Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] I want you to stand to your feet. We honor the reading of God's Word. Read two passages, Scripture, two CorintHians, chapter Three.
[00:00:08] In a moment, I'll have you turn over to Galatians chapter Three. And I apologize. I had meeting after meeting today. I didn t have the time to put this in the Bible App, but I'll give you the vErses. We'll go through it. Two CoriNtHianS, 318. I'm reading tonight out of the ESV, the English standard version.
[00:00:27] ThiS is WHat it sayS. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image. From one degree of glory to another.
[00:00:42] This comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. You understand? We're in a series right now called beholding and becoming. Everybody say, behold and become.
[00:00:54] The idea is very simple. When we come into Christ, the veil has been taken off. We no longer have blinders over eyes. We can behold the Lord in his glory. And as we do, we are transformed from one degree of glory. I like the way the ESV says, from one degree of glory to another, we literally begin to emanate the glory of God. And so what a privilege that we get to behold the Lord. Now, I've been talking about sonship and identity, and this is a good passage for that. Turn in your BibLEs to GalaTians, chapter Three. GAlATiAnS, chapter three and verse 26. Reading this out of the New LivINg TranslAtiOn, GalaTiAns, chapter Three and verse 26.
[00:01:43] It says this, you are all children of God. Are you a child of God? If you are in Christ, you are a child of God. Hallelujah. Through faith In Christ Jesus. VErsE 27. In all who have been united with ChrIst in baptism, you ought to get baptized. If you have not put with. I'm sorry, united with Christ in baptism. Have put on Christ like putting on new clOthes. There is no longer Jew or gentile free, slave, male, female. You are all one in Christ Jesus. Now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heIrs. And God's promise to Abraham belongs to you. God's promise to Abraham belongs To you. So we're Going to pray, and I'm going to give you exactly what Abraham's promises are, and we're going to look at, because that's your right, that's your inheritance. But let's pray. Let's ask the Lord to speak to us through his word tonight. Lord, I just thank you for your word. I thank you that it is light, it's life, it's instruction. It's correction where we need it. And Lord, I ask that today your word would accomplish all that you desire it to. Lord, what we need ministered to our hearts. Would you minister to us? I pray, O Lord, for a mighty anointing by your Holy Spirit. Come on, church, help me pray. Pray that God anoint you. Pray that God anoint this word. Lord, we pray for a mighty anointing by your spirit. Give us eyes that see and ears that hear, a heart and a mind that perceives what your spirit is speaking. Lord, we command that every divisive work of the enemy in the name of Jesus would cease that, Lord, that which would bring division or confusion or uproot your word as it comes forward. Lord, I bind it. I command it to. Lord, loose your people and let them go. And even right now, may the spirit of truth be released in this house. Lord, a mighty anointing. Let us move into sonship and identity in the mighty, in the powerful name of Jesus, I pray. Amen. And amen. You may be seated.
[00:03:59] Hallelujah.
[00:04:03] If there's one thing that I am praying that you will grasp through this entire series is the idea that as you and I have come into Christ. Guys, I believe there's many benefits in many reasons why we should preach the gospel. How many understand when you come into Christ, you get open to this whole world. I mean, how many of you could just tell blessings of how God has touched your life and healed you and set you free and provided for you and restored relationships and healed your body and praise God, he's rescued us from hell. Praise God. I mean, that's fresh in my mind, especially after our know. It's literally, you realize what we're doing in moments like that. The Bible says in the Book of Jude, we're literally Snatching people out of the fires of hell. What a privilege.
[00:04:55] Healing, freedom, joy, deliverance, salvation, it's all incredible. But can I tell you, all of the benefits that we receive from the Gospel are conditional on one thing. When we come into relationship with God the Father through the Son Jesus Christ, and his spirit begins to dwell on the inside of us, you realize all of the benefit. Sometimes we'll promote things like the Gospel's all about healing, the Gospel's all about salvation, the gospel's all about, listen, that's all true, but it is all a byproduct. Hear me on this. It's all a byproduct of sonship. It's all a byproduct of identity. I am a child of God for all who believe. John, chapter one. He is given the right to be called Children of God. I want you to say that I'm a child of God.
