The Blessing of Abraham 

Greetings in the name of Jesus! This is Rob Haymes. This is 15 Minutes With Jesus. Wherever two or three are gathered together in My name, Jesus said, there am I in the midst of them. To those of you who love Him in truth: mercy unto you and peace and love be multiplied. (Jude 1:2)

Today’s program is called, The Blessing of Abraham. Let’s turn to Genesis 12:1, Now the Lord had said to Abram: "Get out of your country, From your family And from your father's house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the Earth shall be blessed." 

Now let’s turn to Galatians 3:10, 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. But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for The just shall live by faith. Yet the law is not of faith, but The man who does them shall live by them. 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, that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. 

Abraham believed God; he obeyed God. He was righteous by faith. He loved God. He worshiped God. Everywhere that Abraham went he built altars, and worshiped God. He was righteous by faith working by love. So are we righteous by faith in Jesus; faith in His sacrifice for our sins. Jesus bore all our sins, all the sins of the human race, in His sinless body on the cross. Our faith is through the Gospel. We are righteous by believing in His shed blood atoning perfectly for all of our sins. Through repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ we are righteous. And then we are to be led by the Holy Spirit. We receive the Holy Spirit, fulfilling the righteousness of the law, obeying the Lord, being led by the Spirit. 

Love does no ill to his neighbor, therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. So, as we walk in love we are going to be keeping the sayings of Jesus. He said, this is love, that you keep my sayings. So as we continue with the Lord, we’re going to be keeping His sayings; that’s love; we’re going to be walking in love, being led by the Spirit to do the will of the Father. We need the Holy Spirit. The gift of the Holy Spirit is not an option. It’s absolutely essential to fulfill the righteousness of the law; to walk in obedience; to understand the scriptures; so many things are given to us through the Spirit. You cannot possibly be led by the Spirit without receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit. If we look in Acts 1:8, Jesus said, But you shall receive power, after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you, and you shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the Earth. John the Baptist said, in John 1:33, I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, “Upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.”

So you need the Holy Spirit. You need the power of the Holy Spirit to lead you, to give you the words to speak, to be witnesses to Jesus. The Bible says the Gospel is not in word only, but it is also in power. Jesus Christ was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit, and we preach the Gospel by the power of the Spirit as He leads us. He leads us to the people He wants us to talk to. He gives us the words by the Spirit, what to say, and the power of the Lord will be manifested. The Holy Spirit also convinces of sin, righteousness and judgment. The Father, through the Holy Spirit, draws people to Jesus. And the Holy Spirit is the one who sends us, as in Acts chapter 13 where the Holy Spirit sent Saul and Barnabas to start their ministry in Asia. We need the Holy Spirit. It’s not an option to receive the Holy Spirit.

If you look at the beginnings of the Church: the Gospel was preached; people heard the Gospel; they were convicted of their sins; they repented; they believed; they were baptized in water, and they were baptized in the Holy Spirit; three separate experiences. Let’s look in Acts 8. If you look at this scripture, and you consider it clearly, you can see what I’m talking about. Phillip went down to Samaria and preached the Gospel, verse 6, And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. And there was great joy in that city. Verse 12, But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized. Verse 14, Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the Word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. So you can clearly see here, they heard the Gospel; they saw the power of God; they saw the Gospel demonstrated; they repented; they believed the Gospel; they were baptized in water for the remission of sins, and then, later, the Apostles came, laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. As you see in verse 16, He was not yet fallen upon them. The Holy Spirit comes upon a believer when they receive Him.

Luk 11:9, So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him! So you seek after the baptism in the Holy Spirit, you ask, but it is the blessing of Abraham to receive the Holy Spirit, to be led by the Holy Spirit, to do the will of the Father. So it is with us: if there is wickedness in our lives, if there is witchcraft in our lives, we need to be delivered, we need to repent, we need to seek after God and be cleansed, and then we can receive the Holy Spirit. Some people ask, but they don’t receive because of these problems. But if a person will humble themselves and seek the Lord, and seek to be purified, and then ask for the Holy Spirit, they shall receive. Whatever you have to do; fast, pray, and seek the Lord to lead you in repentance, and to deliver you from witchcraft. Many preachers operate in witchcraft to control the people, and if we have been in a situation like that for any number of days, we can be bound up with that witchcraft. It says in Acts 8 about Simon, that he had for a long time bewitched the people, and he wanted to give Peter money so that he could lay hands on people to receive the Holy Spirit, and Peter said, "Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money! You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God. Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity." So we see that Simon was not in a position to receive the Holy Ghost, even though he had believed, and was baptized in water, because of the witchcraft, because of the bitterness; unforgiveness in his heart. He needed to repent. He needed to forgive. He needed to be cleansed. Unforgiveness will cut you off, because you are not forgiven until you forgive, according to the Words of the Lord Jesus.

