Joseph Prince - Remember All His Benefits
A Merry Christmas to all of you. May the proclamation of the angels that first Christmas night, "Peace on earth and goodwill towards men," be fulfilled in you and in your family. I wish you that you experience the best that God has this Christmas, and the best that he has is the Lord Jesus Christ. Let Jesus happen to you. That's the reason for Christmas. It is not all this, you know, bright lights, and shopping, and getting presents. You know, in some countries that I go to for holidays, during the Christmas season, they really celebrate Christmas with lights, and even the Christmas carols, but the purpose of Christmas has been forgotten. For most people, it's a time to make money, it's a time to, you know, take advantage of the season so that people will spend more.
But friend, we need to remember that the whole purpose of Christmas is that God is loving you by sending his Son Jesus Christ, who came as a baby on that Christmas night. So, let's start off by reading from our Christmas portion of Scripture from the Bible. Luke chapter 2 verse 6, "So it was, that while they were there," Joseph and Mary, "The days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn".
Now, notice the Bible says that when the time came for Mary to give birth, they were now in Bethlehem, but they were actually dwelling north of Israel in Nazareth. But because they were actually Bethlehemites, they belonged to Bethlehem because their forefather is King David himself, and both Mary and Joseph came from the royal line, right, through different sons. If you trace back their genealogy all the way to King David's sons, different sons that brought forth Joseph, later on and brought forth Mary on the other side. So, actually they belonged to the royal line, and who would have thought that a decree from a Gentile emperor during that time, Augustus Caesar, the stepson of Julius Caesar, that a decree from him that all the Roman world at that time would be taxed, would cause them to go back to their native birthplace to be taxed, and a census is taken at that time for all the people living under the Roman rule. And at that time, Israel was under the Roman rule, so who would have thought that a decree from a Gentile unbeliever, nonetheless he's an emperor, but an unbeliever. God can use even the governments of the world to carry out his plan. We see that in this instance.
So, Mary and Joseph found themselves in Bethlehem. You know, it's the time that most women in their final term would not want to travel, but Mary was very advanced now, but they had to go because of the Roman rule, right? And they had to be there in Bethlehem, and the time came for her to be delivered, and she brought forth her Son, her firstborn Son, the Bible says, our Lord Jesus. Isn't that beautiful? That he was born at the right time. The Bible says, "When the fullness of time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them who were under the law, that we might receive," sonship, "Adoption of sons," that is one word in the Greek, sonship. The Son of God became the Son of Man that we, the sons of man, might become the sons of God, hallelujah. That's what Christmas is all about. He wasn't born, alright, for the purpose of just being born into this world, he was born to die.
That was the purpose that God had for his love plan for man. Ever since man sinned, the very first sin, when Adam sinned, he brought sin into humanity, and sin has been transferred down through the generations in the bloodstream, but Jesus was born of a virgin, and now it wasn't too long ago we understand scientifically that the fetus does not receive the mother's blood through the placenta. The fetus only receives nourishment from the mother, but not the blood. Not a single drop of the blood of the mother goes into the fetus. This is amazing, because if Mary's blood, Mary is sinful just like any other person. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. She's a wonderful lady, but nonetheless she has sin in the blood, and she cannot transfer that into the baby she's carrying, therefore the Bible says that Jesus was born of a virgin, amen.
The Father put Jesus in the virgin's womb, hallelujah. And there he received the supply from the mother, but not the blood. The blood in Jesus's veins, in Emmanuel's veins is all from God the Father, amen. And that blood was in him to be shed at the cross, why? Because the Bible says, "For the life of the flesh is in the blood," and God has given the blood to make an atonement for your souls. Only the blood can wash away our sins. And it cannot be sinful blood washing away sinful blood. My blood cannot wash away your sinful blood, amen? It must be the royal, sinless blood of God himself incarnate in human flesh. The reason he became a baby, alright, is because he had to take on human form to die on the cross, to shed his blood. So, his death wasn't an accident. It wasn't the murder of Jesus like some people call it. No, Jesus came to die.
In fact, before the time, you know, no one could arrest him, no one could stop him, no one could stand in his way. You know, no one could kill him. In fact, there was more than one instance where the people tried to kill him at one time in his hometown, Nazareth, they tried to push him off the cliff. The Bible says he walked right through the midst of them. Another time they pick up rocks. In those days, the Jewish capitol punishment is stoning, and they threw up rocks to stone him, they claimed that he was blasphemous, but he walked right in the midst of them. So, death cannot touch him, why? Because death came because of sin, but because Jesus had no sin, hallelujah, there's no sin in his blood, there's no sin in him. The Bible says he knew no sin, he did no sin, in him is no sin, and yet he died on the cross like he was the worst sinner, why? No, he's there in your place. He's there in my place, so that his blood can be shed to wash away our sins, hallelujah. For God has given the blood to make an atonement for souls, amen.
