WCB -"THROW OFF YOUR CLOAK"- #2 OF 8 EPISODE SERIES -6-16-26

YOU CAN'T STEP INTO YOUR FUTURE UNTIL YOU RELEASE YOUR PAST.                          WHAT ARE YOU STILL HOLDING ONTO?  TRANSFORMATION REQUIRES LETTING GO OF IDENTITY, COMFORT, AND CONTROL.           

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:05

Men who have heard the call. They are faithful ministers. God's watchmen on the wall.

SPEAKER_03 0:23

Welcome to the Watchmen's Call. We invite you to study with us the ancient prophecies of the Bible and witness their fulfillment in our modern time. This is number two of the eight-episode series of When Heaven Stands Still. Our title today is Throw Off Your Cloak. Let's get started. In the last message, we saw something very powerful. Jesus stopped. Heaven stood still for what? For one man's cry. But the story don't end there because when heaven responds, there's always a moment where you have to respond. We have to remember that. And that brings us to our message today. Our scripture begins in Mark 10, verse 50, and it says, and throwing aside his cloak, the King James says, casting away his garment. The garment was his cloak. He arose and came to Jesus. If you remember, just before this happened, the scripture says Jesus called him. But see, Barnabas had to move. Heaven stood still, but he still had to get up. You see, when the Lord calls, it requires a response. The call alone didn't change his conditions. Think about this. His response activated the moment. We have to understand that faith is not passive, it requires movement. See, our verse shows two different responses. One, he arose. The second one, he came to Jesus. My friends, I'm going to stop right here for just a minute because I believe we need to take a real close look at this and how it is related into our life. Has the Lord called you? Ask yourself, have I responded? And if I did, was it the right response? For example, has the Lord called you to preach? How about called you to teach? What if he called you to be a mentor or called you to be a worker in the body of Christ, building his kingdom? Maybe he called you to be a giver to support some certain work. The truth really is that it takes all of these different positions to fill a work in total. Everybody has a calling. Just look at James chapter 2 and verse 17. It says, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. If it is not accompanied by action, it is dead. There must be a response. It is possible for God to call you, and you stay right where you are. Think about that. How awful. It's possible for opportunity to show up and you don't move. But Barnamaeus, he didn't stay sitting, he responded. Man, what a powerful lesson that came from an outcast, a person that everybody considered a nobody, but God showed that he was a special somebody indeed. We can look at Hebrews 11, verse 6, and the word says, Without faith, it is impossible to please God, and faith always moves. Very, very important. I want to read that one more time. Without faith, it is impossible to please God, and faith always moves. The Bible says he threw aside his cloak. You see, that cloak represents your old life. That might sound simple, but it was everything. His cloak wasn't just clothing, it represented his identity as a beggar. Most likely that cloak was the only thing Bartimaeus owned, and that would make it the only source of security that he had. He could hide inside it, all wrapped up in a false sense of security. That cloak symbolized his past, everything that he was. It symbolized his limitations. Just a beggar. His survival system. He was hoping for pity and his identity. He was hopeless and helpless. Does any of this sound or feel familiar? Whether anybody else sees it on you or not. The cloak symbolized his old life of blindness and begging, and throwing it off, man, that showed readiness for transformation. Wow, how powerful was that response? You see, Bartimaeus, much like us today, he had just had enough and now was his chance to be set free of that old lifestyle. The thing that covered him was also the very thing that defined him. And sometimes the very thing that's been helping you survive, well, that turns out to be the very thing that is keeping you from your transformation. Look at Hebrews 12 and verse 1, and it says, Let us lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily entangles us. Everyone has a cloak. It don't matter how rich or poor you are, how respected or disrespected you are. Folks, it don't matter what your position is at work or in church, even in the country club, everyone has a cloak of some kind. We just have to realize it and admit it to ourselves and to God. What are we trying to hide under that cloak? Is it fear? Is it past mistakes? Maybe like Barnabas, it's an old identity. Maybe hiding under that cloak is where you've found your comfort zone. Maybe it's just old things you've been holding on to. But folks, when Jesus calls, something has to be released. See, letting go reveals faith. Barnamaeus threw off his cloak. He'd done that before he was even healed. Think about that. Not after, but before he was healed. You see, he let go of security before receiving his miracle. Now this is faith, trusting God before you even see the outcome. He risked losing what little he had left. You see, most of the time a cloak was a beggar's only property and livelihood. We can look at 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 7, and it says, We walk by faith, not by sight. You see, faith doesn't wait for confirmation. Faith responds to the call. Faith lets go before it sees what's coming next. So how can we do that? Well, God gave us the answer several thousand years ago. Proverbs 3 verse 5 says, Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. That's how we can do that. That's how we can f have the faith to let go before the miracle comes. See, now we only have to accept it and hold on to that. Sometimes what God is asking you to release feels like your only security. Just like Bartimaeus, that cloak, he had to come out from under that, his security to get his miracle. And just like that cloak, what God wants us to release is actually what is holding us back from our miracle. Here's a question that I