Prophecy allows the prophet to be an eye witness to coming events....To see events as if he were there in person. The reader becomes an eye witness vicariously, as well. It would be like watching an event which took place 50 years before you were born, but because the video camera captured it, you are taken back to the live action replay.
Jesus fulfilled many Messianic Prophecies. To be exact, He actually fulfilled over 300 Messianic prophecies.
The odds of one person fulfilling only 8 of these Bible prophecies is 1 in One Trillion. That’s 1 followed by 17 zeroes. One person fulfilling 48 prophecies has 1 chance in 10 to the 157th power (that’s 10 followed by 52 zeroes). And one person fulfilling 300+ prophecies, well, There’s just not enough zero’s! That’s something Only Jesuscould and did accomplish!
This baby born in a manger some 2000 years ago, marked the transition between the old and new testaments, and separated time as we know it into BC and AD, and it took us out from under the law and into Grace. Some folks are all about grace until you wonder if there’s anything off limits.Grace is not freedom to sin, but freedom from sin.... Salvation is not something done to you but it is something that is done through you. So, the real message of grace should be, how much has it changed you, since you received Christ. Has grace made a difference in how you live your life? Is your lifestyle any different because of God’s grace?
John 8:32 “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” In other words, You can never discover real truth without Christ in His rightful place, and that’s first place!
When it comes to proving that the babe born in a manger on the first Christmas morning, was none other than the promised Messiah, we need only to let Scriptures speak for itself.
Thousands and thousands of Jews continue to discover theseundeniable proofs and are finding MESSIAH every day, and they’re being set free of the lie of Zionest tradition and ritual.
We’re going to look at some of these prophetic proofs, and see how Jesus’ life was laid out in detail hundred’s of years before his birth and He fulfilled them to the letter.
Isaiah the prophet, wrote his prophesies around 740 years before the Christmas story. David the Psalmist wrote about 1000 years before Christ. Zachariah wrote over 500 years before that first Christmas. Daniel wrote his prophetic words around 600 years before Christ, Exodus was written 900 years before Christmas, and Genesis was written by Moses about 1400 years before the Holy Child Jesus was laid in a stable manger.....
We’re going to look at some Messianic events fulfilled by The Messiah, that were written over a period of 1,400 years before His birth.
Also, it is important to understand that one person might fulfill a few of these prophecies but no one could fulfill all of them. Chances would be astronomical.....
For anyone who is searching and honestly questioning, fulfilled prophecy is the strongest confirmation thatJesus truly is the Messiah. The following prophecies are some of the examples found throughout the Old Testament.
Prophecy # 1, Tells us that Messiah Would Be Born of a Woman
The earliest prediction related to the coming of Jesus as the Messiah is found in the first book of the Bible. In Genesis 3:15, God promises, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
What does this mean? In His judgment on the serpent (Satan), God promised one would come who would crush Satan’s power. Despite Satan’s ability to introduce sin to humanity, his power would one day be overcome by thisson born of a woman.
In Galatians 4:4, the apostle Paul explains this fulfillment, stating, “But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.” Jesus is the one who was the predicted son “born of a woman.”
Know that there are divinely appointed “Set times” in your life which have already taken place, but you just aren’t there yet. God has solved the situation and circumstances before you even experienced them. Knowing this, gives you the advantage, because instead of the situation owning you, YOU OWN IT!
Prophecy #2, Declares That Messiah Would Be Born of a Virgin
One of the strongest prophecies related to the birth of Jesus is that the Messiah would be born of a virgin. Isaiah 7:14 predicted this approximately 700 years before His birth, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: A virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”
Some have argued the word translated “virgin” in this verse refers merely to a “young woman.” While the Hebrew word can be translated either way, the Greek translation of Isaiah, made long before the birth ofJesus, uses a word specifically translated virgin. Those living in the time of Isaiah, understood this passage as referring to a person born of a virgin.
Matthew fills in some of the details for us....
Matthew 1:18 “This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about, His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit”.
Matthew 1:22-23 specifically notes, “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophetIsaiah, ‘The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call Him Immanuel’ (‘God with us’).”
Prophecy #3 Clearly States That Jesus is the Son of God
Matthew’s Gospel regularly, refers to Jesus as God’s Son, which is a reference to His earthly birth. Jesus was not a son, except in the mind and plan of God, until He was born in an earthly body. Before that He was referred to as “The Word”
John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. v2 The same was in the beginning with God. v3 All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made. v14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth”.
Matthew 3:17 at the baptism of Jesus, the voice of Godwas heard by everyone saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” Clear and unmistakable proof that The Messiah, Jesus, was and is the Son of God. It’s in the bible and God’s word is truth.