And that's why when Jesus appeared at the age of 30 at the River Jordan, John the Baptist said, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away," I love that, not cover. You see, the blood of the lambs that was shed in the Old Testament would cover sins for another year. It would cover sins for another year. But it is not the real payment until the true Lamb of God came and John the Baptist was used by God to point him out. What a privilege. "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away". This time it's not covered, people, it's taken away. Covered is the word atone, atoning for sins, but this time the blood of Jesus Christ would take away sins. "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world," hallelujah. And that's why he came in human flesh. Notice, the Bible says that when he was born, the mother wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger.
Now, a lot of people have this idea that, you know, the Christmas scenes that we see, the manger, you know, we have a western perspective, you know, it's like a barn, you know, a wooden barn, but actually it was more of a cave. And he wasn't born in a manger, he was laid in a manger. The manger is not the barn, it's not the cave during Jesus's time, it is actually a rock hewn kind of feeding trough cut from the rock. We have a picture here from Israel, and this is an ancient feeding trough. This is the manger where Jesus was laid. It's a rocky manger, and they would put, you know, hay, and dried grass there, so that the animals can feed from the manger.
So, the very fact that Jesus was laid here is a picture that he came to die. Because if you look at the picture of this manger, this stone manger, you will see that if you visit the tomb of Jesus in Israel, there you will find it's empty, hallelujah, and notice the similarity, amen? It's also like a manger. He was born and he was wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger. That's where he was laid, and folks, it's a picture that this baby has come to die. This is the Lamb of God, the true Lamb of God who would take away our sins. You see, friends, all the troubles in your life, all the depression that you feel, all the heartache, the feelings of, you know, anger, and resentment, and all this selfishness that you see in the world as a result of sin. And sin brings forth that fear of death, so one of the reasons that Jesus died is to conquer death. His death destroyed death, hallelujah, and he rose from the dead on the third day.
Jesus conquered death for you and me, praise the Lord. He didn't have to conquer death for himself, he had no sin. The Bible says, "The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord". And one of the reasons the Bible says that Jesus came in flesh and blood, let me read to you from Hebrews chapter 2 from the Bible. Verse 14, "Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared in the same". What does that mean? That means he himself took on flesh and blood like you and I. "That through death," God cannot die, but if God became a man, man can die, right? So, here that through death, he took on flesh and blood, so that through death, "He might destroy him," the devil, "Who had the power of death, that is the devil". "Through death, he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil". And what is the result? "And release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage".
So, the fears that man have today, the overriding fear is actually the fear of death. You know, they can fear this COVID-19 virus and all that, it's not so much fearing the virus, it's actually fearing death that the virus may lead to. That's what man fears. There's really no fear of flying, right? It's actually a fear of dying in a plane crash. That's what people are afraid of. It's the fear of death that is the overriding fear that is the mother of all fears. And that fear came in because of Adam's sin and is transferred by blood through all the generations. "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God". You know, ever since the first Adam sinned, the Bible says man became sinners. We sin because we are sinners. We are born sinners. It's in our blood.
And that's why God's love plan, God's rescue plan went into action. God was the first one to prophesy, the very first prophecy in the Bible was after Adam and Eve sinned, and God spoke to the devil. At that time, the devil possessed the snake, and deceived Adam and Eve to sin, but God said to the devil, this is the penalty and it's a prophecy. God said, "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed". And we know that the woman does not have seed, amen, the man has the seed. So, here's is a prophecy of the virgin birth already. God says I will put enmity between your seed, Satan's seed, and her seed. "He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel". The word "bruise" here is the word crush in the Hebrew. "He will crush your head, and you will crush his heel".
What happened at the cross? At the cross, Jesus's heel was crushed, so to speak, and in so doing, he crushed the devil's head, hallelujah, and he did it for you and me. We who were bound by sin, fearing death all our lives, and this death here, if you think about the fearing death here, do you think that these people that God is talking about feared death, spiritual death? And there is a spiritual death. After you die, you know, the Bible talks about the second death, being thrown into the lake of fire in hell, right? That is the second death. Do you think that these people are afraid of the second death? No, this fear of death is referring to physical death. So friend, Jesus has conquered physical death, hallelujah, and by death, amen, by his death, he also delivered us from the second death, amen, amen.
So, this fear of death has brought man into slavery, into bondage to fear of death. All their lifetime, they are afraid of doing certain things because of the fear of death. And it transcends culture and race, it transcends the nations of the world. It doesn't really matter which country you're from, you know, it doesn't really matter who you are or what kind of background you come from. Everyone has this fear of death. They might, you know, sort of like ignore it, or sort of suppress it, but it's always there. The shadow of it is always there. And they make decisions because of the fear of death, and the Bible says it causes you to be in subjection. It causes you to be in slavery all your life. So, Jesus came, amen, took on flesh and blood, that's the story of Christmas, amen, that he might die on the cross to deliver you, to release you, amen, and by dying on the cross, he destroyed the devil who had the power of death.
