212 - Through the Cross of Jesus, You Have Been Delivered from the Curse#
212 - Through the Cross of Jesus, You Have Been Delivered from the Curse
(JP Text Group - beloved compilation)
The topic of sharing is: Through what Jesus accomplished on the cross, you have been delivered from the curse.
Galatians 3:1-11
1 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you, that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? 2 This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? 4 Have you suffered so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain?
5 Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? 6 Just as Abraham “believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” 7 Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, “In you all the nations shall be blessed.”
9 So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham. 10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.” 11 But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for “the just shall live by faith.”
Let us pray together.
Heavenly Father, we thank and praise You! Thank You for giving us this time to worship and praise You! We believe that our united praise has reached Your presence! At this moment, Holy Spirit, You are already working in our hearts, feeding us through Your word, renewing us; we are the descendants of Abraham and are blessed together with Abraham! You bless us, allowing us to be channels of this blessing, strong and courageous in Your truth, standing firm! Thank You and praise You! We completely dedicate the following time to You! In the name of Lord Jesus, we pray, Amen! Hallelujah!
What is the purpose of God creating the Garden of Eden and placing Adam and Eve in it? Why did God create the Garden of Eden? Was it because they were too idle, so God said, "I will give you something to do"? Is that so? Why did God let them live in the Garden of Eden? What do you think first? Is it management? If your first thought is management, it proves that you are still revolving around a legalistic mindset; you should first think that God wants to bless them, and only then does He say to manage everything, Amen!
If the first thought is management, then you will not see the blessing, because management becomes a burden. If you live for work, it becomes a burden; if you know it is a blessing and work, it becomes a joyful thing. Can you understand? The original purpose of God creating the Garden of Eden was to bless them through the Garden. Since God said He wants to bless you, what does it mean to be blessed? God created everything and then placed them in it, allowing them to enjoy all that He created; this is God's purpose.
Then God said, if you really want to do something, what can you do? You can manage. Was management easy at that time? Naming things is a very meaningful and interesting thing because you have autonomy. Since God gave you authority, He gave you the power of self-management, which we also call freedom, Amen! This is what many people usually talk about; we all have free will. God placed them in the Garden of Eden to let them enjoy God's goodness. Why? Because God loves us, Hallelujah! Love is like this; its characteristic is wanting to give to you, wanting to pour all good things upon you. You may not understand it at first, but He is still willing to love you this way. Brothers and sisters, God loves us; He does not want to see us in lack. God has given us everything we need; listen carefully, everything has already been given to us.
Because God is love, wanting to pour His love upon people, He created humanity, making people the recipients of His grace, Amen! But the problem is that people sinned and rebelled against God. God gave people the power of choice. Look at today's world; many people are making choices today, but many people always push the problem onto God.
For example, many Christians ask why God does not control tsunamis, allowing so many people to die?
Why does God not stop this typhoon, allowing so many people to die?
Why does God let this child die young?
Why does this happen? Why do so many planes suddenly crash? Are there no Christians on board?
Have you ever thought about this question? Among so many cancer patients, is there not one Christian? There is; why does God not save them? Why does God not heal them?
I believe many people have such doubts, including you under grace, and you want to understand what is going on. I want to tell everyone that we live on a fallen earth, a cursed planet. Do you know? Since Adam sinned, the world has been different from the world God originally created. Because Adam sinned, the earth was also cursed, Amen! The Bible says, who is the ruler of the air now? Satan. Is the wind good? If there is no wind in summer, can you survive? Is the air conditioning blowing out wind? What if there is no wind? What would this world become? Wind is good, but what if it blows continuously, blowing at level 20? Is that still good?
Is rain good? But what if it keeps raining? What if it rains for four or five years? Is that still good? No, the key is who is using it, Amen! Everything God created at first was good, but unfortunately, Adam handed over the management rights to the devil, and then the devil began to use what God originally intended to bless people with to start tormenting people and destroying this earth. Do you understand? Think about this question: why does God not stop these things from happening? Since God's power is indeed greater than the devil's work, why does God not directly eliminate the devil? I want to tell everyone that God is fair and just. When the devil obtained Adam's authority, it was willingly handed over by Adam. Do not say that the devil snatched it away in anger; he cannot take it unless you willingly hand it over. At first, Adam believed the devil's lies; he believed the devil's words and handed everything over to the devil. Do you understand?
