Joseph Prince - Faith That Delights The Lord
Merry Christmas, everybody. Seven hundred years ago before Christ was born, Prophet Isaiah prophesied, "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, and The Prince of Peace". Was prophesied long before Christ was born, and the same prophet prophesied, "the Lord will give you a sign. A virgin shall be with child," and this is the Christmas story. "Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given".
The child cannot be given, and the Son cannot be born. As a child, as a man, he was born. Just like the rest of us, he became a man, but as a Son, he always preexisted with the Father. So as the Son, he was given by the Father, amen, to the virgin's womb, and he was born as a child. Jesus is fully God and fully man, came to die for us on the cross. As God, he cannot die, but he took on human flesh. He took on our mortal frame, amen, to be one of us because, to redeem, the principle is always that only your relative, someone from your same family, your kinfolk, can be your redeemer, and there's a teaching in the story of the book of Ruth, how Boaz was a kinsman-redeemer, and he qualified to redeem Ruth from her poverty, to redeem Ruth from her background, which is just filled with a curse and condemnation, to redeem her into a place that is wealthy, into a place of abundance, into a place of the godly heritage of the people of God. So for Jesus to redeem us, he had to become one of us, amen?
Another thing for a redeemer is that a redeemer must be wealthy. The poor cannot redeem the poor. So the Lord Jesus, he is wealthy. He came full of grace and truth with the power to save, amen, the anointing to heal. How he said it was like this. He says, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, to preach good news to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives". So, "As a child, he was born. As a Son, he was given". And most important quality for a redeemer, you can have a relative who is wealthy, but he's not willing to redeem you, but the Lord, how willing is he? Stretched forth his hands on the cross, shed his blood, and redeemed all of us. "For God so loved the world," Jesus said to a Pharisee, one time, by the name of Nicodemus, Jesus says, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life".
♪ For unto us ♪
♪ A child is born ♪
♪ Unto us a son is given ♪
♪ And the government ♪
♪ Shall be upon his shoulder ♪
♪ And his name shall be called ♪
♪ Wonderful, Counselor ♪
♪ The mighty God ♪
♪ The everlasting Father ♪
♪ And The Prince of Peace ♪
♪ Is he ♪
♪ For unto us a child is born ♪
♪ Unto us a son is given ♪
♪ And the government ♪
♪ Shall be upon his shoulder ♪
♪ And his name shall be called ♪
♪ Wonderful, Counselor ♪
♪ The mighty God ♪
♪ The everlasting Father ♪
♪ And The Prince of Peace ♪
♪ Is he ♪
♪ He's the everlasting Father ♪
♪ And The Prince of Peace ♪
♪ is he ♪
Amen, amen, amen. I wanna share with you on a little-known story in the Old Testament and the reason why God put that story in the Old Testament and how it's tied up with our Christmas story. I believe it's gonna bless you. It's gonna minister to you. It's gonna help you see the Christmas story in its entirety 'cause many a times people have questions about the virgin birth. They have questions about, you know, why Jesus had to come in the flesh. Well, friends, it's all about redemption, amen? This world is fallen. The reason we have this pandemic right now is because the world is fallen. The world is fallen because man, the rightful ruler that God ordained to rule over this earth, when God made Adam, God says, "Have dominion over the earth, over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth".
Man was God's rightful ruler over this domain called earth, amen. In this part of the universe, God made man to rule, amen, to have dominion, but man committed high treason. Man sinned, bowed his knees to an outlaw spirit, Satan, and as a result, when man sinned against God, death came in. It was never part of God's plan for man to die. It is not in his heart for man to grow old, become decrepit, wrecked, his body wrecked with disease, in pain, and finally die. That's not the Father's dream. The Father God has a dream of a family, amen, full of goodness, full of grace and truth, living in wholeness, amen, and living forever and ever, forever young, forever strong, forever healthy, amen, full of love, joy, and peace, and that's how the Father ordained it. That's why, you know, when we attend a funeral and all that, we know there is a time to be sorrowful. It's a time for us. We know that something inside us tell us, "This is not meant to be".
Man was not, we all have that. Whether you believe in God or not, you know that, inside you, you know that even sickness and disease, it's not something that is something that we can settle with, amen? Deep down on the inside, we know that this is not meant to be, and you are right, amen. You were not created for disease. You were not created to grow old. You were not created to die. You were created to live forever, but man sinned against God, and because of that, Adam fell. When Adam fell, amen, the whole earth, the Bible says, all creation fell with Adam, amen. All the animals in the beginning, they could speak, amen. The Bible says, when they fell, they could no longer speak, and that's why we have all the different animals and all the language of groaning, the Bible calls it.
The whole earth, we talk about global warming, but actually the Bible says the whole earth is fallen, and creation is fallen, and what is creation waiting for now? While it is travailing in pain like a woman about to give birth, it is crying out "for the manifestation of the sons of God". You know, friend, when Adam fell, God asked the question, "Where are you, Adam"? You know, God knew where Adam was, but God wanted Adam to know where he was, amen? The very first question of the Old Testament in the Bible is, "Where are you, man"? "Adam" means "man". "Where are you, man"? And the first question of the New Testament is, "Where is He born, the King of the Jews"? Amen, because the solution to man's fall is in the King of the Jews, our Lord Jesus Christ, hallelujah.
