December 4, 2016
Morning Worship
Text: Galatians 3:7-8
Subject: Redeemed
Title: Free From the Enemy: Redeemed Part 4
We continue today with our sermon series called “Redeemed”. Jesus has redeemed us from the curse of the Law. Isn’t that right? You are redeemed and you are blessed!
Well, yes, we’ve heard that for the last 3 weeks. Why do you think that you have to keep repeating it? Oh does anybody know the answer to that?
FAITH COMES BY HEARING AND HEARING BY THE WORD OF GOD.
Isn’t that right? And I know that for the last three weeks we have seen powerful moves of the Spirit and the gifts are in operation and people are getting blessed and they walk out of church every Sunday knowing they are blessed. But if Sunday is the only time you know you are blessed, then we haven’t quite gotten there yet.
Oh, but if you wake up every morning and open your eyes and say, “I’m Blessed”, and you can’t wait to get up and get going at whatever you do, then you’re making progress.
You get into your car to go to work and the car starts – “I’m blessed!” You go to County Market and find that what you needed was on sale – “I’m Blessed”. Oh, but that’s just the beginning. Even when things don’t look so grand, you just keep on saying “I’m Blessed”. I’m blessed. My wife / husband is blessed. My family is blessed. My car is blessed. My job is blessed. My boss is blessed. My bank account is blessed. My church is blessed. Every ministry and minister in the church is blessed. Are you all getting this?
Are you blessed?
Well, you see, that’s why we keep going over it. We want it to get out of your brain and down into your spirit man. That is so important, because if the only place you have it is in your head then you set yourself up for attacks from the enemy – satan – the destroyer. Your brain is part of the natural man and subject to attack.
But if you have it in your spirit the enemy has no place to work. If it is in your spirit man then even if the attack comes to your mind, you are continually renewing your mind so that you can know the will of God, and church, it is not God’s will for you to be under the curs but to be blessed.
Let’s read our scripture today. Galatians 3:7-9,
7 Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham. 8 The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.” 9 So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
I believe this is God’s word…
I believe it is for me…
I accept it as mine…
I will appropriate it to my life today…
We look at those verses and there is so much in there about who we are… those who believe are children of Abraham… That’s us. Are there benefits from being children of Abraham? 9 So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. Now a lot of well intentioned people want to tell us that refers to spiritual blessings only. Abraham found favor with God because of his faith and so by faith he was called a friend of God… That is true… and listen to me, that is the most important part. We can only find favor with God through faith in Jesus Christ. But it’s not the only kind of blessing that Abraham experienced. He had more gold, more silver, more servants, more sheep, more goats, more donkeys than anybody else around. He had so much that the blessing ran off onto his nephew Lot, that they had to divide and go their separate ways because the ground couldn’t sustain all their possessions. He was Blessed.
But are Christian people supposed to have that kind of blessing?
Look at verse 8… The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.”
Here we see that the Holy Spirit through Paul is telling us that the gospel message is more than if you believe you won’t go to hell. Again, that’s the most important thing – your eternal destiny. But this gospel message has to include the same kind of blessings that Abraham experienced. That’s where the enemy of your soul wants to come in and tell you that if you are going to be a good Christian you just have to be content with what you have and just hold on till Jesus comes. He does not want you to know that these blessings are intended to be for you.
You see if we are going to be preaching the gospel to others – and what is the gospel? – the good news, if we are going to preach the good news shouldn’t it include the blessing? For today? Right here and right now! So that the church is always fully prepared financially, and physically, and emotionally, and spiritually to be that church that Jesus said He was going to build.
I know that folks look at Christians, especially pastors, and if they got some nice things they think there must be something going on. Now I do believe that there are some who go to a degree of extravagance that may be a little overkill with their mansions and cars and airplanes, but who am I to say what they have is wrong? They have just received their blessing in a little greater degree than I have.
I remember when we were attending church at our home church in Troy. We had just moved into a new house and had bought a new car and one of our friends saw us pull up in that new car and I mean you would have thought that we just rolled in with a gold lined Rolls Royce or something… His response was something like this. You’ve got a new house and now a new car? Who do you think you are? I didn’t know it then like I do now, but We Were Blessed then and we are blessed now and we are going to be more blessed tomorrow… because I am blessed with the blessing of Abraham! I have been redeemed from the curse of the Law.
People really believe that we shouldn’t have stuff. No the bible says that we shouldn’t set our hearts on stuff. We shouldn’t strive to have more stuff. That becomes greed. Oh, but I am willing to receive the blessings that come upon me.
That attitude is really a Judas Spirit. John 12:1-6 (NKJV)
1 Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead.
