The word I have from
the Lord to you is this. The Lord came on me strongly
this past week, telling me: “I want my people to really
believe that they are righteous.” “And behave accordingly because
they are so prone to guilt,” “so prone to condemnation.” “Even when they pray,
it is kind of like a begging spirit.” “They don't use the words
‘I beg you, Father.’” “But it's like a begging spirit,
a pauper spirit and” “not with a sonship spirit.” Friend, listen carefully. In Jesus’ parable of the
prodigal son, when Jesus shared this parable, do you
remember how the father treated the two sons? The son that was most immoral,
the son that left home, that rebelled against him,
was the son that received the most favor. But the son that stayed
at home and even said: “I never broke any
of your commandments” was the son that didn’t
seem to receive any favor. In fact, he didn't
even feel loved. Now listen carefully. Why? Because the father was
treating the first (prodigal) son based on the Man
at His right hand. Our heavenly Father is
treating the prodigal son as if it is Jesus. It is a picture of you and I. So whose righteousness
do you believe? Well, the prodigal son believed
in the righteousness of Jesus, the fatted calf that
was sacrificed. Right? Because of that, Jesus
becomes the measure. The father treated him
as if he was Jesus. Now the oldest son. He boasted in his own goodness. So the father says: “Okay, I'll treat you based on
your righteousness.” “Whatever level of
righteousness you have, I will” “treat you based on that.” Which is not much. And the father treated him
based on his righteousness, which is something he wanted. “You never gave me.
I kept all your commandments.” He was boasting in
his righteousness whereas the prodigal son did not
boast in his righteousness. He rested in the father's love
and it’s a picture of how God treats us today. So sometimes we are confused. Because we feel like: “Today I don't deserve any
blessings because” “my thought life has
gone haywire and I'm thinking” “all kinds of bad thoughts.” Or maybe you had a
quarrel with your wife and now, the missus is not talking to you. But you have a preaching
assignment and you're very anointed for
that particular session. And you're confused because: “Why did God anoint me
when I don't deserve it?” Now, God did not anoint you
because you had a fight. God anointed you so that
you know that it's got nothing to do with your performance. And it's the goodness of God
that leads you to repentance. Now, once you realize that,
does it make you want to go back to the missus and set things right? Yes! Amen. It is the goodness of God
that leads us to repentance. It was different under the law. Under the law, you have to do right. You have to repent first. Right? And then the goodness of God
comes on you. But today, Jesus looked
at the fishermen and gave them a net-breaking,
boat-sinking load of fishes. And then the fishermen
fell before Jesus and said: “Depart from me for
I am a sinful man.” So did the repentance come first
or the goodness come first? No, the goodness of God
given to him came first. It is the goodness of God
that leads us to repentance. But the challenge is this. When the Lord came on me
just this past week and told me: “I want my people
to really take their place.” “To know that this righteousness
that they have right now—" “they cannot lose it.” “And I want them to come
to Me with a great sense” “of being at home,
being at peace.” Like the Bible says in Romans 5:1. “Therefore being justified by faith,
we have peace with God.” When you come to God,
you're not in a hurry to run off somewhere. Like when you sit down
with your friend in a cafe, you can talk for two, three hours
and still wish you had more time when you say goodbye. Why? You are at home. You are
at peace with your friend. Likewise, for God,
He wants us to be in His presence
but many believers go into His presence, afraid that they
might think something wrong in His presence. Or say something wrong
Or they don't feel at home. So when it comes to God,
they throw their requests real fast so that they can run out. And they are more at home,
at peace away from— though it is a false peace—
away from God's presence. Why? Because they don't have
this sense that the righteousness of God is
coming to him. And God doesn't see you
any other way but as righteous. Always. Yet it is not your own
righteousness but it is the gift of righteousness. Christ is your righteousness. And you are clothed with Him. So God treats the prodigal son
and you according to how Jesus is. It is Jesus' righteousness
that He measures you by. And if that is so, there's
nothing that He won't give us. There's nothing that He will
withhold from us because if it is measured by Jesus’ obedience,
if it is measured by Jesus’ righteousness,
friend, then we have access to all His blessings. Amen. Believers are not receiving
because they don't believe in their hearts
that they are righteous. Or they know in their heads
but they act like God is still measuring them because
of a mistake they made just now or a sinful thought they
had this morning. So they think God is measuring
them by that, as though there is a mixed reaction from God. And for that reason,
they're not able to receive. That is serious, my friend. Look up here in Proverbs 17. “He who justifies the wicked
and he who condemns” “the righteous are both an
abomination to the Lord.” So if you justify yourself
when you're a sinner— You say: “I'm okay.
And I don't sin that much.” And you're justifying yourself. Like Paul says: “They being
ignorant of God's righteousness,” “going about to establish
their own righteousness”? That's an abomination. But this is also an abomination. “He who condemns the righteous.” Now we think this in terms
of people condemning believers because believers are
the righteous ones today. Those who have received
the gift of righteousness. But if you condemn yourself…
you are also righteous! If you condemn yourself,
it's an abomination. Why don't we preach
on this even more? Amen. It’s not humility to treat yourself
like you're a sinner. Now hypocrisy is pretending
to be what you are not. If you are a sinner and
you pretend to be righteous, that's hypocrisy because
you are not righteous. You're a sinner. You have not put your
trust in Christ. You're not born again. But if you are born again
and you are righteous and you act like you're a sinner,
you are still pretending to be what you are not! That's hypocrisy! Hypocrisy today is not acting like
you are righteous—for the believer— because you are righteous! You should be
praying bold prayers. Amen. You got to believe that your
prayers avail much because the Bible says: “The prayers of
a righteous man availeth much.” So a person who justifies himself
when he is a sinner is an abomination. But a believer who condemns
other believers, or condemns himself,
when both are righteous, is also an abomination! And friend, look at
this word here “wicked.” “Rasha.” (in the Hebrew)
Do you see the word “condemn”? It is the same word! The same spelling! In the Hebrew. Look at the Hebrew
for the word “rasha.” “Wicked” or “condemn” are
the same word! The word “rasha”—
reading from right to left— “Resh”, “shin”, “ayin”. Okay? It is “rasha.” The words “wicked”
and “condemn” is the same word! The pronunciation is
a bit different because the dots and dashes
make it different. “Wicked” is
pronounced as “ra-sha.” and “condemn” is
pronounced as “ra-sheh.” But it’s the same spelling! In other words,
condemnation is wicked. “He who condemns the
righteous are both alike” “an abomination to the Lord.” You got to agree with God! Just like what Amos
the prophet says: “How can two walk together
except they be agreed.” God pronounces you righteous! What are you
pronouncing about yourself? God declares you righteous! Say: “I am the
righteousness of God in Christ!” I find it makes a world
of a difference between saying: “By His stripes,
I am healed.” “By His stripes,
I am healed” and saying: “I am the righteousness
of God in Christ and” “by His stripes, I am healed.” Or saying: “I am the
righteousness of God in Christ” and then coming to God in prayer. It's like a new dimension! It brings you to a new level. Amen. This excerpt is brought to you
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