The Old Testament referred to the Messiah as God’s Son in Psalm 2:7. God said, “You are my son, today I have become your father.” Speaking of Jesus’ physical birth....When my first born came into this world, I was telling everyone I could, “I’m a daddy”, Oh, I was so excited.... I can see God here, just telling all the angels... I’M A DADDY!
Prophecy #4, Predicts that Jesus Would be Born in Bethlehem .
According to the New Testament, Joseph and Mary were from Nazareth but were living in Bethlehem of Judea at the time of Jesus’ birth, where they had gone to pay taxes. Jesus was born in Bethlehem, but grew up in Nazareth. ..
The phrase “can anything good come out of Nazareth?” was a common expression of that time, used to refer to things that were considered unimportant, insignificant or less than.
This phrase is mentioned in John 1:46 when Nathanael expresses his skepticism about whether Jesus, who was from Nazareth, could be the Messiah. The King James Version of the Bible translates the text as "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?"
Oh, I love this.... God says despise not the day of little things, little is much when God is in it... A mustard seed can produce a mighty tree, one shall chase a thousand and two shall put ten thousand to flight.... insignificant things give God greater glory!
You may not look like much right now but wait till we see you then....
A group of men were carrying on a friendly conversation. One of them remarked that he had learned to be especially careful about little things in his life. "Would you believe," he said, "that a little thing like a pair of socks changed the entire course of my life?" "I can hardly believe that," replied another man. "Well, it’s true! Once I planned to take a trip with some of my friends on a canal boat, but two days before we intended to leave, I injured my foot while chopping wood. It was only a small cut, but the blue dye in my homemade socks, poisoned the wound, and I was compelled to stay at home. While my friends were on their trip, a powerful preacher came to our town to hold revival meetings. Since I didn’t have anything else to do, I decided to attend. The message touched me deeply, and as a result, I surrendered my heart to the Lord. Afterward I saw that I needed to change my life in many ways. New desires and purposes took hold of me. I’m not the man I used to be, because of little things.
I guess you could say, God used little things to sock it to him!!!!
Matthew 2:3-6 Gives us some insight into the moment Herod got the news from the wise men that had come from the East....
When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:
‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’
They were reading the prophecy of Micah 5:2-4. Which was written 800 years before Christ was born. There were two places known as Bethlehem during Micah’s time. So, Micah specifically referred to Bethlehem in Judah as the location of the Messiah’s birth. Further, this Messiah would become the shepherd (meaning the leader) of Israel. When Jesus is later put to death, the sign posted over His head calls Him the King of the Jews. Herod was making a spectacle of Jesus, to tell everyone, “This is what happens to anyone in my territory who thinks they can challenge me”.....
Prophecy #5, Details that Jesus Would Come From the Family of King David...
For Jesus to be Messiah, He could not have come from merely any Jewish family. The Old Testament makes several specific predictions about the lineage of Jesus, some thousands of years in advance:
Genesis 22:18 tells us that He would be a descendant of Abraham.
Genesis 21:12 says that He would be a descendant of Isaac
Numbers 24:17 declares He would be a descendant of Jacob.
Genesis 49:10 tells us that He would be a descendant of Judah
Jeremiah 23:5 declares that He would come forth from the lineage of David.
This explains why Matthew’s Gospel opens with the words in, Matthew 1:1-2 “This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham.Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac was the father of Jacob, Jacob was the father of Judah and his brothers”
In Matthew 1:6 He continues to show that through Joseph, the earthly stepfather of Jesus, that he was a direct descendant of David. Though Jesus was born of a virgin, He was of the family of Joseph, and descendedfrom King David.
Luke’s Gospel also records the family line of Jesus, including a different list of names that are the family line of Mary. Luke reveals that Mary’s family line also includes being a descendant of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, and David, fulfilling this prophecy through both sides of the family of Jesus.
Luke 3:23 Now Jesus himself was about thirty years old when he began his ministry. He was the son, of Joseph,(who was related to) David,
32 the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz,(who was related to) Judah, 34 the son of Jacob,
the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, (who was related to)
Noah, the son of Lamech, 37 the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalalel, the son of Kenan, 38 the son of Enoch, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, (who was born), the son of God.
Prophecy #6, Tells us that Jesus Received Gifts
Though it received less attention than other prophecies, the gifts of the wise men also represent a completed Bible prophecy. Psalm 72:10-11, recorded by King Solomon approximately 1,000 years before the birth of Jesus, predicted a day when the kings of the Gentile nations would come to the Messiah and bow before Him:
Psalm 72:10-11 “May the kings of Tarshish and of distant shores bring tribute to him. May the kings of Sheba and Seba present him gifts. May all kings bow down to him and all nations serve him.”
The Gentile (non-Jewish) wise men from the east traveled to where Jesus and His family were, with gifts in...