[00:05:53] Yeah. And as a child of God, you're saved. Hallelujah. You're healed. You're delivered. You're free. We're full of joy. Praise God. You're blessed and highly favored. I mean, there's so many things that I could say, but it's all a byproduct of our sonship, of our identity. And so that's what I really want us to have a good perspective on what God is doing. Now. One of the things, I shared the story last week about a homeless man that I knew growing up. I grew up in a small town. We only had one homeless guy in our entire town. And upon his death, we realized that that man's parents had died and actually left him a large inheritance. This man had. I don't even know how much. I'm not going to make up anything. But this man had a lot of money in the bank. This man had a house that had been left to him. And yet he lived his life homeless because he never accessed what was his inheritance.
[00:06:55] I believe that we, as the people of God, we operate very much the same way. It's like God has brought us into his family. We have rights. We have inheritance. We are heirs of Christ and heirs of his kingdom. And yet, many times, we live like we have nothing.
[00:07:12] You realize you've got a storehouse in heaven. You've got the resources of God Almighty that he's made available to you and I. This passage that we started with here in Galatians is one that I want you to see as those who belong to Christ. You are the children of Abraham. You are his heirs. That means you have an inheritance. And God's promise to Abraham belongs to you.
[00:07:41] God's promise to Abraham belongs to you. So I want you to say this out of your own mouth. I am an heir with an inheritance.
[00:07:52] I'm a child of God.
[00:07:55] I'm created in the image of God.
[00:07:59] You ought to say these things over your life very often. I'm an heir with an inheritance. I am a child of God, created in his likeness and in his image. And listen, if you don't feel like that, here's what you need to do. You need to get in the presence of God. You need to behold him through the word. Behold his promises through the word. You behold him in the place of worship. You behold him in the place of prayer. You even behold him.
[00:08:24] Pastor Mehlani. Started Transformation Ministry. You realize that's going to go on, by the way, every Thursday night. Now, what is that? She's demonstrating and portraying various aspects of God's freedom and God's healing and God's deliverance. And what happens? You get around and you see new aspects of God through this ministry. You see it through my wife and through the worship ministry. You hear it through the testimonies. I mean, I'm telling you, I was watching Stephen through hell House as the Roman soldier, and I'm watching this and I'm like, that's the glory of God that I feel. What is that? Even through other people, you can behold the light of the world. And so what's my point in all of this? Through worship and prayer and through others and through teaching in the Bible, we behold the glory of the Lord, and he's transforming us into his glorious image.
[00:09:21] Somebody's going to get this.
[00:09:23] Somebody's just going to start believing this.
[00:09:27] I was listening to a pastor this last week. Many of you know Jonathan Shuttlesworth, and he was sharing a story out. He was sharing a story about a guy at a biker rally who got Saved, had no knowledge of the Gospel, had no church background at all. Now, if somebody gets saved in our church, we give them a devotion. I think it's the Gospel of Mark. Is that right? I think it's we give them a devotion.
[00:09:55] You'll tell people like, this is where you should start with the Bible. Start with the New Testament. Start with Jesus, right? That's the centerpiece of everything. Nobody told this guy where he should start. So he started at Genesis. He started at the beginning and he starts reading through. And it's amazing. Every week he was coming to Jonathan and telling him testimonies of what? Like, I read this thing that Abraham gave a tithe. And so he just started know we as Christians were like, well, that was old Covenant. And you find reasons to not obey. This guy just read the Bible and began to obey. Like the third week he came up to Jonathan, this is a true story. I'm not making this up. He's like, well, Pastor, I've been so blessed since I started giving. My business is exploded. I just went to the doctor the other day and I got circumcised. I'm excited to see what God's going to do. And Jonathan, this is true. This is true.
[00:10:52] Jonathan's like, this is why you start with the New Testament. This guy's going to be mad when he gets to Galatians and realizes that you don't got to do that one.
[00:11:05] It's true. But you know what? That's childlike faith. This is like someone who's just reading the Bible and believing it. And some of us, we're going to begin to read the Scriptures, and I'm going to give you the promises of Abraham, and somebody, somebody in the House is just going to start believing what the Bible says. If I'm in Christ, I am the seed of Abraham, and Abraham's promises are my promises. Are you trekking with me tonight? So literally, what we get to do is like, I just want you to imagine you've got a bank account, and you can walk over to the bank and it's like, here's all these. Maybe a safe deposit box is a better example. And I've got this and I have this and I have this. And that's what the promises are that are available to us. Okay, so let me get. I'm going to go through the first number of these very quickly because I have preached on them the last two weeks, but I'll just give them to you for those who haven't been with us. Number one, the blessing of Abraham. These are straight out of scriptures. Begin in Genesis, chapter twelve. In verse one, he said, I will show you the land God gave Abraham. Number one, vision. Vision. This is where I'm leading you. This is where I'm taking you. Understand? As a child of God, one of the very first things he's going to do in your life is give you vision. He's going to give you purpose. Your life has meaning. He's going to show you things. He's going to lead you to things. Everybody say, vision number two. He said, I will make you a great nation. These are the promises to Abraham. These are your inheritance. This is the promise of multiplication, what I would call legacy. Everybody say legacy.