Since God is just, He must take it back through legal and proper means. Since it was lost in the hands of man, God must regain what was lost through a man, which shows God's justice, Amen! Although we are in a fallen world, through what Jesus accomplished on the cross, you have already been delivered from these curses! Although the world indeed continues to have diseases, plagues, and many people dying, you must remember one thing: because of Jesus, you have already been delivered from these curses. You can completely command: "In the name of Lord Jesus, what I am doing cannot go wrong, Amen! What is feared is that you say: Blessed be the Lord, and the taker is also the Lord; the name of the Lord is to be praised.
Yesterday, someone sold insurance and came to our house to sit for a while. She said her daughter now has assets worth over ten million, and she buys insurance. Every time she gets on a plane, she leaves a message for her parents, which is quite funny. She said, "Dear elderly couple, you now have assets worth ten million, which will soon be in your hands." Then she took the plane, and when the plane landed, she said, "Sorry, because I safely landed from the sky, so this ten million assets are temporarily unrelated to you."
What was the purpose of her writing this? Actually, this is a will; she meant to tell her parents that even if she died, they need not worry. If these parents have greedy thoughts, they might want her to die quickly; after she dies, the ten million assets will be theirs. Is she flying today? Hurry up and let that plane crash; if it is love, naturally, they do not want their daughter to have problems, but if there are greedy thoughts, wouldn't that cause problems?
We do not understand why so many disasters come upon that person. He cannot be sure whether he can still be alive before getting on the plane; he does not know what Jesus can do for him. Many Christians still fear and worry when flying. I used to never fly because I felt planes were unsafe; I always thought they would crash. Later, I had no choice because the ministry was too urgent, and I could not go around by train, so I had to fly. But now I understand one thing: before I board, I start to pray: "In the name of Lord Jesus, because the Son of God is here! So this plane cannot have an accident! Amen!" I have experienced this many times.
In the past, when I went to a northern city, I had two such special experiences. There were no planes taking off at the entire airport; I had been waiting there for half a day, and it was not suitable for landing because the winter fog was particularly severe. I began to pray: "In the name of Lord Jesus, let my plane take off!" It took off, flying in the air; it took 40 minutes to get from here to there. That time I fell asleep on the plane, and I felt, "How can it fly for such a long time?" When I looked, two hours had passed. I asked why, and they said it was not suitable for landing.
I was silently praying in my heart, "In the name of Lord Jesus, land!" I do not care about your air or what indicators are insufficient because I know the Son of God is here, Amen! As a result, not long after, the announcement began that the plane was about to land. The person picking us up said, "No planes took off at the entire airport, and no one landed." Only this one landed the entire morning! After getting off the plane, I found that the visibility on the highway was less than 50 meters. They were all surprised, "How did your plane land?"
I want to tell everyone that it is not about challenging this; it is not to say that in the future, no matter what the weather is, you should go and say, "In the name of Lord Jesus, let this haze retreat!" Do not do that; this becomes a temptation. I did not know this before; the itinerary was arranged here, so I prayed. At that time, it was already arranged that I must arrive in an hour, so I had to hurry down and could not wait any longer. Do not say casually, "In the name of Lord Jesus, let the plane fly for another hour, and then I will pray." Do not do that. Many people take extremes, saying, "I understand; isn't God a healing God? Then good, I will now specifically look for a sick person for God to heal him." Do not treat God like this, Amen!
Lord, let me get sick too, and then I will ask You to heal me, experiencing a miracle. Would you be willing? If you are willing, you can pray and test yourself; do not test others. I want to tell everyone that although the world is in a cursed space, you are not in the curse because of Jesus Christ! So when you pray in the name of Jesus Christ, you will come out from these curses, and what you receive is the blessing from Jesus, Amen!