have for us today. Why didn't Bartimaeus take the cloak with him? Think about that. Why didn't he hold on to that while he was going to Jesus to, you know, hide from the crowds that was glaring at him and mocking him? Because, see, folks, you can't step into your future while you're holding on to your past. There's an old says that says you can't take everything with you. And that is absolute proof you have to turn loose of what's covering you up, what's holding you back to be able to get to Jesus. See, the cloak, it would have slowed him down. I mean, it's just like our past. It was a hindrance to his movement, and letting go allowed him to move freely. Friends, if we can just learn to let go of those things that that is just holding us, those weights that so easily beset us. If we can learn to let go of those things, we can make it to Jesus and we can get our miracle. The cloak could have hindered his ability to reach Jesus quickly. Sometimes we ain't got no time to spare. Sometimes we have got to get to Jesus immediately, and we can't do that if we're holding on to a weight that's we're having to drag along with us. Isaiah chapter 43, verses 18 and 19 says this Forget the former things. See, I am doing a new thing. What better of example of this than Bartimaeus? Maybe even more with us. You see, he's doing a new thing, he's wanting to do a new thing in you, but you got to we have to let go of the old things so that we can walk in the newness. God does new things, friends, but not while we're holding on to old patterns. New seasons require new responses. Remember the definition of insanity is to keep doing the same thing over and over and over and expecting new results. It just don't happen like that, my friend. So why do we keep doing that? Well, there is an answer of how to break that loop, and we find that in Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 22. It says, put off your old self, which is corrupt. If you want to break that old pattern, that loop, here's some of the things that we have to do that'll help us. First off, we've got to pause. We've got to stop acting blindly, okay? Then we've got to analyze the whole situation and try to identify exactly what keeps pulling us to that, what keeps making us go back to that. Same old, same old, same old. Then we have to turn or pivot. Change just one thing in that pattern that you're doing. Change something. And then you can start measuring the new direction that you're going in. It's it sounds simple and it's easy to say, but sometimes that is a really hard thing to do. And again, what are some of the reasons that we keep doing that? Well, part of it is your comfort zones. You see, it's been proven that repeating a habit feels a whole lot safer than trying something that hadn't been proven, a method to you that hadn't been proved to you. It's just easier to stay in the habits. What about false hope? A lot of times we believe mistakenly that if we just try harder, if we just if we just try to do it smarter and harder rather than differently, it'll work out this time. What if we think about it like this? There really are things that you cannot carry into your next season. But it's not because God's taking something away from you. No, it's because he's making room for something better than what you got now. So our lesson today started off with Jesus called him. Is the Lord calling you for something? Remember Barnamaeus, he didn't hesitate. Number one, he threw off that garment. Number two, he got up. And number three, he moved forward. Three responses to the call that God had put on him. Folks, if the Lord's calling you, I highly encourage you to consider these three steps to help you make your decision to follow him. Throw off whatever it is that's holding you back. Number two, get up. Whatever this thing is, it's had you down long enough. Just like Bartimaeus, he had had enough and this was his chance. And then number three, move forward. Don't just stand there, don't look back, don't back up. Move forward. Move towards Jesus. He didn't call you for nothing. He's got something so much better than what you got right now that it's just gonna blow your mind when it comes through. He knows the weight, he knows the concern, he knows the depression, he knows the financial problems, he knows everything that is holding you down right now. We have to look at Matthew 11, 28. Jesus said, Come unto me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Don't we want rest from those things that just keep holding us down, keep pulling us back, just keep destroying us every time we turn around. Come unto me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I'll give you rest. You see, the power of this moment is simple. Barnabas didn't just hear the call, he responded to it. He didn't just receive attention, he acted on it, and that's where we're at right now. You see, in the last message, heaven stood still. In this message, a man let go. And maybe that's the moment you're in right now. Not where God needs to respond, but where you need to release something because Jesus is still calling. But the question is, what are you holding on to? Jesus has already made the call. Now he's waiting on you to respond. And remember, like and share with your families and friends, and subscribe to our channel so you can catch all the new programs as soon as they become available. Your comments are always welcome and appreciated, even if you don't agree with us. So join us for episode number three, and that's going to be what do you want me to do? Thank you for listening. Be blessed. Keep watching. Jesus is coming very soon. Be ready.

SPEAKER_00 16:19

Watch my watchman Thank you for joining with us here at The Watchman's Call.

SPEAKER_03 16:29

My friends, Jesus is coming back very soon. The signs for his return are showing up all over the world, even as we speak right now. Our job is to reach as many people as we can and warn them about his return. And you can help us do that by sharing these messages with everybody you know. That means the saint and the sinner. Everyone must be warned, and we don't have much time left. Y'all be blessed and keep watching. And remember, leave us a comment to let us know your thoughts and concerns.