[00:12:49] One day I'm going to die, and I'm going to go be with Jesus. But my kids are going to keep on loving Jesus, and my grandbabies are going to keep on loving Jesus. And I'm leaving a godly leg one day, even if I'm dead and gone, even in the spirit, you realize, why do we buy properties like King's Kona? Why do we take steps of faith to see a building built? Why? Because 50 years from now, should the Lord Tarry, there's still going to be a church right here. Your grandbabies, even our spiritual sons and daughters, are still going to have a place to worship long after we are gone. And so that's why we're contending for legacy number three. He said, I will bless you. That's prosperity. Everyone say prosperity.
[00:13:34] He's going to prosper you. He's going to cause you to increase. He's going to bless the works of your hands. Again, I'm not going to repeat all this even though I could. I get excited about all these are promises that are available to you. You walk into the bank and say, hey, open my saved deposit box with my prosperity in it. Open my saved deposit box with my legacy in it. These are things I want you to. You can claim these.
[00:14:02] You can receive these. Okay? Number four, promotion.
[00:14:07] Promotion. Everybody say promotion.
[00:14:10] Told Abraham, promised to Abraham, I will make your name great.
[00:14:15] Hallelujah. That's why my daughter starts working and she gets promoted and it gets promoted again.
[00:14:23] Getting raises. And I believe that for you. I mean, I've watched people come into the house of God and begin to serve the Lord and next thing you know, they were at the lowest level in their company and now they're a manager.
[00:14:35] I've watched this happen to people, how God just begins to promote and give favor and increase. Why? Because you're walking in the blessing of Abraham as a child of God.
[00:14:47] Number five, you will be a blessing. That's generosity. Everybody say generosity.
[00:14:54] It's not just going to increase you and promote you and make your name great so everybody can just like, wow, look how awesome they are. No, he's going to elevate you so you can be a blessing to others, so you can encourage others. Okay, generosity.
[00:15:10] I will bless them that bless you and I will curse them that curses you. That's number six and seven, the promises of Abraham. That's multiplied blessing and multiplied judgment. Hallelujah.
[00:15:23] You don't get excited about multiplied judgment. Should I am in that. I'm going to talk a little bit about that tonight, actually. But I'm just telling you, God is working on your behalf whether you recognize it or not.
[00:15:35] People are good to you. God's going to be good to them.
[00:15:38] People are rotten to you. People tear you down. God will deal with that. Hallelujah. Number eight. In you all nations will be blessed. This is what I say call revival. Everybody say revival as blessing. Number eight. Revival. The reason I say that in you all nations will be blessed. Galatians actually references that verse and actually talks about how through Christ, the Holy Spirit will be given to all people.
[00:16:10] You realize part of what God promised Abraham prophetically, 2000 years before the ministry of Jesus was the outpouring and the infilling of the Holy Spirit. That's amazing. Sons and daughters prophesy. And that's why we have a prophetic night. Praise God. People dreaming dreams and seeing visions that all goes back to Abraham and what God promised him.
[00:16:34] It's now 4000 years ago. Amen. Number nine, land. Property. Everybody say, property.
[00:16:43] I will give you this land. I will give this land to your seed forever. You'll see that constantly following the people of God as he made them a promise, he also gave them land. I had another testimony this last Sunday. In fact, I might try and highlight it, but somebody, they just came back from like they were on missions and then they had some time at home with their family. They just came back. This is a ywam family, missionary family. And they came to me. They said, pastor, during the 21 days of prayer and fasting we were claiming that property and God opened a door supernaturally for us. We just got a home and they were so excited. That's amazing. That's amazing. That's actually the third testimony through that 21 days of prayer and fasting where God either opened a property or a home for somebody here. And how many know any house in Hawaii? That's a miracle. But look, that's the promises of. You're walking in his favor. This is why I say it all the time. God's gonna give me a house. God's gonna give me a house. Why? Because it's sitting in my inheritance account right over there. I'm a child of God. I am an heir with an inheritance. I got property out there. Does anybody have property? Come on. Yeah. Some of you got it? Okay. Some of you got it. Yeah. Even young people. That's right. Claim it by faith. Some of you are like, no, I don't got nothing. That's right. And that's what you will have. How many of you believe in for a house? How many of you believe in for property? Praise God. Praise God. Half of us? Okay. That's why for those aren't raising their hands that means you either already got it or you just want to come hang out with me at my house. Okay.
