Joseph Prince - Blessed With Father Abraham's Blessings
Greetings, church. We are in for an exciting time in God's Word. You know, the Lord has laid something on my heart. The Word that he has laid on my heart has been brewing there for some time, and I'm looking at different aspects of it and the Lord is showing me more and more. Increasingly, I'm seeing more and more that for the lack of understanding this, for the lack of the revelation of this Word that I'm going to bring forth today, people are suffering and not able to receive the provisions that Christ has purchased for them through his blood at Calvary's cross. And through the wrong believing that has come in because of the lack of this revelation, I believe, for the most part, it affects the people's ability to receive from the Lord.
Believers, children of God, they are not able to receive, because we all know that your ability to receive is commensurate with your vision of God and how you see him, amen. Just like the woman with the issue of blood; she saw Jesus in his glory, in his grace, as willing to heal. That's the reason why she pressed through the crowd and she touched the hem of his garment. But Jesus turned around and looked at her and said, "Your faith has made you well". But notice that she wasn't conscious of her faith. She was conscious of the Lord and his beauty, especially the beauty of his grace, the unmerited favor that was coming forth from him for her, and she saw that. And when, you know, the Lord gave me this phrase a number of years ago. It's this.
When you see Jesus in his grace, he sees you in your faith, amen. When you see Jesus in his grace, he turns around and sees you in your faith. And he said to the woman, "Your faith has made you well". And I believe that many-a-times because of our wrong believing in this area we're not able to receive some of what we call earthly blessings. You know, for the most part the body of Christ today believes that the blessings of the believer is only in the area of spiritual things, because of that verse in Ephesians that says, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing". But, you see, the spiritual blessing means that the word there is that it's of a spiritual source. It is spiritual in nature, it is permanent, it is eternal, because whatever is of the Spirit is eternal. That's what it means.
When you think about it, everything that you have in life, amen, before you can see it tangibly, even finances, it is preceded by the wisdom, which is spiritual blessing. It is not tangible. It's a real, heavenly materiality, if you would, amen? But it's not perceived by your five senses. And as a result, people don't see that. But many-a-times it's the wisdom of God that comes in that translates later on into a physical manifestation, like the money you have in your hands, and success in your career or your ministry, amen. But the thing is this, people, and if we forget that spiritual blessings produce us things that are material, it was God, who is a Spirit, that spoke forth the world that we see today, the earth and creation.
And everything on this earth was brought forth by the Word of God, which is invisible. But we have this idea that something that is invisible, something that's not perceived by your five senses is not real. It is not permanent, even. But the opposite is true. It is that which is spiritual that is eternal. The Bible says, "The things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal". So, as we look at God's Word, you know, we cannot divide between Spirit and material as in terms of invisible and physical, because they're all one in the realm of God. When God sees the whole thing, all right, we divide them. We have this dichotomy of what is material and what we feel is ethereal, something that you can't touch, something we think is not real, but to God it is real.
Now, having said that, when you look at the Scriptures, it's very clear that every spiritual blessing in heavenly places includes forgiveness of our sins, includes being brought into the favor of God, because the next verses talks about that. We are accepted, we are highly favored, as the Greek says, charitoo, we are highly favored in the beloved. It says that God has abounded towards us all wisdom and prudence. It says that God has placed us in Christ, holy, blameless, amen, in love, praise the Lord. All this is true, amen. But It is eternal. It is unseen, but it's just as real. Even more real than that which is physical, because what is physical is temporal, amen, praise the Lord.
Now, having established that, it is important that we understand that when the Bible says that we are supposed to use that kind of terminology or say a certain kind of phrase, for example, we are to say after God; because how can two walk together? Prophet Amos says, "How can two walk together, except they be agreed"? So, we're going to see some things today that will bless you, I believe. Let's go to Matthew chapter 1, verse 1. "The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham". Notice that Jesus Christ is the Son of David, the Son of Abraham. As the Son of David, he is heir to the throne. As the Son of Abraham, he inherits the land and all the blessings of the land.
Now, don't forget, the Bible says clearly that we are Abraham's seed because we are in Christ. So, even we see this verse, for example, the Son of Abraham, the Bible tells us we have to think of Abraham as the one to whom God first gave the promise of all the blessings of the land, or we can call it "earthly blessings," amen? Earthly blessings, today's Christians will define it as your health, your material things, your family, your well-being, and your mental soundness, all these are earthly blessings, they call it. But actually, with God, there is no division. There's no difference, amen. Everything is a blessing from God. But let's establish this in the life of Abraham. When God specifically mentioned to Abraham the blessings, and God says, "I'll make you a blessing," let's look at the blessing there.
In Genesis 12, "I will make you a great nation; I will bless you," God is talking to Abraham. "I'll bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. I'll bless those who bless you, I'll curse him who curses you; And in you, in you," Abraham, "all the families of the earth shall be blessed". Now, today we have this idea that, okay, we are blessed directly by God, and it is so. It is so, but God, you know, the ways of God is such that God says, "I want you to identify yourself with Abraham, okay, if you want to enjoy all the blessings that I gave to Abraham," because Abraham is given in Scripture as a depository of all the blessings of God, all the earthly blessings, if you would, because God promised him the land, which is earthly. God promised him physical descendants, amen.
