Joseph Prince - Own The Spirit Of Sonship

Greetings, church. Welcome back to the house of God. The storehouse of all wisdom and knowledge, amen? Every time we come to God's house, we expect to hear wisdom, wisdom they cannot find out there in the world. And who better than our God, amen, to tell us how to function in life. Praise the Lord. The Bible is like the manufacturer's handbook, amen? Every time we come to God's Word and hear his Word, we have God's blueprint for our lives. When you follow that blueprint everything prospers. Everything works well. It's like, when something goes wrong with a object that you buy, you go back to the manual, and you find what went wrong, amen?

And God's Word is there for our benefit. God didn't write the Bible for his benefit. Trust me. He's quite successful already. Praise the Lord. God's Word is coming to you, the rhema word in season, life and in power. Praise the Lord. And I really feel the anointing of the Holy Spirit. We're gonna do something different today. We're gonna answer some questions that people have been asking that has been on their hearts, especially in the season that we are in, the things that the Holy Spirit's emphasizing at this time. Perhaps, during a sermon on Sunday, it's not possible for me, within the 60 minutes, 70 minutes, all right, around that time, to cover everything exhaustively, but in a session like this, we'll take our time to break down, all right, and to unpack everything that God has for us pertaining to the word in season during this time, amen?

And we're expected to be doing more in the future, sessions like this, and some extra sessions that you will find on the Grace Academy. We are delighted to tell you that so many have signed up for the Grace Academy, and many of them are people from overseas as well. And the Grace Academy is an idea, I believe, birthed by the Holy Spirit for our church because we have literally thousands and thousands of sermons down through the years that people do not know how to access to. They do not know which sermon would apply in their lives at that particular situation. Perhaps you're going through something right now, and you want God's Word to speak to that area, but you do not know where to go.

All right, and, you know, sometimes, I remember having, you know, Bibles, and in the front of the Bible, they will have things like, "If you are anxious, read Psalms 23". "If you are", this. And, you know, sometimes, it really doesn't work because it is not, it is static, it is not something that the Holy Spirit, who is vibrant, who is moving all the time, is leading you to read. So we believe that words in season are so important, especially times like this. So the word that you hear in the Grace Academy will be words in season, amen? And we are covering every aspect of life. We are covering spiritual growth, amen, how to grow in the New Covenant, especially in the New Covenant because there's no shortage of teaching on spiritual growth, but some of it is actually religious. Some of it is actually based on human effort, and we are teaching spiritual growth based on the New Covenant.

And many a times, we have to redefine a lot of things in the New Covenant because what we've been hearing is nothing wrong with the term, but many a times, the term is not within the spirit of the definition but in the Hebrew or in the Greek, even, but especially the Holy Spirit's definition of that term. So what we're gonna see is to rediscover everything that God has in his Word, especially pertaining to the New Covenant because that's the covenant that you and I live in, amen? And I have with me in the studio my pastors and leaders... All right, yep. Yeah, Pastor Mark is here also. Pastor Mark? The one who shouted, "Yallow," okay, that's Pastor Mark. And Pastor Lawrence? Pastor Tina? Ha-ha-ha, that was a Tina Turner for my birthday.

Okay, so we have some questions that we wanna address, and I believe that this is gonna bless you and help you. Many of these will be also made available on the Grace Academy. So we believe that, as you enroll for the Grace Academy and become a student of God's grace, become a student of the New Covenant, you'll discover truths that will set you free. Actually, that's the definition of a disciple, isn't it? When Jesus was talking about discipleship, he says, "If you abide in Me, then are you My students indeed, My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth will set you free," amen? If you're a student of God's Word, first of all, a student. The truth doesn't set you free until you are a student, then the truth will set you free, amen? So we are here to be students, and, church, I say it again: We'll always be students. We are lifelong students of God's grace, amen. So, right now, let's go into the first question.

What else was on your heart that you did not get to share in your recent sermon "How To Be Strong In Grace"?

Praise God. You know, there are always many things that I wanna share, okay? I always end up with a overflow. You know, I prepared more verses than I share within the hour, and there's always that overflow that I don't get to share, and I kind of wish sometimes that there's a platform where I can share all this, but not from the pulpit, of course, because I'm not gonna hold the people back, you know? I believe that whatever is said is anointed by the Holy Spirit for that particular situation, for that particular season, amen, but also, many a times, when Jesus shares something, he will share a general sermon to the multitudes, but then the disciples, later on, he would spend time with the disciples, and the disciples will say, "Declare to us the parables". So what you are experiencing right now, church, is what my pastors have all experienced every Sunday.

So, after I finish my sharing, sharing the Word and all that, we'll sit down together after lunch and all that, and then they will ask me questions, and usually it's pertaining to the message I just preached, and I begin to expound more and more what I have on my heart, and they get much more than all of you, but today you have that privilege, hallelujah. And one of the verses that I've been wanting to share is 1 Corinthians chapter 4. It says, "For though", Paul is talking, and he says this by the Spirit: "For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet don't have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you", "I have fathered you," "I gave birth to you," spiritually speaking, "through the gospel". Have you noticed that the emphasis of the apostle Paul, like what I shared the other Sunday, is on fathering and sonship, amen?

Now, we're all sons of God, but in the sense that we hardly hear this being shared about fathering, spiritual fathering. And Paul here very clearly says, you know, "You can have 10,000 rabbis, you can have 10,000 teachers, but teaching is not the thing". We are no more under the disciple-rabbi, master and student. We're no longer there because you can be a student of a rabbi but not be very close to the rabbi. It's possible, amen? But, when you're a son of the Father, this is flesh and blood. This is family. You feel a sense of being loved. You feel a sense of intimacy, amen? And intimacy is important because the disciples were with Jesus three and a half years, and, yet, remember, in the Upper Room, Philip would ask a question, "How do we know the Father? How do we know"? And Jesus would turn to him and say, "You have been with Me so long, and, yet you ask Me this question"?

There were many times he would say that kind of thing, right? At the end, he would say to them, "I have many things to say unto you, but you are not yet able". Three and a half years. And sometimes, you have glimpses of a certain one here and a certain one here, who were, they were intimate with Jesus, but they were not with Jesus like the disciples. See, to be a disciple and not be intimate with the heart and the thoughts of the Lord, for example, the centurion, he didn't walk with Jesus the way the 12 walked with him, day in and day out, but he had intimacy with Jesus. Now, the 12, they had familiarity. They were familiar with the Lord, but the centurion had intimacy. Somehow, the Holy Spirit penetrated into his heart, and he told the Lord, "You don't have to come to my house to heal my servant. I know You. You only have to speak the Word, and my servant will be healed".

