Speaker 1: Welcome to Commission Thursday, where we emphasize that every believer is an ambassador of the gospel of the kingdom of God, where every believer is a witness of the gospel of the kingdom of God and where every believer is the salt and the light of the world.
Speaker 1: Today we are going to talk about reaching out to prisoners and in the book of Matthew, chapter 25, verse 35 to 40, it says that, for I was angry and you gave me something to eat.
Speaker 1: I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink.
Speaker 1: I was a stranger and you invited me in.
Speaker 1: I needed cloth and you clothed me.
Speaker 1: I was ill and you looked after me.
Speaker 1: I was in prison and you came to visit me.
Speaker 1: Then the righteous will answer him Lord, when did we see you angry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?
Speaker 1: When did we see you a stranger and invite you, or in need of clothes and cloth you?
Speaker 1: When did we see you in ill or in prison and go to visit you?
Speaker 1: The king will reply truly, I tell you, whatever you did for one of the lives of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it for me.
Speaker 1: So these are stories of Jeeva saying about reaching out to prisoners.
Speaker 1: And in this life we see the disciples of Jeeva's Christ.
Speaker 1: They had the prison experience and we saw them being captured and being put in prison.
Speaker 1: And so the emphasis of this verse is that God is asking us that we, as the believers, we have a mandate of going and reaching out to prisoners and just evangelizing them, evangelizing unto them and just preaching the word of God and just encouraging them, because in this life, even as an individual, you can be freed physically, but spiritually you are not freed.
Speaker 1: And so Jivas has come so that you can be freed both physically and spiritually.
Speaker 1: So as believers, we have a mandate to go and preach the word of God to prisoners, because the prisoners, they are human beings and they need the gospel of God.
Speaker 1: So it is not in our place to say that we cannot go and reach out unto them, but God has given us the authority and he has given us power to go and preach the word of God to believers.
Speaker 1: And when Jesus comes, because you are a believer, when he comes he will ask you a question.
Speaker 1: That I was in prison and you came and visited me.
Speaker 1: I was angry and you came and fed me.
Speaker 1: I was in dire need of clothes and you came and clothed me.
Speaker 1: So it's a question that, as believers, we are going to be asked.
Speaker 1: So what are you doing for the kingdom of God?
Speaker 1: Because all authority and power has been given unto us to go out there preaching the word of God.
Speaker 1: And to prisoners, because they are human beings and so we are called to go and preach the word of God unto them.
Speaker 1: We are called to go and evangelize so that they can hear the gospel of God and so that they can do as the word of God says.
Speaker 1: And just an encouragement If you are a believer and maybe you think that how will I go and reach out to prisoners, just know that you have an authority, because you have been given the authority to go.
Speaker 1: You are a believer and you have the Spirit of God in you, so you have been given the authority to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, in the name of the Son and in the name of the Holy Spirit, in the name of the Son and in the name of the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 1: So we have the authority as believers, and so let's go.
Speaker 1: It's an encouragement that let's go outside there, let's preach the word of God, because we have the word of God in us.
Speaker 1: And maybe in your cycle you have friends who are in prisons.
Speaker 1: You have relatives, maybe, who are in prisons.
Speaker 1: You have friends who are in prisons.
Speaker 1: You have relatives, maybe, who are in prisons.
Speaker 1: And it's not necessarily the physical prison, but we have also spiritual prison.
Speaker 1: Like people are addicted to drugs, people are addicted to sexual immorality.
Speaker 1: So, even in your cycle, go and preach the word of God unto people, because by doing that you are freeing them from their captivity.
Speaker 1: Because it's our mandate that God has given us to go and preach the word of God, baptizing them in the name of the father, in the name of the son and in the holy spirit, and by doing that, for sure, god is going to to be up with us and it will come a time where we are going to stand before God and we are going to give an account and we are going to be asked questions.
Speaker 1: So if you are a believer and you are sleeping on that job, it's a wake-up call that you should come out of your comfort zone and just come out and preach the word of God.
Speaker 1: Come out and just pick it and stand for the truth.
Speaker 1: The Bible says in Romans 1, verse 16, that, for I am not ashamed of the gospel of God, because it is by power that brings salvation to man, first to the Jew and then to the Gentiles.
Speaker 1: So we have been given that authority and it is not your power to save people, but it is the power of the Holy Ghost.
Speaker 1: So it is just a wake- save people, but it is the power of the holy ghost.
Speaker 1: So it is just a wake-up call that, uh, don't be afraid, maybe it's your first time, but don't be afraid, you have the power of god in you and you have the, the holy spirit.
Speaker 1: Yes, and how you can plug in?
Speaker 1: We have the missions department and we have the.
Speaker 1: We have the prison department, and so how you can plug in, I know there's a number that it will be displayed there, but if you want to go and reach out to prisons, you can contact the missions department.
Speaker 1: Be blessed.