Matthew 2:11 “On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.” (we need to remember that at this time, Jesus was 2 years old, and in a house, not a manger when the wise men arrived)
So, From the very beginning of Jesus’ earthly life, Gentile leaders bowed before Him and honored Him.
Prophecy #7 Describes Jesus as Immanuel
Isaiah 7:14 was written approximately 700 years before Jesus’ birth, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” In addition to His virgin birth, Jesus entered our world to fulfill His calling as Immanuel, meaning God with us.
Matthew 1:22-23 “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ‘The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel’ (which means ‘God with us’).” Matthew is confirming, as a contemporary of Jesus, that this impossible prediction had indeed, given us another proof that Jesus was God in the flesh.
John 1:1-2 adds further confirmation, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.” The one who created the world entered it in human form. Jesus is the literal fulfillment of Immanuel.
These Prophecies were for those who were living Then, but they were also for proof to our time so that the world might know and make the discovery of Jesus, as God, Now, in our time.
God came to earth, so that we could go to heaven to be with Him forever.....Prophecy is one of the greatest proofs that Jesus is who He said He was and who He is today, and that means He will do what He said He would do, now, even as He did then...
For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. And that is God’s total plan of the ages, all wrapped up in one verse...(Christmas wrapped, I should say)!!
Today, we have seen how God revealed Christ’s coming in supernatural ways to affirm His greatness and glory. Those who are willing to do sincere investigation of the birth of Jesus will also discover that the baby in the manger is the Son of God who changes lives for eternityas they put their trust in Him.
This picture, of a man kneeling before the cross, to give the Lord first place in his life, is the image of what Christmas is all about. The miracles, the wonders, God coming in the flesh, all the suffering, and all that God did over centuries of time, is all about each and every life that comes in surrender to Him.
Jesus is the gift that keeps on giving, and to everyone who invites Him into their lives, no one should ever be satisfied to keep Him all to themselves, but they should want everyone to experience the freedom, joy, and fulfillment that the Messiah brings into every life that receives Him....
Let’s proclaim Him to a new generation of seekers, who are seeking the answer God has given, that is our hope, our peace, our giver of eternal life, here and forever more, in the ages yet to come....
Praise His holy name....We acknowledge who He is, throughout time and eternity...
“Majesty, worship His majesty, unto Jesus be all glory, honor and praise”..... Let’s stand together and exalt our Messiah, who was and is, and is to come!!
A few weeks ago I said that every time we open the bible, we are reading the will. When a will is read, everyone gathers to find out what they will receive from the individual who has passed on. Every church service is the reading of the will.
When 67 year old carpenter Russell Herman died in 1994, his will included a staggering list of things he wished to leave money to. Included in his plan for distribution was more than two billion dollars for the City of East St. Louis, another billion and a half for the State of Illinois, two and a half billion for the national forest system, and to top off the list, Herman left six trillion dollars to the government to help pay off the national debt. That sounds amazingly generous, but there was a small problem—Herman’s only asset when he died was a 1983 Oldsmobile. So, what he wanted to give, had no security to back it up.... I’m glad to report that in God’s will and testament, He is willing to give more than you can think or ask or even imagine, and He has been giving it out to all those who are willing to receive, for 2000 years....It’sincluded in the will.... So, let’s read some of the will today....
ISAIAH 53:4-5 Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed (valued) Him not. He was stricken, and smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are (present tense) healed.
This passage in Isaiah foretells the great redemptive sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, paying the price to redeem all mankind from the curse resulting from Adam’s rebellion. As you can clearly see, it includes healing along with full payment for our sins.
In Matthew 8 we have the inspired commentary of the Holy Spirit Himself, affirming that the passage in Isaiah 53:4-5 includes physical healing.
MATTHEW 8:16-17 When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, 17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: "He Himself took our infirmities And bore our sicknesses."
Every Christmas, my mom would have her 3 children make a list of what they would like for Christmas. Then we would be excited to see which of the things we listed, would show up under the tree. We knew that one of the items would be there, Sothere was still a mystery about which one we would get. We already had something we hadn’t taken possession of, but we knew it was still ours. Scripture tells us what God has made available to us. It’s already ours, but we haven’t taken possession of it yet. As Peter, was writing to believers in New Covenant times, he tells them that they were (already) healed. That didn’t mean they were in possession of the healing, but that healing still belonged to them.
1 PETER 2:24 “He Himself, bore our sins in His own body on the cross, so that we, having died to sin, might live for righteousness -- by His stripes you have been healed”.
Let’s declare together.....”I am a child of God. I have receivedthe Lord as my Savior and He has blessed me with His righteousness. My Lord has taken sickness and disease out of my life. Sickness and disease cannot stay in my body because God has taken it away from me. I walk in divine health. I am healed and healthy in the Name of Jesus”.