2 There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him.
3 Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.
4 Then one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, who would betray Him, said,
5 "Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?"
6 This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it.
Those preachers have so much, why wouldn’t they give it away? Well maybe they did and now they are even more blessed.
But I have to admit that even some preachers take it too far and go after more… send your money and you’ll get back a hundred fold! And if you don’t it’s because you were lacking in your faith.
No! God wants this cycle of blessing that He has for you to be accomplished in a biblical manner. Giving according to how the scriptures say to give and then receiving the blessing that the storehouse can’t hold. Am I making this up? What does it say?
Malachi 3:10 (NKJV)
10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this," Says the LORD of hosts, "If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it.
That Judas spirit hates the blessing and those people can’t bring themselves to believe the scriptures. But you are different. You will not allow the curse to come upon you because you know that you have been redeemed from the curse of the law. You are the offspring of Abraham by your faith and you have blessing promised to you.
When we talk about the curse of the Law we can look at it two ways.
1. We are no longer dependent upon following rules and regulations for our salvation…
2. This also refers to all the types of curses that re mentioned in the book of the Law – the first five books of the bible.
And if you go to Deuteronomy 28… here we see the blessings and the curses…
Deuteronomy 28:1-6 (NKJV)
1 "Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the LORD your God will set you high above all nations of the earth.
2 And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the LORD your God:
3 Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country.
4 Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, the produce of your ground and the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks.
5 Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.
6 Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.
Deuteronomy 28:7-10 (NKJV)
7 "The LORD will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways.
8 The LORD will command the blessing on you in your storehouses and in all to which you set your hand, and He will bless you in the land which the LORD your God is giving you.
9 The LORD will establish you as a holy people to Himself, just as He has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the LORD your God and walk in His ways.
10 Then all peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they shall be afraid of you.
Deuteronomy 28:14 (NKJV)
14 So you shall not turn aside from any of the words which I command you this day, to the right or the left, to go after other gods to serve them.
Deuteronomy 28:15-19 (NKJV)
15 "But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:
16 Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the country.
17 Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.
18 Cursed shall be the fruit of your body and the produce of your land, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks.
19 Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out.
This cursing is not from God. But your disobedience allows the destroyer to come in and begin to have his way in your life. And it may start as a little crack that you left the door open and he sneaks in and one little act of disobedience leads to another and then another and then your blessings begin to slip away. Oh but don’t you see that the Lord has provided you a way through repentance to get back into the blessings?
Satan doesn’t want you blessed. He wants you cursed. He has come for what reasons? To steal kill and destroy! He is an expert at that and he will use every trick he can to get you to turn against the Word of God.
The good news for believers is that you obedience to the Law simply is what Jesus talked about in John 6:28-29 (NIV2011)
28 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”
29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”
Communion:
Our communion service is a little different today.
Turn to Acts chapter 8 and we begin to wind down with this.
Acts 8:4-8 (NIV2011)
4 Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.
5 Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there.
6 When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said.
7 For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed.
8 So there was great joy in that city.
How did Philip get all those people in verse 7 set free so quick? Obviously no one ever taught him about all the process you have to go through to get rid of the generational curse or deliverance ministry. No, he cast out impure spirits and saw people healed because when they got saved they got blessed and set free from the curse.
Acts 8:9-13 (NIV2011)
9 Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great,
10 and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, “This man is rightly called the Great Power of God.”
11 They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his sorcery.
12 But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.
13 Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.
This man was full of the devil. He had lived his life cursing people and deceiving them. He operated under satan’s power for so long and he had spiritual power and all the people called him the Great Power of God. Were those folks deceived? Listen, not everything spiritual is from God.
But the power of God to deliver even those who have been held under the power of the devil for years brings and end to the curse and allows the blessing to come.
Today we celebrate communion as those who are blessed.
This baby seen in our Nativity set – Jesus – came to bring the blessing of God into the world through His life and His death and His resurrection.
First, we take the time to reflect on our lives. Have we been children of disobedience to open the door for the curse?
1 Corinthians 11:28-30 (NIV2011)
28 Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup.
29 For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves.
30 That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.
1 Corinthians 11:23-24 (NIV2011)
23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread,
24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.”
The sacrifice of His body brought the blessing. This bread symbolizes blessing. The degree to which you believe this will determine the degree of your receiving.
1 Corinthians 11:25 (NIV2011)
25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
There is power in the blood…
There is deliverance in the blood…
The is healing in the blood…
There is blessing in this cup.
1 Corinthians 10:16 (NKJV)
16 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?
1 Corinthians 11:25 (NKJV)
26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes.
We Are Blessed and not cursed.
Galatians 3:13 (NKJV)
13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us …