[00:18:20] Number eleven. Okay. I need to move faSter. I need to get into the new stuff. Number eleven. I am your shield. God is your protector.
[00:18:28] It's one of the blessings of Abraham. Protection. Everybody say protection.
[00:18:33] Number twelve. I am your great reward. Everybody say presence.
[00:18:39] God is near to us. You never have to wonder. God, where are you? God, I can't feel you. No, God. It's part of your inheritance that you can lay claim to. He is near to you. His presence is with you, number 13. I think this is where we ended last week.
[00:18:56] Your blood family. My flesh and blood will love, honor, and serve the Lord. Everybody say flesh and blood.
[00:19:06] He tells Abraham in Genesis 15, two through four, your own son will be your heir. See, at this point in time, he'd already tried to kind of fulfill the promise his own way through Hagar and Ishmael, trying to do it his own way. And we've all done stuff like that. God, you gave me this promise. Now I'm going to make it happen. Well, God was teaching him how to walk and how to live by faith. And he assured him, it's through your seed. It is your son, and not a spiritual son, even though we believe for that. Not a spiritual daughter, even though we, your own flesh and blood, is who I'm going to do this through. So that's why you can pray with authority. If you've got a prodigal son or daughter, if you have an unbelieving spouse, if you have family that's away from the Lord, you can pray and claim. Lord, one of the blessings of Abraham is that my flesh and blood are going to be an heir to the very same promises you've given me. Amen. So you pray with authority. That's your blood family. They're going to love the Lord. Now, number 14, this is where we get into some new stuff. This is going to help you.
[00:20:14] The Lord told. This is Genesis, 1513.
[00:20:18] He tells Abraham, your seed will be strangers and oppressed for 400 years.
[00:20:27] Praise God.
[00:20:29] What does that have to do with anything? How is that a blessing? This is a promise that God gave Abraham, your seed will be strangers and oppressed for 400 years. But here's what I want. You want to know what the promise is that's in this? I want you to write this down. Plan.
[00:20:49] God has a plan.
[00:20:52] And that should encourage every single one of us. Because if Abraham didn't know this, if he's watching his generations, and I don't know how this plays out from heaven, but he's probably looking over the balcony of heaven and watching his generations come forward and watching all that they go through, watching them go into slavery and bondage in Egypt, and he might be wondering, God, what about your promises?
[00:21:17] And all of a sudden, they can look back and they remember, no. God said that this was going to happen, and God has a plan.
[00:21:26] Can I assure you, no matter what kind of season you're going through, we can all talk about these moments. I look at the fires in Lahaina, and I remember the message that Dr. Morocco preached the very next Sunday was out of Romans chapter eight and verse 18, that God works everything for good to those who loved him and are the called according to his purposes. And they began to share testimony after testimony after testimony of how God's hand was sovereignly in and working through all of those situations. How many of you can testify? You've come through a hard season, but you look and you can see God. You had a plan all along, God, you grew me through that. So I don't ever want you to think when a storm hits your life or you're going through a trial. Don't think God has abandoned me. God didn't see this. No. God has a plan for your life. And as long as you stay in love with him and keep your eyes on you, continue to behold him and he's transforming you, friend. I'm telling you, he will turn it for good. He will turn it for good on your behalf.
[00:22:35] Everybody say plan.
[00:22:38] Hallelujah. Number 15. These are the promises you say. How many are there? Pastor Jacob? 48. I'm not going to do them all tonight. We're going to get to 21 and then we're going to prophesy. Okay? Number 15, your seed shall be as the stars in number. I want you to.
[00:22:57] Okay, write this down and then I'll explain it. Family of influence.
[00:23:04] Family of inflUence. Or maybe you ought to say influencers because that's a better word in this day and age, isn't it? Your family are going to be influencers. Now you say, well, where do you see that? Now you might remember in verse promise number ten. For those who are taking good notes, you'll remember God spoke to Abraham. I will make your descendants like your seed as the dust in number.
[00:23:31] And then he says, I will make your seed like the stars in the sky.
[00:23:37] Very similar promise, but two different pictures.
