At The Cross
Words and Music by Ben Fielding , Aodhan King , Josh ua Kpozehouen & Ben Tan
VERSE 1:
There are wounds that I have
That are deeper than flesh and blood
And the remedies here on earth
Won’t be enough
Thank God for the day
That He sent His only Son
So I’ll turn and I’ll trust
And I’ll run to the Father’s love
CHORUS 1:
‘Cause I have decided
And I will follow
Lord I will give You the rest of my life
Here at the altar
I will surrender
I don’t have to carry my shame anymore
All of my sin
All my mistakes
I will leave buried in the grave
I have been forgiven at the cross
VERSE 2:
There are fears that can only be silenced
In perfect love
There’s a peace that is found
When you lose everything but God
Oh the weight of my debt
He has broken right off my life
So I hold to the hope that can only be
Found in Christ
BRIDGE:
There’s nothing I have done
There’s nothing I could do
I know that I am loved
And God it’s all because of You
I won’t waste a second
I won’t waste my praise
I give it all to Jesus
I surrender all my days
TAG:
I give it all to Jesus
I surrender all my days
CHORUS 2:
‘Cause I have decided
And I will follow
Lord I will give You the rest of my life
Here at the altar
I will surrender
I don’t have to carry my shame anymore
All of my past
All my regrets
I will leave buried with my debt
I have been forgiven at the cross
These are notes on the sermon, The Secret Of Obed-Edom’s Blessings, preached by Pastor Joseph Prince on Sunday, 16 January 2022, at The Star Performing Arts Centre, Singapore. We hope these sermon notes will be an encouragement to you!
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Overview
- Introduction: Say “yes” and “amen” to all of God’s promises
- Give Jesus center place in your family relationships and see restoration abound
- Follow God’s ways and see His blessings and favor follow after you
- It is by grace, not by effort, that you receive breakthroughs and win in life
- Rest in the Lord’s love for you and depend on His supply for everything you need
- The secret of Obed-Edom’s family blessings: valuing the blood of Jesus
- Value the person of Jesus and His finished work, and see God’s abundant blessings come upon your entire household
- Salvation prayer
- Closing prayer
- OWN THE WORD (life application)
Introduction: Say “yes” and “amen” to all of God’s promises
Every time we feed on God's Word, we are giving our spirits a feast and we get to experience great joy (Jer. 15:16). But God’s Word doesn’t stop there, it also ministers life and healing to all our flesh (Prov. 4:22)!
Pastor Prince shares a testimony from a lady, who after hearing about the theme of the year being Rest and Acceleration, trusted God for her newly-renovated apartment to be rented out to a good tenant. Shortly after, she received news that her apartment was rented out even without the tenant coming to view the place in person. This is a simple testimony of rest and acceleration!
The theme of the year video is played on screen.
This is the Year of Rest and Acceleration! The way God wants us to experience this special theme for the year is by living one day at a time, being present, and living in the now for now is the time of God’s favor (2 Cor. 6:2).
God is not the God of the future or past, but He is our very present help in time of need (Ps. 46:1). When Lazarus died, Martha said to Jesus, “If You had been here, my brother would not have died” (John 11:21). She was implying that Jesus was too late. However, Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25), and raised Lazarus from the dead. As we live out every moment of this year, let’s be reminded that Jesus is always with us in the present and ready to help.
Pastor Prince shares a word of wisdom for those concerned about growing older. Here is a promise from God that was prophesied over the tribe of Asher: “as thy days, so shall thy strength be” (Deut. 33:25 KJV). You can claim this same promise, for all the promises of God are yes and amen (2 Cor. 1:20)!
Naturally, our physical appearance and strength decline as we advance in age. However, God’s Word promises us that we shall experience the opposite—as our days progress, we shall have increased strength. What is impossible with man is possible with God (Luke 18:27).
We see this in the life of Caleb, who at the age of eighty-five, declared that he was physically strong and ready to claim the land that God had promised the Israelites (Josh. 14:11). In contrast, when the angel Gabriel appeared to Zacharias and prophesied that his wife, Elizabeth, would bear a child, he did not believe Gabriel’s words and became mute till the birth of their child (Luke 1:20). However, when Gabriel appeared to Mary and prophesied that she would carry Jesus in her womb, she believed the Word of God (Luke 1:38).
Whatever you say “amen” to will happen because you are proclaiming, “so shall it be” in your life. God’s promises are all yours to believe and receive!
“. . . These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness”
— Revelation 3:14 NKJV
“Amen” — The word “Amen” in this verse is referring to the person of Jesus Himself.
By saying “amen,” we are expressing our faith. We can see this in the life of Abraham:
“And he believed (‘aman’) in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.”
— Genesis 15:6 KJV
“believed (‘aman’)” — The Hebrew word for “believed” is “aman.” The Hebrew word for “faith,” which is “emunah,” originates from “aman.” In this verse, Abraham was saying “amen” to the Lord’s promise of children, and this was a declaration of faith.
For all the promises of God you read in the Old or New Testament, you claim them by faith by saying, “Amen!”
Give Jesus center place in your family relationships and see restoration abound
“In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches (‘perez’) thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old.”
— Amos 9:11 KJV
“breaches (‘perez’)” — The word “perez” in Hebrew means “breach.”
God calls Mount Zion His resting place (Ps. 132:14), and spoke of His love for that place (Ps. 78:68). David had a desire to bring the ark from a place where it was neglected and dishonored to the centrality of the heart of Israel—Mount Zion, the place of grace.
When David was a young man, he dreamed of bringing the ark to the center place of God’s people (Ps. 132:6), while King Saul who was in authority at that time had no interest in the ark at all.
Among all the furniture in the tabernacle, the ark of the covenant is the clearest representation of the person of Jesus and His presence. For example, when the ark is deconstructed and laid out flat, it forms the shape of a cross (a video of this illustration is shown on screen). The ark is also made of durable acacia wood, which speaks of Jesus’ incorruptible humanity. It is overlaid with gold, which represents His deity. Jesus is the God-man, completely God and completely man.
Today at the Father’s right hand, we have a perfect and glorified man representing us. As long as Jesus is there making intercession for us, we get to enjoy the blessings that He deserves.
It’s not about how good we are but about how good our representative is—and our representative is our Lord Jesus who is perfect in every way. As He is, so are we in this world (1 John 4:17).
David’s desire to bring the ark to Mount Zion is a message to the church today: bring Jesus back to the center of our lives (e.g. our marriage, parenting, career, ministry, etc.).
When Jesus is in the center of your life, everything works out for your good.
God has ordained Jesus to be the center of everything. One day, the whole world will see that He is the you shall not put the lord your god to the test and Lord of lords, reigning from Mount Zion, where all things revolve around Him.
Many times in the Bible, we read about Jesus being “in the midst” of people (Matt. 18:20, John 19:18, Luke 24:36, Rev. 5:6). And we know that where Jesus is, there is life (1 John 5:12)!
In the area of marriage, it’s not about husbands loving their wives with their own strength, but loving their wives “as Christ loved the church” (Eph. 5:25). And wives are called by God to submit themselves to their husbands “as unto the Lord” (Eph. 5:22). If there is strife or a breakdown in your marriage, God doesn’t want you to recover your marriage by trying to be nice or loving, for your human effort is limited and only produces the opposite results you desire. Focus on Jesus, and that’s when restoration begins. When you realize how much Jesus loves you and are freshly filled with His love, your spouse will be the beneficiary.
Everything good is based on the centrality of Christ. Restoration of broken things starts when you put Him back at the center.