Why is this a fallen earth? God wants us to go to a place called heaven in the future, also called a new heaven and a new earth, where there is absolute blessing. In this world, there are blessings and curses. I want to tell everyone why it is like this. Because at the beginning, God entrusted the earth to man, so when God gave it to man, He hoped that man would manage it fully. God does not want the people He created to be puppets. Do you understand? People hope that the things they create will completely obey them. Why do people like to create robots? I give you a command, and you execute that command without needing any thought. But God is not like this. After God created man, He hoped that each person would have independent thoughts and willingly obey Him, Amen!
Because love is like this; He cannot control you or dominate you; this is not God. So God gives us a kind of freedom, which we call free will. Always remember that everyone has the power of free choice. God did not create a group of puppets. God did not create a group of people in heaven and then place them on this earth, with a string above them, pulling them to say "Hallelujah!" and pulling another string to say "Amen!"
Is that interesting? I want you to say something, so I pull that string; I want someone to do something, so I pull that string. What use is such a God? God hopes that every person He creates has independent thoughts, that you can choose independently, willingly worship Him, and obey His will, Amen! This is God's intention. When God created man, He gave man free will, which indicates that there will be risks involved. Do you understand? If you give your child the power of free choice, it represents that there are risks involved. Since it is free, there must be at least two choices, right? From Genesis to Revelation, God always gives us free choices.
In the Garden of Eden, you can choose to eat or choose not to eat; during Noah's time, you can choose to enter the ark or choose not to enter the ark; in the wilderness, you can choose to look at that bronze serpent or choose not to look; during Jesus' time, you can choose to believe in Jesus or choose not to believe in Jesus. This is your free choice. Once you make a choice, you must bear the consequences that come with that choice. Do you understand? If you do not choose to believe in Jesus, you live in a cursed world, in a cursed environment; once you accept Jesus, everything begins to change, Amen!
When God placed Adam in the Garden of Eden, He surrounded him with all good things. If you carefully read the first two chapters of Genesis, you will know how beautiful God's choices are for us. God expects you to choose the good, the best! Moses was also like this; at the end of Deuteronomy, he said: "I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses; therefore choose life." God is like this! God placed so many beautiful things in the Garden of Eden; all the fruits in the garden you may freely eat, are they not good things? Except for the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, is this not a choice? One is a pile, and one is one; you can completely choose that pile, is this not God's intention?
Brothers and sisters, think about it. Among that pile, there is a center; which tree is it? God particularly hopes they choose to eat from the tree of life, and eating as much as they want will not cause diarrhea or death; there is only one tree; do not focus on this one. God hopes we live centered on Jesus Christ, so that tree of life is a type of Jesus Christ. God hopes we view the world centered on Jesus Christ.
When you view your world centered on Jesus Christ, you are filled with blessings; in other words, if you must choose to view the world through the knowledge of good and evil, you will see many ugly and corrupt aspects of humanity! Do you understand? Since Adam had the power of choice at that time, it proves that Adam had his own thoughts. God did not impose His thoughts on Adam; he had his own choices: one is self-centered, and one is Jesus Christ-centered.
What is the law? It is self-centered; what is grace? It is Jesus Christ-centered, which is very easy to distinguish. As I said earlier, since God gives people free choices, there will definitely be risks. What kind of risks? It is possible to choose the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but what is the probability? Half and half, do you understand? For Adam, he could choose the fruit of the tree of life or the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; is this not his own choice? God did not say, "I only give you a one percent chance of expectation; I let you choose the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil." If that were the case, Adam would not have done it.
What is freedom? It is that within you, there is indeed a division; you have this power and that power, Amen! Just like today’s people, God places heaven and hell in the hearts of people; you can choose to go to heaven or choose to go to hell, is it not half and half? God did not say: Heaven is great; let me describe it to you... about hell, do not ask, do not ask. If you want to know, the devil will still tell you, but God still hopes we enter heaven, do you understand?
Is the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil good? Is that tree a good tree? Is the law good? The law is good; the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is also good. How do we know this? Because everything God created is good. Is man good? Very good; man is good; all trees are good. But once man eats from that tree, man becomes bad. What went wrong? This is what we call human free will.
Once a person is self-centered, the sin of man will manifest. What is sin? It is deviating from God's center. This is the definition of sin in Hebrew; God is here, and you have deviated to another place. As long as it is not centered on God, it is called sin! This is why Adam is called a sinner; it is because he deviated from God's center and fell under the self-centered law, Amen! The tree of the knowledge of good and evil itself is good; it merely reflects the self-centered nature of man and the original state of man. Do you understand?