So, let's ask ourselves the question, how did the power of death come to the devil? Did he originally have the power of death? No, death came because of sin. You see, God's dream for man is that man will never die, man will be perpetually young, healthy, peaceful, amen, calm, praise the Lord, enjoying his blessings, enjoying the highest life that he has for us, amen. Enjoying with the woman that God gave him in the Garden of Eden, and from then populating the entire earth. God made man as the highest creation, praise the Lord, just slightly below the angels, the Bible says, but God made man to rule this earth. But God gave man a choice, and God said I'm gonna give you every blessing, even all the trees of the field for you to enjoy from, amen. You can eat from any tree that you want, but only one tree to show that you honor me. But that tree was planted by God.
You see, if everything was good, wherein lies the free choice? If God says I give you free choice, but then God surrounds you with only good, alright, there's no way of demonstrating your love for God, your honor of him, your worshiping him. There's no way of expressing that, but if God allows among the multitudes of good there is in your life, amen, surrounded by all the good blessings of God, and God put one thing down there which is not evil by itself, because the Bible says God saw everything that he had made, including the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and God saw everything and God said it was good, but it's not good for man, because God said don't eat from this one tree to show that you honor me, to show that you obey me, to show that you respect me. You recognize, amen, my sovereignty, amen.
But man became proud, man believed that by taking this tree, right, I'll become wise. The devil came, and you know, the snake talked and convinced them that God is holding back on them. If they look around them, the proof is there, the evidence that God is giving them everything. What has the devil given them? And yet, today man is believing the devil. You see, even among us believers, you know, people tend to believe that the devil can tame and destroy easily compared to God's willingness to bless and to heal. We have a hard time believing this, but we have an easy time believing the devil can do that. Something is wrong, friend. Something is really wrong. People have a problem sometimes believing that God is hearing them when they pray, but then they believe that if they say something, you know, the devil will take advantage of it, you know, and they are conscious of that.
You see, friend, the Bible tells us very clearly that, "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son". And love always gives, and the greatest gift that God gave us is his Son. So, during this Christmas time, amen, as we remember our Lord Jesus, we think of that babe laying in the manger, and we remember that the purpose for him in coming to this earth is to die for our sins, why? Because God loved you, God loved me. In fact, the Bible, I love the little word that speaks of intensity. Jesus himself spoke these words, John 3:16, "For God so loved the world". So, that speaks of intensity. God so loved you, "That he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him," if you will believe in him, you will not perish, but you will have everlasting life, hallelujah. Praise the Lord. But ever since Adam's sin, Adam believed the devil talk compared to God talk, amen, and obeyed the devil instead of God.
You see, God said the day that you sin, in the Hebrew it says like this, dying you shall die. You die spiritually, cut off from God, and then you will die in the future physically. Dying you shall die, so that's how death came in. The Bible says, "The wages of sin is death". But thank God it goes on to say, "But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord," amen, praise the Lord. So, God never meant for man to die. God's purpose is never for man to grow old, have gray hairs, amen, be bowed down, his body be subject to sickness and disease, and you know, become decrepit and finally die. God considered death and disease all as an enemy. The Bible says clearly the last enemy that will be put under Jesus's feet is death, hallelujah, physical death. Jesus has conquered death already, and we are looking forward for his coming, and he is coming back, folks, praise the Lord. All the signs that Jesus talked about, amen, is now being fulfilled. One of them is pestilences, and we have never seen a pestilence like this in modern times like we are seeing in these two years, right?
So, folks, it's being fulfilled, and weather change and all that, you know, regardless of what we talk about with climate change, and what we believe about it, the Bible says it's a sign. It's a sign that all these things are happening and these signs are not from God, but God is saying the whole earth is travailing, and the devil is working harder in these last days, because the devil knows his time is short, and the Bible says all these are signs that Jesus is coming back. When Jesus comes back, friend, you will receive a brand-new body. If you believe on him, you believe what he did at the cross, you believe that his blood cleanses you from every sin, when Jesus comes again, you receive a brand-new body, amen. A body that's incorruptible, a body that's not subject to sin, or to disease, or to death ever again, praise the Lord. You will live perpetually in that young, in that powerful, in that strong, in that immortal body. Immortality will be a reality when Jesus comes again. Praise the Lord.