Just as much as your hands or your feet belong to you, healing belongs to you. You do not need to ask God, if He will allow youto use your hands or feet. They belong to you. They were given to you as a gift that is part of you and You did not have to earn them in any way.
It is the same with healing. You could not earn it. It was a gift from God that is part of you. Jesus paid for it with His own suffering. By the wounds He suffered, healing became availablefor you. When you say “I am saved” you are also saying “I am healed”, “I am delivered”, “I am blessed”, “My God shall supply all my needs, according to His riches in glory”....
The normal human response to this great news is usually something like "If healing belongs to me, then why am I sick?"
Ownership and possession are not the same thing. You can own something that you have never taken possession of.
If you had money in a bank account in your name, but you did not know about it, it would do you no good.
If someone bought a house for you and gave you the legal ownership papers, it would belong to you. Even if you had never seen the house and were living in another state, it would still be yours. Even if someone else was living in the house, it would still be yours.
But if you wanted to possess that house and enjoy living in it, you would have to decide to move there. If others occupied it when you arrived, you would have to evict them and give them their walking papers. As the owner, the law is on your side, but you have to enforce the law that allows you to possess it. If sickness has moved into the house you own, it must be evicted as a trespasser. Jesus drove out the trespasser and healed them.
Jesus purchased for you the house called "Healing & Health" and the written Word of God is the legal notice of your ownership. Where you choose to live now is up to you. Just because this belongs to you does not mean the Lord will force you to live in it.
So, we should not approach healing in a passive manner, waiting on God to do something. What we have torealize is that God has already done something about sickness and disease. Now we are supposed to do something. We are to resist sickness and actively receive and possess by faith the healing God has already given us in Christ.
Provision has been made by God. Now it is our responsibility to possess it.
Let’s declare together.....”When I call upon God, He always answers me. He is with me in trouble. He delivers me and honors me with long life. God is showing me His salvation right now. He’s showing me His deliverance, His protection, and His healing power. That power is flowing through my body this very moment. God is healing me right now. I believe I have received my inheritance, and sickness and disease cannot prosper against me because God is my Deliverer and my Healer”.
This is exactly the way God worked with the children of Israel in the Old Testament. Father God told them that the promised land belonged to them, but when they arrived, it was still occupied by giants and they had to fight to possess the land.When Joshua first entered the land, many thought of it as a land of giants, but Joshua and Caleb saw it as the land of Joshua and Caleb.... Caleb said, “I am well able to take the land”.....It was all in the way they saw it....
It will be no different with you and me. For you to possess all that God says is yours will require you to fight the fight of faith for it, but your fight will not be with other people, but with your own feelings, thoughts, emotions, and will. Those things will keep you out of the faith realm and keep you in the natural realm of what you see and feel and hear, if you let them, and the giants will beat you down...
God told them “I have given you the land” (past tense) but you must still possess it!!! Just as you accept the Bible as evidence enough to believe that your sins are forgiven and you have a home in Heaven, regardless of how you may feel, you should do the same with what the Bible says about What God says is already yours.
With that out of the way, we can now focus on how to possess what already belongs to us, instead of begging God to give us something He has already given to us.
We went to West Palm for Thanksgiving. The ladies went shopping, while we guys went to the golf range. When we got back, to the resort, there was something Winnie was not able to find, so we made one more trip so she could get what she had been looking for. We found out while we were out, that her phone was missing. I got a call on my phone and the manager of the store said, she had found Winnie’s phone, but we would need to get there quick, because they were closing... Here’s my point. Even though Winnie was not in possession of her phone, it was still her phone. All she had to do to have it, was go get it.
Mark 11:24 Believe that you have received it and you shall have it
What evidence should we demand of God before we will believe that Jesus purchased our healing and it is already ours? Should we demand that our bodies show no symptoms of sickness? Should we demand a signed note from our medical doctor? Should we demand that God appear to us and tell us that His written Word is actually true, in order to believe it.
Are we not willing to accept the evidence of God's Word, but willing to always believe what the symptoms in our bodies tell us? Are the symptoms in our bodies more reliable than God? Or is His word enough. We can’t approach God’s covenant of healing, like Gertrude approached sky diving.... Gertrude was about to make her first parachute jump. The instructor said, “First, you pull the big cord. If it doesn’t work, you pull the little cord. There will be a red pickup truck waiting for you when you land.”
Well Gertrude jumped and when she pulled the big cord, nothing happened, so she pulled the little cord. Still nothing happened. “That’s great,” she muttered. “The way things are going, that red pickup truck won’t be there either.”
Should we ignore what God has said and trust completely in our physical senses, and medical doctors, as our supreme authority? There’s a reason why Doctor’s call their profession, “A Practice”... THEY’RE STILL PRACTICING!!...God is not, He doesn’t need practice!