When man fell, God spoke to the snake, who was possessed by Satan. God spoke to Satan. In other words, the very first prophecy of the Bible in Genesis 3:15, this is what God said. God said, "And I will put enmity between you and the woman," notice, not "you and the man," even though it was the man that fell, and, of course, when man fell, the woman fell as well, amen, and it was man, man who had the final authority that God put, invested him with that, when he fell, all creation fell. Of course, the devil went through the woman, and the woman enticed the man to eat the fruit, and as a result, man fell. People ask the question sometimes why God put that tree in the middle of the garden.
"Wouldn't it be better for God not to put the tree there"? No, friend, when God made man, God made man not like a robot, amen? Forget about all these AI and all that, amen? God wanted a free-willed being, amen, to love him. God made man in his image like him. God wanted man to worship him freely, amen, out of his voluntary choice, amen, not to be forced or compelled like a robot, having no will in the matter. So if God made everything good around man and there's nothing for man to choose but good, and good is all around, then how will man exercise his free choice? Even though God has given man free choice, his free choice cannot come into play. He cannot execute his free choice because there's nothing to choose but good, so God had to put one tree in the midst of the good, amen, but think about the abundance of goodness in paradise at the time.
Paradise was on earth at that time, the garden of Eden, and think about the fact that God made every tree good for food, the Bible says, amen, pleasant to the eyes. It's for man's enjoyment. God gives us richly all things to enjoy. God only asked that man does not eat from that one tree which is the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and that is to exercise man's free choice so that man will voluntary obey God, love God, and say, "Lord, I trust you. I trust that you have my best interest," having a good opinion of God, amen, but instead, man had a bad opinion of God, listened to the lies of the enemy, and man fell, and as a result, even our pandemic right now is the result of all that. It's not God's fault, amen. All the tsunamis and the earthquakes, it's all because of man's sin.
When the ruler fell, the kingdom fell, amen. And now for man to come back to that place where God has for him, he has to have blood shed because, without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins. The Bible says it this way in Leviticus 17, verse 11, it says, "For the life of the flesh is in the blood". Say it, "The life of the flesh is in the blood". Notice, "The life of the flesh is in the blood," and 3,500 years ago, when God gave this to Moses at Mount Sinai, think about it: Man has not yet discovered that, when you lose your blood, you lose your life, "For the life of the flesh is in the blood". In fact, until 1700s, man was still believing in bloodletting. "Bloodletting" means, like, they believe that, if you have some disease and all that, you cut yourself and let blood go out, and many people died as a result. In fact, George Washington, the first president of U.S., actually died because of bloodletting, and he could've been saved, actually, but man only discovered later on that, "The life of the flesh is in the blood".
Now, of course, now, today, for us to locate, to detect any disease in someone, all right, we go for the blood work. We go for the blood tests, right? Because "The life of the flesh is in the blood". And why did God give blood? God says, "I've given it to you," the blood, "upon the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul". Now we go back to what God said to the devil. The first prophecy of the Bible, God said, "I'll put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed," so straightaway, when you see the word "her Seed," singular, you know it's referring to Jesus, and God is saying that, "Yes, you've caused man to fall, yes, all creation is fallen, but I'm sending the woman's Seed, and He will bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel," amen?
In other words, the word "bruise" there in Hebrew is the word "crush". "He will crush your head, and you will crush His heel," and that happened at the cross. Jesus was wounded, of course, at the cross, but he crushed Satan's head at the cross, hallelujah. And notice the word there, it is not the man's Seed. It is "I'll put enmity between your seed," the devil's seed, "and the woman's Seed". Now, the woman has no seed, so this is a prophecy of the virgin birth, amen, that Christ would come through a virgin, amen. And then, many years after that, 700 years before Christ was born, prophet Isaiah said this. I allude to this just now. In Isaiah 7, he says, "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel". "The virgin shall conceive and bear a Son". It's a sign.
Now, there are people who argue that the Hebrew word "ha almah," "the virgin," can also be translated "the young maid," which means she's not a virgin. "Why is this an allusion to Mary"? they'll say, okay, but, friend, if it's just a young maid, it's no more a sign. Is it a sign for a young maid to have a baby? All young maids can potentially, they are able to have babies, right? No, no, it's a sign. The word there is a "virgin," amen, "ha almah," "the virgin," specific virgin, prophesied 700 years before Christ was born, amen, "shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel," in Hebrew here means "God with us," hallelujah, amen. And this is, again, confirmed before Christ was born. Joseph, who was the husband-to-be to Mary, they were both betrothed, and before they came together, the Bible says, he found out that she was with child.
Imagine, amen, your girlfriend coming to you and said that she's pregnant. Of course, it doesn't work today, amen? It will not work today, amen, don't believe that, okay? But this once in history, amen, and she came and told Joseph that she's with child, and Joseph really thought that she, you know, she has committed fornication, and he wanted to put her away privately because the Bible, you know, back in those days, they'll be stoned if they did that, so he loved her enough to want to put her away privately, but this is what happened. The Bible says, "While he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, 'Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.' So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, 'Behold, the virgin shall be with child'", there you go, Isaiah's prophecy, "'and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,' which is translated, 'God with us.'" "God with us".
Now, why the necessity for the virgin birth? Today we have science to back this up because we know that, as a virgin, okay, bearing a child, you know that there is no man, there is no intercourse, so, in other words, it takes the father and the mother to provide something called ABO genes where, you know, each one will contribute one of two of the genes for the baby, donate to the baby, right? So it takes father and mother, okay, but a "virgin" means there's no father here, so Jesus was formed in the womb, and his Father, heavenly Father, amen, sent him, amen, not create him. Sent him into the virgin's womb. He took off all his glory.