Jesus was so impressed, the Lord turned around to the crowd, the Jewish crowd, and he says, "Truly, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel". And the centurion, the Roman centurion is not a Jew. He is a Gentile. He had the Holy Spirit revealed to him about Jesus. So it's more important to be intimate with Jesus, amen? And you find certain ones like even the Syrophoenician woman, again, another Gentile. When she came to the Lord and the Lord said to her, and she wanted deliverance for her daughter, who was demonized, and she came to the Lord and said, you know, "Lord, please heal my daughter. My daughter is grievous, vexed with the devil," and the Lord kept quiet because it wasn't time yet for the Gentiles to receive. His first coming, the first part of Jesus's coming was to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Remember what he said to the woman? When his disciples came to him and said, "This woman is, you know, she's coming after us, and she's bugging us". And the Lord says, "I'm not sent but to the lost house of Israel," okay? But she's still persevered. And then the Lord turned to her, and the Lord said this, now, in the Greek, this comes out in the Greek, okay? But it sounds like Jesus was kind of rude at her, all right? He says, "It is not right to take the children's bread and to cast it to dogs". But actually, what the Lord said in the Greek was "little puppies". He used the diminutive term in the Greek, "little puppies". So "little puppies," where do they belong? They belong to the house. They belong to the family, and usually they are little dogs, little, "man's best friend," heh-heh, "man's little best friend".

So little puppies are cute. They are adored. They are loved. So Jesus gave her a little way out even though it wasn't time for the Gentiles to receive from him. Later on, of course, when Israel rejected the Lord Jesus, the gospel goes to all the world, all right, because of the rejection of Israel, and that's part and parcel of the mystery of salvation that God has for us. But, at this point in time, it's only for the "lost sheep of the house of Israel," okay? So the Lord says, "It's not right to take the children's bread", now think of it. He calls "healing," the "children's bread," amen? "It's not right to take the children's bread and to give it to little puppies". So he gave her a loophole because puppies belong to the family. And then she said, "True, Lord", now, at first, she came to him, I need to say this. She first came to him, saying, you know, "Jesus, Son of David, Son of David". She cried to him, "Son of David".

Now, "Son of David" is an appellation, a title, only used by the Jews. She actually has no right, as a Gentile, to use that title. So maybe she came, impersonating like a Jew, but the Lord knows the true nature of all of us, amen? As long as you come pretentious, being what you are not, you cannot receive from the Lord. That's the definition of the word "hypocrisy," pretending to be what you are not. So that's why the Lord says, "It's not right to take the children's bread," so that she knows the Lord knows all about her. She's a Gentile. Now, she owns up. The good thing about her is that she repented real quick, had a change of mind, repent, all right, and she says that "truth, Lord", now she calls him "Lord". She didn't say, "Truth, Son of David," all right? She abandoned the pretense, and she says, "'Truth, Lord, but even the little puppies eat the crumbs that fall from the masters' table.' And the Lord says, 'O woman, great is your faith. Be it unto thee even as though would.'"

She went home and found her daughter completely freed, delivered from that demon, amen? So it wasn't even the children's bread that she received. She asked for a crumb that falls, and that crumb was enough to drive the demon out. That crumb is enough to drive the disease out of your body. Praise the Lord, hallelujah. So this woman, very quickly, the Holy Spirit came on her and gave her an intimacy with Jesus and his heart. You see, for you to say that "even the crumbs that drop", you see his heart because she saw that he loved her and loved the daughter. So it wasn't rudeness that she saw in him. She saw that Jesus was making a way for her even though it wasn't time for the Gentiles to receive. Isn't the Lord beautiful? Amen? But today all of us can receive all the more that now we are sons of God. Praise the Lord. Amen? We don't sit at the bottom of the table. We all sit at the Master's table, amen? We all can partake of the children's bread. "The children's bread," "healing," is yours. It belongs to you.

Now notice that Paul says, "Though you have ten thousand instructors but don't have many fathers", many of them are Jewish background, even in Corinthian. Many of them, they come from Jewish background, and they understand the concept of rabbi-disciple, okay? Teacher-student. But they don't understand the concept of Father-Son. And most of our problems, our challenges, is actually in the area of that orphan spirit. You know, we have a Father, and, yet we live in a consciousness that we are not cared for, we are not watched over, we are not loved, and a lot of people suffer with an orphan spirit, and that's why Jesus came to reveal the name "Father," but in demonstration in a way leaders ought to be fathers over their, you can call them "disciples," if you want, but the Holy Spirit has chosen the word because the word "disciples" does not even appear at all in all the Spirit-inspired epistles in the New Testament. It ends in the Book of Acts because, why?

In Acts 11, it says that the Holy Spirit changed the word "disciples" to "Christians," right? Very clearly. And the word there is "chrematizo," and "chrematizo" is actually "divinely called". It's the word for "oracle". So God called "disciples", it's like the Holy Spirit is saying, "From now on, you are no longer 'disciples.' I call you 'Christians.'" It's "divinely called," okay? That same word, "chrematizo," is used when the angel Gabriel warned Joseph to take baby Jesus and flee from Jerusalem because King Herod was seeking the boy's life to kill him. So the word "chrematizo," "divinely warn". The same word is used on Simeon, the aged man, that he will not see death. "It was revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death until he see the Lord's Christ," right? The word "'revealed' by the Holy Spirit," the word "revealed" is "chrematizo". It is always God revealing something.

So these disciples didn't get around in Antioch and say, "Hey, guys, I think it'd be nice for us to change our title, all right? 'Disciples' seems like, kind of, old and all that, and how about", you know, so they all throw out their words and all that, "'Christian'? Ah, 'anointed ones,' amen? Christ is the Messiah. We are 'anointed ones,' amen? Amen? 'Anointed ones.'" That's what it means. "Christians" is from the word "Christ". It means "Anointed ones," amen. From the word "chrism," "anointing". Like, the "anointing within you" is the word "chrism". So they say that, "I think it'd be a good idea to call ourselves 'Christians.'" No, it's not man's idea. Man did not call them "Christians," and they didn't create that appellation for themself. They didn't say, "From now on, we call ourselves 'Christians.'" No, it was the Holy Spirit who replaced the name "disciples" into "Christians".