[00:23:41] Now can I just show you something? In this, he gives two pictures. One is of sand, the dust of the earth. And the second is that of the stars in the sky. Now, dust, when you study dust, it's a really neat picture. You understand? God in creation spoke everything into creation. He spoke into creation. And in fact, the word can literally be. Translates into saying into creation. Or you might not like this kind of stuff when you dig into it. Makes you sound New Age, but literally he was vibrating into creation vibes. I don't know. I used to get on Leah's case about saying vibes, but the more that I study, I'm like, no, God. God is vibrating. And God's vibrating things into you're actually living matter that's vibrating. Did you know that? How does that. Well, he's speaking things into creation, and it literally begins to send vibrations into the earth that take form in the earth, in the sky and the ocean, and the plants and everything that you see and touch around. However, when he came to mankind, he did not speak us into creation. The Bible says that he got in the dirt and he formed us out of the dust of the earth. Literally. God got his hands dirty when he was making you and me. He literally formed us out of the dust of the earth. You know what? That is a picture of intimacy.
[00:25:16] It wasn't just light. Be.
[00:25:19] It wasn't just plants. Be. No. He got intimately involved in the creation of mankind.
[00:25:30] Let me give you another picture of the dust. One of my wife's favorite psalms is that passage in Psalm. Is it 139? Yeah, verse 17. How precious are your thoughts about me, O God? They cannot be numbered. I can't even count them. They outnumber the grains of sand. And when I wake up, you are still with me. You know how? Think about that.
[00:25:58] We all know what grains of sand are like. Try and go to the beach this weekend. Go with someone who won this beach package.
[00:26:09] You go with them this weekend and try and count. Pick a handful of sand and count a handful of sand, and you imagine all the sand on the planet. And that's how numerous God's thoughts are about you.
[00:26:26] The picture, he said, abraham, that's what your seed is going to be like. It's a picture of God being intimate with his creation.
[00:26:38] I expect on the promises of Abraham, that my seed, that my family, they're going to know the Lord. We're not going to have prodigals in my family. My son, my daughter, my grandbabies, my great grandbabies, should the Lord tarry to a thousand generations, they are going to love. They're going to be intimate and near to the Lord.
[00:27:03] But the other is the picture of stars. And if you study stars, he said, abraham, this is what your sons and daughters, this is what your seed is going to be like. If you look at the stars, it always points towards influence. It's authority, it's leadership, it's even spiritual authority. And so you understand, my kids are not just going to be close to the Lord, but it's like, I talk about my daughter getting promoted and gaining influence. That's going to be her for the rest of her life. That's going to be my son. Listen, you are not going to be collecting welfare for the rest of your life. You're not going to be living on aid for the rest of your life. God is going to elevate people who will begin to grab hold of their identity. He's going to raise you, give you influence, give you authority. You're going to be the head and not the tail. You're going to be the lender, you will not be the borrower, you will be the first, you will not be the last. This is what God is doing amongst the people of God. He will raise you up as people of influence as part of the blessing of Abraham. I was reading something, and maybe you've heard this before, but there was a comparison made between two individuals in their legacy. There was a man of God by the name of Jonathan Edwards. Many of you would know him as the one who kind of sparked the Great Awakening that swept the United States in the 17 hundreds. And they began to trace the family line of Jonathan Edwards. Jonathan, by the way, had eleven children.
[00:28:36] Praise God.
[00:28:40] Eleven children, okay. And so that's great. You guys get married, have eleven kids. It's wonderful. That's how you grow the kingdom of God right there.
[00:28:50] But Jonathan Edwards, what he would do is he would go in every single night and lay hands on all eleven of his children. He would bless them, he would prophesy over them, he would put his hands on them and bless them under the glory of the Lord. And this is authoritatively documented in Jonathan Edwards Legacy includes one US vice president, one dean of a school of law, one dean of a medical school, three US senators, three governors, three mayors, 13 college presidents, 30 judges, 60 doctors, 65 professors, 75 military officers, 80 public office holders, 100 lawyers, 100 clergymen, 285 college graduates.
[00:29:40] That's amazing.
[00:29:42] What is that godly legacy as a man who grabbed hold of the blessing of Abraham, that can be your testimony. Conversely, there was a man named Max Jukes. You can just tell he's a bad dude. But what happened with Max Jukes? It came to their attention that 42 different men in New York prison systems were traced back to this one man.
[00:30:10] He lived in New York at about the same time as Jonathan Edwards and the Dukes family. Watch. What? You want to know what his legacy was? It's a man in prison. Seven murderers, 60 thieves, 190 prostitutes, 150 other convicts, 310 who lived in poverty, 440 who were physically wrecked by addiction and alcohol. And of the 1200 descendants that were studied, 300 died prematurely.