You know, which king will step down, right, like the song says, and become a man? That is really a humiliation. That is a condescension, amen, for him to become a man subject to time and space like the rest of us, and, yet he's divine because that he cannot deny, amen. He always is, amen, but here you have Jesus in the virgin's womb, and now we know scientifically that the placenta does not give blood to the baby. At one time, we thought that the baby received the mother's blood, but don't forget that Mary has sin in her blood. All men have sinned. The Bible says, "All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God". So where do you find the sin? How is it transferred to the child? Through the blood, amen, so the father and mother contribute to the blood of the child, right? And, if Mary, even though she is a virgin, right, she does not know a man, but men have thought in times past that she would still pass her sinful blood to Jesus, but that's not true because now we know that the placenta only brings food, nourishment, amen, oxygen to the baby, to the child, and the baby's excrement and all the waste matters are transferred out of the baby, amen.
Of course, there are a few other things like gas exchange and all that, but not the blood. The baby, through the placenta, is protected from the mother's blood, amen, so that the baby will not suffer any infection. God ordained it to be so, but I believe that God planned it to be so for his Son to be born without sin in his blood. He has blood, but it is sinless blood. It is royal blood. It is holy blood. It is divine blood. In fact, that term is used in Acts 20, where apostle Paul says that "take heed," to the church of God, amen. "Take care of the church of God. Feed the flock of God," amen, "whom God has redeemed with His blood". So it's divine blood. There's no sin in that blood, and don't forget, that blood, when shed, will cleanse us from all our sins and reverse the curse, amen, that has fallen on this earth because of man's sin. We can reverse sin. We can reverse the fall, hallelujah, amen. Thank you, Lord Jesus. And as far as we are concerned, every one that accepts Jesus Christ receives that life more abundant that Jesus promised, amen, amen. Praise the Lord. Thank you, Jesus.
Now we go to that story that is seldom shared. Not many believers even know about this story, but it's found in Numbers 27, where, during the wilderness journeying, this happened during the time of Moses when they came out of Egypt, and the Bible says there were some women called the daughters of Zelophehad. Their father has just died, and the father had no sons, so they have no brothers. Usually the son will take after the father, and the firstborn will receive the double portion of his inheritance, and the second-born will receive other parts of the inheritance, but here this man has no sons, only daughters, five daughters, and their names are given here, and they came to Moses, it's a law. It's a law at that time that the father will confer his inheritance to his son. When the father dies, the son takes over, amen. The son inherits everything, but what if you have no son?
Amen, so what happened was that these girls, they went to Moses, and don't forget, Moses is the lawgiver, and they said this: "Why should the name of our father be removed from among his family because he had no son? Give us a possession among our father's brothers". I love their spirit, don't you? "Give us a possession," amen, "Give us a possession among our father's brothers," because, if not, what's gonna happen is that these daughters of Zelophehad, this man, Zelophehad, who has passed away, his inheritance will go to the brothers, their uncles, but instead, they said, "Give us the possession that belongs to our father," amen, so they intend to change the law that was existing at that time.
So Moses, the lawgiver, was taken aback. "How do I deal with this"? Don't forget, Moses is known as the lawgiver, all right? He's thinking, "There's no law that covers this. How do I", so he brought the matter to the Lord. And Moses brought their case before the Lord, "And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 'The daughters of Zelophehad speak what is right.'" I love it. I love what the Lord said about them. "The daughters of Zelophehad speak what is right". In other words, their words, "Give us a possession," "Give us a possession, let the possession fall on us," those words went up to the throne of God, to the very heart of the God of Israel, and the God of Israel answered.
You know, wherever God finds faith, he's so pleased because faith glorifies God, and God will always honor faith. Amen. Every time you have a good opinion of God, every time you pray as if God is hearing you, as if God is answering your prayer... I say "as if," but we know in actuality, but when you have that posture and that attitude, God is pleased. "Without faith, it's impossible to please him, for he that comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder," not a taker, not someone who punisher, not a punisher, amen. Even the angel, when the angels, when they appeared to the shepherds in the field, announcing the birth of Jesus, they said, "I announce to you this day is born to you in the City of David a Savior," not a judge, a Savior, not a lawgiver, a Savior. Hallelujah. So, here they said, "Give us a possession," and God loved that spirit. It reminds me also of the times when, you know, Caleb had a daughter.
Remember Caleb, the man who lived, when he was 85 years old, he said to Joshua, "I'm as strong today as I was when I was 40". Imagine that. He maintained his strength, his youthfulness, even though he was now 85. And he said to Joshua, "Give me this mountain". At the time, the mountain was full of giants. And you know what? He went up the mountain at 85 years old and conquered it. And my book, "Give Me This Mountain," is based on the statement of Caleb at 85. "Give me this mountain". Just like the daughters of Zelophehad had to say, "Give us this possession". God loves that spirit. You know, too many of us, you know, we have an inheritance. It's all delineated in God's Word. Yet, we don't take time to study what's our inheritance. We don't take time to, you know, for them, they're not willing to give a hairbreadth away of their inheritance, their father's inheritance. They said, "Give us this possession," and God loves it.