It is like we look in the mirror; it merely reflects what should be on your face. But if you are centered on God, your problems still exist, but God does not look at all this and is still willing to bless you, Hallelujah! This is equivalent to saying that the principle of tithing is the same. The principle of giving one-tenth is the same. God gave everything to Adam and Eve, but only placed the tree of the knowledge of good and evil there, saying, "Do not touch this." Every time you go to eat from those, you see that only one tree reminds you that everything is a blessing from God. Therefore, we can remind ourselves through the one-tenth offering that all these blessings are from God! If this is taken away, people will feel it is all theirs, and God will not be seen; this becomes self-centered, Amen!
So this is a warning; it also reminds us to live centered on Jesus Christ. This is our blessing, Hallelujah! God hopes Adam eats and enjoys from the tree of life; He does not want them to focus on the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. So everyone must remember that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil represents a self-centered life, while the tree of life represents a Jesus Christ-centered life, Amen! People have the power of choice; people can choose. The result is that Adam knelt to Satan and ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Why did God not stop him? If Adam and Eve reached out to eat, and God struck them down, would they dare to eat? Why did God not stop them? If God had intervened, it would not be called freedom.
Brothers and sisters, if I say: I give you this precious pen, is it not yours? What power do you have? You can use it to draw, you can use it to write, and you can even use it to dig the ground, can you? Yes! If you hold this precious pen and do not write or draw, but dig the ground, and I see you digging, I say: "Give it back!" Is this really giving? This is not giving. Many people do not understand this in tithing; after giving to the church, it must let the church do this, must do that, eat less for a month; is this really giving to God? No! Brothers and sisters, when God gives to you, He truly gives it to you; you have the power to manage it, Amen! I gave you this pen; you can give it to others; this is your power. So since this is placed here, Adam has the right to eat. Although God knows what the consequences are, God has already given them freedom, so He cannot intervene. If God intervenes, God would be unfair; God would be unjust, Amen!
God respects our free will very much. If a person chooses to obey the devil, God allows him to do so. Does God know what consequences will come once he eats the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? God knows everything. After allowing this to happen, He knows what situation the world will bring: diseases, poverty, death; all these will come to the earth because of Adam eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, right? But God still allowed it. Many people do not understand this and ask why God allowed it. Because God is fair and just, God gave you the power of free choice, but everything that follows is not given by God.
Let me give you another example because many people do not understand this. Using the parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15, let me clarify this doubt. The prodigal son, the younger son, was in his father's house at first. Was he not living without worries? Was he not a rich second generation? Did he not have a noble status? But did he feel that way? He wanted to leave his father; he wanted to live independently.
This is equivalent to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil always calling to him. He is now living without worries, living centered on blessings; he does not want this. He only sees that the distant place is good; he can be free and do whatever he wants. So he said to his father: "Hurry up and give me my inheritance; I want to go out; I do not want to live around you anymore; I want to live on my own." His father divided the inheritance for him. Brothers and sisters, have you thought about this question? After his father allowed it, did he know what his son would encounter? He would definitely encounter many people who would deceive him out of his money; he would definitely encounter a group of bad friends, and the final outcome would be that he would squander all his money and suffer. Why did his father not stop him from going out?
We always like to use free will to judge God, thinking God is unfair. But why did this father not stop his son? If you solve this problem, you will understand why God allowed Adam and Eve to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Why did He not intervene to stop them? The reason is simple: if the father said, "Son, do not leave me; there are many bad people outside. They do not care about how handsome you are; they are not sincerely making friends with you; they want to deceive your money. In the end, you will have nothing, and you will eat pig food." Would he believe all this?