*Who is the final authority? It may be true that sickness is in your physical body, but that is no proof it has a right to stay there. Do our symptoms make God a liar, or does God’s word make the sickness a liar! They can’t both be true...
Wouldn’t Winnie be foolish to think that because her phone was not in her possession, that it no longer belonged to her...While she was trying to find it, it was still, always hers.. We can beg God to heal us, and believe He has when we feel no more symptoms of sickness in our body, Or, we can believe what God says in the Bible that healing was obtained for us through the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus, and therefore we should give the sickness no power, and by faith possess the healing that already belongs to us in spite of the symptoms that we see or feel.. just like the lost phone, the gifts of God belong to us regardless of what we see or don’t see.
Mark 16:17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."
Hey, church, there’s no child sized Holy Spirit and another Holy Spirit for adults or teens.... One size fits all...My son Chris is a Children’s Pastor in Virginia and he has the children do all of the ministry, and they pray for the sick and afflicted, just like in adult church.
God's Word has told us what belongs to us. Now we must act on what we have been told, and resist everything contrary to our new reality, that Jesus has redeemed us from the power of the curse.
Let’s declare it together..... “Praise you Lord God. I give You thanks for all of your benefits and I thank You for forgiving all of my iniquities and allowing me to stand righteous before You. I praise You Lord, for healing all of my diseases. I believe I am walking in Divine health and I am healthy and whole. I thank You that You have redeemed my life from the pit and from destruction. The devil will not destroy me with sickness and disease. I will not accept it Lord, for You have crowned me with Your loving kindness and tender mercy, and, satisfied my mouth with good things, so that my youth is renewed like the eagle’s. My body is strong and full of health. I look better and better every day. My body is being renewed and every tissue and organ in my body is performing it’s perfect work. I am healthy. I am healed. I am whole”.
We choose to overcome, but Can we expect that all Christians will always follow God’s plan in sickness? Not any more than we can expect them to always resist sin. But just because we fail to walk in complete victory is not proof that it is still God's will for us to be healed, body, soul and spirit, and know that it is completely available to us. Scripture uses the same words to tell us Jesus bore our sicknesses as it does to tell us that Jesus bore our sins.
Psalm 103:2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits: 3 Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases.” It’s a package deal!
We know that we may still sin, but we understand that Jesus has set us free from sin's power so we don't have to remain under the power of sin any longer. We must learn to see sickness and resist it, the same way we would resist sin.
Salvation is a package deal. When we received Christ, we received our savior, our healer, our deliverer, our peace, and a friend that sticks closer than a brother. 1 Peter 2:24 “For He bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sin, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.”
Healing belongs to you. So decide to quit letting the devil steal health from you and your loved ones.
SAY THIS with me... “Healing belongs to me because Jesus already paid for it”.
GOD’S COVENANT OF HEALING belongs to us. No matter what condition
Comes our way that we have to overcome.
Exodus 15:26 “…For I am the LORD who heals you... (present tense).
I said last week that blessings and curses cannot occupy the same space, so when you establish one, you evict the other.....We read the scripture from 1 Samuel 5:4 “But the following morning when they rose, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord! His head and hands had been broken off and were lying on the threshold; only his broken body remained”.
The head represented his authority which was broken off, his hands represented his power which was broken off! God has done that for us!
Satan is not greater than your choice when God backs you up, and the Holy Spirit of truth, confirms your truth confession!
Here are a few covenant statements in God’s word....
“Your words are life to those that find them, and health to all their flesh”. “They shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover”
‘We shall prosper and be in health even as our soul prospers”
“By His stripes I am healed”
“He forgives our iniquities and heals our diseases”
”Your words oh Lord, are life and health to those who seek them”
What a powerful truth and reality, we have been given!
The work is already done, the gift is already given, What we need has already been provided, Now, we reach out in faith and receive it!
Mark 16:15 He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up snakes with their hands; and if they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them, they will place their hands on sick people, and they will be healed.”
Let’s declare it together.....”Jesus, You bore all my sickness and disease so that I don’t have to bear them. You took every sickness and every disease known to man upon Your own body. I no longer have to bear what You Lord, have already borne for me. I will not allow any disease or sickness to live in my body because You took all of my weakness and gave me Your strength, You took my sin and gave me Your righteousness, You took my sickness and gave me Your wholeness, so I refuse to allow sickness and pain to have any place
I am healed right now. I receive health in place of sickness, strength in place of weakness, and comfort in place of pain. I am healed because You took my place. I am healed by Your finished work. I praise You Lord that Your healing power is flowing through me right now driving out every symptom of sickness and disease. I thank you that I am not healed by what I feel or what man says. I am healed by Your immutable promise, and provision which You already made on calvary”.
