Joseph Prince - The Power of Simple Faith
I want to share with you something that I think is going to bless you greatly, especially we are on this track of learning to inherit. Say, «Inheritance». That word is so rich, isn’t it? Just saying the word inheritance. When someone says, «I have received an inheritance,» you know it’s something good. Now, in this story about inheritance, it’s from the Old Testament, it’s not a story that many people preach from, but I knew about this story many years ago, even in the '90s, and I was very touched by this group of people that are so zealous for their inheritance. Even though naturally, by law, by the law of Moses, amen, at that time that they were under, they were not qualified, they were not allowed to receive the inheritance.
We’ll see the story as it goes on, okay? We’ll read this from the New Living Translation. Numbers 27, «One day a petition was presented by the daughters of Zelophehad». Everyone say… okay, that’s probably not the pronunciation in the Hebrew, but we will take it. All right, had five girls, okay? «Mahlah, Noah,» not the Noah, the spelling is not the same as Noah of the flood, okay, it’s No’ah, all right? And that’s Noach, this is No’ah, with a softer touch. «Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah». So there are five names here. «Their father, Zelophehad, was a descendant of Hepher son of Gilead, son of Makir, son of Manasseh,» the five girls of Zelophehad came to Moses and said this.
«These women stood before Moses, Eleazar the priest, the tribal leaders, and the entire community at the entrance of the Tabernacle. They said, 'Our father died in the wilderness, ' they said. 'He was not among Korah’s followers, who rebelled against the LORD; he died because of his own sin. But he had no sons. Why should the name of our father disappear from his clan just because he had no sons? Give us property along with the rest of our relatives.'» So, women, in those days, they don’t stand to inherit, only the sons inherit… amen? Women marry the sons, and they marry into the inheritance, but they, if they have no brothers, and in this case, they have no brothers, only five girls, and the father had died in the wilderness, and they made sure to Moses that the father didn’t die in the Korah’s rebellion. Korah was the man who stood against Moses and all that, and said, «Who are you to lift yourself up against the people? We are all holy,» amen? «Who are you to»?
And God opened up the earth and swallowed them up, amen? So, they made sure that Moses knew that their father is not one of those that followed Korah, okay? So, what these girls were after, look at their passion, look at their heart, look at their faith, they were after the inheritance, they didn’t have a laidback kind of attitude towards the inheritance, they wanted the inheritance, amen. So, they said this, «So Moses brought their case before the LORD». Because it’s a new case, amen, I said it’s a new case, praise the Lord, and we are learning that faith possesses, faith inherits, and look at the bold, simple faith of these girls. They wanted what God has given, they didn’t want something else, they wanted what God has given, the inheritance, in that case, it’s the land.
For us, amen, it is all there, laid out in chapter 1 of Ephesians, amen, the fact that we are in Christ, we are holy, we are blameless, possess it. We have forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace, amen, this is our promised land, hallelujah. Not only that, with his stripes we are healed, amen, so, bodily, we can walk in hell, praise the Lord, we learn to inherit what Christ has done, amen? Our minds, he wore the crown of thorns, why did Jesus wear the crown of thorns? He can just go straight and die for our sins at the cross, why must there be a crown of thorns on his head? Because God cursed the ground, when God cursed the ground, God told Adam, «This was never meant to be».
God didn’t create man to live under stress, but God says, «By the sweat of your face, you will eat bread,» and from then on, a man had to toil, a man had to be in stress. And Jesus sweat blood, and when his blood and sweat mingled, because of the redeeming quality of Jesus’s blood, he redeemed all of us from the curse of sweat, and he wore the crown of thorns because thorns represent the curse, the ground, that God says, «Cursed is the ground for your sake, Adam». And that ground, wherever you walk, I’m telling you, it’s blessed ground. And instead of, because he wore the crown of thorns, amen, and all kinds of thorns represent all the cursed thoughts, all the dark thoughts that you have, thoughts that torment you, thoughts that rob you of joy, thoughts that rob you, even right now, maybe you can’t even focus on what I’m saying because there are thoughts that are bothering you and trying to rob you of the peace, the joy that God has.