And God promised him that he will be blessed in every area, and not only that, that he will be a blessing. God says, "I'll bless you and make your name great". So, God says, "I want you to identify yourself with Abraham". Now, we call ourselves Christians because we identify ourselves with Christ, amen, and rightly so, but God also wants us to know that "if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise". So, you see, there you have it. You are Abraham's seed if you belong to Christ. "If you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise".
Now, does it matter whether you are Abraham's seed or not? Because you belong to Christ anyway, amen, and as long as we have Christ, we have everything, amen. But God's economy of things, the way God wants us to think scripturally along the way the Bible has related our blessings is that to think in terms of Abraham's blessing, God has deposited everything into Abraham's life, amen, and Abraham is like a reservoir of all the blessings. He holds the blessings of God for his seed. Now, who is his seed? Singular, his seed is Christ. But then the Bible says, "If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise".
So, the whole idea is that, why does God want you to become a seed of Abraham? So that you are an heir. You are an heir, in other words, you inherit, you know? An heir does not have to be someone good to inherit the blessings of the father. He doesn't have to be a person who is perfect in all his behavior towards his father and his family in order to be perfect, and then the father will give him, no, all right? It's the fact that he's the son, and he's the heir because he's the son, amen. A servant in the house may be better behaved than he is, but he's not the heir. He's a servant, but the son is the heir. Okay, so likewise, we inherit effortlessly. We inherit by the fact that we are the seed of Abraham.
So, God wants us to think that way, amen. Whether it's healing, whether it is prosperity, whether it is well-being for our entire family, whether it's prosperity in everything that you do, God wants you to know that it's because you are the seed of Abraham. And God promised Abraham that "I'll bless you". You know, the Bible says God has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness. Not just godliness, friend. And that's been emphasized strongly in the church already. But God has given us everything necessary to life and godliness.
Would you say that health is necessary to life? Would you say that provision, amen, with more than enough so that we can be a blessing. Just enough, you can't be a blessing, right? More than enough to be a blessing; would you say that's pertaining to life? Well, God has given us all things pertaining to life and godliness, amen? And God has given us all things that pertain to godliness so we can live godly for the glory of God. Praise the Lord, hallelujah.
Now, this is important, because, you see, church, the body of Christ has this idea. Okay, I receive God's blessings, and they don't use the phrase I received the blessing of Abraham. But if you are scriptural and you speak according to the Word of God and you inherit the way God tells you to inherit, by declaring, "I am the seed of Abraham, I am blessed with Abraham's blessings," I believe you will see more results. I believe you will see these manifestations in your life, amen. If you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise, so that all that God promised Abraham is true of you, amen.
Now we might say that, well, the seed of Abraham is the nation of Israel today, amen, the children of Israel. Now, we're not taking anything away from that. They are the physical descendants of Abraham, they are. But the Bible tells us clearly it is not those who are of the flesh that are called the seed of Abraham. Look at this verse here in Galatians chapter 3. "Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham". Only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. Notice the word only. "Therefore know that only those, only those who are of faith are the sons of Abraham".
This reminds me of another verse that Paul talks about in Romans chapter 9. It says that, "That is, those who are the children of the flesh," okay, this is natural Israel, a Jew today, amen, they are children of the flesh, amen, they are the children of Abraham, but children of the flesh. Now, "Those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed". So, whether they are Jew or Gentile, if they believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, they are the seed of Abraham according to God's definition and heir according to the promise, amen. We cannot inherit the promise.
In fact, the Bible says that the promise given to Abraham that he should be the heir of the world was not given to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith, amen. And here we see that the Bible is very clear that it's not those who are of the flesh, the natural Jew, that is the seed of Abraham. They are the descendants of Abraham, if you understand. But according to God's definition of the seed of Abraham that should inherit all the promises, it's referring to people of faith. Those who are of faith are the children of Abraham. According to Galatians chapter 3, if you look at Galatians chapter 3, "Know that only," only, "those who are of faith are sons of Abraham".
So, if you look at this context here, you find that this faith here, what is this faith? What is this faith? Well, the passage goes on to say, "And the Scripture, forseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith". Stop there. Look at what happens right now, the way the Bible clarifies what faith that is that Abraham exercised, and if we exercise the same kind of faith, we are sons of Abraham. It says, "Forseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith". So, it's justification by faith, becoming righteous by faith. And we all know that righteousness by faith is the crux of the Gospel. It is the core message of the Gospel. "I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: it is the power of God unto salvation. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith," amen?
It is the centrality of the gospel message, and unfortunately, when we preach the gospel, many-a-time we just repent from sin, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you go to heaven, amen? That's not all, friend. That's not all the gospel. The gospel, the main core of the gospel is actually the revelation. "For therein is the righteousness of God, which comes as a gift, revealed from faith to faith". So here again in Galatians 3, it tells us the context. What kind of faith? Who are those who are of faith? And what kind of faith is this? It's those who are justified by faith. They believe they are righteous by faith through Christ, amen? And the Bible calls this the gospel.