My Sunday morning message for December 3rd, presented at Eagle's Rest Ministries, meeting in Key West, Fl. Join us each Sunday Morning in the auditorium of the Poinciana School on Kennedy dr. at 10:30 am, for a time of prayer, praise, worship and the Word.
Today’s message is titled "WHY GOD LIMITED HIMSELF".
There is nothing we could do that would prevent God from being a ruthless, destructive, cosmic monster… if He chose to be so. If He took sadistic glee in tormenting His creation at will, with whips and chains and ever burning hell-fire for all eternity, we could not prevent Him. (The truth is that Hell was created for Satan and his angels. It was never intended for any person, unless those people reject God and choose to follow the path of Satan through sin and self gratification).
So even though God could do and be whatever He wants, and no one could stop Him, He has chosen to operate within the laws and rules He Himself set up for Himself. In His infinite wisdom He has chosen to be a God of compassion and mercy and love… As God, He chose to work out a plan of salvation in which He is reproducing Himself after His own nature, through the men and women He created. In doing so, He has willed Himself to always and forever, limit Himself to certain laws, principles, attitudes, and behaviors which He has decided, and as part of that plan, we are to put on, the very mind of Christ with the values and principles He Himself has chosen to live by.” (does that make sense?)............ 1 Corinthians 2:14 “The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. 15 The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, 16 for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord, so as to instruct him?”
God’s Spirit not only places limits on Himself, but we who have the Spirit, understand that there are limits placed on us, which we cannot ignore...We have free will and free choice, but the Christian life is one of embracing boundaries and limitations which will then allow His power and authority to be manifested in our lives.
So, for our own benefit let us examine a few of the many restrictions God has imposed upon Himself…. While the Bible teaches us in Matthew 19:26, that “with God, all things are possible”, and in Luke 1:37 where it says “with God nothing is impossible”, Scripture also teaches that God can and will do nothing that is inconsistent with His holy character or divine nature. God limits Himself for reasons of His own justice and in order to maintain His own integrity. The only limits that can be placed on God are those He places on Himself.
Let’s take a look at some things that God CANNOT do, and we can all be thankful that He has chosen to limit Himself... The first limitation I want us to look at is..... God cannot die, or cease to exist (this is the symbol for infinity) Psalm 102:25-27 “ You laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away, but you are the same, and your years have no end”. Isaiah 40:28 “Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; His understanding is unsearchable”. God himself declares that He is eternal. God has always existed in eternity past, in eternity present, and eternity future. This is declared by the Apostle John and by Jesus—God the Son: John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”. John reminds us that Jesus (who is “the Word”) already existed at the beginning of what we know as creation. If God sent you a picture, you would be looking at Jesus—Jesus existed in eternity past, He exists in eternity present and eternity future. Prophecy is not just us seeing the future, it is Jesus describing the future He has already been to.... When John wrote Revelation, He saw where Jesus already is.... Revelation 1:18 “I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hell. Revelation 22:13 “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end” The next limit God placed on Himself, comes out of a children’s church session, as the teacher was sharing with the children about the power and magnificence of God. As he was telling them about how God created the earth and the animals, and that God can be everywhere at the same time, and he was explaining all the wonderful and amazing miracles that God performs. Then in the lesson, he confidently told the class: “God can do anything! Nothing is impossible with God!” As soon as he said those words, a young 6 year old boy slowly put his hand up to speak and the boy said, “There’s something that God cannot do – “What’s that”, said the teacher, “God can’t lie” was the boy’s answer.... GOD CANNOT LIE... What an awesome lesson from that young boy, because it is such a true statement about the God who can do all things, and yet, used His infinite power to place limits on Himself.... We could not say that God is truth, if there were any falseness in Him. We could not know the power of the truth that sets us free, if there were even a speck of untruth in Him. Paul describes the truth as a girdle which holds the other parts of armor in place. Numbers 23:19 “God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good”? If God could lie, then our hope, our faith and our trust would be in vain in the Lord. How many can Praise Him that His word is true, and He will do what He said.....Thank God, He cannot lie!
GOD CANNOT SIN – It is not in God’s nature to sin, to lie or to perform any kind of wickedness. God is holy, pure and sinless. God is not corrupt nor can He be tempted to become corrupt or to sin. His actions thoughts, and motives, are always good and righteous and just.