[00:30:44] What kind of legacy are we going to have for me?
[00:30:50] I'm grabbing hold of the blessing of AbraHam. We're going to have people of influence and authority. God is going to increase and bring blessing. You better believe. I pray for my kids every single night. Sometimes they don't want to, but I make them. Come here, come here. I make them. I still make them climb in bed with me, Mariah. Lay down right in between us, just like you did when you was a baby. And we lay hands on our kids and we prophesy over them.
[00:31:16] They're going to be intimate with the Lord and they're going to be people of influence and authority. That's your family tree. That's the blessing of Abraham. That is your inheritance that you can grab hold of number 16. He is your defender. Everybody say defender.
[00:31:42] He told Abraham in Genesis 1514, I will punish your oppressors. I will punish your oppressors. God is your defender. God is your defender.
[00:31:56] I could tell you stories about this.
[00:31:59] I don't know if I should, though.
[00:32:03] I could tell you some stories that will freak you out. In fact, even the offering message that we had tonight, you ever wonder, like, Ananias and Sapphira, like, dude, they held back an offering. God killed them. What in the world is that about? Anybody ever wonder, like, why was God so harsh towards this kind? Here's something I want you to learn about the nature and the characteristics of God.
[00:32:28] Jesus was so patient when he was dealing with tax collectors and prostitutes and drunks and outright sinners and heathens and God. I'm telling you, God is patient and he is gracious with sinful people.
[00:32:42] But God was hard on the religious, ultra righteous people who tried to portray themselves in a certain way. God was very. When you touch that which God calls holy, God takes it seriously. Sinners sin and Jesus loves them and died for them. That doesn't freak God out.
[00:33:04] What bothers God is when professing believers who know better, lie to God, put their hand on what God has blessed. When somebody touches the Ark of the covenant, aching. You knew better, right? You look at all these moments where God was so harsh with people, it was always the religious self righteous and you knew better. This is why, guys, I am far more concerned about people running their mouth and slandering and tearing other people down and this kind of hypocrite. That stuff scares me more than when a drug addict or a homosexual or someone who's in immorality comes into our church. I'm just telling you because like a lying mouth, you realize that the devil is the father of lies.
[00:33:54] He's not the father of homosexuality, he's not the father of money laundering. He's not the father of gangsters. No, he's a father of lies.
[00:34:07] Is gangsters funny? I don't know, but I'm just telling you, I've watched God. There was a time, let me just give you one practical example. There was a time early in our ministry, it was in the first couple of years of our ministry, and there were people, one individual in particular, who really began to slander me and my wife, tell lies about us. And all of this bout took us out of the ministry early on. And I'll never forget the day that this woman comes into my office. She says, pastor, all of these are down around the corner. They were at a car lot. They're all over there right now. And, oh, Pastor, the things they're saying about you are horrible. She came in crying, and I remember everything in me wanted to go down there, call them out, expose them, maybe fist fight, I don't know.
[00:35:02] But I felt the Lord speak to me two things as clearly as I've ever heard the Lord say anything. Number one, he said, deal in integrity. Doesn't matter if they're lying about you, you don't lie about them. Doesn't matter if they're slandering you, you don't slander them. Doesn't matter if they're being violent or whatever. You don't act that way. You deal in integrity. The second thing that he told me is, don't defend yourself.
[00:35:31] I could have flown into that room accusations. But you want to know some of the things that I learned during this time? The Bible says vengeance is mine, says the Lord. Not my job to go follow this thing up and expose it and punish them. God will do that. The Bible says that the devil is the accuser of the Brethren. So if I fly into accusations and I try and bring judgment, not only am I taking a job that belongs to God, but I'm also acting like the devil.
[00:36:01] So I shut my mouth. I dealt in integrity. Now, this story is going to freak some of you guys out. I know. Should I tell them?
[00:36:13] I am not kidding. And I've even shared this with other pastors, and they've told me similar stories like this. I'm telling you, I watched one man, his wife, leave him. He commits suicide. I watched one person almost immediately struck with cancer. They died. I watched another person struck with crippling fibromyalgia. There were six individuals who were involved in this betrayal and this slander. Every single one of them died within a year.
[00:36:45] You want to have an altar call right now? I don't.
[00:36:51] Why?