So, Abraham had the same Gospel. It goes on to say, "The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, 'In you all the nations shall be blessed.'" Notice that, amen. We know that it is not Abraham, per se, of course, but it's the seed that will come through Abraham's lineage, which is our Lord Jesus Christ. The singular seed, and Paul establishes that in the book of Galatians, "To thy seed," he says, "which is Christ," and not to thy seeds, as in plural, referring to the children of Israel in the flesh, amen. So, the seed here is Christ. And all the while, God saw that Abraham would become a depository of blessings, but from Abraham will come the Savior of the world, the Son of God, the Messiah of Israel, and the King of kings and the Lord of lords.
God established that through Abraham. But it was because of the blessing that God has put on Abraham that God wants all those who are in Christ to identify with Abraham. God wants us to learn to speak the language of Scripture and be blessed thereby, hallelujah. You say, "I am blessed with the blessings of Abraham," I believe you will see the manifestations of it. Many-a-time you say, we are blessed, we are blessed, we are blessed, but there's no foundation for it, there's no basis for it. It is the blessing of Abraham that is now made real in our lives because what was hindering it in times past was the law came in, and the Bible says we cannot inherit the blessing of Abraham, Romans chapter 4, it says that the promise given to Abraham, the promise that Abraham should be the heir of the world, that promise was not given to Abraham through the law, but through the righteousness of faith, so the law was a hindrance in the sense that when the law was there, you have to qualify.
You had to obey completely before you can receive the blessings of Abraham, before you can have well-being for yourself and your family, before you can have the blessings of God that God has promised Abraham manifest in your life. But the law becomes a hindrance. Nothing wrong with the law. It's very perfection is the problem, amen. Man is not perfect. The more men try to keep the law, the Bible says they come under the curse, because for as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse. In that verse, it does not say that those who are breaking the law are under the curse. That goes without saying. But it says for as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse, okay?
In fact, if you drop down to verse 9, it says, "So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham". See, again, those who believe that they are righteous by faith, they are blessed with believing Abraham... so, what is the blessing of Abraham and what is to be blessed with believing Abraham? So, Abraham is not called the doing Abraham, he is not called the working Abraham, he is not called the performing Abraham. He is called the believing Abraham. And we are blessed with the believing Abraham, amen. So again, notice the context. "Those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham".
So, even believers, many of them, they believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, but they don't believe they are righteous by faith. Therefore they are on this treadmill of never-ending performance, trying through their works to become righteous, all right? They are seeking it by the law, they are trying to be righteous by their works and not submitting themselves to the righteousness of God, which is a gift. So, only those who believe that they are justified by faith, they are righteous by faith, these people are blessed, amen. Those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham. So, when God told Abraham, as we saw just now, that "I'll make you a great nation; I'll bless you and make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. I'll bless those who bless you, And I'll curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed".
Now, in case in your mind you're thinking: well, this blessing is just like we said just now, you know, just spiritual and heavenly, all right; notice that the definition of barak, the Hebrew word for bless. Let me just show you this definition from the "Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament". "To bless in the Old Testament means 'to endue with power for success, prosperity, fecundity,'" that means fruitfulness, amen, in having many children, right? "'Longevity, et cetera.'" To bless means what? "To endue with power for success, prosperity, fecundity, longevity". To have longevity means you gotta have health, amen. But just having health alone doesn't guarantee longevity. God promised longevity in the word blessing, amen.
I believe one of the provisions that Jesus gave us was that on the cross not only he bore our sins so that we can bear his righteousness, amen, he bore our curse so that we can be blessed, but also he died young that we might live long, amen. The Bible says in Psalms 91, "With long life will I satisfy him". So, obviously God thinks that long life is a blessing for man, for God to give that verse, "With long life will I satisfy him," amen? Receive it, child of God. And all this is found in the Hebrew word, barak, which is bless.
So, that's the word that God used to bless Abraham, and if you are the seed of Abraham, you enjoy the same blessing, because in you, Abraham, in your seed, all the nations of the world will be blessed. Whether they are Gentiles or of different race and all that, everyone is blessed because of Abraham, amen. Abraham's blessing will come on them. Of course, we know the centrality of the person of Jesus Christ in all this economy of things. We know that without Christ dying on the cross, these blessings cannot come to us. But in order to make grace real in our lives, amen, Jesus had to die on the cross. And but he died as the seed of Abraham. You know, Jesus came to also free us from the fear of death, and this death is physical death.
In Hebrews chapter 2 it tells us, "Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, Jesus Himself likewise shed in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage". So, one of the reasons why Jesus came is to set us free from the fear of death. And how did he do that? By destroying him. Destroying him does not mean to annihilate him out of existence. The devil is still around, but this word means to disarm him, to nullify him. In other words, he is now powerless. He is now without strength, amen, to enforce death in the believer's life.
But notice, all these blessings is given to whom? "Release those who through fear of death," who are these those? Who are these children who have partaken of flesh and blood that Jesus wants to partake in the same? Who are these people? The next verse tells us. "For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham". Now, we say that Christ died for the whole world, and that is true, amen. But notice specifically, who receives the aid? Who receives all the benefits of his finished work? The seed of Abraham. And that's not referring to natural Israel, the physical descendants of Abraham. It's referring to you, child of God. If you are Christ's, you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.