What would he say? "If you do not want to give me money, just forget it; do not use this lie to deceive me." If God had intervened to stop Eve and Adam, they would have wholeheartedly believed the devil's words. Indeed, the snake said that the fruit of this tree is the best; if you do not let me eat, you are biased. They would no longer believe God, do you understand? So the father knew what his son would encounter but still allowed it. Was God willing to allow this? His heart was already willing to live this way, Amen! Before Eve sinned, she had already wanted to eat from that tree, do you understand? So many people always ask, "Lord, why did You let this disease come upon me? Why did You let this disaster come upon me? Why? Why?" Have you not thought that you have already made the wrong choice? When you choose the law, you will definitely live under the curse! When you choose to be centered on Jesus Christ, you are delivered from the curse and live in blessing! The key lies in your choice, not in how God decides your life! Amen!
After this younger son left, were the subsequent series of events arranged by his father? Were those bad friends specially arranged by his father? Did the money being squandered at the end come from his father's arrangement? Was the person who fed the pigs also arranged by his father? No, then you should believe that all the suffering this younger son experienced was not given to him by his father, Amen! From this perspective, I want to tell everyone that diseases, curses, and death are not given to you by God; it is because you made the wrong choice that these things came upon you, and God is absolutely fair and just! Your choice determines your life, Hallelujah!
Although the younger son squandered everything, the father only hoped for one thing: no matter how you are, even if you lose everything, as long as you are willing to come back, I will accept you. When Adam and Eve chose to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, God already knew what their outcome would be. God immediately arranged salvation; that animal died, and its skin was used to make clothes for them. That was also a type, a foreshadowing that God would personally let His Son die, redeeming people from the curse and bringing them back to His blessing. This is our God. God is not afraid of you making mistakes; He is afraid that after you make mistakes, you continue to make mistakes and are unwilling to turn back. This is what God does not want to see. Whenever you are willing to repent and turn back, God always has a way to solve your problems, Hallelujah!
What was the problem with the Galatians? At first, they relied on the Spirit, but not long after, they returned to the law. So Paul was very anxious, saying, "O foolish Galatians!" The original text says "O stupid Galatians!" Why are you so foolish? At first, you lived in blessings, but now not long after, you have returned to the law, back under the curse. Are you so foolish? The original text is: "Are you so ignorant?"
Why do many Christians live in poverty, live in failure, live under curses? Do you know the reason? Their own choices. Death is not God's intention; God does not want people to grow old; God does not want people to be sick or live in a wheelchair; God does not want people to do the same action in old age, "Huh..." exhaling the last breath. This is not God's intention; God does not want people to experience these things.
But God clearly knows that when Adam sinned, he would bring this sin into the world, and the consequence of sin is all the curses you see now, Amen! This is all because of Adam's rebellion, so sin is a very serious matter. The results brought by sin are destructive. At first, the devil was still kindly reminding Eve; in fact, it was a trap. Do you know? He hopes people live in curses, diseases, and death.
But we must understand one thing: Galatians 3:13, Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us; for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree." For whom? For me, Christ became a curse for you. Why did He become a curse for you? Because at first, when you did not know Jesus, you lived under the curse. But now it is different; you have been redeemed from the curse of the law, Amen! Because Jesus was hung on the cross, you have been delivered from the curse. Do not say anymore: "I am unfortunate; I am born a poor wretch; I can never accomplish anything in this life." Do not let these cursed words come out of your mouth! What you should believe is: Christ has become a curse for me; He has redeemed me from the curse of the law. Where has He redeemed me to? Not from one cursed pit to another cursed pit, but from the curse into God's blessing, Hallelujah! Letting you be blessed together with Abraham! Do you know what kind of blessing Abraham received? If you do not know, I suggest you look at all the verses after Genesis 12! See what kind of blessing Abraham received! Amen!
Although Adam sinned and brought the world into a curse, you are not living in that; you are in Jesus Christ! Through the cross of Jesus, you are in Christ; He is your protection. From today on, learn to change your life in the name of Jesus Christ! Jesus has redeemed you from the curse; the meaning of redemption is that He has paid the price, fairly and reasonably redeeming you from the curse. So when Jesus bore our curse, He satisfied God's justice and fulfilled the law, Amen! The blessings you receive are reasonable and lawful; they are what Jesus Christ paid with His life to exchange for you!
Galatians 3:3-4 says, "Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? Have you suffered so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain?"