When it comes to putting Jesus at the center of our parenting, we do this by putting our faith in the Lord instead of trying to change our children with the law. This doesn’t mean we should not discipline them or guide them along the right path. It just means that instead of using words of demand on them, we can correct our children with words that bring supply. Instead of saying, “You should do this . . . you should do that . . .” which brings stress and pressure, say things like, “I believe you will do well for this exam. I believe you will have a heart to study. I believe you will glorify Jesus in your studies. I believe you will know the right time to study and the right time to play games.”
As you supply them with grace-filled, Jesus-centered words, believe that God will transform your children and cause them to want to do the right thing.
This year, God wants to repair the first breach, which is in the area of family blessings.
Follow God’s ways and see His blessings and favor follow after you
When David became king, he went to bring the ark from Kirjath Jearim to Jerusalem (Mount Zion), which he had desired to do for many years. While he had the right motive, he went about achieving it using the ways of the world. Though he had the power, resources, and manpower, he disobeyed God by thinking and acting like the world.
David followed the way the Philistines transported the ark back to Jerusalem after they had stolen it. The Philistines are a picture of the world; they did not know God’s ways. When the ark brought great destruction to many Philistine cities when it was passed around, the Philistines decided to send it back to Israel. Not knowing the proper order of how to transport the ark, they put the ark on a cart driven by two milk cows (in this way, the Philistines tested the ark: if the milk cows headed to the nearest Israeli city, Beth Shemesh, instead of following their natural instinct to stay with their calves, then the Philistines would know that it was the ark that brought about their destruction). The milk cows headed straight for Beth Shemesh (1 Sam. 6:11–12).
When it came to how to transport or treat the ark, the Philistines didn’t know better. But the Israelites should have known God’s ways, especially the people of Beth Shemesh (a Levitical city). However, the men of Beth Shemesh also did not follow the ordinances surrounding the ark, and they opened the ark and looked in at the law and the other symbols of man’s rebellion. As a result, they were struck dead (1 Sam. 6:19). No man can look at the law and remain alive. That is why God ordained for the law to be put under the mercy seat inside the ark and for the blood of the animal sacrifice to be applied on the mercy seat, covering the symbols of man’s sin underneath it.
Many believers today are committing the sin of Beth Shemesh by trying to justify themselves by the law. When you try to justify yourself by the law (e.g. you believe you will be blessed by God based on how well you keep the law), you have fallen from grace (Gal. 5:4). Grace is higher than the law, for the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ (John 1:17).
“Then the anger of the LORD was aroused against Uzza, and He struck him because he put his hand to the ark; and he died there before God.”
— 1 Chronicles 13:10 NKJV
“Uzza” — Every name in the Bible carries meaning, and “Uzza” means “power, man’s strength.”
“. . . Uzzah reached out his hand to steady the ark, because the oxen stumbled.”
— 1 Chronicles 13:9 NIV
“the oxen stumbled” — The reason the oxen stumbled was that David had copied the ways of the world. God allowed the Philistines to move the ark on the oxen cart and none of them died because they weren’t God’s people and didn’t know any better. But God’s people should have known better—they should have known to honor the Lord by carrying the ark on their shoulders instead of moving it on the oxen cart. When Uzza (“man’s strength”) stretched his hand out to steady the ark, he died. This is a picture of how when we follow the ways of the world and trust in our own strength, the result is death.
Let us follow after God’s ways, and we will see His blessings and favor follow after us.
It is by grace, not by effort, that you receive breakthroughs and win in life
An example of how we trust in our own strength is by trying to keep the law to earn God’s blessings, to achieve our breakthroughs, or to overcome sinful habits.
The Bible tells us that sin shall not have dominion over us because we are not under the law but under grace (Rom. 6:14). God’s way is for us to trust His grace, not our own effort, strength, or willpower.
In fact, the more the law is preached, the worse sin gets because by the law is the knowledge of sin (Rom. 3:20). The more we try to keep the law, the more our sinful nature is aroused. Even those who look like they are keeping the law definitely have private struggles in their lives.
Grace is God’s unmerited, unearned, and undeserved favor. That’s why we qualify to receive God’s grace, and you only need to believe it in order to start walking in it!
The effect of God’s grace is amazing because we’ll see results we never thought possible. When you keep being conscious that by God’s unmerited, unearned, and undeserved favor, Jesus Christ took your place and died for your sins on the cross, and you have taken His place as the righteousness of God in Christ, you will start to see bad habits drop off. Sin will not have dominion over you. When you believe that by grace, you have this righteous identity in Christ, you will start walking in practical holiness. You will also develop a closer relationship with God because you know there is nothing separating you from Him. And the desire to change for years will suddenly become so easy through His grace.
Sin doesn’t stop revival from happening, rather, revival happens in the midst of sin (Rom. 5:20). Revival is only stopped when man’s effort comes in, when man tries to control the move of God with their own ways, bringing in their own laws.
Notice that everywhere Jesus went, sinners who touched Jesus were miraculously healed. But the Pharisees, who reckoned themselves righteous through the law and their own works, could not receive those miracles even though Jesus’ power was there for them too.
It’s our “Uzzah”—our self-effort—that stops us from receiving all that God has for us, not our sins. When you activate your strength, the result is sin. Before God gave Israel the Ten Commandments, the Israelites confidently said they would fulfill all the commandments the Lord would give them (Exod. 19:8). But the moment they came under the law, they broke the first commandment by making a golden calf to worship. It’s not that the Israelites weren’t sincere, but they didn’t realize how sinful they were in their flesh.
The law was given to show us that the law is holy, but it cannot make you holy. The law is righteous, but it cannot make you righteous. It was designed to reveal your sin. That’s why the strength of sin is the law (1 Cor. 15:56).
In Acts 15, during the time of the early church when the first Gentiles were saved, the Jewish believers gathered to discuss whether they needed to keep the law of Moses now that they were saved. Peter, whom God had used to preach to the Gentiles, stood up and said:
“Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?”
— Acts 15:10 NKJV
“a yoke . . . which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear” — This yolk is referring to the law of Moses, which the Jewish forefathers were unable to keep.
James, who was pastoring the Jerusalem church at that time, agreed with Peter that the Gentiles should not be made to keep the law, for it is in line with what God said through Amos. James quoted Amos 9:11, in which Amos prophesied that God would raise the tabernacle of David in the last days, and the rest of mankind would seek the Lord, and souls would be saved (Acts 15:17).
Gentile believers (non-Jewish believers) are a fulfillment of Amos 9:11. The Tabernacle of David being rebuilt has got to do with us. God promises to repair all the ruins and broken areas.
“. . . that place is called Perez Uzza (breach of man’s strength) to this day.”
— 1 Chronicles 13:11 NKJV
“Perez Uzza (breach of man’s strength)” — “Perez Uzza” refers to the point where something was broken because something destructive (man’s strength) came in and brought death.
This year, the Lord promises to repair all the perez (breaches) in your life. And the first area in your life where you may have breaches (broken parts) in that He wants to restore is your family.
Rest in the Lord’s love for you and depend on His supply for everything you need
When Uzzah died while transporting the ark, David didn’t ask God what went wrong. Instead of seeking the Lord and humbling himself to ask God where he missed the mark, David had a servile (slavish) fear of God. This type of fear brings bondage, and it is not the “fear of God” that God wants us to have. We are sons and daughters who have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but have received the Spirit of sonship through Jesus (Rom. 8:15).
True fear of the Lord is having a desire to please someone whom we know loves us. It is similar to the feeling a child has toward his loving parents. We are not like slaves who don’t want to displease their master in fear of being punished. But we are children who are deeply loved by our Father, and that is why we want to please Him. The fear of the Lord prolongs our days (Prov. 10:27). Jesus defined the fear of the Lord in Deuteronomy 6:13 as worship (Matt. 4:10).