God always says, "Possess your possessions". It's one thing for the possessions to be given to you, but it's another thing to possess your possessions. God says, "Every place the sole of your foot shall walk shall be yours". But God promised the whole land of milk and honey to be theirs. But God says, "Every place that you walk will be yours in actuality". Amen. So, God loves faith. Amen? So, when Caleb had a daughter called Achsah, look at the daughter's spirit. She had the same spirit of faith like the father. The Bible tells us that in Joshua 15, "She dismounted from a donkey, and Caleb said to her," to his daughter, "'What do you wish?' She answered, 'Give me a blessing.'" I love this spirit. You know, people say things like, you know, there are a lot of Christians praying "Bless me" prayers, "Bless me" prayers. And they mean that in a disparaging way.
Let me tell you, God loves "Bless me" prayers. Because unless you are blessed, you cannot be a blessing, amen. I think the idea is I'm only against "Bless me only" prayers. Amen? If we are being blessed, and we are blessed, we can be a channel of blessing to many others. Amen. If you are sick all the time, and you are broke all the time, you cannot help anybody, right? So, God wants to bless you first, amen, amen. God sent his Son Jesus to bless you, amen, to turn you away from all your sins, praise the Lord, to bless you. That's what the Bible says very clearly. The first thing to bless you, amen, is what's preached in the book of Acts. Hallelujah. Amen. So, God loves the spirit of, "Give me this blessing". When you look at the Scriptures, and you see all that God has promised us, you must not be, you know, having a lackadaisical attitude and just like, "Well, if it falls on me, if it happens to me".
For example, God promised for our families, and I pray that for you during this time, especially at Christmastime, amen, that you and your families will experience days of heaven upon the earth. And this is found in Deuteronomy. Amen? It's possible to have days of heaven upon the earth, amen. Recently, I experienced one of those days, amen. I just felt like, you know, that was one day I can say is a day of heaven upon the earth. And I pray for you, in Jesus' name, that today, Christmas day, and also the days to come, you experience days of heaven. It's a family blessing. It's in the context of families together experiencing days of heaven upon the earth. Hallelujah, in Jesus' name, praise the Lord. And here you have this attitude of "Give me this blessing". And she said, "Give me a blessing; since you have given me land in the South, give me also"...
Notice the give me, give me, give me. And God loves it, amen. Look at the spirit of faith. "Give me a blessing". She's like her father, isn't she? "Since you have given me land in the South, give me also springs of water. So, the father gave her the upper springs and the lower springs". Hallelujah. Spiritually anointing upon and anointing within. Hallelujah. God gave her more than what she asked for through Caleb her father. Amen. She possessed more. Hallelujah. There was someone who was called Jabez in the Old Testament, and the Bible tells us, when he was born, his mother named him Jabez. Jabez in Hebrew means pain, saying, "I gave birth to him in pain".
So, there's something that happened when the mother gave birth to him. His name is pain. "Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, 'Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory'"! Note this, "Bless me". How? "Enlarge my territory". God loves it. God loves it when his people want more from him, amen. Enlarge my borders. Enlarge my territory. Give me a blessing like the daughters of Zelophehad, "Give me possessions," amen, "among my father's inheritance". Hallelujah. God loves it when you go to the Scriptures, and you say, "God, this is mine, amen. I receive that, in Jesus' name. I possess that, in Jesus' name". Possess your possessions, hallelujah. Peace of mind is your portion. Amen, amen. Peace is your inheritance; possess it. Days of heaven upon the earth; possess it, amen. By his stripes, you were healed, past tense. Possess it, possess it, amen. Thank God for it. Hallelujah.
So, here he cried out to the God of Israel. Don't forget, the Bible says he was more honorable than his brothers. We need to find out why is he more honorable? Because he cried out to God. Even though his destiny was named by the mother, someone whose name is pain, he refused to accept his destiny. "He says to God, 'Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm.'" Keep me from this disease, from this epidemic, even. You can pray that, can't you? "'Keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.' And God granted his request". What did God do? God granted his request. Have you noticed that all these people, they were all given their request. 'Cause faith pleases God. Faith is never too bold to please God. Faith pleases God. Without faith, it's impossible to please God. God loves it when you have a good opinion of him, and you act on it. Hallelujah, praise God.
So, he got what he requested. Today, there are voices telling people, you cannot pray 'Bless me' prayers. You cannot pray prosperity prayers: "Enlarge my territory". You cannot pray prayers of protection: "Let your hand be with me and keep me from harm". Well, my Bible tells me different. My Bible says that this is a prayer that made him more honorable. Notice the verse before that. "He was more honorable than all his brothers". In fact, those who pray this prayer, God says you are more honorable than all your Christian brothers. Amen. So, don't for one moment think that it's wrong to pray that prayer. God loves for you to ask him for big things because you're honoring him. Amen. You're complimenting him. You are praising him. You're having a good opinion of God. Amen? Don't just ask God for a job. Ask God for a position. Even if you have been retrenched during this time, ask God for a position, amen. Praise the Lord.
Ask God for big things, amen, because God promised he will answer your prayer. No, no. God promised that he will over-answer your prayer, "exceeding abundantly above all that you ask or think". So, you ask nothing, amen, even if God answer a little bit, it's still nothing, right? Much, amen. So, ask for big things, and God will have to exceed that. Hallelujah, praise the Lord. Thank you, Jesus, amen. Hallelujah. I ask God for a life partner, and God gave me Wendy. Hallelujah. Boy, is she a blessing. She's one of the reasons for days of heaven on the earth.