The Galatians are now facing some problems. Many people are sick, poor, and problems are starting to arise. At this time, Paul says: "What is the problem with you?" Since you began in the Spirit, what does it mean? At first, you relied on faith in Jesus, and the Spirit was given to you, right? He dwells in your heart, do you understand? Since you rely on faith, why now do you rely on the flesh? At first, he established the Galatian church, which was indeed a church justified by faith, but later, after Paul left, Jewish Christians came in and introduced the law. It cannot be so simple to be saved; it cannot be so easy to be blessed; how can it be so simple? You must obey the Ten Commandments; you must obey the various traditions of our ancestors. When he brought these traditions into the believers, it not only did not bring blessings to the believers but also brought many what?
What does it say later? "You have suffered so many things." When they are willing to live under the law, what does it bring? Suffering. But many Christians still want to move forward, saying: "Suffering is the glory God gives us; we must continue to suffer."
Yesterday, a sister called and said, "We are now in Daniel's lion's den; it is not yet dawn; can we go out?" I thought, how long will it take for it to dawn? Brothers and sisters, if you are in the lion's den, whether it is dawn or dark, what are you expecting? Just get me out now; I do not care whether it is dawn or dark because the lion does not wait for anyone; it just wants to eat you. You say the outside is always dark; will the lion not eat? You say this foolish thought has harmed how many people?
So Paul says, "Are you so foolish?" Brothers and sisters, if you are willing to choose to live under the law, when you suffer, do not complain; when you see others being blessed, do not be jealous; do not say: "They are heretics; they are all prosperity theology; they all just think about letting God bless them." Do not say this; just take pleasure in your suffering and do not envy others, nor ridicule others; you live your life, and they live theirs.
Verse 11: "But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident; for 'the just shall live by faith.'"
You have received life because of faith in Jesus; the law is not based on faith. The original text means: "Do not talk to me about faith in the law; there is no faith in the law; it must be acted upon." Do not talk about faith in the law. If you do not understand this point, why do so many Christians suffer? They are willing to stay under the law, saying why so many Christians have accidents; they are willing to stay there. Many people want to die because some say: "Martyrdom is a great blessing." Every day talking about martyrdom, I trained like this before. When I was young, I thought I should die young like Jesus; this is a great blessing.
Extremism also deceives people like this; as long as you offer your life, the true God will... you will go to... place, is it not all deception? How many people are still living under the law like this? Thinking martyrdom is the highest honor; indeed, martyrdom is the highest honor, but there is no need to seek death, right? Many people say: "I must be martyred; I will go to Iraq, I will go to Afghanistan, I will go to the Middle East, wherever there are more bullets, I will rush there." Is this martyrdom? This is seeking death. So when they have accidents, people are also joyful; when bullets fly over, they do not dodge. But many people behind say: "Lord, why did You let him die so young? Lord, why did You not let the bullet fly a little off?" Is that blaming God? Many Christians originally do not pray; they get on a plane and say: "If I die, I die; it does not matter." As a result, the plane crashes, and others say: "Lord, he was so devout; why did You let him die?"
If it were God, how would God think? Do you really know? The key lies in how you choose your life. If every day we place our lives centered on God, you say, "Lord, I live centered on Jesus Christ; Jesus Christ leads the way ahead of me." Even if the time comes, God takes us away, will we not also be joyful? But do not casually comment on another person; you do not know what their situation is, do you understand? But suffering is absolutely not God's intention. Do not introduce the law and suffer yourself while still boasting about it and belittling others; do not do that.
If today we only have hope in this life, we are more miserable than anyone else. How is the life of the Israelites in this world? It is really not good. After they came out of Egypt, how was their life in the wilderness? To put it bluntly, compared to Egypt, which is better? Please listen carefully to my question: In the eyes of the world, were they better off in Egypt or after coming out of Egypt? They were better off in Egypt. Did they die many people in Egypt for four hundred years? But after coming out into the wilderness? In forty years, did they not all die? Were there not many abnormal deaths? Died from snake bites, died from plagues, were there not many? There were not so many disasters in Egypt. In the eyes of the world, those who believe in Jesus are not better off than those who do not believe; it is even worse. If we place our hope in this world, we have no hope, do you understand?
