Pastor Stan Mons
Sermon Transcription:
Let me start off today with reading to you Genesis 9 verse 18: "Now the sons of Noah who went out of the Ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and Ham was the father of Canaan." Let's pray.
Lord, we come before you this day, Lord God, rejoicing that you have taken a people like us, and you have declared us forgiven by the power of the blood of Jesus Christ. Lord, we worship you because you have given us hope in all circumstances. Lord, even in death, Lord God, our soul does not need to be afraid anymore, Lord God, and we thank you, and we worship you.
But Father, I ask you, Lord, that you would open the eyes of our heart today. Lord, Father, I ask you that you send forth your Holy Spirit upon those that are with us online, every person that is here, God, that our eyes may be opened to a greater degree or for the very first time to see, Lord God, what you are revealing.
Lord, I know what you've shown me, and Father, I could never show these things to another person, but your spirit is willing, and your spirit can, and your spirit tests the hearts. And those that are willing to know the truth, no matter the cost, Lord, you open their eyes. I pray that this may be that miraculous morning, Lord God, for many, where the eyes are opened, Lord God, for the first time or to a greater degree to see in the spirit, Lord God, what you are doing, what you are speaking to our hearts, what you are encouraging us to believe. But you are inviting us, Lord God, to believe, to respond to you with childlike faith. Lord, Lord, I pray that your spirit goes before me and that your will may be done today. In Jesus' mighty name, we pray.
Thank you, worship team. Great job today.
The title of this word is Canaan Land. Canaan Land. And what the Lord wants to do in your life this morning is a very particular work. It's a prophetic work. You'll see throughout this word that there is a prophetic word woven into what the Lord has for you today. A prophetic word is always an invitation to one of two things: to faith or to repentance. And today, there is going to be a call that goes out from the heart of God that is going to encourage you to believe for something. It may be something that you haven't thought of for a long time. It may be something that you have shoved deep down into your heart. It could go as far as the unchanged area of guilt and shame that is still there because sin is still a part of your life—it is not washed away yet.
That could be true for someone this morning online or here in person. Maybe you have been saved, and you'll notice that the Holy Spirit begins to bring something to your mind throughout this service—something that is not good, something that is unchanged in your life. An area where you know, if you come face to face with it, you haven't been transformed. You haven't been made, by degree, one step at a time, more and more like Jesus yet. In this area of your life, it's unchanged, it's unholy, it's unsanctified, it's not set apart, it's not been touched by God. God is not reigning in this area of your life. The Lord seeks to address that area in your life. It can be a different area for every single one of us. He'll bring it clearly to your mind, and then he's going to give you a word to believe for that area.
Canaan Land. Canaan Land. I read to you again Verse 18, and we're going to continue from Verse 18 down to Verse 25: "Now the sons of Noah who went out of the Ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and Ham was the father of Canaan. These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the whole earth was populated. And Noah began to be a farmer, and he planted a vineyard. Then he drank of the wine and was drunk, and became uncovered in his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside. But Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it both on their shoulders, and went backwards into the tent and covered their father’s nakedness. The nakedness of their father—their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father’s nakedness. So Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his younger son had done to him. Then he said, 'Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants he shall be to his brethren.'”
Here we have this incredibly powerful statement: Cursed be Canaan. Canaan didn't do it. Ham did it. And his son and his son's descendants—Canaan gets cursed. Cursed be Canaan. Something brought about by sin—brought about by sin—and now it is going to overtake the entire life. You're going to see this in the word—the entire life of Canaan, every single one of his descendants, to the point where Canaan Land, where the Canaanites dwell throughout the entirety of the world—and you may be familiar with some of that—it means something.
Canaan Land. Let me continue to read to you about the descendants of Canaan, right there in Genesis 10, verses 15 to 20: "Canaan begot Sidon, his firstborn, and Heth; the Jebusite, the Amorite, the Girgashite, the Hivite, the Arkite, and the Sinite; the Arvadite, the Zemarite, and the Hamathite. Afterward, the families of the Canaanites were dispersed. And the border of the Canaanites was from Sidon, as you go toward Gerar, as far as Gaza; then as you go toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha. These were the sons of Ham, according to their families, according to their languages, in their lands and in their nations."
A couple of familiar names pop out right there in the descendants of Canaan, the descendants of Ham. These people, that have been cursed, are now, because of sin, under this curse that just breeds into their family. Sodom comes out of it, Gomorrah comes out of it, the Amorites come out of it—all kinds of names that we know throughout the entirety of the Word of God. These names often represent the enemy of the people of the Lord, those who were bringing child sacrifices, murdering babies in order to worship self, to worship their own life, or to worship their gods. This is where this was taking place. Canaan land was the hotbed, if you will, of where Satan was allowed to rule and reign and define the people's lives because it was a cursed people—a cursed land, a cursed people, cursed lives, people living a cursed life.