We see some examples here in the Bible. For example, in Luke 13 there was a woman bowed down for 18 years. She could not straighten herself, amen. She was bowed down, and later on we found out that it was caused by a spirit of infirmity. And the Lord saw her in the synagogue, okay, and then the Lord called her to him and she came up. You must imagine, 18 years, she's bowed down, and she saw the feet of Jesus, amen. And Jesus said, "Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity". That's a word of authority, and from the Son of God. And she stood up for the first time, and the first face she saw, she identified people all her life by their feet, but the first face she saw was the glorious face of our Lord Jesus, amen.
Now, you thought that the whole synagogue will rejoice. One of their members has received complete healing and now is standing tall. All for 18 years, and 18 is the number of bondage in the Bible. You know, it's six plus six plus six, amen, the number of the Antichrist, all right? So, it's a picture of a bondage that's caused by the devil. You would thought that her pastor, I mean, the ruler of the synagogue will rejoice that one of his members got healed, but instead he says in a very sarcastic way, he says to all the people, you know, "'There are six days men ought to work.'"
Notice his ought in his mind is ought to work, not ought to be healed, but ought to work. "'Six days that men ought to work. Come in them, all right, and be healed, but don't do it on the Sabbath day.'" And look at Jesus's response. "The Lord then answered him and said, 'Hypocrite! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the stall, and lead it away to water it? So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound'", think of it, "'for 18 years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?'" There are so many nuggets here I just want to share. First and foremost, notice what Jesus says, that "'Ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham.'"
But wait a minute. We know that there are others in the synagogue, they are all physical descendants. There are other women there. I'm sure that they have other infirmities. There are men there in the synagogue who have all kinds of other diseases, right? I mean, they all need healing. If you put, you know, an average-sized church, for example, you have an average-sized synagogue and all that, you will find people with diseases. I'm sure this woman is not the only one. But she's the only one that received that day. And Jesus attributes it to she is a daughter, being a daughter of Abraham. "Ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham".
So, Jesus's ought, notice the word ought in the Greek, dei. The Pharisee, the ruler of the synagogue, his idea of ought is ought to work. But Jesus is ought to be loosed, why? Because she is a daughter of Abraham. I cannot allow a true daughter of Abraham to be bound one minute longer, all right? She ought to be loose, hallelujah, amen. And notice where does this sickness come from? "'Whom Satan has bound.'" We got to see that, people. If we see our infirmity as something or we think that maybe God gave us this infirmity to teach us some lesson and all that, we will not be healed. We will not be loosed from it. You got to see it as from the devil. All right, it doesn't belong to you. I repeat, you are a seed of Abraham. You are a son of Abraham. This does not belong to you, amen, amen?
So, he says, "'Ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham,'" so that's key. Even though all of them there are the sons and daughters of Abraham in the sense of physical descendant, but we know that from scriptures that we have read that God is referring to a people of faith, amen. So, obviously this woman, though she's bowed down, she heard the preaching of Jesus and she has faith, amen. She has faith in the Word, amen. And Jesus called her of all the people there, it's almost like: I cannot let someone who is a daughter of Abraham, a true daughter of Abraham, a daughter of faith, to be bound any longer, amen? And Isn't it a better thing to be to be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?
The Sabbath is a day of rest. This is truly, if all your life you're looking on the dust, on the dust, on the dust, having a dust perspective, that's what bondage does to you. You have a dust perspective. You know, Isn't it truly a rest to be freed from it on the Sabbath? Amen, we look at another example, and here we see a story of Zacchaeus, and Zacchaeus was a short guy. And the Bible says Jesus came out of Jericho, and he wanted so much to see Jesus. Now, he was a tax collector.
Now, in that culture to be a tax collector is like someone who betrays your own nation. You're collecting taxes from your people for another nation, and usually these people are very wealthy, and many of them, they get some of the money through questionable means and all that. They charge more than they should, so they're not respected, they're not loved by society, the Jewish society at that time. But this man had a hunger to see Jesus. Obviously, he has heard about Jesus. He wanted to see Jesus. And the Bible says he climbed a sycamore tree, and he saw Jesus, and Jesus looked up. Of all the people that were there, there was a crowd there, you know, the reason why he climbed the tree, the sycamore tree, is because there was a crowd, and because he was short, all right, he could not see Jesus.
There was a crowd there. But notice Jesus's attention was focused on this one man on the tree. And Jesus said, "'Zacchaeus, make haste and come down.'" You know, it's the first time Jesus says make haste in the scripture. Usually Jesus is very cool, amen. He's very restful. He moves in the rhythm of grace. He's never in a hurry, he's never in a hurry. But there's one thing he'll tell you. He'll tell you to rest. Come apart and rest a while. He will always tell you not to worry, amen. There's a rhythm of grace, "Come unto me, and all you that labor and are heavy laden, I'll give you rest". But this one time he says, "'Make haste,'" why? Because when it comes to salvation, don't waste time, amen? Make sure, make haste to make sure that you are saved, that you become the seed of Abraham, that you become a child of God, amen, that you belong to Jesus Christ.
