John Hagee - The Favor of God
The favor of God is better than riches. It's better than gold, or silver, or diamonds, or rubies. The favor of God is the golden key to the gates of heaven. Any man, any woman used in the scripture, you will find the words, "They were favored" or, "They found grace in the sight of God," or, "The Lord was with them". Proverbs 3:3, "Let not mercy and truth forsake you. Bind them together about your neck... And find favor in the sight of God". Joseph had that favor and God was with him. You read the whole story of Joseph, and in every melodrama, you will find those words, "But God was with him," "But God was with him".
The favor of God is a powerful, supernatural force that moves mountains and shapes your destiny. The favor of God causes demons to tremble when you walk into the room. That is not an exaggeration. I will give you an illustration. Several years ago, Diana and I were checking into a hotel in New Orleans. And as we were approaching the admissions desk, a beautiful woman walked up to my right. And she looked at me and started screaming, "Why are you here"? I mean, she was screaming it. Diana, being the trusting soul she was, looked at this beautiful woman, and said, "And who is that woman"? I looked at Diana, and I said, "Diana, this woman has a demon. I'm going to cast out the demon while you check us in".
I lifted my hands to touch that woman, and she took off running out of that hotel, screaming like her hair was on fire. I mean, literally screaming. Every security guard in that hotel was around us in less than 60 seconds. The head of security said, "Do you know who that woman is"? I said, "For the last time, no, I don't know who that woman is". He said, "That woman is a witch. She makes her life leading occultic groups in the cemeteries of New Orleans. And at midnight, they meet and pray to talk to the dead". I said, "No, that woman doesn't know me. But the devil, who put that demon in her, knows me". When you have God's favor, the devil knows who you are. But I want to tell you this: the power of Jesus Christ is always more powerful than anything the prince of darkness has.
Who am I speaking to this morning in this building or watching across the nations of the world? Your enemies have conspired to destroy you personally, to destroy your business, to destroy your hopes and dreams for the future, to destroy your reputation. Turn that group, that person, that group of people over to God Almighty. You release them to the fury and the judgment of God, and God will remove them. And you will see them no more in your life. Favor brought Joseph from the prison to the palace in one day, and he became the second most-powerful person on the earth to save Israel and Egypt, one of the great miracles of the Bible. Jesus had favor with God and man. Jesus healed the sick. Jesus cast out demon spirits.
Twenty-five percent of his ministry, by the way, was committed to casting out demon spirits. He walked on water. He turned water into wine. He rose from the dead. He is soon to return to earth as King of kings and Lord of lords. We're going to have a meeting in the air. Church, get ready! Get ready! We're leaving this place! Hear me. God's favor is yours. You need to think like it. You need to talk like it. You need to live like it. You need to act like it. Our God is an awesome force. He is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. He is a deliverer. He is the champion of the saints. He is the one who produces the victory. Have faith in God! He will not fail you! Far too many Christians live in timidity. They lack self-confidence. They're fearful of tomorrow. They're insecure about what they're about to face. Stop it! And stop it now!
When you're watching fake news, you need to remember that you are a child of the king: that the royal blood of heaven is flowing through your veins: that Christ Almighty has your enemies already surrounded, and they are going to be totally neutralized. Why? Because you're blessed and highly favor. You are the royalty of heaven, sons and daughters of the living God. Hallelujah to the Lamb of God! We are blessed and highly favored! Now listen to this. You don't have to feel favored to be favored. You don't have to feel favored to be favored.
Consider Joseph. Look at it from Joseph's point of view. When my brothers ripped off my sport coat and they covered it with blood, and they told my father I was dead, you don't feel favor, but God was with me. I am favored. In the deepness, deep darkness of that pit, when I'm begging my brothers for mercy, my brothers are laughing at my tragedy, but God is with me. I may not look favored, bouncing on the back of a mangy camel, bound for Egypt to be sold into slavery, but I'm highly favored. My circumstance may not look like I'm favored when Potiphar's desperate housewife screams, "He tried to rape me"! But I am highly favored. I may not feel favored after being in the penitentiary for ten years for something I didn't do, but God is with me. I am blessed and highly favored. The pit my brothers put me in, that's not my destiny. Potiphar's house is not my destiny. The prison is not my destiny. The palace is my destiny. God is leading me from the pit to the palace one step at a time.
And every trial you go through is not to torment you: it's to get you ready for the promotion God has for you! Hello, Christians of America. To rule and reign with Christ is our destiny. We are going to wear a robe of dazzling white. That's our destiny. We are going to wear a signet ring of the royal authority of the Kingdom of God. That's our destiny. You want to know who has going to rule the world when king Jesus rules from Jerusalem? We are! Don't look at our clothes, or our car, or our bank account right now, because by secular terms, we may look like a loser. But you be sure we are children of the king, because we are blessed and highly favored! Give the Lord praise in the house!