1 Samuel 2:2 – “No one is holy like the Lord, For there is none besides Him, Nor is there any rock (dependability and reliability) like our God.” Someone has argued that if sin exists, and God made everything, then He created sin... It’s the concept of Ying and Yang. Where there is good, there is evil and where there is evil, there is good. This teaching is that good and evil are inter connected. And in the end, God and Satan will reconcile with one another. (somebody didn’t read the bible) But the mistake is that Satan is not equal to God, He is a created being, who rebelled. The cause of that rebellion, was his pride, and pride is the author of all sin, since pride drives us away from dependance upon the Father God, and puts ourselves in place of God. Pride is the lie that causes mankind to look to himself, for the answers that he is never able to find. I’ve heard it said, “Man is never more like the devil than when he is full of self-will.” The Greatest sin, is not murder, lying, stealing, drunkenness, or perversion... it is the rejection of God’s sacrifice for sin, through Jesus Christ. The pride of thinking we can be good enough in our own efforts. Let me add here, that angels have a free will, but not choice. Mankind has a free will and we have choice. When angels rebel, they are cast out of heaven, and cannot have a second chance. Mankind can choose to rebel against God and repent, and through grace we will be restored and forgiven.
Isaiah 14:12-14 “How are you fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!…For you have said in your heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne…I will sit also upon the mount of God…I will ascend above the heights…I will be like the most High”
Self-will displaces God’s will, and the devil emerges. It was pride that caused Lucifer’s fall and subsequent condemnation. He uses it very effectively still today, to bring multitudes under his control. The next limit God put on Himself...... GOD CANNOT CONTRADICT HIMSELF – God cannot and will not do things that are not in harmony with His nature or which are contrary to His word. Once God says it, then He holds Himself accountable to His own word. God cannot change His mind when it comes to issues that are consistent with His very nature and His Godship. Numbers 23:19 – “God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?
Be careful how you pick and choose scripture to make you feel good, or to justify your actions... You may end up like the guy who randomly picked a scripture out of his scripture box, to find out what God had to say to him for the day... One morning he pulled out Matthew 27:5 “And Judas went out and hanged himself”....do thou likewise..... In Genesis 22, after Abraham obeyed God and was willing to offer his son Isaac on the altar, where God stopped him and provided a ram caught in the thicket.... Here’s what God said to him...
Genesis 22:15 The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time 16 and said, “I swear by my own name, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, 18 and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.” If God said it to you, He will not change His mind, as your mind and heart are seeking after and set on Him... God’s word is as Himself He cannot change it.....The Bible does not contradict itself neither can God behave in any way that is contradictory to His nature.
(Malachi 3:6 – “For I am the Lord, I do not change”....
(Hebrews 13:8 – Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.)
GOD CANNOT BE ANYTHING BUT THE ONE TRUE GOD – False gods might try to imitate or counterfeit the power and nature of the one true God. However, God himself will not imitate anybody. God does not need to become like anyone or anything. God is God and there is only ONE God. Therefore God, for example, cannot become Buddha or Allah, or Vishu, or Krishna, or your higher power or a god from any other religion. Isaiah 43:10 – “You are My witnesses,” says the Lord, “And My servant whom I have chosen, That you may know and believe Me, And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, Nor shall there be after Me”. There cannot be many Gods, If God is the one true God....All other God’s are Satan, in his many disguises and counterfeit attempts at God....
When the Philistines, who worshiped, Dagon, placed the ark, which they had captured, beside the statue of Dagon, look what happened....
1 Samuel 5:5 “After the Philistines had captured the ark of God, they took it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. 2 Then they carried the ark into Dagon’s temple and set it before Dagon.
Verse 3 When the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord! They took Dagon and put him back in his place.
Verse 4 But the following morning when they rose, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord! His head and hands had been broken off and were lying on the threshold; only his body remained. His head was broken off, representing his authority. His hands were broken off, representing his power....
The blessing and the curse cannot abide in the same place. If you’re not being blessed then the curse is present and must be broken. Unforgiveness will put you under the curse.... a judgmental spirit will put you under a curse.... Keeping back the tithe from God will bring you under a curse (Malachi tells us that when we tithe, we rebuke the devourer) If you’re not being blessed, there’s a curse operating.....
Next, we see, GOD CANNOT TEMPT ANYONE WITH EVIL–
James 1:13 – Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone”.
No one can blame God for causing them to sin. The choices we make, determine blessing or cursing. No one needs to ask, “Why did God do this to me?.... God is just, and He has given us the path to blessing if we choose to follow it, or the path to cursing, if we choose to follow it. No one will be able to say that God sent them to Hell. They ignored and resisted all His attempts to save them and push past them all....
GOD CANNOT HATE YOU – God is love. God hates sin, but He loves the sinner. God loves us even when we are at our very worst. While we were sinners, He gave the greatest gift He could possibly give, He gave Himself to die in human form. The price to remove judgment from us, was for the Judge to take our place. He passed sentence on Himself, so we could go free.
Romans 5:8 – But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
GOD CANNOT SHOW FAVORITISM – God does not have favorites. He loves us all the same. God does not judge anybody unjustly or unfairly.
