17 But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.

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G.o.d never intends that deliverance from satan is an end in itself. He never delivers us to be free to serve ourselves. He gives us strength to serve his purpose and if we don't understand this, the adversary of our souls will rob us of our blessings.

I have seen quite many people who loved to be delivered but hate the moral obligation to live a responsible Christian life. People often look for what is easy, but nothing good and lasting is easy. If anything seems easy, you probably do not know who is paying the price or sacrifice for that thing.

Going back to the test in Obadiah, we see two things that are characteristic of Zion. Zion is the prophetic a.s.semblies of G.o.d's people and it will be right to believe G.o.d is talking to the church.

1. Deliverance is children's bread. It is our heritage in Christ. Jesus came to deliver us and as members of his bone and flesh, deliverance is our covenant right. That was the oath G.o.d swore to father Abraham and Jesus was born to fulfil the oath.

Luke.1:70-75

70 As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began:

71 That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us;

72 To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant;

73 The oath which he sware to our father Abraham,

74 That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear,

75 In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life.

G.o.d is interested in your deliverance as prophesied by Obadiah and Zechariah. Evil is on the earth and we cannot wish evil away. The fall of man had given the devil the legitimate right to be here and the devil will not trade his right for anything.

The devil and his cohorts know that the Adamic lease is not yet over and until then, they have moral right to use the authority they stole from Adam at the garden of Eden.

In the temptation of our Lord at the onset of his ministry, Satan said to him;

Luke.4:6

6 And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.

Jesus did not tell satan that he was lying when he said that the authority and glory of the world was given to him. We all know as bible students that it was not G.o.d but Adam and Eve that gave him that authority which through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ was restored back to every man who receives him as Lord and personal savior. He became our sin-offering and destroyed Satan's hold over our destinies.

1John.3:8

8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of G.o.d was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.

He manifested, showed himself forth as a way to defeat the enemies for our sake and then made us seat with him in the heavenly realm.

That position is far greater than the position where Adam sat before the fall.

Eph.2:4-7

4 But G.o.d, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,

5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

So, G.o.d delivers us for his sake. No matter what wrong your child has done, a loving parent wants to deliver him first before punis.h.i.+ng him.

For example, in our culture, mothers often send their children to buy crates of eggs which they often break some as a result of carelessness. Children are too playful, unreliable and unpredictable not because they are evil but because they are immature and childish.

But will a loving mother denies her child a lunch or dinner because of what had happened? No! You first give him enough food after which you address his carelessness so he will not repeat it. You do all these because whatever you birth into the world ought to be nurtured by you. Deliverance is children meal.

2. Obadiah verse 19 also mentions that there shall be holiness. The connecting link (intermediary) between deliverance and possession is what we do to retain our deliverance. It means spiritual things can be lost like people lose physical things.

The devil will not fold his hands and watch you fulfill your destiny without a challenge. No tyrant will allow you to take what he holds without a fight.

Jesus spoke to the church in Philadelphia;

Rev.3:11-12

11 Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.

12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my G.o.d, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my G.o.d, and the name of the city of my G.o.d, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my G.o.d: and I will write upon him my new name.

So, if your crown could not be lost, Jesus won't have asked the church to hold it, and one of the ways to hold it is through living a life that is not vulnerable to the enemies.

Jesus when teaching about the activities of demons made this statement;

Luke.11:24-26

24 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out.

25 And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished.

26 Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first.

G.o.d did not create a vacuum in any human spirit; for the Holy Spirit either inhabits it by our permission or the evil spirit step in at will. Like a gentle man, the Holy Spirit requires our invitation to come in but the devil being a taskmaster does not wait for our permission to step in if we allow him.

Everyone has an overlord; directly or indirectly.

John.1:10-13

10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.

11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

12 But as many as received him, to them gave the power to become the sons of G.o.d, even to them that believe on his name:

13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of G.o.d.

Whatever is good must be protected. Everything on earth goes towards decadence. People talk of a child who is a year or two years old not two years young. But by action or inaction, men can hasten or delay their journeys to the cemetery.

It is not G.o.d that is responsible to keep us holy but our personal obligation. Without holiness, no one will be able to see G.o.d in our lives, and our lives, will draw men quicker than our words. Peter talking to women whose husbands were unbelievers admonished them in his writings.

1Peter.3:1-4

1 Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives;

2 While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear.

3 Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel;

4 But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of G.o.d of great price.

We need to understand that G.o.d does not put his approval on wrong behaviors so he tells us what we need to do to keep our deliverance secured. We ought to walk as children of light.

Eph.5:8-11

8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:

9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)

10 Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.

11 And have no fellows.h.i.+p with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.

We never get rid of what we are unwilling to confront. We cannot wish evil away by praying them out but by taking it as our responsibility to attack it head on.

Paul had to confront the problem the saints in Corinth faced. He confronted the issues of incest when many of the believers there felt proud of what they should be ashamed of.

(1Cor.5:1)

It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife.

We ought to love believers who missed the mark or fail G.o.d at one time or the other to be restored, but for those who deliberately rebel against a life of obedience to the Lord. he showed us that the church should deal with their life style.

If we understand the purpose of confrontation, it won't be difficult; for confrontation is a redemptive act of leaders.h.i.+p. Believers will often feel safe knowing leaders are strong to take a stand when they challenge lawlessness in the fold.

Leaders add infinite weight to their words by living what they teach. The greatest a.s.set in Christian leaders.h.i.+p is credibility, and Paul modeled what was right before the church of Corinth.

He saw his role as a father and a prophetic mentor. He lived an exemplary life, so he was qualified to rebuke and correct the misbehaviors in the church. He wanted them as true children of G.o.d to judge persistent immorality.

1Cor.5:11-13

11 But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.

12 For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within?

13 But them that are without G.o.d judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.