The Bible says he will transform our vile bodies like his glorious body, hallelujah. I'm looking forward to that. The Bible says: "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye," amen, "we shall be transformed". We won't even see death, praise the Lord. But should Jesus tarry, if he's not coming back in our lifetime, folks, even physical death itself holds no terror for the believer. It's like stepping into a brand new world. If my heart stopped beating right now, amen, the real me, because God made us spirits living in bodies, right? So if I die right now, I step out of my body, I can see my body, and I'll be so alive, all right? But now I have no means of expressing myself physically because the body was the means, the vehicle, by which I could express myself. But I'm not left without a body. The Bible says when Jesus comes again, you know, we will be clothed with immortal body, hallelujah.
So even if Jesus tarries, which I don't think in our lifetime, I believe all the signs are showing, amen, he's coming back soon, praise the Lord. And then, this mortality will put on immortality. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, the Bible says, we'll be transformed. Praise the Lord. And we'll live forever in that body, hallelujah. I'm looking forward to that. Where was the price paid to conquer death? At the cross. At the cross. Jesus hung there for you and I. At the cross, he conquered the devil, because he had no sin, he did no sin, in him is no sin. Therefore, he's the only perfect substitute, the Lamb of God, the perfect Lamb of which all the other lambs in the Old Testament was pointing to, the Lamb sacrificed is the final and the true Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.
So on that cross, he carried your sins and he bore my sins in his own body on the tree and the Bible says not only that, he bore our diseases and he carried our sicknesses and pains in his own body on the tree. Friend, never forget this. David, the Psalmist, said, "Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits," and yet many believers are forgetting the benefits. The Bible says: "Forget not all His benefits". And sometime we remember a few benefits. But the Bible says: "Forget not all". We must remember it all. And there are five benefits mentioned there: "Forget not all His benefits". The first one: "Who forgives all your sins," "Who forgives all your iniquities". That's the first one. That means your sins, my friend. And he's forgiven all. Where? At the cross, amen. When he bore your sins, and he was punished for your sins, God who is a righteous God, God cannot punish you if you believe on Jesus anymore, amen.
The moment you believe in Jesus, amen, God sees you righteous because, at the cross, that divine transfer took place. Why was he there? He who knew no sin, who did no sin, why was he there at the cross? He was there as the Lamb of God, our substitute. So that he can take your place and so that you can take his place. The Bible says God made him to be sin on that cross with your sins and my sins, that we, today, might become the righteousness of God in Christ. Praise the Lord. He was cast out that we might be brought in. He cried, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me" at the cross that you and I can cry, "Abba, Father, Father, why have you so blessed me," amen. Praise the Lord.
Jesus bore our diseases and our sicknesses, the Bible says, himself. Not an angel, not someone else. He will not trust anyone else to do this job. The Bible says: "Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses". And if we believe that, the next benefit is "Who forgiveth all your iniquities; who healeth all your diseases," hallelujah. Again, all your diseases. Not just, you know, as and when God feels like healing. No, no, friend. The Bible says: "God heals all your diseases," and I believe the Word of God. And I will not forget this benefit because I'm not to forget any of his benefit but to remember them all, hallelujah. And God wants to heal your body, amen. If you're sick in your body, God wants to heal your body. I wanna read to you a testimony that just came in, and this is a sister from the US, and I just received this testimony yesterday. And this lady says:
In early 2021, my mom was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma, a form of skin cancer, of the face. About 3 years ago, she had another form of skin cancer on another part of her face due to sun damage. My husband and I watch Pastor Prince's program every morning and tune in to his online services every Sunday. We have learned so much from his teachings. We now fully understand so many truths including the fact that we are the righteousness of God in Christ. We also learned how to discern the Holy Communion elements. For a month after my mom's diagnosis, I would tell her to declare out loud that she is the righteousness of God in Christ over and over again. She was nervous to undergo surgery to remove the cancer cells as she did not have a good experience with her first procedure 3 years ago. The day before her scheduled surgery, my husband and I watched Pastor Prince's online service. At the end of the sermon, Pastor Prince read out a testimony of a man who went to his doctor to proceed with surgery to treat his throat cancer, only for the doctor to find no cancer in him. I claimed this for my mom and believe it was a word spoken for her surgery the next day. On the morning of her surgery, my mom said she felt a great sense of calm and peace wash over her. The surgeon first removed a thin layer of skin and sent it for analysis to determine how deep the cancer cells were rooted in her skin. After the lab analysis, the surgeon returned with a look of confusion on his face. He said to my mom, 'Well, we are done here. There'll be no more surgeries for you. We couldn't find any cancer cells during the lab analysis.' This is a miracle, as a month ago the biopsy came back as positive for squamous cell carcinoma with concern that it could have roots and extensions deep into the skin. My mom said that when she heard the good news, she immediately thought me and my prayers. I had told her to see the cancer cells on Jesus's face as he hung on the cross and to declare that his body was broken so that our bodies can be made whole. I give thanks to the Lord Jesus for his great mercy towards my mom and my family. Thank you, Pastor Prince, for preaching God's Word with so much passion for Jesus Christ. We can see visions of ourselves as prosperous, healthy, successful, and at peace because you taught us to see ourselves as how God sees us through his Son.