It’s all in your thoughts, but I want you to know, Christ redeemed you from those thoughts, they are individual thorns representing individual thoughts, cursed thoughts, dark thoughts, negative thoughts, sinful thoughts, he redeemed us from it when he sweat blood. Can I have a good amen? That’s your inheritance, he was totally destitute of material goods when he hung on the cross, all the paintings, you know, cannot represent what happened at the cross. The Bible says, «His visage was marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men».
So the way he looked was hideous; why? He carried all kinds of goiters, tumors and growths at the cross, and he was so hideous, the Bible says, it was beyond that of any man. His visage, his face was so marred, more than any man, so that you can look good, man. And he was destitute of all earthly goods, one of the last things he saw at the cross was the soldiers gambling for his clothes. «You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty might become rich». Amen? So these girls came, they wanted the inheritance, «Our father died, he has no sons, why should the inheritance go to somebody else»?
So Moses said, «Okay, this is a new case». These girls are bold, let me tell you something about bold faith, bold faith, simple and bold faith is always sure to be rewarded. You can mark that down, always, guaranteed to be rewarded, God loves it, you know why? Because it glorifies God, simple faith, bold faith glorifies God and God honors it, God cannot disappoint faith any more than he can deny himself. God loves both simple faith, he loves to be trusted, and I say this reverently because it’s true, God loves to be used, we worship God but God wants us to use him, that’s what Jesus meant when he says, «I am the bread of life».
What do you do with bread? «I am the fountain of living water,» amen, what do you do with water? «I am the light of the world,» what do you do with light when you are in the dark? Use it, use it, because he knows, or else, you start using your own brains, your own smarts, somebody else’s smarts, somebody else’s devices, somebody else’s inventions, you know? He doesn’t want that, he’s jealous over you with love. God loves to be trusted and he loves to be used. When somebody uses his power, he stops, he turns around, «I want to see that person who used my power, I want to see, who is that person». He loves to be trusted, he loves to be used. You use me, I’m depleted, you use the Lord, it’s as if he’s reinvigorated, amen?
«So Moses brought this case before the LORD». And it’s a brand new case, the Lord loves it, and this is the Lord’s answer. «The LORD replied to Moses, 'The claim of the daughters of Zelophehad is legitimate.'» The New King James says they speak right, noble words, words that go right up to heaven, to the throne, to the very heart of the God of Israel. God loves it, God loves bold and simple faith, and these ladies had it. And drop down, this is what God said moreover, «And give the following instructions to the people of Israel:» God is still talking, «If a man dies and has no son, then give his inheritance to his daughters». Because of the daughters of Zelophehad this law was put in place, amen?
See, faith transcends the law and reaches to the heart of God time and time again. You know, must I show you from the sacred Book, you know, this holy Volume, you know, page after page of the Abrahams, of the Sarahs, of the Deborahs, of the Rahabs, of the Marys, of the Syrophoenicians, of that is all a New Testament, time and time again, how faith transcends time and space, and how faith brings God’s answer into the here and now, they all inherit, amen? So, the daughters of Zelophehad, now God says, «If he has no daughter either, transfer his inheritance to his brothers. If he has no brothers, give his inheritance to his father’s brothers». Amen. «But if his father has no brothers, give his inheritance to the nearest relative in his clan». All right? The kinsman-redeemer. «And this is a legal requirement for the people of Israel, just as the LORD commanded Moses».
By the way, this is the very beginning of the laws that we have today, you know, that give women the right to the husband’s property when the husband pass on or a father’s property, even though the father has no sons. Thank God for the daughters of the Zelophehad. Can I have a good amen? Inheritance, are you all hungry for what has been bought for you at a great cost? What Jesus went through was terrible, but he did it for you and I, amen? He did it at a great cost because he loves us, and the Lord loves. You see, you cannot, your faith, when you don’t always, never have this feeling, that God will scold you for your bold faith, «How dare you draw from me, how dare you ask such a big thing,» you know? He never, there’s no rebuke in the Bible, in the gospels, when Jesus rebuked his disciples, it’s never, «You ask too much,» we see kings doing that in dramas, amen?