We need the Holy Spirit to be led by the Spirit and to do the will of the Father; to walk in the Spirit and not fulfill the lust of the flesh, otherwise you are walking in the flesh, and the righteousness of the law is not being fulfilled in you. In Romans 8 it says, the righteousness of the law will be fulfilled in those who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. If you don’t have the Holy Spirit, you cannot walk in the Spirit. So you will be walking in the flesh, and you will be justifying yourself by keeping some form of law, religious rules, or traditions. And people do that. They go to church; they sit in a certain place in the church; they do certain things in the church, and they feel like, because they are keeping those traditions and rules, that they are righteous before God. Righteousness is by faith, and by obedience. And to obey God you need to be led by the Spirit. To be led by the Spirit you need to receive the Holy Spirit. The gift of the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential, not an option, to walk in righteousness and do the will of God, and be led by the Spirit, and not be under the law, doing the will of the Father. 

If we look in Matthew 7, at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, we see how serious this is: Mat 7:21   "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in Heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!' This brings another dimension into this: These people had the Holy Spirit. There is no way you can cast out devils, according to the Words of Jesus, except by the Holy Spirit. There is no way you can prophecy except by the Holy Spirit. So, even if you have the Holy Spirit, you must have faith; you must have love; you must love God: you want to obey God; you want to do the will of God. But you must have the Spirit in order to be led by the Spirit to do the will of the Father.

Also, you cannot pray in tongues and build yourself up on your most holy faith, as it says in Jude, unless you have the Holy Spirit, unless you’re filled with the Holy Spirit. So what do people do? They are taught that they have the Holy Spirit; they are taught that they got the Holy Spirit when they were baptized in water. They go to church, they keep their religious traditions, and they feel like they are righteous before God. They have no need to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. They have no need to speak in tongues. They are even taught that tongues are of the devil, tongues are not of God, tongues have passed away. Speaking in tongues is just one gift of the Holy Spirit. We need the gifts of the Spirit in order to edify one another, in order to edify the Church, to build one another up. In 1 Corinthians, chapter 12, it talks about the various gifts of the Spirit, and various ministries and governments that the Lord has given to the Church. At the end of chapter 12 it says, But earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way. 1 Co 13:1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. So, we walk in the Spirit; we walk in love; we edify the body of Christ. 1Co 14:26  How is it then, brethren? Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification. 

So what is it? The Lord is making a holy people, by the power of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. Also, the Holy Spirit is the comforter and He will be with you forever. Jesus said, I’m not going to leave you alone. When I go to the Father I’m going to send the Holy Spirit, I’m going to send the Comforter, and He will be with you forever. We need the Holy Spirit. He is not an option; He is God. If you want to walk with God, you need the Holy Spirit. If you want to be religious, that’s another story altogether.

The Word with the Spirit is life. As Jesus said in John chapter six, Unless you eat of my flesh and drink of my blood you have no life in you; people were offended at Him, and He said, Does this offend you? He said, It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The Words that I speak to you are Spirit, and they are life. So it’s the Word of God with the Spirit, not just the Word of God. And, the Word of God is the sword of the Spirit. So as you pray, the Holy Spirit will lead you in warfare against powers of darkness, against the devil, who wants to destroy you. You have no power against the devil without the Holy Spirit, and he wants to destroy you, and he has power. So you need, as it says in Ephesians 6, the whole armor of God, otherwise you are not equipped to war a good warfare: Eph 6:10, Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your loins with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints…This is how you’re going to war a good warfare, by which you’re going to overcome, by which you’re going to inherit all the promises of God. You overcome by the power of God through faith in the Gospel: God so loved us, that He gave His only Son a living sacrifice for our sins, that whosoever lives and believes in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life. So, all things are for edification. Love God, and be led by His Spirit to do His will, keep His Words, and love your brother and your sister.

Thank you for reading this message from 15 Minutes With Jesus at roberthaymes.com . May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you who love Him in truth, Amen. (2 Cor 13:14)