So, we go back to daughters of Zelophehad. "So, the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 'The daughters of Zelophehad speak what is right. You shall surely give them a possession of inheritance among their father's brothers, and cause the inheritance of their father to pass to them. And you shall speak to the children of Israel, saying: 'If a man dies, and he has no son, then you shall cause his inheritance to pass to his daughter.'" Why is this important? Why is this detail in the Bible? Only a few verses here. But why is this story so important? Because everything is tied up with our Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the King of Israel. Amen? The Redeemer, the Son of God. It's all tied up with him. You go to the gospel story. I'll give you the first reason why the necessity for the virgin birth. Well, the other reason, if you look at the genealogy of our Lord Jesus Christ, you find that there are two gospels... there are four gospels, but only two of them, Matthew and Luke, that tells us about the genealogy of Jesus Christ. Matthew traces his genealogy all the way to Abraham. The very first verse says that he's the son of David, the son of Abraham.
Why the son of David? David came after Abraham. Because the whole gospel of Matthew is to certify, amen, to authenticate his kingship, his right to the throne, and David was the king of God's choice. Amen. So, he's the son of David, son of Abraham, amen? Where is Luke's genealogy of Jesus? Go all the way to the first man, Adam, and there's a reason for all this. In Luke's genealogy, he's got to do it with Mary. The line goes through to Mary. And for Matthew's genealogy, it goes all the way to Joseph. Now, they both actually converge on one king, King David, right? King David... let me show you this chart. King David has many sons, 19 sons, actually, and only one daughter is mentioned, Tamar. But of all the sons, and he has a number of wives, as well. But there's one particular wife, the beginning wasn't good, in fact, it was sin that caused them to come together, and it's Bathsheba, the story of Bathsheba.
I just want to show you that regardless of your background, where sin increase, grace super abounds. Look for God's grace, amen? This is not to encourage people to sin. No, no, no, no, a thousand times no. But it's to tell you look out. Because as it is, we all know that we are not perfect, but God doesn't want us to look at our imperfection, but at the glories and the riches of his redemption, of the perfect of his Son, amen. God wants us not to look at our flesh, but to look at our new man in Christ, amen, to look to Jesus, amen, because as he is, so are we in this world. God wants our eyes trained upon Jesus, amen. And here the Bible tells us King David, it was his wife, Bathsheba, that brought him King Solomon. And then, of course, the first son died, but after that was Solomon. He's the restored one. King Solomon, Solomon, and then after Solomon is Nathan, from the same woman, Bathsheba. And from Solomon, who succeeded the father to become the king, and ushered in the golden era of Israel during his reign.
Now, all the way down were kings after kings of Judah. Okay? And one king after another. They were not all good. They were not all walking before God. For example, this man here, Jeconiah, also known as Coniah or Jehoiakim. All right, we'll call him Jeconiah here because the Bible used that name, as well. Now, Jeconiah was so evil that God actually cursed his blood line. This is what God says through the prophet Jeremiah. "Thus says the Lord: 'Write this man down as childless, a man who shall not prosper in his days; For none of his descendants shall prosper, sitting on the throne of David, and ruling anymore in Judah.'" Boy, I'm telling you, you see, the devil knew that Jesus would come through the tribe of Judah. Jacob had 12 sons. They became 12 tribes of Israel. But which tribe will bring Jesus? You see, ever since the devil heard the prophecy of God, that the woman's seed would crush his head, he was afraid. He was looking out.
And the devil is not omniscient. He's not all-knowing like God, so he doesn't know. And he thought that when Adam and Eve brought forth Cain and Abel, he really thought when Abel, when Abel was accepted by God, because of the blood sacrifice, whereas Cain did not bring a blood sacrifice, and God rejected him, when he saw how Abel was favored by God, he actually instigated Cain to murder or kill his brother. He thought that, that was the woman's seed that would crush him, but that's not the one. And then down through, this will give you a panoramic view of the Bible and give you an understanding of some of the stories in the Bible. For example, the flood. Why did the flood happen? Why did God wipe out all mankind through the flood? Well, the Bible tells us, before the flood, man was so evil. And the language used is, "All flesh has corrupted itself all over the earth". All flesh. Not just man. Flesh, all flesh.
In other words, the Bible says that, very clear in this story, before the flood, there were angelic beings. These are fallen angels, okay? And the Bible talks about one-third of the angels followed Satan in his rebellion against God, and these are the fallen angels, and angels can take on human form, the Bible tells us, and they actually cohabited with the women on earth, and they produced what the Bible calls in the King James Version, giants, but in the Hebrew Nephilim, and Nephilim is from the word "nafal," the fallen ones, the fallen ones. And they were huge. They were tall. This is where some of the Greek mythology get their beliefs from. Okay, it's handed down from their forefathers, there were giants on the face of the earth, but these are more giants in their capacity and their ability, and they were huge. They were very intelligent, also. And the Bible says, you know, like today we call them zombies. Like, zombies are not that intelligent, are they?
