John Hagee - The Power of the Word
The Bible is the greatest book ever written in human history. In the future, when America no longer exists, when Europe has fallen under the heel of the antichrist: this will still be the law of the world. When Russia and Iran, and all anti-semitic nations have been crushed by the hand of God for their oppression of Israel and the Jewish people, the Word of God is going to endure forever. When we, as Christians, come back for the reign of Christ on this earth, and there is a final kingdom that's in Jerusalem, and the new Jerusalem sits down out of heaven: when Jesus Christ sits on the throne to his father David in Jerusalem: when kings, and queens, and presidents, and prime ministers, the rich and the powerful come to bow before Jesus Christ, the Son of God: this is going to be the law of the world! "Thy word have I hidden in my heart: that I might not sin against God". Give the Lord praise in the house of God!
Other books you read will impress you. This book will change you. It will make you a new creature in Christ Jesus. You can read Shakespeare, Shelley, Keats, Byron, Longfellow. It will not change you. And from time to time, it will just flat out bore you. But when you read creation's story in Genesis, when you read the miracles of an Almighty God leading two million Jewish people out of Egyptian bondage, dividing the Red Sea, the cloud by day, the fire by night, manna six times a week: all of the things that God gave them for 40 years, not one of them was sick and their clothes didn't wear out. The God we serve is a powerful, majestic God. He paints his portrait in these pages, and we look at him as the sovereign that he is.
When you read this book, it will change you. When you read Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John: it will change you. This sacred book is a chain breaker. It will break your habits. It will break your past. It is something that will make the sinner forsake his way. It takes the pain out of death and dying. It takes the gloom from the grave and gives a hope that is steadfast and sure. When it says, "Because he lives, we shall also live," it means that some day every righteous grave on the face of the earth is going to explode and rise to meet the king of glory in the air. It's going to be a great reunion day some day! Hallelujah to the Lamb of God!
Jesus said, "In my father's house, are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you: that where I am, there you may be also". Ladies and gentlemen, we're getting ready to go to the meeting in the air. We're getting ready to go to the city where the Lord God Almighty rules and reigns. We're going to be part of an eternal kingdom that shall never pass away. That is the covenant of this book. And on this book, we stand, and no other. Give the Lord praise in the house.
The Word of God is our moral and spiritual compass. A true story: a Christian speaker was invited to a secular university to defend the reality of God. He was introduced. And as he walked to the podium, he instantly, recognizing the hostility of the audience, said, "I want every one of you to stand up and point north". And hundreds of students stood up, and they were pointing right, left, up, and down, just all over. And then he reached into his pocket and he pulled out a compass. And he said, "The proof that there is a God is that God has created the world with a magnetic field in the north: and that every compass on planet earth, when you pull it out, will always point north. That way is north".
Ladies and gentlemen, this is the moral compass for the United States of America. This will take us back to greatness. "Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people". "All nations (America included) that forget God, will be turned into hell". And I'm suggesting that what we have right now where people are invading churches and synagogues, and killing people at will, and where liberty and life are being lost because of the criminals in the street, and the state-supported abortion. And in America, we have embraced antisemitism, and racism, and political hatred that's ripped our nation apart. It's time for a return to righteousness and a return to the principles of the Word of God! Can I hear an "Amen"?
The Word of God is a treasure chest of unsearchable riches. God's provisions are in his promise. Say that with me. God's provision is in his promise. There are 3.000 promises in this book. There are 3.000 ways God has of blessing you. None of them, none of them apply to you if you don't read this book. If you don't know it, you can't confess it. And until you confess it, it's not yours. Are you looking for a friend? The Bible says, "He's a friend that sticketh closer than a brother". There will be a day in your life, when you turn around, you'll be in so much trouble, nobody will be there. The Bible says, "If your father and your mother forsake you: that he will pick you up".
Some of you have been forsaken by your mother and your father. But there is a father in heaven that loves you with an everlasting love. And he will pick you up out of the dirt, of the blood and the mud. He will cleanse you. He will make you white as snow. "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be absolutely white as snow". God will bury them in the deepest sea, never to be remembered against you anymore. But you have to know what's in the book to have the contents apply to you. Are you looking for hope? David said, "Why are you cast down, o my soul? Hope thou in God". Say that with me. "Hope thou in God". "For God is the glory and the lifter of my head".
What does that mean? That means, literally in the translation, God leans off of his throne and puts his hand under your chin, and he lifts your head up to encourage you, saying, stay in the hunt. I'm with you. Keep running the race. I am there. I know the problems you're going through. Just keep trying. We're going to get this done. Endure to the end. You are going to be victorious in this situation. Don't give up! I'm with you. And if God be for you, who is be against you?
Are you looking for real joy? "The joy of the Lord maketh rich and it addeth no sorrow". "In his presence, is the fullness of joy". "Weeping may endure for the night, but joy cometh in the morn" "Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands". "Serve the Lord with gladness". "Come into his presence with thanksgiving". "Know ye that the Lord, he is God. It is he that has made us and not we ourselves".