Instead of seeking the Lord about what caused Uzzah’s death, David became fearful and temporarily put the ark in Obed-Edom’s house, which was likely nearby.
When the ark was in Obed-Edom’s house, the Lord blessed all that Obed-Edom had (1 Chron. 13:14), and it was so evident that everyone around him saw the Lord’s blessings on his household (2 Sam. 6:11). From here we can see that the first area of restoration that happened after the first breach (the death of Uzzah) is in the area of family life.
The first thing that God wants to do is to bless your household. The whole time David was afraid of God, Obed-Edom was being greatly blessed.
God wants to be good to us. We receive His blessings when we believe in His mercy, goodness, and love for us.
While God is holy, His holiness calls for us to realize we cannot meet His standard of holiness, but we can depend on His grace to deliver us, save us, and supply everything we need!
The secret of Obed-Edom’s family blessings: valuing the blood of Jesus
When Pastor Prince first studied the life of Obed-Edom in 2003, he found that Josephus, a Jewish historian who lived during the time of Jesus, described the blessings of Obed-Edom like this: When Obed-Edom first brought the ark into his house, he was a poor man. But the Lord began to prosper and enlarge him and his territories and bless him with every blessing.
“The ark of God remained with the family of Obed-Edom in his house three months. And the LORD blessed the house of Obed-Edom and all that he had.”
— 1 Chronicles 13:14 NKJV
“The ark of the LORD remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite three months. And the LORD blessed Obed-Edom and all his household.”
— 2 Samuel 6:11 NKJV
“all that he had . . . all his household” — There are two accounts of the ark in Obed-Edom’s house, and both accounts speak of the abundant blessings that came upon all that Obed-Edom had. Josephus also mentioned that Obed-Edom was so blessed that his neighbors envied him.
“Now it was told King David, saying, ‘The LORD has blessed the house of Obed-Edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God.’ So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with gladness.”
— 2 Samuel 6:12 NKJV
“The LORD has blessed the house of Obed-Edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God” — The ark of God was the secret of Obed-Edom’s blessings.
Let’s look at the meaning of Obed-Edom’s name:
- “Obed” means “servant.”
- “Edom” means “red.”
- “Edom” comes from the root word “dam,” which means “blood” (that’s why the name “Adam” means “red-blooded man”). So we can read Obed-Edom’s name to mean “servant of the blood.”
Obed-Edom was a man who understood the importance of the blood on the mercy seat. It is likely that while the ark was in his house, he gave burnt offerings to the Lord, and the Lord blessed Obed-Edom so that he could give more burnt offerings unto Him.
Because of the ark, Obed-Edom saw blessings everywhere in his family, on his crops, and everyone felt peace and joy in his house. When David came to retrieve the ark from Obed-Edom’s house, Obed-Edom knew that the reason he was so blessed was the ark.
Learn to value the blood of Jesus because it is the reason we can receive every good thing.
In ancient Israel, every year on the Day of Atonement, the high priest would sprinkle blood from the animal sacrifice on the mercy seat. Because of the blood on the mercy seat, all of Israel could expect blessings on their households and victory over their enemies to go on for another year. This is because the innocent blood on the mercy seat covered their sins. God saw the blood and not their sins. However, back then, the people had to offer sacrifices to renew their sanctification yearly. Today, because Jesus is the perfect offering, we have been sanctified through His sacrifice once and for all (Heb. 10:10)!
Without Jesus’ shed blood, there is no remission of sins (Heb. 9:22). We are justified and sanctified by His blood alone (Rom. 5:9, Heb. 13:12). It’s because of His blood that we are brought near to God (Heb. 10:22).
When Jesus took the cup of the Communion and said to His disciples, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me” (1 Cor. 11:25–26), He was showing us the importance of valuing His blood.
A practical way we value Jesus’ blood is by partaking of the Lord’s Supper.
During the first Passover, God instructed the Israelites to apply the lamb’s blood on their lintel and doorposts. When the Angel of Death came, the blood on their doorposts was what protected them from harm (Exod. 12:13).
It’s not any of our good works, good character, or good family names that save or protect us. It’s Jesus' blood alone that justifies, heals, protects, and sanctifies us. The more you esteem His blood, the more faith you’ll have in the Lord.
As a “servant of the blood,” Obed-Edom likely offered the blood of the sacrifice, and that’s why he stood in the place of a righteous man. God saw Obed-Edom in the righteousness of His Son. God blessed Obed-Edom just like how He would treat Jesus, His beloved Son. Today, we are in Christ Jesus, and we have His righteousness.
Jesus has already taken our place at the cross. All the bad we deserved, He took at the cross, and all the good He deserves, we get to enjoy today.
Some people think it is because of praise and worship that brought God’s blessing. But there was praise and worship before Uzzah died, and Uzzah still died.
The difference between life and death, the difference between blessings and curses, is the blood shed to cover sins.
This is what David did after he took the ark from Obed-Edom’s house:
“And so it was, when those bearing the ark of the LORD had gone six paces, that he sacrificed oxen and fatted sheep.”
— 2 Samuel 6:13 NKJV
“he sacrificed oxen and fatted sheep” — For the first time in the journey of bringing the ark to Jerusalem, David sacrificed oxen and sheep. And every six paces, he offered another burnt offering unto the Lord. David knew the importance of the blood sacrifice since he was young (Lev. 17:11), but he likely only realized what was missing after learning from Obed-Edom. Sometimes, God uses the blessings on someone else to lead those who are backslidden back to him. May your family life be such a testimony that leads others back to the Lord and His grace.
Value the person of Jesus and His finished work, and see God’s abundant blessings come upon your entire household
Obed-Edom was a Gittite (1 Chron. 13:13), and “Gittite” means “belonging to the city of Gath.” Gath was one of the Philistine cities (where Goliath was from). This means that Obed-Edom was a Philistine from Gath.
Obed-Edom being a Gittite (Gentile, non-Jew) fulfills Amos’ prophecy, where the rebuilding of the Tabernacle of David will cause the Gentiles to come in (Amos 9:12). While Obed-Edom was probably not aware of God’s laws, he valued the ark and knew the importance of the shed blood, which was passed down from generation to generation from the time of the garden of Eden (it was God Himself who first shed the blood of an innocent animal to cover the sins of Adam and Eve). Obed-Edom is a picture of believers who are conscious of Jesus’ finished work and shed blood.
Before we see God’s blessings in our lives, we need to have an appreciation of what Jesus’ blood has done for us.
Obed-Edom was not sin-conscious, but Jesus-conscious. Whatever sin he had, he knew that the blood would take care of it, and that’s how the blessings of God came upon him and his family. Ultimately, Obed-Edom decided to follow the ark and eventually became the doorkeeper of the Tabernacle of David (1 Chron. 16:38).
Because Obed-Edom valued the ark (a picture of the person of Jesus), God blessed him with many sons that were of men of great ability (1 Chron. 26:4–6) and able men with strength for the work (1 Chron. 26:8).
When you are Jesus-conscious, your children will grow up blessed.
“The sons of Shemaiah were . . . able (‘chayil’) men.”
— 1 Chronicles 26:7 NKJV
“able (‘chayil’) men” — The Hebrew word for “able” is “chayil,” which means “virtuous” and is the same Hebrew word used in Proverbs 31 to describe a virtuous woman (Prov. 31:10). Not only that, but “chayil” is also a picture of wealth.
“And you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you power (‘koach’) to get wealth (‘chayil’).”
— Deuteronomy 8:18 NKJV
“wealth (‘chayil’)” — The Hebrew word, “chayil” is translated many times in the Bible for “wealth.” So not only will you and your children have moral strength, but you will also have wealth! We are not meant to love money, chase after it, and be ruled by it. But when we chase after Jesus, money will chase after us and we will be able to be a blessing to others.