[00:36:53] Because there were people. Listen to me. God wasn't dealing harshly with an unrepentant sinner in the world. No, he was dealing harshly with professing people of God who were coming against God's temple. God's people. You want to know what that verse is about? Touch not the Lord's anointed. That's what it's about, right there. This is why, friend, be careful. It's not just about pastors, by the way. It's not just about pastor. You be careful about the way you talk about your brothers and sisters in Christ. Why? Because you are the Temple of the Holy Ghost. And the moment you begin to talk bad, you begin to tear down somebody in the body of Christ. You realize you are touching that which God says. That is a holy dwelling place.
[00:37:47] I could tell you more stories on this life, but here's my point in all of this, God is your defender.
[00:37:54] God is your defender.
[00:37:59] Hallelujah.
[00:38:02] And I'll just tell you again. God is gracious to the sinner.
[00:38:07] If you're away from God, I don't want you leaving here in fear like God is about to squash me. No, God's actually pursuing you. God is delighted in you. God is passionate. He's jealous. He yearns. He longs for you. If you're away from God, he longs for you.
[00:38:29] He's like a merchant, the Bible sAys, who has found a great treasure. And for the joy that is set before him, he endures the cross for the joy of having you.
[00:38:42] That's how God feels about sinners.
[00:38:45] Now, if you're a professing believer and you're living in outright rebellion, if you're tearing down God's work in God's kingdom, friend, repent.
[00:38:57] Get it right. Because God does not deal lightly with that.
[00:39:03] Okay?
[00:39:05] Is everybody okay?
[00:39:09] I'm going to give you these other ones really quickly. I've spent too much time on this. Can you give me five minutes? And then we're going to minister, okay?
[00:39:16] 17. He said, I will bring your seed out of bondage. You know what that is? That's deliverance. That's freedom. Everybody say deliverance. God is a God of freedom, and he will set you free. I don't want you to come out of here heavy like Pastor. I need freedom. Well, that's fine. He will set you free. He will deliver you. That's wonderful. Number 18. He said, I will bless your seed with great material substance. That's Genesis 1514. Write this down. Material blessing.
[00:39:48] Material blessing. So some of you, even you read, I will bless you. I will bring increase. You're going to get some ultra spiritual people that are saying, well, that's not dealing with finance. Oh, fine. If you want to take that as some spiritual blessing, then take this one. I will give you great material substance. That's material blessings. God is going to increase you financially. He's going to bless everything you set your hands to do. That's the Bible. You can leave that in your safe deposit box if you want to, but personally, I'm laying hold of it. Great material blessing number 19. Oh, you'll like this. You will die in peace. Genesis 1515. That means you know what you have to look forward to a peaceful death.
[00:40:36] That's nice. Don't let that scare you. Like, that's nice. Pastor Jacob is not going to die of cancer or in some crazy accident or in some fearful thing. And Noah, I'm going to die in peace when I'm ready to go. Jesse Duplantis told the craziest story about this lady who was in her ninety s and she was kind of getting discouraged because every time she'd get sick, she'd get healed. And she's like, I'm ready to go be with Jesus. My husband already went years ago. Like, I'm just ready. And Jesse felt the word of the Lord and told her, you realize you can die in peace. You don't have to wait till you get sick. You don't have to wait till your body breaks down. And she believed it. And you know what she did? She actually called together. She was actually like a senior member in staff on a church. And so she called together all of the staff in upper leadership to have a party at her house and said, on this day, I'm going to go be with Jesus for real. He named the pastor, he named the church. You can look the story up, but I'm going to go on this day. So she had everybody over cooked for them, a meal and everything. And today at 11:00 I'm going to go be with Jesus.
[00:41:48] And they're like, this lady's lost it or something. They're like, what in the world is going on? But at like 1155, she's giving her goodbyes and telling everybody she's not sick. There's nothing wrong with her. She sits down in her chair and at 11:00 on the dot, she goes to be with the Lord.
[00:42:07] So cool. Like, that's how I want to go. Do you realize, can I give you another? You realize that Jesus was not killed. Do you know that Jesus said, no man takes my life. I give my life. And even when he was on the cross, Matthew, Mark and Luke all give the same account. The Bible says with a loud voice. He said, it is finished. Now, if you are like, drained physically, if you are like on the. Jesus did not die of exhaustion. Jesus did not die because he was beaten. The Bible says that he freely gave up his spirit. He wasn't killed when he was ready. Mission accomplished.
[00:42:54] He gave. He chose when he died.
[00:42:58] Wow.