The favor of God also brings controversy. King David was favored. He was anointed king of Israel, but Saul tried to kill him continuously for more than ten years. David had been anointed king by Samuel: yet, he had to live in those caves, moving around, because Saul wanted to kill him. That didn't look like favor. Joseph was favored. When you're in a pit, where is God's favor? When you're falsely accused, when you're in prison, when your heart is broken, when your marriage is falling apart, when you're buried by a deep depression, when your business is going through the floor, I have a message from God for you today. Start looking at your future. You can only conquer your past by focusing on your tomorrows. Stop looking at your past! It's over! The reward and the blessing is on the way! Give the Lord praise in the house!
Stop looking at the pit and look at the prince of glory. Stop looking at your situation and look at the Savior. Stop looking at where you have been and start looking to where God is leading you. It's not what you're going through: it's what you're coming to. When you're down to nothing, believe me, God is up to something. When you're down to nothing, God is up to something. You are blessed and highly favored by God Almighty, the king of the universe, the Lord of glory. Lift up your heads and rejoice. Our king is coming soon with power and great glory. Every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. He will be king of all kings and Lord of all Lords. The judicial system will not be in Washington. It will be in Jerusalem. And the king of glory will rule the world by this word! Give him praise in the house!
My question to you: "Can God trust you with favor"? If God gives you great advantage and great prosperity, can you be trusted with it? People often ask me, say, "Why doesn't God give me more money"? I said, "Because he can't trust you with what you have". You're stealing your tithes now. You ask God to give you more? All of that belongs to God. Until you become a giver by the laws of the Kingdom of God, you deserve nothing! Givers gain. "Give and it shall be given unto you". Plus you use God's name in vain. People like you are going to hell. "Oooh, I can't believe you said that". Yeah, it's still there and you're going. What is favor? "Favor" defined is when God gives you houses you didn't build, vineyards you didn't plant, wells you didn't dig. Favor is when God gives you hands full on purpose.
Ruth, single woman, goes into the wheat field. Her mother-in-law sends her there. When two women conspire against one man, he's done. He's done. Ruth goes into the field of Boaz. She's a gentile. She's entitled to nothing really. But when she goes into the field, someone has taken the sheaves of grain and wound them up into bundles, wrapped them with string, and placed this bundle here, and placed this bundle here. When Ruth came out, she didn't have to do all the heavy work. She just picked it up, carried it in her hands to her mother-in-law, and said, "Look what I have". She said, "Where did you work today"? "I was in the house of Boaz". She said, "Come in, sweetheart. I have a brand-new dress for you here. Here's some Chanel no. 5. I have a real plan for you". They got married, but there were hands full on purpose that demonstrated the goodness of God for every person in this building. All you have to do is to be in a position to accept the staggering prosperity God wants to give you. That's favor.
Favor brings jealousy and criticism. Joseph got the coat of many colors. His brothers hated him. They could not speak peaceably to him, not one out of eleven. You know when all eleven hate you, it's enough to give you an inferiority complex. They were beyond jealousy and criticism. Criticism is one thing, but when someone looks at you and said, "Let's kill him," you really have a public relations problem. Listen to me, Christians. There are people that there's nothing you can do to make them like you. Quit trying. Don't be frustrated by criticism of jealous people. You are favored by God. And that favor cannot be stopped by those people. Don't stumble into the trap of narrow-minded, jealous, mean-spirited people. Lift your head and square your shoulders. Clap your hands. Shout for joy. Say, "I am a child of the king. The miracles of heaven are following me. I am going to experience a supernatural breakthrough of the favor of God. Everything good is about to happen to me"! Give the Lord praise in the house!
Favor requires that at times you should be quiet. Joseph, in his youthful folly, told his brothers, now get this. This young kid in his hot sport coat is looking at his eleven brothers, and said, "Brothers, I had a dream. Eleven sheaves of grain bowing down to me, and it was you". I had an older brother. I know telling him that, that would not go over. But eleven brothers? I would have run for my life. And then he said, "The son, the moon, and the stars bowed down to me," and it was you. Joseph, shut your mouth. Be quiet, for God's sake. When you're favored and you're pregnant with divine power, a divine spark in your soul is waiting to explode. No wonder Satan attacks you. He wants to crush and destroy you. He knows that if you endure this pit, you will get to the palace. You're going to shake the world. Do God a favor and keep quiet until the blessing explodes until blind Bartimaeus can see it. Enjoy the journey! Give the Lord praise in the house!
Stop praying for people to understand you, to approve of you, to endorse you. If you have God's endorsement, you don't need anybody else's. Let me tell you for a fact, if I had waited for people to endorse the building of this building, it would never have happened. God is using those people to move you from the pit to the palace. Some of you have a special assignment in life. There's a building to build. There's a song to sing. There's a book to write. There's a medical practice to develop. There's a child to raise. If God be for you, who can be against you? Nothing is impossible to those that believe. When you believe that, no one can stop you! Give the Lord praise!