This year, may these family blessings manifest so evidently in your family’s lives that people will talk about it. People talking about God’s blessings in your life is another way of spreading the good news so that others will be drawn to the God you serve.
Pastor Prince prays for people with these conditions/areas:
- Bad news from the doctor regarding your stomach (intestine area)
- Pain in the right shoulder/upper arm area
- Growth under the neck area
- Nerve in the right eye that is moving involuntarily
- Restoration of a large sum of money that you’ve been cheated out of
- Child being diagnosed with ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder)
- Concern over significant hair loss
Pastor Prince closes the service by emphasizing that God is repairing, restoring, recovering, and rebuilding all the breaches, especially in the area of family life. This is a promise for every household. Because we have Jesus’ blood, we will receive even greater blessings than those of Obed-Edom and David!
Salvation prayer
“Heavenly Father, I thank You for Jesus Christ, Your beloved Son. I receive Him. I accept Him into my life as my Savior, as my Lord, as my King. Thank You, Father God, that You raised Jesus from the dead. And I thank You, Father God, that Jesus Christ is my Lord, now and forever. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
Closing prayer
“The Lord bless you and your families. Let the blessings that were on Obed-Edom and his household be upon you and your houses, upon your families, upon your little ones. And in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, may that blessing be so manifested that people would talk about it, that you're someone to be envied, that they will desire the God that you serve—that wonderful Savior, Jesus Christ—that they will hunger after Him.
This coming week, may the blessings of God begin to manifest in an accelerated way, in the name of Jesus. And this coming week, the Lord grant to you and yours His wonderful shalom, wholeness, peace, and tranquility to lead and govern your lives. Amen. All is well this week for you and yours, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. God bless you.”
OWN THE WORD (life application)
In this year of Rest and Acceleration, God wants to accelerate His restoration in your family life.
As Pastor Prince shared in this sermon, the secret of Obed-Edom’s family blessings is that he valued the ark of the covenant (a picture of the person of Jesus) and he valued the blood that covers sin.
Friend, you do not need to use your own effort or willpower to see things change in your family life. You can see restoration simply by putting Jesus at the center of your family life and relationships and by being conscious of His blood that has removed your sins—making you righteous and deserving of all God’s blessings.
Whether you are hoping for a turnaround in your marriage, restoration in the lives of your children, or provision for your household, allow the Lord to supply you with all you need as you simply practice these two things:
- Focus on Jesus and His love for you. When you feel discouraged about your family situation and your first thought is, “What can I do to fix this?”, turn your eyes to the Lord instead. Don’t respond emotionally but take time to be with the Lord, receive His grace, and enjoy His love for you. When you realize how much Jesus loves you and you are freshly filled with His love, that love will flow into your family relationships, and your spouse and children will be the beneficiaries.
- Partake of the Communion often—discern the Lord’s body broken for you and His blood shed for the forgiveness of your sins. His blood has made you righteous. As you value the blood of Jesus, as you see your sins removed by His blood and see yourself righteous in Christ, your sinful habits will fall away. The things you can’t change about yourself with your own effort will fall away. The things that are eating away at the joy in your family relationships will end, and restoration will begin!
We hope these sermon notes blessed you! If they did, we encourage you to get the sermon and allow the Lord to speak to you personally as you watch or listen to it.
© Copyright JosephPrince.com 2022
These sermon notes were taken by volunteers during the service. They are not a verbatim representation of the sermon.
have a great appreciation for our lord jesus
and get answered prayers in your life
i i'm gonna attempt by the grace of god to destroy every erroneous thinking in your mind
especially in the area of prayer
you know the church has suffered so much from prayerlessness
let alone have people in the church
in the christendom telling people all right well
the reason they gotta answer your prayer is because of this
and put so many burdens and
obstacles along the way that people just give up praying
because if god is gonna find fault with me when i pray
how can i get my prayer answered
might as well not pray so people have different different ideas you know
you also remember when i preach a message called why pray
why pray if god is all-knowing
why pray if god is all-knowing right and
the thing is this this kind of reasoning
this kind of wrong thinking wrong believing will cause you not to pray
because you say god knows all my needs anyway
in matthew 6 in the sermon on the mount jesus talked on prayer over here
he says therefore do not be like the gentiles people do not know god
for your father knows the things you have need of before you ask him
so because of this reasoning people say look my father knows god knows all my needs before i ask him
so why pray and
yet the next verse says in this manner therefore pray
because the father knows your needs in this manner therefore
he didn't say in this manner therefore don't pray or
he didn't say because of this don't pray
on the contrary he says because your father knows your needs before you ask him now ask
so that is right believing but
wrong believing in saying god knows all my needs anyway
you want to help me or help me
you must understand all right
if this was still the garden of eden and we are in paradise
you know on on earth and
that's what god's heart was for man
a garden where there is no sickness
no disease no death no one grows old
everyone has more than enough for their own needs and
families would grow in this beautiful garden
there'll be no hatred no murder no wars no strife
there'll be no jealousy because everyone will have everything
they want and more left over amen but
adam committed heights reason
now you say that well god could have stopped adam
i told you before if god made adam a robot
the world will still be a garden
there'll be no sin but
god didn't create robots
god made man in his image with a free choice now
if man is about to choose something evil and
god used his power to stop that
then god is playing around with man's free choice
so free choice for free choice
to be free choice God has to let man be and
not influence him in any way with His power and
that's why you must always remember
you can pray for someone to be your girlfriend or your boyfriend all right
to marry someone if that person's free choice comes into play
you can pray for someone to be safe yes you can pray and
your prayer will cause the right persuasive evangelists that the person can respond to
to come along his way he will hear something see something that
God knows his personality type what type that he likes to maybe he's a reader maybe he's a he's a listener whatever this
God will bring those circumstances
they'll be favorable for him to accept Christ but God
your prayers cannot cannot make God force that person to receive Christ or else
God will have forced adam not to take up that fruit all right
don't forget god gave the entire garden
everything good for men except for one tree and
that's the tree that man wanted
because satan came in and and
the same story today he will point to you one thing
he'll tell you that you don't have
he always point to you something you don't have
he doesn't remind you to count your blessings
I'm telling you you have so many things
now the fact you can come here today be alive and
let everyone that have breath praise the Lord all right
but you're thinking of something else amen
some young one might think of i don't have the latest you know psp or xbox or something like that on the next next better game and
they're unhappy with their parents or something or whatever we always
the adults are not happy about someone
my spouse did this today all right
don't hold on to it all the time
there are many good things about your spouse
count their many blessings
count their many good points amen church
so jesus didn't say because your father knows what you need don't pray
he says because your father knows pray
because we are in a fallen world and
because of our choice
in other words God says I have all these blessings right now
I'm about to bring into your life favor wisdom amen um
health wholeness amen but
I need something from your side what is it you must consent
you must agree for me to bless you
I cannot bless you beyond your free will
I cannot bless you beyond your violation
do you want this blessing
prayer is nothing more than an open heart
open mind open life open hands remember
this you bring nothing to God
we are all empty
God the source brings all his blessings and gifts into your life amen so
prayer is just an expression of here is my open hand
God cannot bless someone no matter how sincere the person is
it has a close mind close heart close hands and saying things like
if God want to bless me God bless me
God cannot do that
if He can force His way I mean
He can make you float like a butterfly if he wants to all right
He can hang you over grand canyon and then drop you
aren't you glad I'm not god amen
God can do anything He wants
He's sovereign but
God respects laws and
God gave man choice
so man must now express in this fallen earth all right
the bible tells us that all have sinned and
come short of the glory of God you cannot just say I choose sin but I don't choose the consequence