Are you looking for health and healing? The provision of God says, "By his stripes, we are healed". Jesus was the great physician. He is still the great physician. He will always be the great physician. When he was on this earth, he healed one-on-one. He healed in mass. One time, he touched the blind man with spittle on dirt. Why did he do that? Because there was a teaching in Judaism that in the spittle of the firstborn son, there was healing power. And when Jesus put spittle in his hand and rubbed it with the dirt, he put it on the eyes of the blind man to witness to everyone around, "I am the firstborn of my father, and I have power to heal anything, anywhere, anytime! Hallelujah to the Lamb of God!
He told his disciples, in the day of their ordination, Matthew 10:8, "Go out and preach the Kingdom of God is at hand. Heal the sick. Raise the dead. And cast out demons". It didn't take all day for them to get that. They went out and turned the world upside down. We have made church way too complicated. We have. All we really need to do is get our lives in harmony with the Word of God and the anointing of the Holy Spirit, and the world will be attracted to the awesome power that God brings to that church. The healer is in the house! God's provisions are in the promises! Look for the Word of God! Obey the Word of God! Enjoy the Word of God! Release the power of the Word of God and you'll live a rich and happy life! Give the Lord praise in the house!
King David said, "Bless the Lord, o my soul, and forget not all his benefits". What are the benefits? What are the benefits of knowing the Lord? David said, first, he forgives all of our iniquities. You know the difference between a sin and iniquity? You can do a sin and not be conscious of it. This is omission commission: I'm not going into that. An iniquity is you're sinning and you know you're sinning while you're sinning, and you do it anyway. David planned the murder of a friend, because he wanted his wife. And it was done and God forgave him. He extracted an awesome price, because God said, "I'm not going to allow you to build the temple".
I'm not punishing you for the 18 wars you fought for Israel. I'm not punishing you for that blood. But you have shed the blood of an innocent man. And for that, you are never going to be allowed to build my temple. That will be Solomon's responsibility. You will have a price to pay, but God will forgive you. He forgives all. "Who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies", oh, I love this verse, "Who satisfies your mouth with good things". Hallelujah. Thank you, God.
The back half of that verse, "So that your youth is renewed like the eagles". When an eagle gets old, he has a burst of strength and growth so that everything he could do when he was young, he can do when he is old. That means when your hair goes white, there's still gas in the tank. Thank you, God! Is it possible to live with peace in your heart in the middle of a raging storm? We are living in uncertain times with chaos all around. But there is peace to be found that transcends any situation.
Are you looking for the love of your life? Do you want to get married? God is a match maker. He brought Adam and Eve together. I won't tell you what a wonderful marriage they had, because that's a sermon all in itself. I mean he didn't have to worry about his mother-in-law. There was no mother-in-law. "Do you love me, eve"? "Who else, Adam? Who else? You're the only one here". They loved each other. See how that can get started? I mean you just... There are 3.000 promises. Each of them brings a provision from God.
If you want to find somebody to marry, you, first, find someone of the opposite sex. Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. Then you find a believer, someone who believes this. The third requirement, scripturally, is that he is a provider. That means he can provide for you and himself, not he's going to but he can right now! Don't marry a promise. Marry a provision. Make sure he can do it. Show me! That's just page one. That sermon is by itself.
This book is the birthplace of blessing. You were born to be blessed. Every person here was born to be blessed. Follow the blessing of God, in the Bible, quickly. God blessed Adam and Eve in the garden. They broke covenant with God and God cast them out of the garden. Noah's generation failed God, and God wiped that generation off the face of the earth with a flood. Then God found a man by the name of Abraham that he could trust. And he made a covenant with Abraham, and his children, and his children's children.
These are the Jewish people. And Isaac was blessed. And Jacob brought his 12 sons on his death bed, and he blessed those 12 sons. I wrote a whole book on this. Those 12 sons and the blessings he gave to them controlled the history of the nation of Israel for the next thousand years. King David, in Psalm 1, said, "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful. But his delight", listen, "Shall be in the law of the Lord". That's this. "And in his law, does he meditates day and night," constantly.
How many of you read, don't raise your hand, how many of you read the Bible less than ten minutes a day? I would bet most of you. Jesus, in the beatitudes, I'm talking about blessing, how did he begin his ministry? "Blessed are the pure in heart. Blessed are the merciful. Blessed are the peacemakers," blessed, blessed, blessed, blessed. Saint Paul begins every one of his epistles in the first two verses with, "Blessed," blessings to you, brethren, and may the peace and the mercy of God be with you". How does John, on the island of Patmos, open the Book of Revelation? He said, "Blessed is he who reads this book". The blessings of God go from the gates of Genesis to the closing of the Book of Revelation. God wants to bless you, and you, and you, and you, and you, and you, and you out of your socks. But if you don't read this book, you don't know what he can give you. Read the book!