But what has happened, church, is that, today, it seems like it's the other way around. There are people who say, "You're a Christian? That's fine, okay, but you need to be a disciple. If you're serious about your Christian life, you need to be a disciple," therefore, putting "discipleship" as an "advancement" in your life when, actually, to go into "discipleship" is regression, all right? Now, are we still students? Because the word there in the Greek is "mathetes," and "mathetes" is "student, a pupil, a learner," all right? And that's where the word "disciple" comes. You know, the idea of "disciple" the word is of "disciple" is "discipulus," from the Latin, the old Latin. In Latin, it means "a disciplined one," but that's not the definition of the New Testament, all right? It's in old Latin, all right? But the word in the Greek and in the Hebrew for "disciples," "limmud," for "disciples," is from "lamad," the ox goad, the picture of the ox goad, one of the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The word "lamad," where you get "limmud," means "to teach," "the ox goad," "to teach," like a shepherd's rod, amen? Or a "ox goad". There's a picture there, amen, to teach.

So a disciple is a student, amen, so for us to say we are Christians, all right, but "We need to become students," no, all Christians are students, amen, but this idea of "discipleship" as a higher level than just being a Christian is to despise the fact that you are a Christian. And to put the title "Christian" as a lower, kind of, lower rank than a "disciple", "Oh, he's a Christian, but he's not a disciple". No, you cannot be a Christian and not be a disciple, amen? Now, you can be a disciple and not be a Christian. Remember, the disciples that walk away, John 6:66, "6-6-6," all right? After Jesus told them that none of them could come to him unless the Father drew them, that is grace. The Holy Spirit drew them to the Father, right, to come to Jesus, amen, but they were offended at that. Why should they be offended when Jesus says, "None of you could come to Me on your own"? "You were brought to Me by the Father". They should rejoice, amen? But, no; why? Because I see that you're a teacher, and I wanna be your student.

So being a disciple is not an advanced stage, amen? In fact, those disciples, the Bible says that they were "his disciples". "From that time, his disciples walked no more with him". It says, "his disciples walked no more with him". "Then Jesus turned to the 12, and said, 'Will you also go away?' Then Peter says, 'Where can we go? You have the words of eternal life. And we are assured that you are the Christ, the Son of God.'" So it's very clear that, when Paul spoke to them about 10,000 instructors, they were very familiar. The fact that he used "10,000," you know, it's an expression? "I know you have 10,000 instructors," you know? It's almost like, is it possible for a person to have 10,000 instructors? It's like a hyperbole, all right, to express that "I know you're all so into this, 'I wanna be a student, I wanna be a student, and I have 10,000 instructors I learn from,' but you can miss out on the sonship spirit".

So, many a times, to think that you are gonna be, because you're a Christian, "you're gonna be disciple" means you are gonna be a "better Christian" is to sacrifice your position as a son because, as a son, you cannot get closer to the Father, amen. Do you continue to be a disciple? In the spirit of the disciple, defined in the Bible by the Holy Spirit, you are always a disciple, amen? But more than that, you're a son who is a student, all right? And stop having this idea that "Oh, it's a higher level," because you know what? There were disciples, Jesus's disciples, that were not saved, amen? Judas wasn't saved. So you can be a disciple and not be saved, but you cannot be a son of God and not be saved.

If you are a son of God...how do you get to be a son of God? You are born again. You're born a son, amen? And a son always wants to learn from the Father, but he does not learn like a rabbi and a pupil, amen? Not like a master and a disciple. He learns in the spirit of family. He learns by observing the Father. He learns by being loved. He learns by seeing the Father's heart, amen, and that's what we wanna teach, amen? So Paul says, "I have exemplified that," so, in a way, all leaders exemplify God the Father by fathering the ones that God has brought under our care, amen? That's what we attempt to do in this Grace Academy. Unfortunately, you know, sometimes we gotta use the term to help people understand it's an academy, but "academy" gives you the idea of "akademia," amen? But, actually, it's a family academy, amen? It's Father and sons.

So we come to the Father's presence, amen, be loved, and many a times, we learn by being loved, you know? So I do believe in discipleship, but the way it's defined in the Scriptures, amen? But more than that, as I have demonstrated in that week when I shared about Paul calling Timothy time and time again, "my true son in the faith," "my dearly beloved son," amen? He could've said, "My disciple Timothy". Never once in the spirit-inspired letters to the church is the word "disciples" ever used again.

How do we grow in sonship?

So the question is "How do we grow in sonship"? Now, first, we need to understand what is this "sonship" that God is talking about? If we really understand this, we'd be so delighted because, when Paul got this revelation, he wrote all about it, all right? In the book of Romans as well as also in Galatians, he would expound it like this. He says that, you know, talking to the Jewish people, because they understood this, he says that "when we were under the law, we were 'nepios.' We were infants".

So, under the law, they were infants, but then he says, "Before faith came", now, when the word "faith" is used like this, it's always referring to justification by faith. In other words, grace. Before grace came through Jesus Christ, the law was given by a servant, Moses. Grace is given by the Son. "The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ". So Paul said, "When we were under law, we were infants," "nepios," in the Greek. But he says, "After faith come, we're no more infants. We are now 'huios,'" amen? So the law was our guardian until Christ, amen? So now we are in Christ. We are now sons. He says that "now all of you are sons through faith in Jesus Christ". So you study the word "sons" is the word "huios" in the Greek. Now, "huios" is not a baby. It's not a young boy. It is not someone who is in his infancy. It is someone who's full grown with rights, with titles, amen? It speaks of the dignity.

Now, the Jewish people, as a whole, right, God saw them as babies. They cannot inherit all that God has for them. They were under the law. As long as you're under the law, you are "nepios". You are infants. Now, all this, you find in Galatians 3 and Galatians 4. And then, but he says this when, "After faith has come, we are no more under the law. Christ came that we might be sons of God through faith in Jesus Christ," that we may be, what? "Huios," full-grown sons with the dignity of that relationship, amen? So here we go: We have the law. Under the law, the Jewish people, the nation of Israel, they were actually collectively as a infant in God's eyes. After grace came, they're all brought into sonship.

Now, this has nothing to do with spiritual growth. We all grow spiritually, all right? And I'll touch on that in a while. But here, it's talking about your position. In God's eyes, you're literally a son, a full-grown son already. Now, we all have to grow, but this is not what Paul is talking about. He's saying the position of a son, a full-grown son. You see, in ancient Rome, as well as Jewish culture, they actually have a practice where they, the Jewish people, they call it bar mitzvah, okay? The boy comes to 13 years old and they go through a ritual where they... now, don't misunderstand, it's not adopting. Some of your Bibles says "adoption as sons". Actually, the whole thing is only one word. "Huia," to save, from huios, "huia," to save, is sonship, from huios. It's not adopted as son. Because if you adopt a child, he's not your flesh and blood, amen? You bring him to his family, but adoption is sonship, actually. It's better defined as sonship.