I choose to put my finger in the fire but I choose not to be burned
you cannot have that
when you choose sin you choose the consequence
God cannot do anything about it but to let the consequence flow but
God sent his Son without anyone asking
God sent the greatest gift of all
His own son because
god loved us amen
to take on so jesus will take on himself
all the consequences of all that we have done as well as
our sins become liable all right
as our substitute suffer under god's heavy judgment for our sins
he who did no sin became sin now that's god's initiative are you listening people
now even after jesus finished everything
he bought our diseases not only our sins he bought our diseases does that mean we walk in health
we must still consent with what jesus did
we must concern with the it is finished because
even after we become christians his children we still have a choice
we can choose to hold a grudge or we can choose to let go
even right now
you're not forced or compelled to just sit this service throughout
you can at any time step up walked out amen
you have a free choice
i got no power over your free choice and
you know something god will not not that he has not
he will not exert any power over your free choice
you must say father i consent to be blessed and
that's why amen is an expression of so be it
it's a prayer
it's the shortest prayer i know amen
which means if you hear the word of god being preached
you see our man got his angel that one wants
that lady wants it all right pour it on her
another one say amen all right angel this one wants it pour it on him
so the thing is that do you want it
if you want it you got to show god that you want it
open mouth open hands that's prayer
in 3 john 2 we saw this last week
john by now is an aged man
the man who leaned on jesus bosom when he was a teenager
one of jesus 12 disciples
the one that's called the disciple whom jesus loved all right
here he is an ancient man
he's one of those longest living disciples
he never was martyred
by the way he just died in old age
just went on to be with jesus
so as an ancient man he wrote the episodes of john all right
he wrote the gospel of john as well you all know that
but these are the episodes first john ii and third john
in third john all right he said his brink you can say that
the final one is the book of revelation
but at this point in time he knows what is god's will
he knows all right
because there are many voices in christendom
some people say you know it's not right for you to pray for prosperity
it's not right
john who is aged by now
who has walked with jesus for so many years
who knew the lord's heart because he leaned his year on the heart of jesus
he knew the ulrim and the tomin
the lights and perfections and
this is what he said beloved
he's calling us his right is talking to only believers not those in the world
beloved i pray that you may prosper in all things
not only that and be in health just as your soul prospers
now the ones that he's writing to are their souls prospering already yes
just as your soul prospers is present tense which means their souls are already prospering
now we have this notion don't have to pray as long your souls are prospering
you know you'll be healthy
you'll be prosperous yet john pray john prayed for those whose souls are prospering
that you'll be in health
he prayed that help will manifest
we know a lot of good people all right
who don't believe in healing
we know a lot of good people who don't believe in prosperity
but their souls are prospering because they love the lord their souls are prospering because
they read the bible more than you
they spend time with a lot more than you
their souls are prospering but they are not allowing health to manifest amen
so it's one thing for your souls to prosper
it is not automatic you gotta pray father caused me to prosper even as my soul prospers
cause me to be in health even as my soul prospers
can i pray that for you at the end
imagine their souls are already prospering yet he prayed
it's not automatic
he prayed that
i pray that you be in health just as your souls prosper
and notice health and prosperity in this one verse came from the lips of a man who knew the heartbeat of god
what does god wish for you above all things
it's not just i just want you to have spiritual things
disease in your body never mind endure it all right
after all one day you walk on streets of gold
it's not just for the here you know
in the in the sweet by and by okay one day in heaven the sweet vine
by it's for the sour now and now amen
doesn't have to remain sour pray
pray for your children
the pastor how long do i keep on praying
keep on praying
now why why keep on praying
why keep on praying
because there is an enemy
like i said if it's garden of eden and there's no enemy
there's no need to keep on praying
in fact you hardly have to pray you just think and and
god answers
but don't forget if we're in a fallen world
we need to show god our open hands and
that comes by prayer
even when jesus was here as a man
he would rise up early in the morning and
he would pray
if the son of god prays how much more you and i
the bible says you have not because you ask not
therefore you fight
therefore you are jealous
you are envy
you lust and
you cannot have
james chapter four
it says you lost
you covered because you cannot have and
then you you assassinate people's character
you say bad things and
all that because you are jealous of what they have and
then the bible says you have not because you ask not
if our marriage is no longer satisfactory to us we don't even want our spouse to know
talk to god talk to god
you know you never know how god will inspire changes in your spouse
pray pray if you're you think that your intimate intimacy in your marriage is not good enough ask god what can god do
do i never ask that never ask that it's a stupid question okay
let me take you by the hand go through the universe drop you then
you know what god can do you're afloat all right
let god be god a great theologian once said
i'm so glad there are things about god i cannot logic out
i need a god
i need to worship a god that cannot be confound confined by my logic
i'm glad i cannot understand god
there are some things i cannot understand god amen
because god is greater than my logic
he is greater than my intellect and
i'm glad i need to worship a god who is greater than my intellect
so here the the principle is this
the first thing i want to demolish in your mind is that if god knows about it why pray and
if my soul is prospering i'm attending church every sunday i'm listening to pastor prince sermons and
i'm reading his books and
all that my soul is prospering
yeah but sometimes there's a hindrance whatever it is but it's satanic
hindrance whatever it is pray
pray father in jesus name my soul is prospering thank you for that
now cause my health to prosper
cause me to prosper in all aspects of my life lord and
i pray for my children lord cause them to prosper a lot in jesus name
in their affairs of studies and
every other things that they do lord cause them to prosper
grant them wisdom lord
how often do i pray that pastor
pray and keep on praying it
the bible uses the word continue asking
jesus says in a seminal mound keep on asking
original great keep on asking and
you will receive keep on seeking and you are fine
keep on knocking the door will open
asking starts with a seeking
starts with s knocking starts with a k ask
you have not because you ask not
we look at the bible and the bible has many references all right
besides the fact that jesus prayed every day
rise up early in the morning
had a very busy day until late at night
in the evening people were still bringing those who were demon possessed and
those who were sick and
he healed them all
yet he would rise up early in the morning
priority number one he would pray
if jesus would pray all right how much more you and i
okay now i will come to another wrong thinking
we have apostle
prince are gonna pray long
we'll come to that okay you know what why don't we come to that now okay
it's interesting that jesus never condemned short prayers
but you have statement more than one statement in the bible where jesus actually condemned for a pretense he told the pharisees
you'll make long prayers so we have undocumented that he condemned pretentious long prayers
many a times the long prayers are done on your own
when you stand in public your prayers are very short
i can see disappointment in people sometimes when they meet me in the mall somewhere
upon supreme can you pray for me
i just touch my shoulder whatever whichever is decent a lady or a guy you know
and then you know i i because i believe in the laying on of hands all right
it must be appropriate and i'll pray a prayer
father in jesus name heal this person right now of this disease we smite this disease to its roots in jesus name
it's done amen
after that they're still down there
then i feel like you know they are disappointed
they look up there and there
they almost they don't say it but in their torso that's all
is that all
is that all
well the greatest prayers jesus prayed was at the tomb of lazarus and
he looked up before before lazarus was raised
he looked up his father
start counting one two okay
now father i thank you that you have heard me and that you hear me always
how long few seconds
then look into the tomb
lazarus comes off
by the way that is english
in hebrew aramaic is even shorter
kumi
one word okay
all the prayers of jesus are short
in fact the shorter we pray the bigger we make him
we're saying it's all you lord
people say thing you gotta pray oh this situation gotta pray hard gotta pray heart
i'm sorry man wow i tell you this one this time i spray hard
hey you better pray hard no
let me tell you this
you pray hard you pray soft it is not you okay
it is the one you are praying to and
of course now i've touched on some of the denominational people that
they come against prosperity or health or whatever all right now
i come to the to be fair charismatic people