Hallelujah, praise the Lord. "Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits," who healeth all your diseases. It goes on to say, "Who redeems your life from destruction". That's another benefit, and God redeems our life from destruction. And, friend, you know, you can be a person who is healthy. I mean, you're exercising all the time, watch your diet and all that, only to be met with an accident or things like that. This is destruction. Outside health areas, amen? It can happen to anyone. You know, people say, "When your time is up, your time is up". No, my friend. There is a devil out there and he hates you. But there is a God, praise the Lord, who loves you, who gave his Son to die for your sins, who paid the price for you to be healthy, amen, to be strong, praise the Lord. To be forgiven, amen, of all your sins. And this same God, his benefit for you is also "Who redeems your life from destruction".
Notice the word "redeem"? That means there was a payment made for you to be delivered or to be rescued from that destruction. You see, because of sin, because we have sinned against a holy God, amen, because of sin there is a tag that comes with it, there is a penalty that comes with it, which is death, disease, destruction. But Jesus on the cross shed his blood, that precious blood, that washes away our sins, and that blood is redeeming blood. That blood has redeemed you. The word "redeem" means to buy you out from that slave market of sin, of death, of destruction. Praise the Lord. He has bought you out. So the Bible says one of the benefits of God, we need to confess this benefit over ourselves every day. "Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all my iniquities," praise the Lord.
That's what Christmas is all about, friend. It's not so much the birth of Jesus that saves us; it is his death on the cross, amen. And his resurrection, hallelujah. And "Who healeth all your diseases," all. "Who redeems your life from destruction". Now we come to the fourth benefit. It says: "Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies". God loves to just crown his children, amen, with favor. The word "lovingkindness" in the Hebrew is the word "hesed". Hesed is the word "grace, favor". God surrounds you and the word "crowns," it's not like a crown that you wear on your head. In the Hebrew, the word "atarah," the word "crown" is actually all around you. It's like you are in this pavilion. You are actually surrounded crowned with glory and honor, all encompassing you. Praise the Lord. And it's the favor of God covering you. It's the favor of God that you are crowned with. And everywhere you go, you have favor. Praise the Lord.
Now, there's one area that we won't have favor. People who hate God, people who don't want to be reminded of their sins and all that, the Bible says they will persecute us and the Bible says, in fact, the Bible promises all that live godly, all those who are believers, amen, shall suffer persecution in Christ Jesus. So that's something we are not redeemed from, praise the Lord, this side of heaven, but that's the only suffering that the Bible talks about in the New Testament, amen? The rest, Jesus took at the cross and, you know, friend, regardless of what we see around us, we've got to believe the Word of God, amen. And this is a benefit, praise the Lord, "Who crowns you with lovingkindness," with favor, "and compassion". "Who crowns you with lovingkindness," and the King James says, "Tender mercies," or compassion. That word there is actually the compassion of a mother for a child, amen.
The word "rekhem" in Hebrew is actually the word used for also the woman's womb. The word for womb where she nourishes her baby. And that's the picture used there for this word for tender mercies. God surrounds you with favor and you are surrounded, like in a cocoon, in a pavilion, of his tender mercies, of his compassion. You sense the love of God. You see, that's why you don't have to go looking for love in all the wrong places because when God crowns you, my friend, you sense that you are the beloved, amen? Every day is an adventure of the beloved going somewhere to happen, amen? You are not trying to love, you are the beloved. And the more you realize you are the beloved, you will end up loving: loving those around you, amen. You can afford to even overlook an evil done to you, praise the Lord; because why? You are God's beloved, amen? You are God's beloved.
You know that the eagle actually have enemies. The eagle in the sky. We think that the eagle, you know, in the sky is the king of the air. But actually, the eagle have enemies. And the eagle's enemies are actually crows. And what the crows do is that the crows will come behind the eagle, sort of like come and just be irritating, you know, just like peck on the eagle's wing or on his leg and from behind, and then because they're more maneuverable, they're small, when the eagle turns, they have moved away and they fly away from the eagle. And the eagle's enemies are always the crows coming behind them, hoping that they'll drop the food that they have in their talons, and they are hoping that the eagle will just, you know, submit and just let go of everything so that they can have the food. But they're always irritating the eagle. But you know what the eagle does? The eagle does not fight back. The eagle just flies higher, amen. The eagle flies higher.