From this perspective, was the suffering of the Israelites given by God? They chose the law. God is willing to bless them, but they do not want to say, "Do not always say You bless us; let us do something; whatever You say, we can do." Is this not self-centered again? God said: "Okay, I will give you My standards; I will give you the Ten Commandments."
From that day on, whenever they complained, the Ten Commandments came out, disasters appeared, and discipline came, did they not? So in the eyes of the world, God wanted to kill them all in the wilderness; these people were lost, wandering in circles in the wilderness, were the Egyptians not laughing at them? But in fact, their lives were indeed not as good as before because they chose the law. So did they suffer a lot?
If you want to suffer, please choose the law; if you love someone, let them believe in Jesus; if you hate someone, let them believe in Jesus; either way, it is good; enter the law because whether under grace or under the law, are they not all saved? As long as you believe, you are saved. So in the eyes of the world, although the Jews in the wilderness were not as good as in Egypt, what was their hope? They were saved people, and in the future, in heaven, they would enjoy eternal happiness, Amen!
From this perspective, do the Egyptians have such hope? Even if they enjoy wealth and honor in this world, it is only for a hundred years. What about after a hundred years? Eternal suffering; is not the hope of the Jews greater? But this is not God's intention. God hopes they also live like Abraham, blessed, and still blessed in heaven in the future. Do you understand? But if you choose to live under the law and suffer on earth, you will still be saved; in this aspect, is it still a gain? Our hope cannot only be placed on this earth. But God hopes that while you are on earth, you can still live out His abundant life. We should not place all our hopes on this earth. If you are suffering today, have hope in God.
What if some Christians insist on living under the law? Do not discourage them, okay? They just like to wander in the wilderness and then die; do not discourage them. Do not say they are cursed; they are willing; you enjoy yours, and they enjoy theirs. When those in the wilderness attack those in Canaan, do not mind, dear children of grace.
After this younger son returned, did his father not prepare a lavish feast and a fat calf? Then he sat in the midst of the fat calf; what was he centered on again? Centered on Jesus Christ. In the past, he lived centered on himself, centered on money; now that he has returned, he is centered on the fat calf. Was the fat calf not something offered as a sacrifice? Now centered on the fat calf, is there not good food?
His older brother stood outside and began to curse him, began to hate him, began to curse him. Is this not a characteristic of people under the law? When he curses and insults, what do you do? Do not rush out; enjoy yours inside. If you rush out, you will be the same as him, living under the curse again. You two will start to curse each other, and even the fat calf will be delayed. So do not let others delay your life; just enjoy the blessings Jesus has given you.
They are already under a curse; is it not normal for them to curse you? Do not argue with them, Amen! You can invite him in to eat with you; if he does not eat, you can continue; you eat yours. This is the person under grace. Do not sit at the table and cannot sit still; you cannot bear it, so you rush out to curse. The abundant food is all delayed; do you understand? This is the appearance of the children of grace; let him curse as he pleases; you should enjoy your life. This is what God wants to give you.
Look at a passage of scripture, Matthew 10:7-8,
7 And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand!’ 8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.
In the past, many people used this passage of scripture where? Many people used it in offerings, saying: "God gives you freely; you must give freely." Is this correct? It is not that it is incorrect, but it is a bit of a forced explanation. What is the context of this passage? When Jesus was preaching, He was going about preaching, saying, "The kingdom of heaven is at hand," and then Jesus began to heal the sick. Is healing not freely received? Today, do not leave any obstacles for others in healing, and do not leave any conditions for healing, 36 methods, 52 principles; do not do it this way. Freely received, you must freely give to others, Amen!
I have shared some spiritual operational principles with you before: Today, if someone is seriously ill and receives healing from God, this is freely received. Generally, this person has more faith in this area than others, and he possesses the gift of healing. Observe carefully. Since you understand this area better than others, after receiving it, give it freely. When you heal others, you say, "In the name of Jesus Christ, your illness is healed!" Because you have experienced Jesus' grace, you give it freely, and when he receives it, he also gives it freely. This is what Jesus hopes we do, Amen!