there are charismatic people who have these thoughts that you gotta pray heart loud loud especially
be healed in jesus name you know it's coming out come out all seven of you in jesus name
now it's some of the most powerful prayers that i know of in my life that have healed people of diseases like cancer
and all that i pray soft
i'm not saying soft or soft is the thing no
it's not
i'm just telling you
he's the one amen
the one who loves us and
gave his life for us
the father who sent his son
he is the one that answers our prayers
so i understand the expression you say pray hard
i understand but i wonder whether you understand that is not your prayer
it is him amen amen
pray heart like they want to give birth
now there is a place
i understand spiritual warfare
i'm not my spiritual warfare here
i'm simply asking god which for the most part is our prayer okay amen
so the bible says jesus said in uh matthew 6 therefore do not be like them
we saw this
just now look at the context of this verses before this and
when you pray you shall not be like the hypocrites for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets
that they may be seen by men
assuredly jesus says i say to you they have their reward
but you when you pray go into your room and
when you have shut your door pray to your father who is in the secret place and
your father who sees in secret how will he reward you church
he will reward you also in secret
say shout it openly
openly
and when you pray watch this and
when you pray do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do
don't use vain repetitions as the heathen do
for they think that they'll be heard for their many words
you know people have this idea that
there are many words finally will compel god
no
let me tell you this
god was compelled to give
to give us the greatest gift long before anybody ever asked him
to send his son okay and
that was the greatest gift
that was the greatest gift
greatest blessing
so you think for one moment that
god needs to be coaxed
you need to persuade
god huh nobody suffocated to god
to send his son
are you listening people
this amazing god okay now
it says here and when you pray
do not use vain repetitions for they think that they'll be heard for their many words
next verse therefore do not be like them
your father knows
so make your prayers simple
make it homely
you come to god
say father i need your help here
i do not know what's wrong with my child but
i know step back know his son
i know you love my boy more than i love my boy
i'm gonna lay my hands on him
i'm asking you father in jesus name heal him
heal him father and then
in jesus name don't
don't don't feel anymore his uh temperature whatever
just believe
it's done in jesus name
you can take his temperature later of course all right
you know but the thing is at the moment just thank god
look at god's heart and some
some parents do say things like you know
oh god you know i love my child so much
you know let me take his sickness
so the thing is that this is a form of self-righteousness
because there was one who took your child's sickness
instead of giving glory to him now you are saying you can take your son's sickness
by the way you make a lousy sacrifice
there is sin in your blood
the one who took your son's sickness has no sin tainting his blood
he's the only qualified one
so you know what
just tell the father it is paid for
tell the father what it is paid for
just because something is paid for it's not automatic
you got to pray
why because we are we we are in a place where god wants our free choice involved in this all right
another thing is that
we are in a place on earth
it's a place of conflict
satan hates us god loves us and
the arena of conflict with the powers of darkness is unearthed
god is not the one holding your answer back
if answer is not forthcoming perceive you in prayer
keep on asking god
but don't ask in a desperate way
as if god needs to be cooked
know that every obstruction every lack of manifestation all right
it's warfare going on keep on asking
because you know him can have a good amen church
do you remember the story of the children of israel during the time of uh king nebuchadnezzar
that came because for many many years what happened the king of judah began to worship idols and
god warned him rising early and
god sent prophet of the prophet and
god sent prophet jeremiah to the king of judah and
warned him about the dangers of of his hard-heartedness and worshipping of idols
and all that and finally god says enough is enough and
god sent the king of babylon which is nebuchadnezzar came into the land of israel and
took captive all the people of judah plus the king and
jeremiah prophesied
at the time jeremiah by the way is a young prophet
probably a teenager
one time god said to him don't say you're a youth
i've put my words in your mouth to plan and to uproot to build and to destroy
it is my words in your mouth and
not you not how or how young you are
all right that was prophet jeremiah and
prophet jeremiah prophesied that israel would a judge be taken to captivity for 70 years
well one of the captives that were taken captive he was a young boy at that time was a young man by the name of daniel
well daniel lived through many kings in captivity until the 70th year
daniel let's read daniel 9 in the first year of his reign darius
said this i daniel understood by the books now god didn't speak to him he was studying his bible
i mean one of the biggest ways god speak to you is through his word
that's the main way all right now
he was daniel was a prophet as well but god
god showed him by books the bible the
i understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the lord through jeremiah the prophet that god would accomplish 70 years in the desolations of jerusalem
you know which year was this now 70th year when he read jeremiah's when daniel read jeremiah's prophecy all right
it was the 70th year judah was in captivity so in other words what hallelujah it's a final year
we are going home right
but look at the next verse then daniel says i set my face towards the lord god to make requests by prayer and supplications with fasting sex love and ashes
in other words even though god promised the captivity is only for 70 years he didn't sit down at his rocking chair
and say god hey sarah sarah whatever will be will be no he prayed for it to happen
why
because god loves participation
god loves the hand that opens
and say god let it happen lord
let it happen amen
are you listening church
don't just say it's god's real one all right but
if there's a hindrance pray ask god for it yeah
there's some things that happen to us automatically
even those things that happened to us automatically somebody prayed for you
your grandmother prayed for you
your brother in christ was praying in tongues
praying in the spirit not knowing what he's praying but
he was praying for you everything that you and i received today
the fact that we are here
we are saved
we are listening to god's word amen
when the world don't even know how precious god's word is
god is imparting wisdom
it's because your eyes are open because
somebody prayed for you
it's a result when you are praying
you become literally you you in the realm of god where you can travel anywhere
you can be anywhere and you really become no more a natural earthbound person but
you become a person who can be praying here and influence circumstances and
individuals in china
you can be praying down here
going to fly there you can be influencing circumstances in turkey in india
you can be praying down here
in fact situations in america
amazing god takes your the wings of your prayer all right and
god sends the answers
are you with me okay now
he saw jeremiah's prophecy
by the way if you look at jeremiah's prophecy
this the book of jeremiah this whole land shall be a desolation and astonishment and
this nation shall serve the king of babylon 70 years
this is where daniel got it from okay
the next verse it will come to pass after 70 years
god says i'll punish the king of babylon
so he knows that the end is coming
yet he prayed
he prayed that what god said would happen
will happen not because it will not happen but
because he wants to be part of it open hands
are you with me so
why do we take communion every sunday
because there's a crazy spirit out there and
i mean it's a crazy spirit
if you can kill you in an instant he will kill you
that's how much he hates you
the fact that he cannot kill you just like that tells us about how protected we all are
we take communion to remember what our lord did
because communion is actually like in the heavenly courts is is
is evidence and disputable evidence that even though we don't deserve the healing in and of ourselves
it was paid for by the blood of god's son
so every time we partake we enforce it
because satan is a lawyer
but so is jesus the bible says it's an advocate for us so
these things are legal you got to fight for it
even though someone violates your your your rights and all that okay
doesn't mean you can sit down there and play dead
someone stole something from you
it's gone what do you do
you sit on them play day no
you enforce it you take your place as god's covenant child
you don't just cry you take your place
two nights ago my wife and i thought we're gonna spend some time with jessica so we took some time with her and
uh had a good time went to little india had to say
that's like a pancake guys pancake indian pancake curry all right so we ate it
and uh you know we had a good time together fellowshipping and
all that and after that we were going shopping together at mustafa not too far away okay
and jessica at that time opposite me she's now having this uh plastic retainers for her teeth all right
so every time she eats she has to remove it okay
so she remove it she put it in front on a piece of tissue and for some reason
i said do a double layer i said you know because she forgot to bring her casing all right
so i put a double layer of tissue all right it's more protected that way i told her so
she put another layer all right wrap it up nicely and