Every time you find the word "spirit of adoption," all right, some of the new translation puts it as spirit of sonship. That's correct, sonship, okay? Spirit of huios, okay? Are you with me so far? Now, so the Romans have this, a certain ritual whereby when the boy comes as a teenager, okay, the father will sort of adopt him. It is still his own flesh and blood. The Jewish people, they have this bar mitzvah. So, they adopt their own son. Friends come and celebrate that occasion where the boy becomes a man. For them, there's no teenage years. The boy is no more a boy. He's now a man, amen. He spends his teenage years thinking that he has rights and privileges and the dignity of a man. He's now a full-grown man as far as the father is concerned, and the ritual is celebrated, all right? So the Lord is saying, "Now, Jewish people, you're no more, since Christ came, since grace came, and you are born again, you are no more a babe, a baby. You are now full-grown sons", amen?

Now how do we grow in our sonship? By being aware that we are sons, number one. We grow in the consciousness of it. As I've shared also the other Sunday about the prodigal son, you know, his brother. Remember, the older brother? Now, the older brother, you know, he said to the father, "I've kept your commandments all these years". Notice, he was law-conscious. You can't say that he didn't keep. The father says, "No, no, you didn't keep the commandments". The father didn't deny that. He says, "I have kept your commandment all these years". I'm sure he didn't keep it perfectly. The father knew that, all right? But see where his faith is in. "I have kept your commandments all these years," all right? "I have slaved for you". Literally, the word there is "slaved for you. I served you, I slaved for you, all these years. You never gave me", that's a very, you know, wide statement to make about the father. "You never gave me even a kid, all right, for me to celebrate," not with the father, "with my friends," all right?

So he was angry, he was bitter. Why? Because he was self-righteous. Then the father most likely put his hand on his shoulder and said, "Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours," okay? Now, look, this word here, "son" is the word "teknon," which is an affectionate word, but it's used for a child, amen? Sometimes used like a father would say to even a grown son, "Child," you know, in affectionate way, but it still denotes that you're a child. He didn't use the word "huios". In fact, early on, the father said of the son who lived riotously and, you know, sinned against him and all that, when he came back, he found grace. And what did the father say of the prodigal son? "My huios," wow. He came back a huios, amen? But this older brother, who was self-righteous, the father called him child.

But you see a child, now if you look at all the earlier Scriptures when the Bible says this older brother was in the field he heard music and dancing, the account down there, the word "older son" is the older huios. He's actually a huios. So I believe it's a picture of a Christian here, not a picture of a sinner. A Christian who is self-righteous. He is truly a huios, he's not a nepios under the law. He's actually a huios, a full-grown son, but he never saw himself that way. And because he went back to the law, it's a regression. For you to be a son and you go back under the law, "I have kept your commandments all these years. I have slaved for you". His focus was on what? On the father? No. On the father's love, on the father's generous heart? No. The prodigal son came home and saw the father's heart, and when the father said, you know, "Bring forth the best robe and put ring on his finger," he never said anything after that, never.

That means he learned to receive. But for the older brother, because he was law-conscious, he was his performance oriented, he became bitter. Look at the result. He became bitter, envious, jealous, unforgiveness. I submit to you that if you receive envy, jealousy, bitterness, resentment in the body of Christ, most likely someone has become self-righteous. Someone has become, you know, "and I bore the burden in the heat of the day, and you blessed this person," you know? It's like, God, don't you see what I do, amen? So how do you grow in sonship? So it's possible to be a son in actuality. but in spirit you've gone back to being a child. Why? Because you went back to the law. So can you see? Which one came first? Law or grace? The law came first, right? Then grace came, amen?

So for us to say, "Now we are saved by grace, all that is good, Pastor Prince, that's great, all right? We are all saved by grace. No one denies that. But now that we are saved by grace, we must learn the law, amen? Law is advancement. We see grace now as kindergarten, and law the university". There's nothing could be further from the truth. I just demonstrated to you, amen, what Paul taught in Galatians that, actually, to go back to the law is to regress, amen? So are you regressing or are you progressing? So Christian growth, all right, is growth in believing, amen. God begins to reveal to you more things to believe. Many times, let me just tell you this, it's not so much the things that you do. It's the things that you believe that affect what you do. Because you believe the wrong thing, all right, your actions become wrong, amen?

Like the book that I wrote. "The Power of Right Believing". It's based on what God said to me: If you believe right, you will live right. So we focus on the doing right, but the New Testament focuses on believing right. So how do you believe right? You must be taught, right? You must be taught. You can call it discipleship, you can call it what it want, as long as your idea of discipleship is new covenant, right? But, basically, it's being a student, a student of God's grace, a student of the new covenant. In fact, many a times, we are growing by unlearning. We are unlearning what we learned from religion. We are unlearning what we learned from the world. We are unlearning what we heard from our relatives and friends. We're unlearning a lot of things not being conformed to this world, we're unlearning the ways of the world and learning the ways of God, amen. That's what the Grace Academy is all about, amen?

So it is not the traditional way okay, there are more things to learn so there are more things to do and there are more...no, no, we're actually discovering what Christ has already made us and we are discovering the resources available for us. It's, you know, how do I say this, you know? Let me just give you a illustration of this. Jesus, the Bible says, on the night of the Passover, all right, the last Passover he had in the Upper Room, amen, the Last Supper, if you would. He actually washed the disciples' feet. If you look at Jesus's earthly life, I think that's the most humbling thing that anyone can do, right, is to do the part where a servant of the house would do. Normally, a servant of the house would take the water and the linen cloth and wash everyone's feet.

So, you know, they're all tired. It was in the evening time. And they were all dusty in their feet and, you know, they began to look at one another, "No, I did it the last time. It's your turn. Your turn, you know"? And Thomas says, "I doubt it's my turn," you know? And Judas says, "And no one can pay me enough to wash the feet", then Jesus, the Bible says, Jesus washed their feet. Does the Bible say that? No, it doesn't say that. It says that "Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands", he knew. "Knowing he came from God the Father, knowing that he's going to God, rose up from supper, laid aside his garments, took the towel and the water, and washed the disciples' feet".

So, notice that? What he did came out of what he was conscious of. What the Lord performed, came out of knowing what he has and who he is. So our Christian growth is actually to discover everything that God has done for us, amen? And that doesn't mean that, no, we don't do it, things and all that, but when we do things, it'll be the right thing. You can do a lot of correct things, but not the right thing, not the God thing. You can do a good thing, but not the God thing. God, he can tell you, okay, "Go clean that table," all right, but you're cleaning the floor, you're cleaning the toilet, and all that. At the end, say, "God, are you happy with me"? God told you to do the God thing, you know? So what we are discovering are things that God has unveiled to us, amen, and is revealing to us and who is the one that teaches us? The Holy Spirit.