So, "'Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.'" Now, this word, I must: I must is the same word as ought. "Ought not this woman," or the Pharisee said, "Men ought to work for six days," all right? It's the same word, dei, in the Greek. "Today I must, I ought to stay at your house". There's something about Zacchaeus that makes Jesus say, "Today I must come to your house. Today I must stay at your house". So, what happened was that Zacchaeus came down, and Jesus went to his house, and they had a meal together, I'm sure with all the family and all that. At the end of the meal Zacchaeus stood up and he says, "'You know, half my goods I give to the poor; and if I've cheated anyone of anything, I restore to him fourfold.' And then Jesus said to him, 'Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is the son of Abraham.'" He also is a son of Abraham.
So, now we understand why Jesus says, "'I must stay at your house,'" amen, why? He also is a son of Abraham. In other words, along the way, all right, he started believing in Jesus in a way that the rest did not see Jesus as, but there was a revelation given to Zacchaeus, so much so that Zacchaeus became a son of Abraham, amen. And he became a son of Abraham to the point that Jesus says, "I must stay, I ought to stay at your house," amen. Jesus says, "Today salvation has come to this house," and what's the reason given? "Because he also is a son of Abraham". Notice the word also, "He also is a son of Abraham," instead of, "He is a son of Abraham".
That would be sufficient for us to understand, right? But also means what? There's someone else who is the son of Abraham. Who is that? And that's why we read Matthew 1:1, the genealogy of Jesus Christ. "The Son of David, the Son of Abraham". Jesus is saying, "I'm also a Son of Abraham. He also is a son of Abraham. We are the same family of faith," hallelujah! And so are you, child of God. You are of the family of faith, because you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, amen. You are a seed of Abraham, you are a son of Abraham, a daughter of Abraham, amen. Today salvation has come to this house. You know, I believe that that's the person of Jesus.
In Hebrew Jesus would have said, "Today yeshua has come to this house". Jesus himself is salvation, amen, why? Because he also is a Son of Abraham, praise the Lord, hallelujah. So, we see blessings of healing. Where do you need healing? The woman that was bound for 18 years was loosed. You know, and because she's a daughter of Abraham. What about the rest of the women in the synagogue, amen? They're all physical descendants, but are they daughters of Abraham? Not according to Scripture. The Bible says those who are of faith, amen? So, likewise for Zacchaeus, I'm sure that others, the crowd that was there that made him have to climb to see Jesus, I'm sure that they are all physical descendants of Abraham, but not the sons of Abraham.
Do you get what I'm saying so far? What I'm sharing? It's important that when we come to God, we speak the language of Scripture, amen. That shows spiritual intelligence. And when you follow God's ways, amen, you speak like after God, amen, you get the God kind of results, amen, praise the Lord. So, begin to confess over yourself that "I am blessed with the blessings of Abraham". When you go to work every day, just say, "Lord, I thank you, Lord," on your way to work. "Amen, I'm blessed with the blessings of Abraham, amen. I'm blessed with Father Abraham". And that shows, you know, to the Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of truth.
You know, many-a-times, we believe, like, okay, you know I'm blessed, I'm blessed. Some people believe that I'm blessed because of God's mercy on my life. No, friend, we're not blessed just because of God's mercy. God's mercy on our life is what caused Jesus to come into the world, amen. God reached in mercy. That's what he did when we were dead in our sins. Yes, that's involved. But now we are made righteous according to his righteousness. God is righteous in making us righteous, amen, so our blessing is now on a solid, unshakable foundation, amen. You have the ought, you ought to be healed, you ought to be forgiven, you ought to prosper, you ought to be blessed in every area of your life, amen.
That's what Jesus has done. His cross has caused you to have a solid foundation to receive the blessing of Abraham. There's one more area I just want to show you. It's very interesting. And it's found in 1 Peter chapter 3. And it says here, "For in this manner, in former times, the holy women who trusted in God also adorned themselves, being submissive to their own husbands, as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, whose daughters you are if you do good and you are not afraid with any terror". So, notice, "Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, whose daughters you are". So, whose daughters are you, for the women? Now, this is speaking to the women. They are daughters of Sarah.
Now, Abraham's name is there so some people might think, "Well, no, it's daughter of Abraham here". But in the context here, it's referring to daughters of Sarah, why? Because if it's Abraham, the who's there, the gender in the Greek will be masculine. But the gender here in this verse is actually feminine, so it's referring to Sarah, whose daughters you are. So, women, amen, if you are patterning yourself after the example of Sarah, the Bible says you are a daughter of Sarah, amen, "If you do good and are not afraid with any terror".
So, it's a special blessing where women can enjoy the blessings of Sarah. So, what is the blessing of Sarah? What is unique? Notice here, it's not saying that you're a daughter of Ruth, a daughter of Rebekah, amen, a daughter of Rachel. All these are women of good repute, amen, but how come it's not the daughter of Esther or any other, but it's actually the daughter of Sarah, why? I asked the Lord this many years ago. You know, I ask the Lord things that sometimes most people don't even ask the Lord about. And later on, I find that it becomes something that is food for the people.
