Bible passage will be taken from the Bk of Mk 5: 25-34. We all are very familiar with this story, The woman with the issue of blood but she does not have that issue anymore and I pray for someone here para- venture you have an issue in your life The Lord says I will bring an end to it in Jesus name. He says in His word that He is The Lord God of all flesh, is there anything too hard for me to do. And Brethren I can tell you for a truth that in my little walk with God there is nothing, absolutely nothing too hard for Him to do.
This sick anonymous woman that has become a legend today that we are reading about must have been emancipated after a haemorrhage lasting 12 yrs., which had rendered her legally un clean (according to the Hebrew Custom)
According to Lev. 12: 1-8, 15: 19-30 the woman was un clean, to be ceremonially unclean was not sin but it made her unpure she must have been barred from relationship with her husband, fellowship with God’ s people, worship of God, until she was clean.” Because she was unclean she was isolated in the same way sin separates us from God, Christ’s blood is our only hope for cleansing from impurity of sin.
What she had endured at the hands of medical men of the time is left to imagination because the Bible said she had suffered a great deal. She had spent all that she had and was nothing better but rather grew worse, the Doctors had collected all her money in the other words not only was she physically drained but she was financially & emotionally drained and yet she had no solution to her problem. I want to also believe that at this stage she had no husband and no child because in her state she cannot hold a pregnancy.
And then suddenly something spectacular happened, she heard about a man called Jesus, a man she heard had performed many awesome wonderful miracles and signs, and something in her jumped, a kind of strength she had never experienced came upon her and she must have said to herself this is my last chance and hope. Despite all what she was going through and the state at which she was, it did not deter her faith, she said to herself if only I could come close enough to touch the hem of his garment I shall be made whole.
There is a great difference between being healed and being made whole, to be made whole is to be healed and made complete in every area of one’s life. So not only did this woman believe that she was going to be healed but she also believed that Jesus was going to restore all she had lost the wasted resources, years, time, relationship (husband must have left, her friends must have abandoned her)
Our Lord Jesus himself confirmed what she believed by saying to her in verse 34 (daughter thy faith hath made thee whole go in peace and be whole of thy plague (the NLT) says your suffering is over. The Lord is saying to some here the storm of your life is over, he says it is over in Jesus mighty name.
We can go on and on about instances in the Bible where The Lord God Almighty cleansed people from there different issues. The whole of the Book of Mk 5 lists so many e.g’s and we have confidence in The Lord just like the woman with the issue of blood that there is nothing too hard for Jehovah to do and no one can cleanse like He does, if only we can trust and believe in Him.
I would like us to examine. 3 things that Naaman, the lame man and the woman with the issue of blood had in common that helped them receive their cleansing:
Faith:
Humility: The woman with the issue of blood must have crawled on the ground to get to Jesus’s garment, remember she said the hem of his garment and not the top of his garment, it must have been humiliating for her but she endured it and she was saved in the end.
Naaman dipped himself seven times into the River Jordan at first he did not obey; he was allowing the spirit of pride to deceive him of his miracle, thank God for his faithful servants.
The lame man was dropped off daily at the beautiful gate of the temple of God. Even in his condition he did not see it as humiliating.
The three people were at the right place at the right time and they received their miracle.