Now, if you think about it, you might be thinking, "Well, you know, I can discover more things to do, more things". At the end, the result will be your performance. The result will be that you will execute some action, yes. But your eyes is not on it, okay? When you learn the ways of grace, you will find that the Holy Spirit actually helps you to unlearn. For example, what is the spirit of the world? The Bible says, "We have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God," all right? "We have not received," what? "The spirit of the world". So what is a spirit of the world? But instead, we have received what? "The spirit of God, that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God". So contrast that. "The Spirit of God, we have received the Spirit of God that we might," what? "Know the things," what? "Freely given to us of God".

So the Holy Spirit shows you what? Things that are freely given. Contrast that with the spirit of the world. The spirit of the world says what? There's no such thing as a free lunch, all right? You've got to pay for it. Everything you do, you've got to pay for it, amen. You've got to earn it, you've got to merit it. You've got to qualify for it. You've got to learn enough, amen, to come to a level of graduation and then, you know, yeah, we still learn but the way we learn is different from the way they learn. We learn from the Holy Spirit and, many a times, it is a removal, an unlearning, and then addition, amen. But for the world, all right, the result of that kind of learning produces pride. Many a times, arrogance. But the more we learn from the Holy Spirit, it produces humility. I'll tell you this. You know that you are growing in the Lord.

How do I know I'm growing in the Lord? You will know you're growing in the Lord, okay, when you realize that you've got so much more to learn. When you come to it, "I've got so much more to learn," you know, when people are saying, "I know, I know, I know," and you tell them something, you know, you meet people like this... now, don't look at your wife. You're going to get in trouble, amen. But you know people, you hear them saying something, you tell them something, "I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know," you know, okay. Compared to the woman at the well, two chapters side by side, right, John 3, John 4. The woman at the well, John 4. Nicodemus, John 3. Right? Nicodemus said, "We know you are a teacher come from God". The woman knew nothing.

So, the Lord revealed to her who he was. Amen? So, she called him what? "You being a Jew," then sir, and then finally, "I perceive you are a prophet". Finally, "When the Messiah comes", Jesus says, "I am he". All the way to Messiah. Right? But Nicodemus came, saying, "I know, we know you are a teacher come from God". Amen? And Jesus says, "All that you are, all that you are, you must be born again". He never said that to the woman who had five husbands, who was living currently in adultery. He never says, "You must be born again". Does she need to be born again? Yes. But you see how Jesus handled people differently? If you've got pride, he will remove your self-righteousness. He will remove your pride, amen. But if you come to him humble, amen, he will just pour and pour into you. Amen?

What is the significance of knowing God as our Father?

Now, of all the terms and all the names of God in the Bible, and we know there are many in the Old Testament, right, of God in the Hebrew, the Hebrew names of God like Yahweh. We have Yahweh denotes the covenant-keeping God, the one who is the same yesterday, today, and forever, who was, who is, and who is to come. That's Yahweh. Then we have El Shaddai. El Shaddai is the God who is all sufficient, from the idea of all supplying, all supplying. And we also have El Elyon. When Abraham met Melchizedek, the blessing was all in the name of El Elyon, the God Most High. And because the emphasis there is that the God Most High, because at a time they had different ideas of gods and all that, and Melchizedek wanted them to know, "I represent God Most High, and it's God Most High who is blessing you, Abraham, he's the possessor of heaven and earth, and now he's blessing you. Blessed be Abraham of the Most High God".

So, all these are terms that show us the different aspects and attributes of the same God. Okay? But in the New Testament, Jesus said, "I came to reveal the name". And he said in John 17, "I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word". Now what name do you think that Jesus manifested to the disciples? They are familiar with Yahweh. They are familiar with Adonai. They are familiar with El Shaddai because they saw the names of God in the Old Testament. But Father is a name that Jesus came to reveal. And Jesus always addressed God as Father. Only at the cross he addressed him as God to demonstrate the divine exchange at the cross.

Now notice, "I have manifested Your name". You drop down all the way to the last verse in his high priestly prayer. He says to the Father, "And I have declared to them Your name". And what he declared to them all the time, "It is the Father's good please to give you the kingdom. Your heavenly Father feeds the birds of the air. Are you not much more of value? Your Father knows the number of hair on your head. Your Father, your Father", so, the name that he revealed to them was Father. "And I've declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them". So notice he didn't say, "I came to declare the name El Shaddai. I came to declare the name Adonai". Because these Jewish people, they are familiar with that name. But there's one name that Jesus came to declare. And, you know, church, sometimes it's the very name that we don't emphasize.

You know, we feel like we have made an advancement by knowing all the names of God, and that's fine. I do teach on the names of God, as well. But remember this. The name that God wants to be known by, by all of us, is Father. Why? Here it tells us, when he declares the Father's name to the disciples, "the love with which You loved Me, Father, the love that You loved Me, may be in them". So, the more Jesus says your Father feeds them, your Father knows your needs before you ask, your Father, the love by which the Father loved Jesus will be in them. Isn't it amazing?

Maybe we are seeing a lack of love or the consciousness of love, because even love between men, we are to love one another as Christ loved us. Maybe we're not conscious of the Father's love for us, or the Lord's love for us, and that's why we don't love. We don't forgive readily. It's only when we are loved, we love. Amen? We love because he first loved us. So, Jesus said that actually his constant declaration of the name of the Father established them in the love of God. So, perhaps today, if we start preaching more on the Father, okay, and the Father, like I said, the greater will always encapsulize all the other names, as well. He is El Shaddai. Like if my father is the district judge, amen, or he is a famous chef, amen, to the world he is a famous chef. For me, he is father, but he's also a famous chef. Amen?

And a child can be proud of his father doing all these things, but that's not who he is to the child. He is not the chef to the child. He is abba, daddy, father. And, obviously, the Lord taught that revealing this name is so important, because it will cause the love of God that's in Jesus to be transferred to them. Amen? And not only that, Jesus says there's protection in knowing the name Father. If you look in the same prayer in John 17, he says, "Now I'm no longer in the world". You know, it's so much like the Lord to call those things that are not as though they were. Jesus is a man of faith. Amen? We need to learn. You know, his feet was planted on earth, and he was praying this prayer right in the Upper Room. He says, "Now I'm no longer in the world". But he was there. He was still there. But as far as he's concerned, in fact, you will find him saying to the Father, "I have finished Your work". But he's not yet finished. He has not gone to the cross.