So, I asked the Lord, "Why daughter of Sarah, Lord? What's the unique thing about Sarah"? Amen, and the Lord says, "She's the only woman in the Bible who had her youth rejuvenated, renewed in her old age". Let me say that again. The Lord said to me that she is the only woman in the Bible who had her youth renewed in her old age. Now, if you think that this is spiritual renewal, you know, it's something that can't be seen and all that, let me remind you that two kings, two heathen kings that go by their eyeballs, amen, they're not people of the spirit, they go by their eyes, and two heathen kings, the Pharaoh, at that time she was probably around in her 60s, right? And later on in her life when she was nearly 90 years old, Abimelech wanted her for his harem.
Again, the Bible says he saw that she was beautiful, amen. All these kings, they saw her, and with their eyes they saw that she was beautiful. So, it was a literal renewal in her youth. And the Bible calls you, women of faith, daughters of Sarah, amen. God renewed your youth like the eagles, amen. Praise the Lord. Now, back to the seed of Abraham and the blessings that accompany it. Let me read to you Galatians chapter 3, and here we see, as we continue, "Those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham. For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse".
Notice that justification by faith in verse 9, where we are blessed with believing Abraham, is contrasted with the works of the law. Now, "For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.'" So, again, it does not say for as many as break the law. That's implied for sure, but notice it says, "As many as are of the works of the law".
The moment you take your ground for justification, the ground for your blessing on the ground of the law, your trust is in the law, the works of the law, you are cursed, you come under the curse. "For it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things.'" You cannot just say, "Well, I do the best I can in most things in the law". No, it is, "Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them. But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for 'the just shall live by faith.' Yet the law is not of faith, but 'the man who does them shall live by them.'"
Now, look at this beautiful verse here. I love this verse. "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law," amen. Can you say amen to that? Christ has redeemed, he ransomed us. The Greek word there is ransom. He redeemed us, he ransomed us from the curse of the law, how? "Having become a curse for us," he took our place, so the curse fell on him. In other words, all the law breaking, the curse that would have come if you didn't continue, all right, performing the law, all the law, not just most of it. Even most of it doesn't cut it, even 90% doesn't cut it. It must be all the law, all right? If you don't, you come short in one, you come under the curse. But the Bible says, "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree'), that the blessing of Abraham," oh, I love this.
Notice that, "That the blessing of Abraham," why didn't God just say that the blessing of God might come upon the Gentiles? Because everything has got to do with the scriptural order, amen. Abraham is the depository of all the blessings of God. God chose him by sovereign grace to be the man that will be so blessed, and God make him the father of all those of faith that will come after. Even from his descendant will come the seed, amen. We know that Jesus was born of a virgin, but from the lineage of Abraham.
In Matthew 1:1 it says, "The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ". The word genealogy is the word genesis in the Greek. It reminds you of the book of Genesis, the first book of the Bible. And this is the first book of the New Testament, and it says, "The book of the genesis of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham," amen. As the Son of David, heir to the throne. As the Son of Abraham, all the earthly blessings, the land and all the earthly blessings, praise the Lord. But so are you a son of Abraham, inasmuch as Zacchaeus was a son of Abraham, amen?
So, back to Galatians 13. Notice that Christ hung on that cross to redeem us from the curse of the law, amen? You know, we need to find out all the reasons why Christ died on the cross. It's not just to forgive us of our sins, to bear our sins. The Bible says also surely he bore our diseases, and that's not often taught, amen. He bore our diseases, amen. He became a curse for us, that's not often taught. And what curse is it that he redeemed us from? Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law. If you look at the curse of the law in Deuteronomy chapter 28, it's a long list of the curse of the law.
In fact, it includes every form of sickness and disease. It says sickness of long continuance, disease of long continuance. That means a disease that goes on, chronic disease is all under the curse of the law. It says that you will go out, amen, you will sow a lot, and you gather in little, amen. It says that you'll be depressed, amen. You'll say that when it's daytime, you'll say, "I wish it was nighttime". When it's nighttime, you say, "I wish it was daytime". He says that there'll be a breakdown in your marriage, amen. You shall marry your wife, but another man will lie with her. He says that you'll beget children, but the children will go into captivity. And we see that happening.
You know, children going into all sorts of addiction, into all sorts of groups, and they bring them away from God. You know, and they are yours, but it's as if they are not yours. It's a curse, my friend. Don't misunderstand. These are not blessings. And God says Christ has redeemed you from the curse of the law. Have you claimed that? Have you claimed that? And one of the ways we claim that is by being aware that Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, "that the blessing of Abraham," the blessing of Abraham, "might come upon the Gentiles," the non-Jews in Christ Jesus, "that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith," amen?
So, primarily, the blessing of Abraham is righteousness by faith, amen. And then with the righteousness by faith comes every other blessing of God, hallelujah. But, you know, even if you don't understand everything to do with the blessing of Abraham, just keep on confessing the blessing of Abraham is on me. I am blessed with Father Abraham, amen. And the more you confess it, the more you will see it manifest in your life, amen, praise the Lord, thank you, Jesus, hallelujah. I preached myself happy. And it's important that we think scripturally, we believe right, in order for us to be able to receive from God, amen.