Okay, but it's an idea how Satan wants to pollute, corrupt mankind. Because for the woman's seed to come forth, it must be the woman's seed that will come forth, but it must be of full human stock. All right? But if there's a mixture, it's no more man, and you can't qualify to be a redeemer, so that's the purpose of Satan. He tried to corrupt man's seed, and he succeeded, and there were many, you know, the Bible tells us thousands of years passed. So, there were a lot of time for the devil to actually cause this to happen, that man would not be able to have a redeemer, because man is so corrupted, half fallen angel, half, you know, man. And the Bible says there's only one family that God said, that God used this word: "He was perfect in his generations". One translation says he was perfect among his fellow men.
Now, perfect, that doesn't mean he is sinless. Perfect there is actually used also for bodily perfection. That means he's pure human, amen, with all his families. Then God says, "I'll keep this family. I'll preserve this family, and I'll wipe out all flesh". Notice the word "all flesh". And that's why God sent the flood. Now you understand. It's all the devil trying to corrupt the seed, stop the woman's seed from coming. And all down through history in the Scriptures, in the Old Testament, you find the devil trying to destroy the woman's seed by instigating pharaoh to kill all the children of Israel, the babies or the children of Israel. Remember that? Of course, he didn't succeed. Amen. God preserved the children of Israel. And on down, all the way until he realized from the prophecy of Jacob that Judah will be the one. The scepter will not depart from Judah. So, Judah, the kingship. So, he realized the Messiah, or Jesus the Savior, the woman's seed will come from Judah. But now, now there's a curse from God himself on the blood of the king of Judah, Jeconiah. I'm sure the devil rejoiced when he heard that. He said, "Well, there's no way the Messiah can come through this line now". Okay?
So, let's look at this chart again. And we see from King David, his son, his two sons, Solomon and Nathan, right from Solomon came the kingship, right, all the way down to Jeconiah where the curse happened. Now from Jeconiah onwards, there were no more kings coming forth to rule on the throne of the king of Judah, all the way down to Joseph. That's why Joseph wasn't a rich man. He was a poor man in humble circumstances, even though rightfully he should be king. But all the way from Jeconiah to Joseph. Now, I'm showing you how this is amazing, how the whole thing comes together. And in terms of Mary, look at Nathan. From Nathan's line, Nathan, the son of David, from Nathan's line came other sons and all that, all the way to Mary. Now watch this. In Luke 3, verse 23, "Now Jesus Himself began his ministry at about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, the son of Heli".
Now, who is Joseph's father? You know, Joseph, the husband of Mary. I'm talking about Joseph, the husband of Mary. Who was his father? Here it says Heli. But if you look at Matthew 1, it says, "Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary". The husband of Mary, not the father of Jesus. Very carefully, the Holy Spirit guards that word. It is not the father of Jesus but the husband of Mary, "of whom from Mary was born Jesus who is called Christ". Now watch this now. Jacob is the father. Now, actually, Jacob here... not the Jacob of the patriarch, okay. This is Jacob the father. He's the flesh and blood father of Joseph. But just now we read in Luke's account that "Jesus (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, the son of Heli".
Now, why is this so? Actually, Heli is the father of Mary. Now watch this. Heli is the father of Mary. But because of the daughters of Zelophehad, God changed the law. Amen. Because they had faith to believe God, and they asked for the possession, so now the inheritance can go to a daughter. Hallelujah! "Round yon virgin". God has a way. You know, when the devil rejoiced, God was probably saying to the angels, "Now watch this". Amen? Praise the Lord. And God turned the whole thing around. Praise the Lord. So, Joseph was the adopted son of Heli, amen. In other words, because of Mary, Mary can also receive the inheritance, amen, because of the daughters of Zelophehad. Hallelujah. You can see how the details of the Bible all come together. And because of that, amen, Joseph was the adopted son of Heli. Heli was the actual father of Mary. Amen?
So, the kingship goes on all the way. Can you see that? Even though Joseph was under the cursed line of Jeconiah, but Mary has the right to the throne. So, in other words, both, Jesus has the regal right, amen, and the blood right, the legal right. Regal, regal as in kingship, and regal right and legal right. Hallelujah, thank you, Lord. And that's why the importance of the virgin birth. It's all to preserve the blood of Jesus, because God sent him to die for our sins, friends. And the Bible tells us in Romans 5, here it tells us very clearly, "God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us". While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. I love this. "Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood". Justified? What is justified? That means you're made righteous in God's eyes. Justified is a term used in the courts. You are acquitted, amen? But in God's eyes, it's more than that. You are made righteous in God's eyes. And how are we made righteous? By Jesus's blood. Hallelujah. By Jesus's blood.
And that's why that blood is so important, and that's why he had to be born of a virgin, because Mary cannot give her blood. And we know the placenta does not carry Mary's blood to Jesus. And that's why we have this beautiful Christmas story. It's all to bring the redeemer in. And the devil tried to kill Jesus, amen, through King Herod. You know, he slaughtered the babies of Bethlehem, but God preserved the Christ child, amen. And God brought him back, and God brought him to a place called Nazareth. Again, the prophets spoke of Nazareth that he, the Redeemer, would be a Nazarene. Hallelujah. We are made righteous by his blood. Friend, when God looks at you, and you believe in the blood of Jesus, God sees you righteous in his eyes. And all the blessings of the righteous will accrue to you. For example, the Bible says in the path of the righteous, in the way of righteousness there is no death, amen. Believe it, receive that, amen. The prayers of a righteous man avails much. Believe that, receive that, amen.