Friend, when people irritate you, there are people who are just, you know, they just hate you, they don't like you, right? Go higher. The benefit is that God has crowned you with loving kindness, with favor and compassion. So when people come against you, remember, just go higher. They cannot follow you because only eagles can fly that high. And God's people are eagles. Only they are the ones crowned with compassion, with loving kindness, with favor, amen. And you just go higher. When people criticize you, just go higher, amen? When people say things about you, just go higher, hallelujah, amen? Don't retaliate. Don't come down at their level, amen. Don't give them the favor that God has given you by acknowledging them, because they want borrowed favor from you. So don't give that, just fly higher, amen. Enjoy the fresh air where the crows cannot come, amen. God has crowned you, my friend, with favor, hesed, and compassion, amen. And the final blessing, the final benefit: "Forget not all".
So let's not forget the final one. And even the final one, sometimes I remember preaching in one place about this benefit and some believers were not happy that I was preaching on this benefit. They said that, "Well, you know, we agree with everything that you say for the most part but this part here, we don't agree". It's not a matter of agreeing with me. It's a matter of whether you agree with the Scriptures. The Bible says: "Forget not all his benefits". And the fifth benefit is this: "Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle's," wow, amen. Do you know, my friend, the Bible says that God wants to renew your youth is a benefit that he gives to his people. "Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle's," amen.
Why renewed like the eagle's? Because the eagle is a bird that when he grows old, it molts, all right? It goes through a molting stage where it sheds its feathers, amen. And he looks like a sorry sight, perched on the high cliffs and he looks very sorry, amen. You know, he looks old and he doesn't look like eagle anymore. He lost all his feathers. But there's a purpose for him waiting on that cliff, on that ledge. He's waiting before the sun and after a few days of just waiting, all right, enjoying the breeze and enjoying the sun rays and the picture there is God's rays on you, amen, enjoying his blessings, something happens to the eagle. New sprightly feathers, youthful feathers, come out, amen. And then he flies from that cliff, amen. And he goes high. This time he has a young body, but an experienced mind. And that's what God wants for you. Even in your advanced years, God says, "God can renew your youth like the eagle's".
I did a study of this word "youth," you know, I just wanna know what is God's perspective of youth for us, amen, that he wants to renew, and I read there are different words for youth in the Hebrew, different stages of youthfulness, like we say a child, then we have the teen years, amen. And then we have the young man in their 20s, in their 30s. Well, the word that's used there in the Hebrew is actually the teen years, youth. The teenage years. So God wants to satisfy, ha, ha, God wants to satisfy your mouth so that your teenage youth, amen, hallelujah, will be restored, will be renewed like the eagle's, which is a literal renewal. Forget not even this benefit, my friend. Receive it, amen.
We have examples in the Bible, for example, Abraham's wife, Sarah, she was old and she could not bear children. In fact, when she was young, she was barren, she could not bear children. But now that she's old, at the age of 90, but the Lord came to visit them in their tent one day with two angels and the Lord says, "This time next year, you will have a baby". And at first she was laughing and she says, you know, "Shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also? We are both old," and she laughed. In fact, because they laughed, God says, "Call the boy 'Laughter,'" his name is Isaac. Isaac means laughter in Hebrew. And the Lord came to visit them and in a very at-home kind of atmosphere, praise the Lord, amen. He wants to do that with you. You know, God wants to enter into a Communion, a friendship, with you. In fact, he started telling his secrets to Abraham at that particular time about what he wants to do, all right, when he goes down to Sodom and Gomorrah and he wants to see whether, you know, he told his secrets to Abraham. But the promise of his son was given to them.
So what did God do as a benefit for them? They were old. Abraham was nearly 100 years old at that time, and his wife was about 90 years old. God renewed both their youth to the point that they were able to sire a child. They were able to have a child, praise the Lord. And, my friend, that child was named Isaac, amen, because of the laughter. But this time it's the laughter of faith, is the laughter of joy. The Bible says Sarah through faith, Sarah received strength from God to conceive seed. Now I believe that's the secret of renewal right there, through faith. You've got to believe. When God says he wants to renew your youth like the eagle's, you say, amen, you say, amen. You believe God. You receive it. You don't doubt. You don't question, "Oh, how is it possible? When you come to a certain age, certain things don't function anymore, you know. And science have told us this and science have proven that".
My friend, God is not limited by science. God created science. But God transcends science, and miracles means it transcends time and space, it transcends science. Praise the Lord. We walk by faith and not by sight. When God says something, we believe it, amen? So, friend, bless the Lord and forget not all his benefits. All these benefits were wrapped up in that baby that was born, placed on the manger, a picture of... he was born to die. Not only born to die, placed in a feeding trough as food for us, amen? We feed. He calls himself the bread of life. What do you do with bread? You feed. You know, many people look at Jesus as an example.