Now, I want to share with you something very interesting from Isaiah 51. It says, "Listen to Me, you who follow after righteousness". Now, following after righteousness is not trying to establish your own righteousness, which Paul himself, who wrote to Timothy, for example, to "Flee youthful lusts, but follow after righteousness". Now, this following after righteousness, you have received righteousness as a gift. Now follow after it. Keep on being conscious of it and understand what it entails you to, all right, all the benefits that come with that righteousness and all the fruits that abound because of that righteousness, amen.
Like the Bible says in Corinthians, the fruits of righteousness. God increased the fruits of your righteousness. God cannot increase your righteousness any more than you have, because that righteousness is complete in Christ. In Christ you are righteous. You cannot add to it, you cannot take away from it. But you can increase the fruits of it. In other words, the more you are aware that you are righteous by faith, you will find fruits flowing out of that consciousness. You find yourself following after righteousness.
So, like in our church, you know, we study a lot on righteousness, why? Because we are following, that's following after righteousness. The more you're aware of righteousness, the Bible says, "Awake to righteousness; and sin not". The only power to not sin is to first awake to that righteousness consciousness that God has made you righteous in Christ and then you will not sin, amen. So, here you find that Isaiah the prophet actually says, "Listen to Me, you who follow after righteousness, You who seek the Lord".
So, I believe he's talking to New Covenant people here prophetically, but many-a-times Isaiah is referring to our times. A lot of his writing, a lot of his prophecies are referring to our times, even at the times of the end even. All right, here he says, "Look to the rock from which you were hewn, And to the hole of the pit from which you were dug. Look to Abraham your father, And to Sarah who bore you; For I called him alone, And blessed him and increased him". Now, look to Abraham your father, why? Abraham is the rock from which you were hewn. And look to Sarah who bore you, because she is the pit from which you were dug, amen. So, in other words, God is saying you came out of Abraham and Sarah.
Now again, the promise is not the promise of the children of the flesh, it's a promise for the children of faith, amen. So, we came from Abraham. Now we say that, you know, Abraham is the father of the Jews. We don't claim Abraham as our father, but that's a big mistake, because God honors Abraham, and God wants us to know that all our blessings is wrapped up in Abraham, and if we identify ourself, we who are in Christ, we identify ourself with Abraham, we receive Abraham's blessings, amen.
Notice that it says the verse before that, "Look to the rock from which you were hewn, And to the hole of the pit from which you were dug". And then God says, "Look to Abraham your father". In other words, study as much as you can about Abraham, amen. Look at Abraham's life. Know that as a New Covenant believer, your life is very much like Abraham. Abraham lived before the law. You are not under the law. Abraham lived by grace through faith, so are you. You are living by grace through faith, amen. Abraham is a father of faith, amen, and you live by faith. The just shall live by faith. Abraham received the blessings in his life, and Abraham died in a good old age at 175, and I believe so will you also if you claim that blessing, amen. Abraham was strong in his old age. Even after Sarah died, you know, Sarah lived long, she lived more than 100 years. After she died, Abraham married again and produced more children.
Now, by this time, he was more than 100 years old, so again, even that blessing is yours. God rejuvenated his body, God made him healthy, all that is yours, amen, because you are Abraham's seed. And the Bible says, "Look to Abraham your father, And to Sarah who bore you; For I called him alone, And blessed him and increased him". By looking to Abraham, we are not distracting from the person of Jesus because we see that what Jesus did is as the result of the promise to Abraham. And it came as Abraham's seed. Amen? So, the verse before that says, "Look to the rock from which you were hewn".
It's very interesting because many years ago when I went to Israel, I went to this place with the pastors that were with me. We went to this place called Zedekiah's cave, and that's where the temple of Solomon was built from, the stones out of that cave, amen. In fact, when you step into the cave, it's a very dark cave, but of course there are lights now to show you the walls and all that. And we took some videos of it, and I'll show you right now. And you can see the chisel marks, all right, from which they drew out square blocks of stone, right? And it's taken from all these areas.
Notice that it's all man-made. It's all done in a square shape so that it becomes a building block for the temple. And it's very interesting, because I'm reminded that the Bible says in 1 Peter that we are all living stones, built into a spiritual temple, amen. You and I, we are living stones built into a spiritual temple, and that's really, you know, what God says of us, that we are living stones. What is interesting is that this Zedekiah's cave is directly opposite Calvary, and right outside there you can see across the place of the skull where Jesus was crucified. It's almost like Jesus died on that cross, bearing all our sins, and to deliver us from him who had the power of death, that is the devil.
And he brought us out of darkness, that cave, he brought us out of darkness. We have been left out. We have been, you know, we would have perished into oblivion. No one would know we are even there. But the Lord reached out to us. We were in darkness, he brought us, in fact, the Bible says in Peter, "God has called us out of darkness into his marvelous light," amen, why? To show forth his praises, hallelujah, amen. Isn't it so beautiful? Amen, so, the Bible says, "Look to the rock from which you were hewn, And to the hole of the pit," and where were you hewn from? You were hewn from Abraham your father. Remember him, God is saying. Honor him and see the blessings manifest in your life, amen.