told her mom because she didn't bring her you know her the box and
she said can you keep this for me
the mom the tissue and everything put it in her hand back
at the end before we leave we made a mess of the table all right
so as our customers we don't like to leave things messy you know
you learn this in japan when you go to japan right so you did everything and just arranged nicely for them okay and
then we took all the tissues down there
somehow wendy was in autopilot because remember this all right this kind of scenario styling happened where jessica passed her the tissue
and she was talking talking and then she i guess
she threw the tissue so only after we left almost in mustafa some time has passed we were you
just realized where is it
she asked then mother looked for it
i'll look for it
they said oh no because it all looks at tissue paper most likely you know and and
that tulsa shop is a busy shop and right
now more than an hour has passed all right
it's even busier
so she was a little bit sad and and you know
i was walking with them and
i was thinking when this is uh i said
shall i go back
she says it's gone
you know for sure it's gone so i
i just felt something in my heart that uh i am not
it's like a voice telling me are you willing to let it go
it's more than an hour and
it's a restaurant in a restaurant they take things and throw into what big garbage
it's a dump dump garbage huge garbage
can i think it's inside there so
i took the the vehicle and i went down
i received a call from my wife halfway
darling come back like okay just be with us
you know just let it go
somehow in my heart i hear like i hear a voice are you willing to let it go
so along the way i prayed and
i told god father all right you said in your word the things which are impossible with men are possible with you
so right now it is an impossible with men to find it
i say even my wife says it's impossible all right i said
it so in the natural you tell anyone all right
they'll say it's impossible and
i'm telling you lord in the natural is impossible but
i'm your covenant child and
father i'm asking you restore that retainer
restore it father i don't know how
i depart the thoughts come how he's already gone
if you go by logic you never ask amen
you know our biggest problem is this one so i said i don't know how lord
i saw the big garbage can
i don't know how long and who's gonna help
you just because he's lost down there no one's gonna dig for you
so anyway i went down there quite some time and
by now it's about nearly two hours has gone and and
the whole place is nighttime now
the whole place is filled up with people and
i spoke to the guy who who served us earlier and
he says oh i'm sorry you just booked me real fast and because he was serving
and he had you know a lot of orders and
the whole place seems packed in the natural it looks bleak
i waited down there for a while then he came
he told one of the helpers the cleaner lady all right
to look into my case and she asked me what was it
i said that you know explained to her wrap up you know it's a wrap up in the tissue
say money she said no no no no
she was quite excited i said no i need to tell her the truth
i know that money might motivate her even more
everything you know but but she will not be able to feel it you know what i'm saying so i
i said uh um it's a plastic
you can feel it's wrapped up in tissue she open up church
god is my witness
by now a lot of junk already all right but
two hours or two hours plus have passed
the place is packed
it's friday night
we went in friday evening
we went friday evening nice friday night the whole place jam-packed
even when we were there it was quite packed
we had to look for a seat
she took one tissue on top
it's a huge garbage can and
i look inside curry everything the indian shop bro
this is an indian shop and
i thought that i i
i really got a dick
you know asking am i prepared to do that
you know then
she took the first one
she pressed it nothing
tissue do the second one press nothing
i said it cannot be on top because on top
is all those who just ate
you know whatever and
she took the third one she pressed she said something
then i took it from her
it was well wrapped okay and
i open up it was jessica's retainer
now wait wait wait
how in the world did something most likely it was somewhere in between
if i go by logic
thank god when i come when you ask god you cannot go by logic all right
how the whole thing flowed to the top
i don't know how come more than two hours
if you jam packed on friday night all right that thing can be on top i don't know
one thing i know is that god the things we qualify because the things which are impossible with men are possible with god
it's just possible if man god says okay you let men do it but
the things which are impossible with men are possible
because that's why i told god again and again while i was driving there and
i said i'm your covenant child i'm not willing to let this go but
god by now is somebody no i can go by logic but
now he's like no that one Marta told jesus by now he stings four days already
he did her brother lazarus so
we cannot go by logic when it comes to wonderful omnipotent all-powerful god who flung the galaxies into place
who loves us with infinite love and
i believe he loves it when we take our place so those times when i took my place
i'm showing you a testimony where i took my place all right and
this was only it's the freshest testimony i have for you so
i wash it thoroughly and
i'm so glad it was the only time i thought jessica wrap it twice
and another thing is that
i didn't have to dig
somebody ducked for me
you know i appreciated her for that imagine first touch second touch third touch what's the touch
i mean it's like wow it's like i'm still reeling from it
are you willing to sit down and let it go when you've been stolen from or
even is your mistake all right remember this about god
he's a good god all right and
one of the things you can ask god is wisdom all right
look at this if any of you lack wisdom let him ask of god
you do not know what to pray for this one prayer
god tells you if any of you lack wisdom let him ask of god
now some of you will never pray this prayer
because you know you got it i can see that some of you act like you've got it already all right
but this word us is constant all right present active imperative by the way that means it's imperative
god didn't say if you lack wisdom
it's up to you whether you ask
it's imperative if any of you like wisdom
let him ask of god
you see i'm this one prayer
i pray all the time some of you i know
you pray this prayer because you are praying this prayer every day because
we had a serious last time on wisdom and
i taught you to pray this prayer every time but
what has become sometimes i'm afraid is this
you pray a cliche prayer
father to give me favor
father and give me wisdom and
give my cheering wisdom in jesus name amen okay cover it
it's not that kind of like you know when i was driving there's
father i'm your covenant child
father the things that are impossible it's impossible with men now it's possible with you
all right they kind of in your heart is in it
it's not that kind of i just pray wisdom
you know i just cover everything ah everything cover it
it's not that kind of thing in the church
not asking for wisdom god has a wisdom for every situation
it doesn't come because someone has degrees to their name
someone has you know they they they they are they are ceos or this of various companies
wisdom doesn't come by experience
wisdom doesn't come by accumulation of knowledge
pharaoh dreamed the dream
pharaoh had the knowledge of the dream but
joseph had the wisdom to interpret the dream
and i'm telling you
it's amazing when you ask for wisdom god makes you see what you need to see
we are inundated in this world today with myriads of information
and you know that's why you never prepare your sermon through the internet
you got to go by the old time way sit on the chair the open bible and ask god to speak to you
if you try to see what other people are preaching and that kind of thing and all that is one of the coldest
and and and and
a legalistic way to prepare a message
now you can get information here and there all right nothing wrong with that but
you don't prepare through it
there are myriads of information out there a lot of it but
you know what god will cost you to see
he will cause you to see what you need to see amen
experience is not wisdom
the lord giveth wisdom amen
there are all people holding grudges until now
just growing old does not make you wise
getting knocked in the same area for many many years ought to say hey something wrong with this area all right
but growing old does not make you wise
wisdom comes from god
so if any of you like wisdom let him what ask of god
let him what ask god
not your pastor us
let him ask of god that who gives to all liberally
and without reproach
and it will be given to him now liberally without reproach
liberally without reproach
i want to give you real quick okay i i think i don't use the present all that kind of thing in the greek anymore
just tell you what the greek says real quick here
it says god who gives to all liberally
the word gives this present active participle which means constantly giving
god is constantly giving
i'm telling you god is giving more than you are receiving
many of us just sort of wasted in our lives because we have no open hands
we are busy trying to perform with our stress
and our our straining
and our greater teeth to accomplish the very thing that god is giving for free
okay so god is constantly giving
you must have the picture of god when you come to god
it's not like god is his hands are folded and says try try
try harder no that's not god
god doesn't have to be persuaded okay
he gives constantly to all
how does he give liberally
god is a liberal god
i'm telling you god is a liberal god
you know that are you listening i said god is liberal
and the word without reproach
he gives to all constantly
and it gives liberally and without reproach