The second is to raise the dead; is it not the same? This person was raised from the dead. After Lazarus was raised in the Bible, did he not have faith? Perhaps Lazarus also has this gift; he can pray for the dead to be resurrected. We do not know this, but in any case, he has faith in this area; it is freely received. When you say, "The dead are raised," do you want him to pay any price? "You live, and for the rest of your life, you will be my slave; I will let you live in the name of Jesus." Is there such a thing? He is already dead; what if he cannot come back to life? So do not add any conditions, Hallelujah!
Look at the next part: cleansing lepers; is it not a terminal illness? Generally, leprosy is associated with unclean people. This person is unclean, from head to toe unclean. Others look down on him, humiliate him, and avoid him. When such a person is cleansed, do not look down on others, Amen! Dear brothers and sisters, if you have been exalted by God, no matter how many gifts you have, do not look down on others. Then casting out demons; perhaps this person had many demons inside him, and when Jesus came, He cast them out. He also needs to freely use the gift God has given him, Hallelujah! This is what God means by "You have received freely, so give freely to others."
If you do this, you are passing on God's grace; this is what Christians should do. Under grace, we should do such things, Amen! Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons; all these are freely received; you must give them freely! Give them out for free, Hallelujah! You should tell others, it is not what you have done; it is Jesus who has redeemed you from these curses, and in the name of Jesus, He has untied all your bindings. This is what we call correct faith will bring about correct results.
Look at a passage of scripture, Galatians 3:13-14,
13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.” 14 That the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Amen!
Is this referring to you? Brothers and sisters, the scripture we just read also mentions that those who are of faith are the sons of Abraham and are blessed together with believing Abraham (Galatians 3:9). No matter how you lived in the past, if you choose to be self-centered, thinking my performance is not good enough, my behavior is not good enough, so I do not deserve God's blessing. Forget all these; from now on, believe that all your blessings are because of Jesus. Focus your attention on Jesus.
Abraham was not accepted by God because of his good behavior; rather, it was because he believed God and believed in everything. Today I wish for everyone to believe in Jesus Christ in everything. Starting from faith, faith is difficult and easy. Once you truly believe in God, hand over everything to Him; this is true faith, and then hand over the results to God, Amen! This will allow us to receive the blessings like Abraham, Hallelujah! Thank You, Lord!
Look at the last passage of scripture, Galatians 3:29: "And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise."
Are you the seed of Abraham? Therefore, you are the seed of Abraham according to the promise. What promise? Not the law but the promise. You can understand the promise as a will, or you can understand it as a covenant. God made a covenant with Jesus, allowing all the blessings of Jesus Christ to come upon you. This is a promise; this is a covenant, Amen! All the promises in the Bible are free; they are freely given to you. So when you receive these promises, do not add your own thoughts. You receive these promises freely and give them out freely. The gifts and abilities I just mentioned are all freely given to you by God. This is God's promise to bless the descendants of Abraham.
You inherit the inheritance according to the blessings of Abraham. What is the inheritance? God not only lets you have it but also lets you have a lot, to the extent that you can willingly, like Abraham, give to others, and you become a channel of blessing. Everyone living under the law is self-centered, always wanting to feed themselves more, eat more, and store more. Those under grace say, "God has given me; I want to give it out. I am a stream, a river of living water, a channel of blessing; you are all such people. You have already come out of that curse and entered into blessing. Our Lord is willing to bless you and let you become great; you must become a blessing to others!
Let us pray together:
Heavenly Father, we thank and praise You! Thank You for leading us! Through the cross of Jesus, we have been delivered from the curse of the law! We are in Your blessings! Hallelujah! Those who are of faith, I am the seed of Abraham; I am a blessed person. Hallelujah! I am not under a curse; I am in Your grace. I am justified not by my works but by God's grace, by the grace of Jesus Christ. On the cross, Jesus became my curse; I have come out from the curse. In the name of Lord Jesus Christ, all bad things and curses leave me! Though a thousand may fall at my side, and ten thousand at my right hand, this disaster shall not come near me! This week, I am in God's blessings! I refuse all curses from coming upon me! Because God's blessings are upon me! I am also a blessing to others! Thank You, Heavenly Father, for giving me the ability to be a blessing, allowing me to be a channel of blessing! In the name of Lord Jesus, I pray, Amen! Hallelujah!