Even kings would say that, «You ask too much, you ask for my daughter’s hand,» or something like that, you know? Amen, Pastor Prince might say that, «You ask too much,» amen? I got only one daughter, you see? Amen. The rebukes that Jesus rebuked his disciples with in the Scriptures and there’s more than one time he did it, it’s always, «Oh, you of little faith,» «Oh, you of little faith». Even that is an encouragement when you know that he’s telling you faith is the hand that takes, he’s telling you what? Why do you take so little, why do you take so little from me?
It’s never, «Oh, you of great faith, you ask too much,» it’s always, «Oh, you of little faith, oh, you of little faith». «Wherefore if God so clothed the grass of the field, which today is,» here, God cares for the lilies of the field, God cares for the daffodils, the roses, the beautiful flowers that is here today and gone tomorrow, if God cares for them and God feeds the birds of the air, «How much more will He clothe you,» how much more will he care for you, «O you of little faith»? Amen? And that was why you take so little, why you trust me so little? Amen.
So, we thank God for these ladies, had it not been for them, what if they did not come forward, what if they did not demonstrate bold and simple faith, or passion to want to inherit their inheritance? All the daughters of Israel from then on in like situation would have been robbed of their portion, amen? But because of them, there is a new law now, and the law will cause any daughters who don’t have brothers, amen, to inherit from the Father. So I thank God that bold faith has consequences that you don’t even see. Now we look at, now you turn to your Bible, before we close, we’re bringing this up close, look at Matthew chapter 1. «The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham».
Now, it should say, all right, the Son of Adam, it should start from Adam, right? But it didn’t start from Adam. Now there are two genealogies in the four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, there are two genealogies, one is in Matthew, that points to Jesus’s kingship, the other one is in Luke, that points to his manhood. In Luke’s genealogy, it goes all the way to Adam, but Matthew’s Gospel, it’s written especially to the Jews to show them that Jesus Christ is Yeshua Hamashiach, he is the Messiah and he is the rightful King. So, it starts with the Son of David, even though David came after Abraham, because it’s a book written to establish the rightful claims of the true king of Israel. So it’s, «The Son of David, Son of Abraham».
David, the throne, Abraham, the land, the inheritance is all there, so it points to Jesus. «Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, Jacob begot Judah and his brothers,» and on and on, all right? All the way to Salmon, okay? Salmon, drop down to Salmon, «Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab». Rahab, remember the story of Rahab? «Boaz begot Obed by Ruth,» story of Ruth, probably my favorite book of the Bible, all right, story in the Bible is Ruth. «Obed begot Jesse, Jesse begot David the king. David the king begot Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah». Okay, let’s drop down because of time, we go to Josiah, and now these are all the kings of Judah. «Josiah,» King Josiah, a good king, right? «Begot Jeconiah and his brothers about the time they were carried away to Babylon».
So we find that God blot out one name, Jehoiakim, all right? Just like God says, «I’ll blot out his name, I’ll throw out the signet ring,» but his son, there was a curse that was mentioned here for a purpose, Jacobiniah. Remember Jacobiniah? «Write this man,» what? «Heirless, none of his descendants will sit under,» but he’s in the genealogy of Jesus Christ. Uh-oh, what now? So, «About the time they were carried away to Babylon,» he was the last king, can you see that? «And after they were brought to Babylon, Jechoniah begot Sheathiel,» you see, he had sons, and by the way, Sheathiel is the father of Zerubbabel, the governor in the story of Nehemiah. Remember Zerubbabel? Now, Zerubbabel actually has a rightful claim, right, to the throne, but there were no more kings from then on, there were no more kings. Are you with me so far?
So, from here, the line came down all the way to Joseph, all right? «Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ,» Messiah. Now, this lineage is from Solomon, both genealogies, Matthew and Luke, is from Solomon. Solomon, sorry, from David, I should say David, David had a son called Solomon, this one was Jacob. Let me show you illustration, okay? Look at this, King David, he had a son called Solomon, from Solomon’s line came Jeconiah, one of the kings that was cursed, and then Joseph, Joseph was not the flesh and blood, not the blood father of Jesus, right? We can say he’s the adopted father, right? But Joseph came from the line, so actually Joseph is the king, isn’t it? But they were living in humble Bethlehem, Nazareth and Bethlehem. Look at this, he has the regal right of the throne of David. Joseph, are you with me so far?