Now, that's fine and good, but that's not the primary reason God sent him. God sent him for us to feed on him. If I can say it like this: To use him, amen. Use him as my nourishment. Use him as my faith. Use him as my righteousness, praise the Lord. And he loves to be used. In fact, those who used him when he was walking on earth here, one time he was tired, sitting at the well, and he ministered to the woman. The woman actually, in a way, drew from him. The woman just drew from, he was tired, but she drew more from him. And when his disciples came later on, the woman went back to her village, the disciples came. The disciples saw that he was reinvigorated. He was different from when they left him, all right, tired at the well. He was now reinvigorated. The more you use the Lord, the more you draw from him, the more you draw from God, God loves it.
David says, "What will I render to the LORD for all his benefits to me"? And he says, "I will take the cup of salvation". God's recommendation to you, if you want to show me praise and worship for all my benefits to you, David says, "What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits to me"? God says, "Take some more. Take some more of my power. Take some more of my love. Take some more of my grace. Take some more of my benefits. Take some more of my blessings, hallelujah".
This Christmas, why don't you take more from the Lord, amen? Praise the Lord? Thank you, Jesus. And let's close by reading about what else happened that night. Luke 2. We read that "she wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn". Now, the way it is structured actually, it could have said, "Because there was no room in the inn". But notice what it says. "There was no room for them in the inn". The ESV brings that out: "Because there was no place for them in the inn," you see? No room for them. It is not that there was no room in the inn. There was no room for them in the inn. You know, probably if you are rich and you have some connections, there'll be room for you. But there was no room for them. See, the Son of God came, born in a poor family.
Now, you can argue all you want about, you know, he was born in a rich family. He wasn't. The curse that came on "Joha Yachim," the royal line, caused the rest to become poor and Jesus was born in a poor family. Now, of course, when the wise men came they brought gold, frankincense, and myrrh to give to the Lord Jesus, but that was when I believe that that treasures, that wealth, sponsored him to Egypt when they fled from King Herod, right? But not until then. He was born in a poor family, but he was rich. He who flung the stars in the heavens, amen, he who created even the diamonds and the gold and the silver and all the wealth in this world, this abundance. He became poor, and the Bible says "at the cross Jesus became poor, that we through his poverty might be rich".
Now, of course, like I said, you know, when the gold and frankincense and myrrh which are very, very expensive items in those days were given by the magis, the wise men, to Jesus, right, they were somewhat prosperous from then on, okay. But even at the cross, Jesus became poor, amen. So that, why? He who owns the cattle in a thousand hills, why did he become poor? So that you and I through his poverty might be rich. It's all in the cross, my friend, amen. When you receive Jesus Christ, the first benefit, amen, he forgives you of all your sins, praise the Lord. Why? Because it's all paid for, borne at the cross, hallelujah. The Lord loves you, amen? And you know, the biggest problem that we have in our world today is selfishness, self-centeredness, amen. All they can think of is pursuit of wealth and pursuit of pleasure, hedonistic pursuit, and they have no heart for God. You know, man can try to cover up with, you know, morality, even, right? But it's there, it's always there. Sin is there, all right? And ever so often it escapes. But when it escapes, it's only shown what is already there.
And I remember reading about a couple from America who visited Russia and they went to a zoo in Russia. And they were fascinated as they walk around the zoo that they found this enclosure where actually it says "Co-existence". That's the title of the enclosure. "Co-existence". And it was a lion with lambs in the enclosure. Now, the man was thinking, he looked at the title of the enclosure, "Co-existence," and look at the lamb, you know, near the lion, and the lion was looking peaceful, contented, probably he just fed, right? But how can the lion and the lamb be in co-existence? So he asked. He was very fascinated, and he reached out to the zookeeper and asked the zookeeper about this enclosure. "How is this possible? How can the lion not attack the lambs, right? And how can they live together"? So the zookeeper says, "It's very simple, okay? Ever so often, we add a lamb".
So you see, the nature of the lion is to devour the lamb, okay, and that nature is always there. So we can give an appearance of co-existence, but the nature of rivalry and hate and hate and prejudice and self-centeredness and all that is always there. But, friend, Jesus Christ came to conquer sin. And that's like a cancer. You need to understand, friend, that at the cross, Jesus conquered that cancer of sin in you but loved you, amen. Loved you into wholeness. Praise the Lord. You see, if someone that you love has cancer, amen, you don't love the cancer. You love the person but you, in fact, you hate the cancer. And how much do you hate the cancer? It all depends on how much you love the person. The more you love the person, the more you hate the cancer that is in the person. How do you separate the two?
You need to understand this about sin. Sin is like a cancer in man. God loves man. God doesn't love that sin. God hates sin because sin is, like cancer, destroying everything good that God has for you. And when the first Adam sinned, sin came into all mankind. But when the Bible calls Jesus the last Adam. When that Adam, when that man, hung on that cross, praise the Lord, the Bible says by the first Adam, by the first man, by Adam's sin, by one man's disobedience, we all became sinners. Now, by the last Adam, by one man's obedience, Jesus, and that obedience is obedience at the cross. By one man's obedience, we all became righteous, hallelujah. You see, the reason you sin is because you're a sinner. You're a sinner because of Adam's sin.