[00:43:00] You can die in peace. Praise God.
[00:43:04] Okay, I think I have one more number. 20.
[00:43:12] You will be buried at a good old age. Everybody say, long life.
[00:43:19] How long do you want to live?
[00:43:21] Abraham lived to 175.
[00:43:24] Praise God.
[00:43:26] That's after Noah, by the way. Can I ruin another theology idea that you might have? I like doing this. I love common Bible knowledge.
[00:43:35] So people will quote what God said to Noah, the days of man shall be 120 years. And they'll take that to say that that's the Max that people are going to live. The problem is immediately after you see people living to 175.
[00:43:53] Abraham, you missed the memo. But here's the cool thing. Can I give you a Bible fact? Any wild guesses how many years it was between the time God told Noah, build the Ark and the time where God brought a flood?
[00:44:07] 120 years.
[00:44:11] He was telling them, this isn't the Max that people can live. He's saying, this is the window before I'm going to bring this judgment, before I bring this flood. It's 120 years. You got 120 years to get these people ready. Noah, eight, went on that ark. And so, praise God. How long do you want to live? 175?
[00:44:33] 120?
[00:44:36] I don't know.
[00:44:40] You get to choose and you get to go in peace. Amen. All right, I told you five minutes, so I'm not going to give you the last one.
[00:44:49] That's okay.
[00:44:50] Come back. I've got 48 of these, so we've got plenty more to cover. And we're going to do it over the next few weeks. But I'm going to pray. We're going to pray for the blessing of Abraham, and then we're going to move into some prophetic ministry right now. And why don't you stand?
[00:45:05] I know it's hard sitting in that chair, but praise God. God is renewing your strength. If you're living to 175, you're not even over the hill yet. Nobody, I don't care if you're 80 in this place.
[00:45:19] Hallelujah. Is this helping you guys?
[00:45:23] I hope you're, like, getting things like, okay, blessing number 15. I'm grabbing hold of that one right there. I hope you're getting some things in your spirit that you can grab hold of.
[00:45:34] Hallelujah. Lord, I thank you.
[00:45:39] I thank you, Jesus, for your work in each and every one of our lives. We are children of the most high God. We are heirs with an inheritance. You said that the blessing that is upon Abraham is our inheritance as well. That you have blessed us with the very blessing of Abraham. You have filled us with your spirit and God, I'm asking that even tonight that you would, Lord, remove limiters off of our mind. That God, we've put people as. This is the max of what it can be. This is the max of the glory of God. But, Jesus, you are the standard of glory. And I'm praying, Lord, for that beholding and becoming Lord, to just begin to saturate our minds and our hearts and our lives. That, Lord, as we behold you, we become like you. And so, God, I just pray, conform us into the image of your son. I'm praying even tonight for the mind of Christ to be upon each and every one of us in the name that we will think like you do, Jesus. That we will believe like you do, Jesus. There wasn't a moment you were overcome by fear when storms hit. You were perfectly in peace. God, you were not overwhelmed at the need of people. You knew how you would work miracles. You knew how you would supply need. And God, I'm asking for that very same mind to be upon us, that we would think like you think. That we would know the promises that are available to us. Oh, in the name of Jesus may we be clothed in your glory in the name of Jesus now I want to lead us in a declaration. I know I might have freaked some of you out when I was sharing that about our words and God's judgment. Friend, that's real. It's real.
[00:47:26] But God is gracious. And if you're here tonight and you even heard that, and there was a point of conviction, like, boy, I've run my mouth over here. I've talked bad about this, and maybe I'm going to lead us in a prayer, just asking Jesus to forgive us. Come on. How many of us have said things that we regret? How many of us have said things like, God, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to talk bad about you or talk bad about your people or your church. Let's just ask the Lord, I want to lead us in a declaration right now. Let's all pray this out loud. Dear Jesus, I ask you, Lord, forgive me. You said I would give an account for every word and every deed. And so I'm asking, Lord, if I have said things, if I have done things that grieve your heart or have hurt your body, I ask you to forgive me.
[00:48:21] Wash me in your blood.
[00:48:23] Forgive me and make me clean.
[00:48:27] I give you my life.
[00:48:29] I give you my words. I give you my thoughts.
[00:48:34] Lord, I am yours. Will you be mine?
[00:48:39] Live your life through me.
[00:48:42] Be my savior. Be the Lord of my life and my very best friend.
[00:48:50] In Jesus name I pray.
[00:48:53] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Come on. Praise the Lord.
[00:48:58] Come.