In other words, never take away anything from Jesus. Everything is possible only through Jesus Christ. Abraham is not a perfect man, Abraham is not a sinless man, but God has ordained that Abraham becomes the depository of all the blessings of God so that God says that you honor Abraham, you identify yourself with him, that by him you bless yourself, amen, and your families, and we all know that it's possible only through Jesus Christ, amen, praise the Lord. So, whether you're sick in your body, provision is provided for in the blessing of Abraham, even health and healing and longevity.
If you are struggling to make ends meet, you're struggling with unpaid debts, amen, God will supply this financial supply even in the blessing of Abraham. If your family is always in turmoil, always in constant conflict, well, there's a blessing there for family well-being and harmony and shalom in your family in the blessing of Abraham. If you're struggling with your body aging and all that, there's a blessing that God blessed Abraham and Sarah with, renewal of youth like the eagles, amen, amen, praise the Lord. And it's yours, because you are the seed of Abraham.
Let me end with this. Do you know what's the final appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ? Do you know how the Holy Spirit describes the final appearance of Jesus Christ in the final book of the Bible? Let's look at the final appearance of Jesus Christ. It's so interesting. And it says here, and this is the last chapter of the last book of the Bible, the book of Revelation, and this is going towards the end verses, amen. It's the final appearance of Jesus Christ. I thought it's very interesting for us to end here. And it says, "I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning star".
Now, first and foremost, notice that this is the final appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ, and how does he appear? First of all, he says, "I, Jesus". Oh, how that humbles my heart, how that causes, you know, me to think about that name of Jesus that he took when he came to earth. It is not hear, you know, the Son of Righteousness. It's not hear the King of kings. It's not hear any other name of Jesus or titles of Jesus, but that beautiful name that he took when he came as a man. It reminds us of Bethlehem, Nazareth, reminds us of Capernaum, Galilee, reminds us of Calvary, reminds us of the resurrection, reminds us of the Mount of Ascension, reminds us of his life from birth to the ascension, amen. "I, Jesus".
And that is so, like, you know, personal. When the Lord comes to you and says to you, "I, Jesus," isn't that beautiful? And this is how he appears. "I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches". And, of course, the angel here is not just angel in terms of a supernatural messenger, it can also refer to a physical messenger, a human. In this case, John was the angel as well. As well as there was also an angel in this book of Revelation. So, in other words, God uses angels.
You know, we say that Jesus comes to me direct. Yes, he does, amen. He's always with us, he never leaves us nor forsakes us. But I think we must honor Bible ways, scriptural methods, amen. God sends his angels. In protection, for example, God wants us to know and believe that angels are with us, amen. "No evil shall befall you, Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling; For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways," amen. And notice he says, "I am the Root and the Offspring of David".
The Root and the Offspring of David. As the Root, he brought forth David. As the Root, he is the one before David. As the Root, he promised all the promises to David about the throne and the throne forever even, all right? But as the Offspring of David, he came from the lineage of David. So, the Root speaks of his divinity, and the Offspring speaks of his humanity. He is the God-Man, and as the Offspring of David, he is the heir of all the promises of David and heir to the throne of David. And that's why they called him when he came to Israel, "Son of David," amen? So, we see that Matthew 1:1 says, "Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham".
So, what a beautiful picture to show us his deity and his humanity, the Root and the Offspring of David. The one who brought forth David, and the one who came from David. And then it says, "The Bright and Morning Star". Now, do you know that this is how the Bible ends the New Testament, the Bright and Morning Star, right? Whereas in the Old Testament it ends with the Son of righteousness. In the final chapter of the entire Old Testament, the book of Malachi, in the final chapter it says that, "Unto you that fear my name shall the Son of righteousness arise with healing in his wings".
So, Son, as you end, Son of righteousness is the picture of Jesus Christ coming. But so is the Bright and Morning Star, what's the difference? Well, long before the sun rises, what do you see? The bright and morning star. Now, early in the morning, when you go out there, even before the sun rises, when it's still very dark, probably around 5, 5 plus, you can see a bright and morning star. A star standing alone, shining out there in the night sky, shining bright, it is shining in the midst of darkness.
So, Jesus is the Bright and Morning Star, and he's shining in the midst of darkness. In other words, when the world is dark, Jesus Christ is going to come for his church. He's going to come for his church. Notice that the nation of Israel is still not saved yet, all right, so did God forget them? No, later on, after we are raptured, all right? We are raptured first, that's why it's Bright and Morning Star, because the bright and morning star comes first before the sun, but later on the Son of righteousness arises. And that's for Israel.
And that's why the Old Covenant ends. We are promised for Israel that the Son of righteousness will arise with healing in his wings, isn't that beautiful? What a beautiful final appearance of our Lord Jesus in the Bible. "And the Spirit," the Holy Spirit, "and the bride," that's you and I, "say, 'Come!' And let him who hears say, 'Come!' And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely".
In the final words of the Bible, "He who testifies to these things, say, 'Surely I am coming quickly.' Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus! The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen". You know, the Old Testament ends with the word cursed. The New Testament ends with the word grace. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.