Then we come to David through Nathan, he had another son called Nathan. Say, «Nathan». Now, Nathan didn’t become king, his brother Solomon became king, but Nathan’s line, if you follow Nathan’s line in the Gospel of Luke, it came all the way to Heli, the father of Mary, and Heli begot Mary, the mother of Jesus. Okay, so we have Mary, so Mary has the legal right, so there are two claims to the throne of David. Am I right, am I right? But here’s where it’s very interesting, if Jesus inherits from Joseph, listen, if he inherits from Joseph, if Joseph provided the blood, we all know that that’s why the necessity for the virgin birth, if Jesus inherited the blood of Joseph, if there was no virgin birth, then Jesus cannot sit on the throne because that bloodline has been? You got it. Are you with me so far?
But because of the daughters of Zelophehad, a virgin has a claim because of the daughters of Zelophehad, the virgin has a claim to the throne, and yet in name she has a claim on the husband as well, but no blood. Therefore, Jesus evaded the curse, and still become the rightful king of the throne of David. Isn’t this the wisdom of God? A bold and simple faith of five girls never knew how it all goes, it’s all about Jesus, people. The Bible, when you study the Scriptures and you know it’s all about Jesus, when you study the Scriptures, you’ll see that it all goes to the Lord, amen.
Gives a new meaning to the meaning «Round yon virgin,» he went around it. And that’s why the necessity for a virgin birth, because now medical science tells you that even the virgin, she’s fallen, hello? There’s sin in Mary’s blood. But now medical science tells us that the mother does not give any of her blood to the baby, amen? All the nutrients, the food goes to the baby, the baby’s blood, Jesus’s blood was determined by the Father. And yet, he probably has some of the looks of Mary, obviously, Jesus is not a fallen body, so he looks perfectly handsome, altogether lovely, until he was made, «There was no beauty in him,» Isaiah 53, «That we should desire him». His visage was marred more than any man, all right?
Imagine someone who has no trace of sin in their blood, and that’s why the virgin birth is important, because if there’s sin in your blood, the devil has a claim, the devil can stop it, the devil can, but there’s no blood from Mary into Jesus, and yet Jesus was rightfully born of her. And with the claim of the law of the daughters of Zelophehad, she has a claim now on her husband’s, amen, line, a double claim. And you know something else? No Jew, today, can say that, «I’m the rightful king of Judah, I’m the promised king».
No one can say that, you know why? In A.D. 70, all the records of the genealogy were all burned down by the Romans, when they burned Jerusalem, all the records were burned down, the only record we have now of all the genealogy is in the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke, it’s preserved for all times, amen, so that we’ll know who is the rightful King. Come on, church, come on, hallelujah, hallelujah, give Jesus the praise. Do you never know when you have a bold and simple faith, and you ask God, «God, I know I have a choice to make, but I’m going to trust you for this, Lord, I’m going to trust you for that,» God loves it, and God loves it when you go to him. And again and again, they will say, «Don’t you think you’ve come to God too many times for that kind of thing»?
But God says, «I love it». Don’t listen to the voice of the enemy, a bold and simple faith, faith can never overdraw on its account in God’s bank, can never overdraw, God loves it, so have a bold and simple faith, and you never know the consequences on your children and on your children’s children, and it will have far-reaching consequences, amen? Bold faith takes the land, takes the inheritance, amen, and blesses multitudes, praise the Lord. Give Jesus the praise, the glory, and the honor, hallelujah.
The Lord bless you this coming week, the Lord bless you with the blessings of Father Abraham, the Lord bless you with every blessing, amen, people? Not even a hairbreadth missing out on any of the inheritance. Father, I pray that you will manifest, Lord, that in a special way, Lord, this week for your people. And also protect your people from every danger, they and their families, Lord, and just protect them from every danger, harm, accident, tragedy, terror, from disease, from all the powers of darkness, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, in Jesus’s name. The Lord favors you, you have the favor of God. Because you have the favor of God, doors that are closed will be open to you, doors that you’re not supposed to walk in will be closed to protect you, you have favor everywhere you go, and the blessing of the Lord is mighty on you, in Jesus’s name. Therefore, go around saying, «I am blessed,» and remember to tell the world, «Jesus saves,» amen? God bless you all, gonna see you all again, love you all.