The seed, your children, the seed of the righteous will be delivered. Receive that, amen? Blessings are upon the head of the righteous. Receive that. It's yours, amen. You are now righteous in God's eyes. Not self-righteousness, not trying to make yourself righteous, right, but receiving righteousness as a gift, how? Just by believing that Jesus shed his blood, and through that blood, I am righteous. Because without the shedding of blood, there is no atonement for our sins. Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission or forgiveness of our sins. That's why blood is important, and we can't just manufacture a way of coming to God without blood, amen? Because that will mitigate sin in our minds, all right? Sin is evil. It is something that will destroy everything beautiful that God has for you, amen? Because of sin there's death; but because blood is shed, the innocent blood covers the guilty, amen. There must be blood because there's been sin, amen.
So, Jesus's blood because it's eternal quality, because it's divine, it covers all humanity. If they'll just believe it, they'll receive the benefits of the blood, amen? So, here it tells you that "Since we have been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God". We are saved from the wrath of God. We'll never face the wrath of God. You are saved from the day of wrath. You are saved from the wrath of God. The great tribulation is called the wrath of God. So, don't worry about all that. Hallelujah. So, here it says very clearly, "God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us". That's why we must always be living in that realm, our inheritance is actually the realm where we are conscious of God's love for us, amen? Look at this verse in Jude. It says, "Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life".
We're looking for Jesus. He's going to come back for us any time. The Bible promises that, amen. There are numerous prophecies about that, amen. And Paul elucidates that very clearly, line upon line, in detail. So, we are looking forward for Jesus coming. When he comes, our bodies will transform like his body, the Bible used the word, our vile bodies will be like his glorified body, amen? We'll be forever young, forever healthy, forever strong. We'll never, never, ever die, ever again, amen, not even have a pimple on your face, amen. That's going to happen when Jesus comes for us, amen? The only part of us that's not redeemed right now is our bodies. So, we are waiting for our bodily redemption. When you see all the bad things happening in the world, Jesus prophesied these things would happen before he comes again. So, we're looking forward for Jesus coming, amen? But until then keep yourselves in the love of God. Keep yourselves in the love of God. What does that mean? You know, it does not say keep yourself loving God. It is not you loving God. It is God loving you.
I remember when Jessica was about one-plus and all that, and my father passed away. You know, it wasn't an easy time for me, and I didn't have many speakers that could take the Sunday's pulpit, and I still preach on Sunday, but my heart was breaking. You know, I loved my dad. And when he passed away, I remember preaching that day. And while I was preaching the Word of God and preaching victory into the lives of people, you know, I went back and my heart was broken, but there was a joy that I was looking forward to on my way back, and it was my one-plus-old daughter. She was so beautiful, and I would go back and look at her. And you know, I would listen to her prattle, and she would just be looking at me with her beautiful eyes and smile like the mom with the dimples. And I just love her. Then I told myself this, when I looked at her, "Does she know that my heart is breaking"? No, she doesn't know. So, she doesn't love me, she doesn't love me the way I love her, of course. That goes for your kids, as well, your children. The ascending love is never greater than the descending love. The descending love is always greater. Here it says, "Keep yourself in the love of God".
I look at my daughter, and I think to myself, you know, even if my body right now is wracked with pain, amen, if I'm suffering right now, she would still continue uninterrupted with her toys. Amen? If I'm having some challenges right now, and I'm faced with some real, you know, ordeal that I'm going through, and it's causing me a lot of heartache and worry and care, I look at my daughter, and she's sleeping peacefully, amen? Does she love me, or do I love her? Amen? Then I think further, and I think to myself, she's not even bringing me one dollar ever since she was born. In fact, ever since she was born, I have been paying many dollars for her to get stuff for her and for her. In fact, you don't know how much you spend after a child is born. Isn't it? Amen? And she's not even brought one dollar to me. And I look at her sleeping peacefully, and I would have it so. I wouldn't want it any other way. I'll part with all the money in the world, as long as I can have her. That's how I felt.
Now, this is just a little mini picture of the love of God. Is it because you love God? Do I wait for my daughter to love me, then I will extend my love to her? No, I love her. Even if she never loves me, I love her, amen? So, will God wait until you extend your love, until you love him, then he will love you, then he will bless you? No, God loved us. Here it says that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. God loved you. And after you're saved, keep yourself. And the word keep there is guard. It's the same word used by Jesus in his high priestly prayer in John 17. "Father, keep those who believe on me through thy name". In your name. God preserve. Preserve yourself in the love of God. Preserve yourself in the love of God. Keep yourself.
I remember when I was in England, one of those first times and all that, and I remember, wow, the cold weather was just chilling. I remember that I was walking behind a building, and even the sun was shining. It was still winter, but the sun was shining. It was very cold because I was on the shadow side of the building. I was on the dark side of the building. When I came out in the open, wow, the sun, I was basking in the sunshine, and I felt the warmth. And then the Lord spoke to me. This is what it means keep yourself in the love of God. Don't stay in the shadows. Always be conscious of God's love, amen, be conscious of his love. Hallelujah, amen. Live in that love. It's not your love for God. It's God's love for you, amen?
You know, John calls himself the disciple whom Jesus loved, not the disciple who loves Jesus. Five times in the gospel of John, he calls himself the disciple whom Jesus loves. And yet in those five times you see John loving Jesus, amen? Yet, he calls himself...so, when we realize how much God loves us, we will love. We will love him, and we'll love one another thus fulfilling the law. Hallelujah, friend. Keep yourself in the love of God. When fear comes, keep yourself in the love, know that God loves you. Think of the cross. That's the proof of God's love for you. And God has worked everything out, even during this Christmas season, that you might know the Christmas story, that the devil will never have the upper hand. God finally wins. And this pandemic will not have the upper hand. God foreknew it, and God has prepared us to go through it. There is a purpose, and all things are working together for the good of the child of God.