this is one word in the greek without reproach
is reproach there's one word in the greek
that means without fault finding
and by the way without reproach here in the in the greek is also present active participle which means constantly not false finding
god is a god that constantly gives
and gives liberally and constantly never finds fault
is that the god that you have in your mind
is that the god that you grew up with
god is a god who constantly does not find fault
and we come to god this week i could just destroy this number one
we just destroyed the first one why pray all right all right
god knows everything why should i pray
number two all right if i pray longer i hear my prayer we will destroy that right
number three this third one is that well if i come to god know you as god knows me he can see a lot of his perfect eyes he can see a lot of faults in me
i'm telling you god constantly does not find fault with you
why because all your thoughts got imputed to jesus christ when he carried your sins at the cross
and all the goodness and merits and worthiness and righteousness of christ god imputes to your account
this is the gospel this is not religion this is the gospel amen
we'll close with one verse are you with me people are you learning yes all right
can i give two more two more two more all right
we'll do an experiment okay all right the first one is romans 8 verse 32
it's a verse that you can meditate and meditate and every time you meditate you will squeeze some heavenly nutrient and juice out of this verse
and he will bless you
i'm telling you church all right
to help you meditate real fast because we're only only about few minutes left
i'm going to give you real fast okay i'm going to meditate
but if you meditate this verse is not tara even after i give you you can still meditate on it until one day you just scream man
i'm telling you you are screaming because there's so much in this verse
look at this verse he who did not spare his own son but delivered him up for us all how shall he not with him also freely give us all things
number one the first part he who did not spare his own son
who is the he the father he did not spare his own son
who is this son the son that he loves
twice the bible tells us god open up the river jordan and say this is my beloved son in whom i am well pleased
god said that when jesus was baptized
and then we have the highest place mount hermon when the father says this is my beloved son in whom i am pleased
hear him
jesus please the father like no other man ever did
because he lived as a man he pleased god as a man
though he is fully god
and the father says this is my beloved son who did god give up
who did god not spare so that we can be spared
the son that he loved
in hebrew 11. you know what god said to backsliding
is israel god calls him ephraim there god says how shall i give you up ephraim
because god loves ephraim god love israel
and he called israel by his one tribal name ephraim
there in hozier 11 god says how shall i give you up if right but
he gave up his son
he's the father all right change your image
wrong believing will give you wrong living
a wrong thinking will bring you to bondage
right believing will give you right living
and right results so believe right about god can you trust a god
who gave up the best heaven has
the son that he loved
he will not spare his heart the pain
don't forget there's nothing as sensitive as love
and god is love how he must have pain
god's heart to give up that son
and delivered him to what to what
to glory to fame no delivered him up to shame
and spitting persecution hatred and finally death for us all
can we trust this god then
he goes on to say how shall he not with him
don't forget with him is there with jesus also freely give us all things
how shall he not with him the holy spirit is arguing with you
his wisdom he wants you to see this divine logic
that will bring you to a place of robust faith
and have a right perspective of god
let's reason together the holy spirit is an amazing
uh a disputer he argues with you like this
he argues from the greater to the lesser if god gave us the greater gift how much more the lesser gives you
see pastor prince i want healing
why would god hold with whole healing from you
is healing greater than his son that he gave up for that he gave us give us his son no
if god withhold healing
healing is greater than jesus
no healing providence is all lesser
hey listen jesus is grace if god gave us the greater blessing of grace
how will he not give us the lesser blessing of providence of healing abundant life the good life
see you're worth god's son
that's how you're worked that god didn't want to let you go
because you're worth something stones you can just throw stones away all right
they are worthless but gold is not
you're not willing to part with
gold it falls into into garbage you still pick it up thank god
god spared me from that
you know but friend don't measure yourself by your looks
or by your money or
your income shaky foundation
and you become very small when you do that so actually god considers providence health family blessings
that's lesser everything must be lesser than that one great gift another thing all this if you meditate through you
you see the beauty of this verse
you can squeeze and squeeze
and it would be inexhaustible and it's no chance another thing was realized is this god gave that one great gift and
asked no one asked if god gave him the greatest gift and
asked how will he not give the lesser gifts for the asking amen
are you following the holy spirit's reasoning here number three
it cost god so much to give his son
we know it cost god
god is love is his own ly begotten son
it cost god so much it cost god so much for that one great gift
will he not give us the lesser gifts that cost him nothing
but only for the pleasure of giving it the other geese don't cost anything
i have one flower dies he makes another flower
fourth if when did god give us his son when the church was around worshiping him there was no church when god gave his son
when the whole world didn't even care
even the pharisees god's chosen people on earth did not welcome him
he was born in a manger when god gave us his son the bible says we were all enemies of god so think of this if god gave us that one great gift when we were enemies now that we are reconciled wow now that we are reconciled and have become like abraham friends of god how will he not give us the lesser gifts amen are you with me people yes can we squeeze some more look at the word freely the word freely tells us what the way god gives the man in which god gives it's without price it's without charge now if god was obliged to give he won't use the word freely if some of you deserve the gifts and the blessings god cannot use the word freely god will have to do it obligingly god will have to do it all right grudgingly but no god owes no one anything he's free to give whoever he wants to give amen and then how you receive it without price if you see but you must be obedient we all want to be obedient but it doesn't wait for you to be obedient because if obedience is the criteria it's no more freely all the people that came to jesus not even safe they got healed freely freely everyone is touching true power superman can never come close everyone got healed i'm telling you people power went out of him and healed them all freely freely now it does not say all right in the past tense how shall he not uh how can he not with him also free have given us freely all things let's tell you the past tense okay it does not say past tense it doesn't say um has he not has he not with him also freely given but stance doesn't say human right even though it's true god has given us everything when he gave us jesus but this is not what the verse is saying this verse is saying how shall say shall you know what shall present tense and future things from now on god gave us his son i'm telling you from now on how will he not present and in the future the forever and ever god will always show and manifest himself as the one great giver it gives us hope for now and the future it is not a past tense yes he has given us free even past tense yes yes but this is not this is what this verse is saying he's talking about the future whatever exigencies you might be faced with there's that thing okay two verses only all right two verses because you know why it's together look at this verse first chronicles four two verses okay are you ready say j bass say jay bass his name means pain what a name to name your son okay in those days when they give birth all right they will name the sun based on events that happen during that time or some significance in the family all right so obviously the mother bought him in pain he tells us that and jabez was more honorable than his brethren and his mother called him his name jabez in hebrew yabes which means pain saying because i bore him with sorrow or pain poor boy grew up being called hey pain should probably la hey guys i'm with pain look how guys pain is coming he was more honorable than his brethren there are people who tell us and are close with this you will find friends that will dispute this sermon because they come from backgrounds that tell you it's selfish to ask things for yourself how can you ask god to prosper you how can you ask god to protect you from evil evil is there some people get it some people don't you know it's like the draw in the casino no one knows christine's [ __ ] like that you never know you never know you never know health depends on your dna no more the lord christians are talking like that so they are saying you have no right and anyway those who pray only for themselves for their health for their prosperity for their family they are all selfish people is it true watch this this is the prayer jay best and the holy spirit deem it fit to record this down we'll close with this and jabez called on the god of israel saying oh that thou would have blessed me indeed can't harm me okay me i the personal pronoun oh that that word has blessed me indeed