Favor is born in the womb of obedience. The ones that hate you, the ones that are mocking you, the ones that can't speak peaceably to you, you go feed them. The point is, every act of obedience shortens the distance to the miracle God is bringing you to. What makes the prayer of Jabez possible? Because God increased his boundaries. Why? Because the Bible says in 1 Chronicles 4:9, "He was more honorable than his brothers". Obedience brings blessing and the favor of God. Jeremiah 7, and God said to Israel, "This is what I commanded them, saying, 'obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people". Jeremiah 12, listen up, America. "If they (the nation of Israel) do not obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation". Did you hear that? Nations that do not obey God, God says, I will destroy. Are you listening, America?
We are now in rebellion to the Word of God. We are embracing idolatry. Socialism makes the government God. Washington is not the answer. Washington is the problem. The answer is Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God. People often whine, "Well, I haven't heard from God lately". Do you know why? Because you didn't do the last thing he told you to do. Continuing to pray about what God has already told you to do is rebellion against the will of God. Get up and do it. "Faith without works is dead". Favor is found in the will of God.
George W. Truett, one of the greatest preachers of the 20th century, said, quote: "To know the will of God is the greatest knowledge. To do the will of God is the greatest achievements. The will of God is not always easy, but it's always right". End quote. Amen. 1 John 5:14, "And this is the confidence that we have in him, that if we ask anything", listen to these words, "According to his will, he hears us". God will not do anything that's not according to his will. The favor of God is found in the will of God. And the will and the favor of God are always locked in the scripture. How do you find the will of God? First you know the will of God by reading the written Word of God. The word and the will of God are always the same.
Psalm 119:11, "Your word have I hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against God". The Bible is clear in the guidelines of every issue of life. Marriage, money, sex, business management, rearing your children, every decision you ever need to make is in this book. Read it and do it! What about marriage? Who do I marry? You marry someone of the opposite sex. How's that? Marry someone with a job. "Six days you shall work". That job should be good enough to support you and the children. If he's home, sitting on the couch, waiting for you to bring the check home, you need to kick his tail end off that couch and say, "Go get a job". In this book, you deserve nothing until you work for it! Go to work! "Be not unequally yoke".
If you're dating an unbeliever, break up with that person today. Oh, he'll change. Yes, he will. He'll get worse. The real person is home locked in a cage, waiting for you to say, "I do". What is the will of God about money? You get it by working, not by sitting on the couch, waiting for the government to send you a check. You get it by working. You keep it by tithing, Malachi 3:10. You increase it by giving and sowing the seed that produces a 30, 60, hundredfold harvest. How do I get a raise? When you do more than you're paid to do, then you will be paid more for what you do. Hmmm, if you drag around the place where you work, you'll get fired. Do it with all of the enthusiasm that you can muster, because when you work with enthusiasm, or you get ready to hear, "If you can't hack it, get your jacket," that'll happen.
Doing God's will always leads to a crisis of belief. A crisis of belief is a date certain. It's a fork in the road that demands you make a decision. And that decision requires faith and action put together. Imagine how hard it must have been for Moses to take his first step in his crisis of faith to leave those sheep and go back to Egypt, the place where he failed, and face Pharaoh. After the crisis of belief, you can't live life as usual. Noah could not live life as usual and build the ark. Abraham could not live life as usual and stay in the country where he was. David had to leave his sheep to become the king. Jonah had to leave his home before he could start the revival in Nineveh. Peter, James, and John had to leave their fishing business to follow Jesus. Paul had a crisis of belief before he could write the New Testament.
Faith is obeying God when you're not sure of the outcome. Faith is obeying God when you're not sure of the outcome. Enoch walked in favor by faith. Listen to this. Walking in favor will lead you to a surprise ending. The Bible says, "By faith, Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death. And he was not found because God took him up... For he was pleasing to God". He had favor. Enoch was walking one day. He and God were having a chat together. And God said, look: I'm just going to take you to heaven for a while, and I want to keep you here. About 3,000 years from now, I'm going to bring you back to Israel, and you're going to have a real ministry. But I'm going to take you to heaven in the great surprise ending of the Old Testament.
There's nothing like that that has ever happened before. But there's something that's about to happen that you are going to be participating in. Your life is going to have a surprise ending. Suddenly, the trump of God is going to sound. The dead in Christ are going to rise. We are going to climb into the heavenly mansions. We shall wear a robe and a crown. We are going to be given a mansion that's created by the architect of the ages. We will sing with the angels, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty". Nothing like it has ever happened before! The trump of God is going to sound! The dead in Christ are going to rise in the twinkling of an eye! We which are alive and remain shall be caught up in the clouds of glory! It's the rapture of the church! Our destiny is with the king! Good-bye world! Good-bye! Give the Lord praise in the house! Hallelujah to the lamb!