In fact, these things have been prophesied by Jesus, amen. Pestilences in many places is a sign that he's going to come again. These things are not from God. They are because of the fall of man. But now that we are redeemed, my friend, be bold to ask God for, "Give me this possession," amen? I believe the daughters of Zelophehad never realized that their words will carry consequence down through the corridors of eternity, amen, that the words would so please God that the Messiah will be born, amen? And because of this, change of the law, that God allowed the possession to go through the daughters, that Mary was able to confer upon Jesus the rightful and legal heirship of the throne. Hallelujah. Praise the name of Jesus, amen?
Friend, as you're watching right now, already God is doing some healing in the lives of people. I see someone that actually you have a back condition, especially when you sit down. After some time, you can feel the pain intensifying. Right now, if you will just stand to your feet, in Jesus's name, start moving around, feel out for the pain. God has healed you, my friend. God has healed you, hallelujah.
There's another person, you have a pain when you move your knee in a certain direction. Now get up, move that knee again, amen. Move that knee in that direction and see what the Lord has done. He has healed you. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Thank you, Lord, for doing this wonderful work, Lord, in Jesus's name.
Now, these are free gifts. These are gifts, amen? I'm not just saying this out of my... I'm not saying this out of my mind. I'm saying this from the spirit. Someone's eyes just cleared. It seems like you have, like a film on your eyes, and your eyes keep on watering. Now it just cleared up. The Lord has healed you. Thank you, Lord Jesus.
A number of you, you have an upper arm condition. If you move that arm right now, in Jesus's name, you'll find God has healed you. Thank you, Lord Jesus.
Someone recently, you're looking forward for a great end to the year, actually. You're saying that, hope days are getting better, but you just received a bad prognosis from the doctor. It's got something to do with your stomach area, as well as your internal, you know that area, your intestines and your stomach area. I don't know what exactly it is, but I see God's power going to that area right now, healing you. And I believe a woman's womb is also being healed right now, in Jesus's name. Receive that miracle. You're feeling the warmth right now in that area, amen? Praise the Lord.
Now, once you've confirmed your healing with the doctors, please send to us your testimonies, okay? We'd like to rejoice with you. And you know what? When we share your testimonies and all that, others will find faith to believe for their miracle as well. Thank you, Lord Jesus. I pray in Jesus's name that during this time, this Christmas season, you will see once again the beautiful story of love, that God sent his Son to die on the cross for our sins. He's the only baby born to die, and he died on the cross to be our Savior and our Redeemer. And friend, are we redeemed or not? If we are redeemed, rejoice. You have every reason to rejoice. You are no more under the curse. You are under the blessing. You're no more under the law where you've got to love God with all your heart, but you're under grace where God loves you with all his heart, amen? And because he loves us, we love because he first loved us.
And friend, just receive all your inheritance. Don't have a attitude, a passive attitude, amen, towards your possessions: "If I have it, I have it". No, study, join us in the coming weeks, as we study our inheritance in Christ and possess your possessions. If you have never received Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, what better time than Christmas to receive put your trust in Jesus? Friend, you know, you make decisions in life, who to marry, what career to embark on. The greatest decision you can ever make is one that goes on throughout eternity, amen? Know in your heart that you are saved, amen? If you're not saved, then pray this prayer with me right now. Put your trust in Jesus Christ. Believe on him, and you will be saved, and your entire household. Praise the Lord. Pray this prayer with me right now. Say:
Heavenly Father, I thank you for the gift of your Son, Jesus Christ. I thank you, you raised him from the dead for my justification, and I'm justified by his blood. Thank you, Father, I'll never again experience punishment from you. Punishment is behind me, death is behind me, the curse is behind me. I walk into a future filled with your goodness, your grace, your abundance, your joy, your pleasures forevermore. In Jesus's name, Jesus Christ is my Lord. Jesus Christ is my Lord, and I believe you raised him from the dead as a testimony that all my sins are put away, that death has been conquered, in Jesus's name.
Hallelujah! Friend, welcome to God's family, and Merry Christmas. This Christmas, you'll never forget, amen. Stand to your feet, church. Everywhere that's watching this right now, if you can, stand to your feet. Praise the Lord. Spend time with your family. I believe that this entire year has not been a normal year. We all know that, amen? Let's believe God that restoration is coming this coming year, amen? I'm believing God for restoration. What about you? Amen. When God restores, it's always greater, and greater in quality and quantity, amen? Lift your hands all across everywhere that's watching this right now.
This coming week, the Lord bless you, and the Lord keep you. The Lord bless you with the blessings of Father Abraham. The Lord keep you, preserve you and your families from the COVID-19 virus, from every infection, from every disease, from all the power of the evil one. The Lord make his face shine on you, be favorable to you. May you experience his favor, as Mary did when the angel came to her and says, "You are highly favored". You are highly favored, my friend. May you enjoy this favor throughout this week, you and your loved ones. May the Lord lift up his countenance on you and your families and grant to you and yours his shalom peace, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And all the people said amen.
I love you all, and I look forward to see you all again! Merry Christmas!