Jesus compared the Word of God to daily bread, Matthew 4:4. "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God". Did you ever notice how bread has to be eaten before it'll help you? You ever read the side advertisements on bread? New, enriched, vitamins a through z, makes your teeth white, hair black, and attracts the opposite sex, blah, blah, blah, blah. But if you don't eat it, it won't help you. You are what you eat. Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, and God cast them out of the garden, and they died spiritually. Your health, in the eternal kingdom, is going to be determined by what you eat. Brother, I know this crowd is going to be the healthiest crowd there. Feast on this. Feast on this.
Thirty-eight years ago, I rode home from Israel with a holocaust survivor named Sol Weinglass, and he told me of his survival in Hitler's hell. For me to talk for eight hours with one guy was a major miracle. I was riveted to his story. He told me of how they went through Auschwitz, and his mom and dad, and brothers and sisters, seven in all, were systemically murdered and cremated. He made the statement: he said, "The Nazis controlled us with food", he said, "I became an expert on telling when a man would die". He said, "I have seen a man lay down in the ghetto to die, and someone give him one slice of bread, and he could eat that bread, and get up and live one more day, and then die". He said, "The signs of physical starvation were initially irritated about everything. And then you became joyless, and then depressed, and then lifeless".
Jesus identified the Bible as the source of spiritual food. And when you refuse to read it, you systematically starve yourself to death. Think about that. It's spiritual suicide. First, you get weak: then you're irritable. You have no joy. You're sick of soul and spirit, then you spiritually die. And all of a sudden, you no longer read the verse that said, "O taste and see that the Lord is good". Suddenly, you're one of the those persons, who are saying, "You know church is not like it used to be. The preacher's not preaching right. The deacons won't deac. The ushers won't ush". The point is, when you get to the place you feel the whole world is wrong, it's you! You need to change your diet. Stop watching 40 hours of secular television, of murder, rape, hate, fake news, and violence: and your life will be different. Get away from negative people. Don't take their phone calls. Don't go to their gossip parties. Don't!
Let me tell you something. People, who talk to you about other people, will talk to other people about you. Read this book. It gives joy unspeakable that's full of glory, peace that surpasses understanding, victory that is greater than your trial, victory that's greater than the giants you're facing, strength to climb the mountains of impossibility, strength to carry the burdens that you are, strength to have the hope in the midst of the storm. God gives you confidence that God is on his throne and everything is going to be all right. When you read this book, you have a hope that is steadfast and sure! You cannot be shaken in your faith, because you have the hand of God and the Word of God, and you're walking toward the king's perfect will for your life. Give the Lord praise in this house.
The second sign of spiritual starvation is joylessness. Just let me say: if you woke up this morning and didn't find your name in the obituary column, get happy. You've got a lot going for you. Joyless Christians are defeated Christians. The third sign of spiritual starvation is depression. Depression is very real. Great men in history and in the Bible suffered from depression. The joy of the Lord will drive depression out of your life. You know where you find the joy of the Lord? Not in a liquid bottle, but on the pages of this book. "O taste and see that the Lord is good". The Word of God is your source. It is your hope. It is your refuge. May God bless the reading of the word and all that's in this word. The Word of God will be the final word. Who's going to have it? God Almighty. Who's going to issue it? Jesus Christ.
The world will end just like God's word says it will. "Heaven and earth shall pass away. But when this Gospel has been preached to the ends of the earth, then will the end come". Right now, seven television cameras are carrying this message all over the earth. We are fulfilling that. You want to know the future? Don't read a horoscope or ouija board. Don't stare at the stars. Read this. You want to know how the world is going to end? This tells you exactly the final future of the world, which includes many things that you're not reading about in the news. Read this book. The next prophetic event is the rapture of the church. "Behold, I show you a mystery: we shall not all sleep. We shall be changed in the moment, in the twinkling of an eye". Saints of the living God, we have absolutely nothing to wait for until the rapture of the church happens. It could happen today. Give the Lord praise in the house.
Can we stand together? How many of you here could say. Pastor, I don't read the Bible daily. It's spiritual food. But I don't read it daily. I know I should. Some of you have a battle with depression, hopelessness, joylessness. You're fearful. You're resentful. You're frustrated. You're angry. The answer is in this book. How many of you would make that confession: you don't read the Bible every day? Can I see your hand? Most. Most. I don't mean you have to sit down and read it an hour. Can you give God ten or fifteen minutes some time of the day just to open this book and let the Holy Spirit have a shot at getting into your troubled life and into your troubled mind? It'll bring peace to you: I assure you. The greater the storm, the more of this you need to eat. I assure you: God is a promise keeper. And he's looking for a way to bless you. But I want you to read this book. How many of you pledge to do that? God bless you.