In Acts 10, When God led Peter to the Roman Centurion, Cornelius’ house, and they all received the message of salvation and then were filled with the Holy Spirit, Peter declares in.... Acts 10:34-35 –”In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him. What He’s done for one, He’ll do for all!!!
If I hear that God provided finances for someone, then that’s for everyone who believes. If I hear that God provided healing for someone, I want some of that.....Miracles, signs and wonders, deliverance, promotion, and on we could go....Whatever He will do for one, He will not do for all.....
GOD CANNOT BE DECEIVED – He cannot be fooled because He is all knowing, all seeing, in all places at all times. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the end.
Hebrews 4:13 – “There is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account”. He is pure light and all lies and deception are exposed in His presence. When we walk in the light, we are free of deception. But we can choose to be deceived and hear what we want to hear, and see what we want to see.
There are folks that don’t want to be free because they don’t want to give up what they have become dependent upon.
The Jewish people were free from Egypt, but still longed for what they had in Egypt, even though it meant they were slaves in Egypt. How many folks could be free, but they are not willing to give up what they are In bondage to.... I know of a fella who was healed, but lost his healing because he didn’t want to give up his disability check.....
Then there are those who have allowed themselves to be willing slaves of the devil, because they don’t want to change their life style. They thought they were in charge of their stuff, but in reality their stuff is in charge of them.... They could be delivered, but they are comfortable with their bondage. It might be eating, shopping, alcohol, chemicals, laziness, uncleanness, pornography, or many things which they know in their spirit needs to change, but they choose to hold on to it, and never go forward in their walk with God.
Paul makes a startling statement in 1 Corinthians 5:5 “I have decided to turn such a person over to Satan for the destruction of his body, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord”.
In other words, let them have a good taste of what they’re playing with, and they’ll turn to the truth... You play around with the destroyer, and the destroyer will win.... So pray that they will wake up and their soul will be saved. Someone said that “If everyone knew what those who have died know, then everyone would be following Jesus as Lord and Master.”
I am so glad for this one......GOD CANNOT STOP LOVING YOU. He cannot love us any more than He already loves us and He cannot love us any less than He already loves us.
Jeremiah 31:3 “The Lord appeared of old unto me, saying, “I have loved you with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn you” Aren’t you thankful that God put limits on Himself, to never stop loving you. Let us be grateful and praise God for Who He is and What He is… a God of loving care, compassion, and forgiveness. He has set us the example and opened the way before us to follow in His steps. We never give up on anyone, because He never will!! Don’t be surprised if they get worse before they get better, because Satan will intensify his hold on them just before the break through comes!! But He will never quit on anyone, as long as their heart is beating and they are alive, He’s reaching out, and drawing them to Himself.
Christianity is all about Christ. When we make it about other stuff, we open ourselves to deception and a lying spirit. It’s not about rules and regulations, it’s about Jesus.... It’s not about our works, it’s about Jesus. It’s not about chasing the blessings, it’s about the blesser, Jesus.... GOD CANNOT ALLOW A PERSON WHO IS NOT A CHRISTIAN TO ENTER HEAVEN – This lie of the enemy that somehow everyone is going to heaven when they die, has found it’s way into the church, and ministers who are called to preach the gospel, are insinuating such things as they conduct funeral services. Lulling the ignorant into a false sense of peace and security. I heard a pastor say that he attended a service where the minister indicated that the man who had died was safe in the arms of Jesus, and in a better place.... When he checked, the man had murdered his wife, then shot himself.... A person who is not born again / saved / and a practicing Christian cannot enter into Heaven, or God is not the God of the bible.
Death is not anyone’s passport to heaven. That’s like saying that if I live in a garage, that makes me a car! To become a Christian, a person must believe and receive Jesus Christ as his/her Lord & Savior. The only way to Heaven is through Jesus Christ. I am serving Christ today, because when my mom, lost her daughter, the pastor shared this truth, and she prayed and received Christ at her daughter’s funeral, then later on, led me to Christ as my savior....
John 3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
John 14:6 – Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me”
Knowing the nature of God is very important. God will not ignore us if we call to Him and have a genuine desire to know Him and have a relationship with Him.
Isaiah 55:11 “So shall my word be that goes forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it”.
There are MANY things that God will do in your personal life which are consistent with His word and with His nature. It is impossible for God to promise anything and not do it..... What Has He Promised You...Believe it, know that He remembers when the whole world forgets!!
If this message has ministered unto you and you wish to contact us privately, with a praise report, prayer request, or give to this ministry, our address is Eagle's Rest Ministries, P.O box 2820, Key West, Florida 33040.. Keep us in your prayers that we may be an instrument in the Master's hands, and Jesus may be exalted continually in our lives and ministry. Thank you in advance and God richly bless you.. We look forward to hearing from you.