But, you see, the language of God is like it's as good as done. So, his prayer is a prayer of faith. He says, "Now I'm no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You, Holy Father. Keep or protect through your name". What name is that? "Father, those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are. Now, while I was with them in the world," he said, "I kept them, I protected them in Your name". What name is that? Father. "Those whom You have given Me I have kept, and none of them is lost except the son of perdition," which we know is Judas, "that the Scripture might be fulfilled". So, he kept his disciples, how? He protected his disciples, he preserved his disciples, how? In the Father's name. Every time you declare the Father's love, the Father's name, or you use the Father, instead of just saying El Shaddai, that's fine. I'm not saying you cannot use that name and all that. I'm just saying we need to emphasize so much more the name of Father. And that establishes, if he's Father, what does that make us? Sons. Sons.

Now, if he is a teacher, what does that make us? Disciples, students. Amen? If he's a Master, what does that make us? Servants, amen. Now, we can become servants, of course. You know, when we serve God, in fact, I like the term that Paul used. He's a bondservant. That word there is actually is a love slave. You know, it's like once, you know, Wendy and I have this thing going in our family. When it's your birthday, amen, everyone is your love slave for the entire week. Amen? You understand the term? It is done out of love. In other words, I get to choose what programs to watch for the family to watch. I get to choose what to eat. Amen? Everything revolves around me, so that goes for every member of my family for their birthday week. We don't celebrate a birthday. We celebrate a birth week. Amen?

So, love slave means because you are a son, amen, you choose to be a love slave. That means I want to serve God. That is a personal choice, amen. That's what Paul did. But what you are is a son. God has made us all sons. So, if God is Father, that makes us sons, and that's protection. God said that's protection. And I think that we need to teach our people more and more about Father, who he is, the Father. In fact, the book of Revelation talk about the end times when all these, and the mark of the beast and all that kind of thing. The angel says, "Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads". In other words, what? Harm is coming to the earth, the sea, and the trees. All right, don't harm all these until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.

So, what's the seal? The seal is the protection. And where is it? On their foreheads. What is there on the forehead? Same book, Revelation, tells us later on, "Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His Father's name written on their foreheads". The Father's name written on their foreheads. So, the mark of the beast, you know, is taken, during that time it's taken. You know where? On the forehead and on the arm, glorifying man, man's intelligence, boasting in man's intelligence. That's the forehead. Man's arm, his effort. Notice that for these people of God, these servants of God, 144,000: 12,000 from the 12 tribes, amen, 12,000.

Notice that for these servants, nothing on their hand. They don't boast in their works. Everything is on the forehead. What is their mentality and what is on their forehead? The Father's name. So, notice that do not hurt until we are sealed, their foreheads. And what is the seal? What is the seal that protects them? When hurt comes, when evil comes, when darkness comes, when disease comes, when plague comes and sees the name on the forehead, it cannot hurt them. So, that means a Father mentality, amen. We come to God. It's easy for us to lose that sonship, just like the older brother in the prodigal son story. Amen? He was a son. He was a huios, but he lost that sense. Why? He was busy glorifying his works. "I have kept your commandments. I have slaved for you all these years. You never gave me", His perspective of his father is not that of a father and a son. It is that of a master and a servant.

"I have performed, now you must give me my wages. You are supposed to. And I get disappointed when you don't". You see? And the Father says, "Actually, all I have is yours". But he cannot inherit. Why? Now I'm going to share with you a secret. I'm going to give you this verse right now from Jeremiah. God asked this question of the people of God. "But I said: 'How can I put you among the children and give you a pleasant land; A beautiful heritage of the hosts of nations?'" God says, "Now, I want to put you in a pleasant land, in a beautiful heritage. Compared to all the hosts of nations, yours is a beautiful heritage. Now how can I put you there"? And then God says, he's going to answer his own question. "And I said: 'You shall call Me, 'My Father,' And not turn away from Me".

Wow! One day I was reading this verse, and this is from the Old Testament. Jeremiah prophesied. Jeremiah prophesied about a new covenant, as well, all right, about our day and age. Amen? The new covenant. And he also prophesied this. God is asking, "How can I put you, how can I cause you to inherit your inheritance"? Back then their inheritance of pleasant land, the land flowing with milk and honey, "How can I make you enjoy this beautiful heritage? You shall call Me, 'My Father' and not turn away from Me". So, in other words, sonship, you see, sonship has the idea of inheritance. So, the more we establish sonship, the more the people are able to receive. They found it easy to receive because you cannot receive, even though you are a son, you cannot receive in the spirit of slavery, in a spirit of slavish fear, and that's why in Romans 8 it says, "You have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, slavish fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship by which we cry Abba Father". Amen?

So, the more you say Father, how do you feel? You feel that you're a son. Amen? And when you're conscious, you're a son, you inherit effortlessly. Hallelujah. Now perhaps you're saying, "But, you know, Pastor Prince, when I see the name Father, it doesn't mean much to me". In fact, for some of you, you might say, "The name Father frightens me, because I grew up in a family where my father was a hard taskmaster. He was a strict disciplinarian, and I never felt his love, and he never expressed his love to me," or perhaps even worse, you know, as a child you were molested. You were abused. In a home where you would expect the warm embrace of a father's love, you were abused physically. All right? Where you expect unconditional love, you were told to perform.

Perhaps you come from that kind of background and today you find it hard to receive the Father's love, and that's why the Father's love is also healing. Amen, when Jesus revealed the name Father, he's going to tell us, "I'm going to teach you all over again how to be a son, how to be a daughter". Amen? By you being conscious of Father, he's going to redefine Father for you, but it starts by you acknowledging Father. I'm going to read to you some statistics right now. Now, the source of this statistics is actually from National Center for Fathering, Fathering in America Poll. All right, now, according to 72.2% of the U.S. population, now, think of that, 72.2% of the U.S. population, fatherlessness is the most significant family or social problem facing America. That's more than 50%, and the poll tells us fatherlessness is the most significant family or social problem facing America.

Now, also, 85% of youths in prison come from fatherless homes; 85% of youths in prison come from fatherless homes; 90% of all homeless and runaway children are from fatherless homes; 60% of youths suicides are from fatherless homes. No wonder Jesus said, "I have revealed to them the name Father". Amen? We are suffering from an orphan spirit, so we feel like we grew up where we don't feel the Father's presence, the Father's love. No one told us about God the Father, who loves us, and we feel like we've gotta take care of ourself, because the home that we expect unconditional love, warmth, and provision and all that, instead we came home, and we got frightened, more frightened, so we started going out into places looking for love in all the wrong places, only to find ourselves being abused even more.