Now, today, when you believe on Jesus, you're righteous, and you do righteous things, praise the Lord. You don't do righteous things to become righteous. You do righteous things because you are righteous. But how do you become righteous? By one man's obedience. Not your obedience. By one man's obedience. He made you righteous, praise the name of Jesus, hallelujah. Isn't this good news? Friend, I believe God wants to invade your life, into your household, into all the dark places of your life. You might be struggling with depression, with drug addiction, you might be struggling with a broken heart. You may see things in yourself that you don't like, you hate. But how do you change? You cannot change by your willpower. You know that. You know that very well, amen. True change is from inside out. Only God can change you. Only Jesus can transform you, amen.
And that's the reason he died on that cross. When he hung on that tree, for 3 hours darkness covered the earth. It was like heaven became brass, and he hung there, suspended between heaven and earth. It's as if heaven will not receive him and earth rejects him. He took that place for you and I, because at that time all this was not an accident. God planned it because a thrice holy God, a righteous God, cannot receive man that he loves into his presence if man has sinned, any more than a judge can allow a murderer to go free, a serial, a rapist to go free, you know? He must be judged. But then God loves you and God doesn't want to judge you. So how can God maintain his righteousness and holiness, at the same time make you righteous, acquitted? How can God do that?
And the amazing gospel story which is the story of Christmas commenced is when God sent his Son Jesus Christ for the purpose of dying for us on that cross because he who knew no sin, when he took our place, amen, that means we take his place, amen, today. He took our place, so that we can take his place. He took our place of rejection from God, and we take his place of acceptance and favor with God. He bore our sins and was punished to the fullest extent for all our sins so that you and I today will receive all the blessings that he deserve and truly enjoy it and give praise to God for it, hallelujah.
You know, how Jesus became sin on the cross? Not by doing anything sinful. Like I said, again, the Bible says he did no sin. So how did he become sinful? By receiving our sin. Today, how do you and I become righteous? We receive his righteousness, amen? Just like Jesus did not do any sin to become sin, he received our sin, so you and I today, we don't do righteousness to become righteous. We receive his righteousness, amen, and all the benefits and blessings of righteousness comes upon us, amen, as God makes us righteous in Christ. Just like at the cross, when Jesus took our place like, in sin. All the curses fell upon him, all the judgment fell upon him. That you and I can be accepted, favored, blessed, crowned with favor and compassion, amen, healed of your diseases, amen, redeemed from destruction even in your old age, having your youth renewed like the eagle's. Forget not all his benefits.
Friend, if that is you, and you wanna pray this prayer with me right now to put your trust in Jesus Christ, you'll forever remember this Christmas, amen. And this is the most important decision you can ever make in your life because to put your trust in him, will go on to eternity, amen, and there is an eternity, my friend. The life on earth here is just temporal. There's an eternity, amen. Choose life, choose Jesus Christ. Pray this prayer with me right now, amen, if that is you, you're gonna put your trust in Jesus Christ. Or you have been a Christian, amen, but you feel like you have fallen away, amen. What a great time, Christmastime, to come back to the Lord, amen. Pray this prayer with me as well. Say:
Heavenly Father, I thank you for the gift of your Son Jesus Christ who died on that cross for all my sins. He took my place and he was punished and condemned, that I, taking his place, might be blessed and justified. I thank you, Father God that Jesus Christ is my Lord and my Savior, and I believe with all my heart that when you raised him from the dead, he conquered death for me. I believe that death is conquered, hallelujah. I have no fear of death from now on. Praise the Lord. Thank you, Father, that Jesus Christ is my Lord. And when you raised him from the dead, I was acquitted, I was justified. Thank you, Father, in Jesus's name, amen.
What a merry Christmas it is for you because you'll always remember today, amen, when you accepted Jesus Christ, put your trust in him, and be saved. And now, be expecting and don't forget all the benefits we talk about, amen? Praise the Lord, hallelujah, hallelujah. Stand to your feet, if you can, together with your families if you're together. You may hold hands as you receive the blessing this coming week. And this coming week is only a few days before we enter the New Year. And the Lord has a theme for us. Every year, he has a theme for us, the overriding governing theme which means what he's gonna do for us and, in particular, our church and the ministry that he has given me for the people that are following this ministry. He has a governing team for you, praise the Lord. So be expecting to hear from God, amen, and to also govern your life according to what he wants to do in your life this coming year. Praise the Lord, hallelujah, amen?
May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the sweet fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you throughout this week in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, amen.
Merry Christmas!