So, friend, when we are born again, God comes and says, "I am your Father. I am your true Father". And even though you experienced your earthly father in that way, sometimes it's because he himself has not received the Father's love. And you find that even in the book of the Old Testament, the Old Testament actually ends with the word "curse". The New Testament ends with the word "grace". "Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all". Why the curse? In the book of Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament, it tells us this. God says, "Lest I come and smite the earth with a curse". Notice the word, "Lest I come". So, what brings the curse? Fatherless generation. God says, "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children".

Notice that? Whose heart's first? "The hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to the fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse". This is the very last word of the Old Testament. So, God is saying, "If there is no father, the curse will come". Amen? And aren't you glad that the very first chapter of the Bible tells us the book of the generations, amen, of Jesus Christ, hallelujah, and he is the one that introduced to us the Father, but there was a barrier between men and the Father; and because of that barrier, men cannot come to God, and God wants to reveal himself as Father. Okay? But men were so, you know, men naturally, there is a fear of God that is not the fear of the Lord the Bible talks about. Okay? It's called the spirit of bondage again to fear in Romans 8. The Bible says you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear.

Why is the word "again" there? He's talking to the Jewish people who are under the old covenant law, and they had a spirit of fearing God that is not the true fear of the Lord. A true fear of the Lord is born out of a revelation of your being forgiven. Remember this? David said to the Lord, "If thou, Lord, should mark iniquities, who can stand"? But there is forgiveness with you, that you may be feared. It is the fear of the Lord that's born out of a realization that God loves you, and he has given you his Son, and his Son went to the cross because of you. Who are you that the Son of God, the King of kings should die and bleed for? Amen? And you realize that he gives you a revelation of his love.

David understood that. The fear of the Lord comes out of the true fear of the Lord, but this fear of the Lord that they had in the Old Testament is a fear, a true fear like you fear snakes, or you fear, you know, in my case, some lizards and all that. Okay, so that fear, they transferred that to fearing God. In other words, they won't come to God unless there's a go-between. You go to God for me. That's what they said to Moses when God spoke from Mount Sinai. "You hear God for us. You go to God for us. All right? We don't have a direct, you know, relationship with God". But where does a child in tears belong? In the Father's arms. Amen? God wants you to really come close. Sometimes, words are unnecessary. When you come close to the Father, he just embraces you. Words become redundant.

You know, in the family relationship, you don't have to talk so much. You look at one another and many a times you know. That's how the Father looks at you. You know, the Father says to you, "Before you were born, I formed you in the womb," and he has a calling and a purpose in your life. You are not an accident. You are not a mistake. The way it was done may be a mistake, but it was God's plan the moment the seed is formed, God destined for you to be there. And for every one of you, God has a purpose. And he was a Father to you long before you were born. He's a Father to you. But we were not born again, so the natural reaction of the flesh is always to think hard thoughts of God. God cannot be that good, God is out to get me, all right?

It is further confirmed by religious figures that always portray a somber face and a holier than thou attitude or, you know, you are so dirty, always dirty, you know, some of the movies I watch sometimes, I get angry the way they portray Christians, you know? And it's always the preacher who's, you know, a lady who is self-righteous about another lady who has a baby out of wedlock and all that, and this lady is a Christian lady and she's... why don't you show people who are joyful? People who are gracious, the way Jesus is, amen?

So that's how the Father is. Jesus says, "If you wanna see the Father, see me. He that has seen me has seen the Father". So one way to find out more and more about the Father is for you to go through the Gospels and see Jesus's heart. If you don't know what the Father would do for you, see what Jesus has done. For example, the question, "Will my Father heal me? Is it the Father's will to heal me"? Look at Jesus. Did he ever deny anyone of their healing? Did anyone that come to him leave unwell, leave sick still? No, all that, now, he didn't say everyone in Israel was healed, 'cause not everyone came to him. But my Bible says, "Everyone that came to him were healed. As many as touched the hem of his garment were healed. As many that came to him". So, in other words, Jesus never denied healing to anyone. So is this the Father's will? Yes, because whatever Jesus did is to unveil the Father, all right, and Jesus told one of his disciples, Philip, and says that "He that has seen me has seen the Father; and how sayest thou, Show me the Father"?

You know, I've been so long time with you. He said that in the Upper Room. Imagine that, three and a half years. That's why I say it's important to understand familiarity is different from intimacy. You can be familiar with someone but not intimate with him. Someone may just pass by Jesus and by the Holy Spirit, they have intimacy with Jesus, amen? I want intimacy. How about you? Praise the Lord. So, church, it is important that we maintain the sense of sonship. We maintain our perspective of God as Father. When you pray, do you pray from closeness? Already you know you're close by the blood of Jesus, you are a son of God. Do you pray like when I talk to my father, my mother, okay, you know, you have a healthy relationship when my son talks to me, okay? He doesn't use special, special words, all right? Like "Oh, you are pastor of New Creation Church. I cometh to thee". And he doesn't get formal with me. Or he come to me, say, "Abba".

I've taught him to say "Abba," because I figured when he was a baby, I told Wendy, I'll be addressed as Abba from now on because I know that one day he'll read the Bible, okay, and when he reads the Bible, he'll come across the Spirit of God's Son has been given to us that we might cry, "Abba," amen? So it will mean a lot to him, okay, provided I'm a good father, all right, it will mean a lot to him. So he comes and says, "Abba," amen. So if he has a nightmare, if something's is frightening him, just one word of prayer, but it's still a prayer. "Father," amen, to all of us. "Abba," he'll call for me, and I'll be there, okay? And I don't care "Monsters Inc". or whatever, that door will be broken down. I will run into that place and destroy every monster I see, amen, to save my child from that fear, amen.

Or what prayer was it that caused all my energies and all my gifts and all my strength to be at his disposal? Just one prayer, "Father". 'Cause sometimes, it'd be good for us to exercise this, all right, to sit down and just be conscious, "Father". Sometimes God will do that with me. Sometimes, I'll pray real fast and I even forgot what I just prayed. Don't do that, all right? If anything about the Lord, it's more important in prayer. Prayer is this. What is prayer, actually, all right? It's not always giving your request to God. Prayer is just being before God, spending time in his presence, and then which is more important? You talking to God or God talking to you? You see, you talk to God, all right, you talk to people. When you talk, nothing happens, right? When God talks to you, always remember this, things happen, amen? So wait before God and just say, "Father, Father". And out of that prayer you sense that love, that family, that familial consciousness. You pray as a son. You don't pray with a spirit of slavery, amen? You enjoy his presence. And I'm telling you, prayer become exciting. Prayer becomes exciting, amen?

And can I just say, also, something about prayer. It'd be good for you to have, like, a notebook near you when you pray because many a times I find that when you're talking to God, God begin to show you things, like, sometimes practical things, don't forget to get this thing done or wash this thing, clean this thing, this thing being left quite, not clean for some time. But, you know, or how can these kind of distracting thoughts come to me, all right? You're supposed to do something for Justin or do something with Jessica, my daughter. You know, I feel like I'm getting distracted, all right? But now I realize that God loves me and he wants to prosper me, amen? "I am the LORD thy God who teaches you to profit".

So I learned that these are not always distracting thoughts. Sometimes, it's a reminder of things I forget. So how do I deal with it? I just write it down. And you'd be surprised how many times God speaks to you, more than you realize. And because it's not "spiritual," you think it's not God, but many times it's God, okay? And that's just free for all of you, okay, if you want to receive that. But spend time being conscious of him, his presence, amen. Don't always rush with your requests, amen? And then it's a different thing when you pray like a slave, "God, please, Lord, I have worked for you all these years. I played the piano, you know, and now of all the things, I have arthritis, Lord. But you know I need to play the piano for your glory. I need, you know, I'm doing it for you, Lord".

You know, if you prayed that prayer, will God hear it? Now, can I say something that might sound really, you know, harsh for some people? You find those prayers are not answered. Why? Because it's not based on truth. If God answers those prayer, you'll continue praying that kind of prayer. You'll continue teaching the people that kind of prayer, "Just be desperate enough and go on". No, no, friend. The Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of truth. He cannot confirm a lie. If you come from a consciousness of a lie, when you're a son you act like a servant, it's a lie. The Holy Spirit cannot confirm a lie. He is the Spirit of truth. He bears witness with the truth. So when you're in truth, I come as a son and I pray, Father, I thank you that healing is the children's bread, and Jesus by his stripes has provided healing for me. Is that truth? Now you are on the lines that God can answer. Like the radio waves, okay?

It's better it's FM or AM, right, your frequency? Let's say you're on the wrong frequency. Do you receive? No. Now, does that mean that you're saying, "I don't know what happened to the broadcast station. They're not broadcasting anymore. They're not supplying anymore. They're not..." No, they are supplying all the time. It is our receiving end, amen? But we have the answer today, amen? God says, "How can I cause you to receive your beautiful heritage"? God says, "I know, I said..." And God said, "You will call me 'Father.'" That's how God established it. So the more conscious you are that you, you know, God is your Father, amen, and think about it. Think about this. The Father love you so much that he gave you his Son. Friend, God does not have to give his Son. God chose to give you his Son. What motivated God to give you his Son?

Now before that, let me establish something. You need to know that the Father loves the Son. The Father loves the Son with all his heart, amen? When Jesus came out of the River Jordan, the Father opened the heavens to him and says, "You are my beloved Son. In you I am well pleased". And yet he gave up his Son for you. What does that tell you? He loves you. He gave up a Son that he loves. You will never know how much you are loved until you know how much God loves his Son because he gave up his Son for you, wow. He gave up his Son for you. The Bible says, "He that spared not his own Son, how will he not also freely give us all things"? If we think that God will withhold healing from us, for example, healing, because healing is maybe, you know, God prized healing, and not everyone can have healing, okay? That means we are saying that healing is more important to God, more precious to God, than his Son, because he's willing to give us his Son, but he's not willing to give us healing. No, church, he gave us the best. He meant when he gave us his Son, he gave us the best.

"If he spared not his own Son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not", meditate on that for a...meditate on this one. Make this verse your meditation. "How shall he not", Hoh, think about that. Even that phrase, "How shall he not". "How shall he not with him also freely", wow, that word "freely," hmm. Let it sink into your heart. "How will he not with him also freely give us all things"? If he gave you his Son, which he did, how will he not freely give you all things? Perhaps we are not receiving because we are trying to earn what is freely given. We are trying to pay what Jesus paid, and God will not allow it. There's only one Savior. Again, it's a lie. We're acting out a lie, amen? When we just come in line with God's Word and say, "Lord, I thank you for the gift of your Son," perhaps right now some of you, you've never prayed the prayer to receive Jesus Christ, God's greatest gift, and this is your opportunity. So why not pray this prayer with me right now wherever you are. Say:

Heavenly Father, I thank you for the gift of your Son, Jesus Christ. I thank you that Christ died on the cross for all my sins. He bore my judgment, he died in my place. And you raised him from the dead. Thank you, Father, that Jesus Christ is my Lord and my Savior. I'm now your son, you are my Father. Thank you, Father. I know you will watch over me, care for me, supply me, from this day forth. Teach me to grow in my sonship, in Jesus's name, and all the people said, "Amen".

I also wanna pray for all those of you, as I was sharing the Word. You feel like, "Yes, Pastor, I think I have that orphan spirit. I feel like, you know, even though at my age, I feel like, you know, I'm all alone out there, no one sees the emptiness on the inside". Or perhaps you're saying, "Pastor, you mentioned just now about someone who was physically abused as a child. That was me. And no one seems to believe me when I share it, but I've been hurt. I've been afraid of the word 'Father,' but I want all this out of my life". If that is you, I want to pray for you right now, amen. I want to pray for a fresh revelation of Jesus and of his Father to explode in your life right now in Jesus's name.

Father, I thank you for your love, Lord, for each and every person under the sound of my voice. You know their history, you know their specific needs. You know, Lord, the bondage that they are deeply entrenched in, Lord, for years because of wrong believing, and because of people that have hurt them. And today, some of them are hurting people because hurt people hurt people. I pray, Father, in Jesus's name that that bondage stops right now in the name of the Lord Jesus, and in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ free them, Lord, I pray, from this orphan spirit, hallelujah.

I feel that anointing. And right now, in Jesus's name, just receive the Father's love. I want you to say this under your breath:

I am my Father's child. I am my Father's child. I am loved by my Father. He watches over me. He cares for me. I am not alone. He watches over me. I'm under his care and his love, in Jesus's name, amen.

Now, those words are from the Spirit. Simple words. I feel the Lord start saying that for you to do this throughout this week, throughout the coming days. Keep on saying simple words like what the Holy Spirit gave just now, "I am my Father's child. I'm under his care. I'm under his supply. I'm under his love". Will you do that? Just say that. "I'm my Father's child. I'm under his care. I'm watched over. I'm protected by my Father, amen". Feel, enclose him, embrace in the Father's love. Everywhere you go, be conscious of that, and see if your situation don't turn around. See if that need is not met. See if that body is not healed. See that darkness flee away from your mind, and depression just clears because in the Father's love you'll find fulfillment and the true meaning in your life. In Jesus's name, amen.