This word that is used, cursed, it means the opposite of sacred or devoted. Being cursed, instead of being made holy, that's the opposite. Being made holy is the opposite of being cursed. To be cursed is really to live in the absence of holiness—the absence of being like the Lord, the absence of increasingly becoming like the Lord, the absence of being set apart unto the Lord and unto a purpose. It means to be cursed, the opposite of being made holy.
This land is a land that is cursed. The opposite of being made holy is happening to this land. It is increasingly becoming unholy. Increasingly, the people are becoming unholy, and increasingly, their lives are becoming unholy. Canaan Land. Now, let me take you to the genealogy of Shem, Ham's brother—the uncle of Canaan—in Genesis 11. Toward the end of the genealogy, verse 26:"Now Terah lived seventy years and begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran."
Here we see, in Shem's lineage, at the end of that genealogy, that Abram is born. His great-great-great—however many great—uncle was Ham, the one who brought the curse on Canaan and all of his descendants, and everything that would pertain to Canaan land. Every single person that lived in it, every city that was built—full of filth, full of disgrace, full of unholiness. And Uncle Shem has a great-great-great-great-grandson. His name is Abram. Then we read Genesis 12, verses 1 through 5: "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.' So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. Then Abram took Sarai, his wife, and Lot, his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan."
Here we have Cousin Abram, if you will. God meets him. At the same time, we have this cursed land somewhere—Canaan land. Everything Canaan and his descendants touch—cursed. Every person walking under a curse, walking in unholiness. Don't think of this like some mystical witchcraft kind of thing. That’s not what cursed means. It means the absence of God's activity—the activity that begins to make you more and more holy, brings God's standard into your life, builds you up, and gives you the dignity of being created in the image of God. It’s absent. Increasingly, the flesh of mankind is running the show—deceitful, increasingly evil.
To be absent from holiness, to have no holiness activity in your life, is to be cursed. Ham, his descendants, Canaan. Then we have Abraham. God speaks to him. We have the land, the people, the lives of curses. And God calls Abraham—God calls the father of faith.
Out of all the things God could have done, out of every single place in the entire earth that God could have pointed out, He commands Abraham and says, "I'm going to show you a place. I'm going to show a land to you. I'm going to show it to you, and then I'm going to give it to you." And God leads him to Canaan's land. He leads him to Canaan land—the cursed place.
What does that mean? Why does God find a man that is willing to obey God's voice, willing to believe God, and then say, "Now you, I'm going to take on a journey. I'm going to show you a certain place. You're not going to like what you see. I'm going to show you a certain place, and then I'm going to give it to you"? Why does God do that? Why does God not find the best of all possible places in the world—the place with the least resistance, no difficulty, and already dedicated to the blessing of God's people?
Why does God do this? What does it mean? What does it mean for you today that God did this strange thing—that God found the cursed place, showed it to His friend Abraham, and then gave it to him? Church, I want you to realize for a moment that when God pointed out this cursed land to Abraham, and Abram actually went, and God began to meet him on this cursed ground among this cursed people living cursed lives—this eventually would become the land that Jesus Christ would bleed upon. This became the land that accepted and, if you will, drank in the blood of Jesus that was being shed, flowing upon this cursed ground. This cursed ground—Golgotha, the mountain of rejection outside of Jerusalem—was literally rejected ground. Jerusalem was built off the rock of the surrounding hills and mountains, but this stone they found in Golgotha (translated, the place of the skull) was good for nothing. They rejected it; they couldn't build with it. And Jesus Christ, in this Canaan land, in this cursed place, on a mountain of rejection, in a place of rejection—He's made King there. It says it right above the cross on which He's crucified: King of the Jews. Bleeding now, the Son of God onto the land that was carrying a curse because of sin—carrying a curse because of the actions of men.
Let’s read verse 7 of chapter 12:"Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, 'To your descendants, I will give this land.' And there he built an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him." He says, "This is the land that I’m giving to your descendants." This land—this land where everything is touched and affected by sin, where everything is in the absence of God’s activity. There’s no holiness, no transformation, no change, no hope. This is the land that I’m giving to your descendants. They’re going to encounter giants. They’re going to feel that it’s impossible. They’re going to encounter their Jericho moments, where nothing seems to make a way into this land. But this is the land—Canaan land. I will give this to them. I want you to begin to see that this is what God is like. When God begins to see an area that is cursed in your life—an area that is affected by sin in your life—He doesn’t invite you to do something about it. He doesn’t invite you to try and change it. He doesn’t try to muster up faith in you, strengthen you, or motivate you to work harder, make a difference, or work some stuff out of your life. No. When God sees an area that is cursed, He begins to address it.
He says, "I want to talk to you about this. I want to show you this place that is cursed. I need you to get up from where you are, and I’m going to take you to a place. I’m going to show it to you. And when I show it to you, I’m going to make you a promise that I am giving it to you."This is what God does. He did it with Abraham. He then allows Christ Jesus, His Son, to be born into that cursed place, and the blood of Jesus is shed in that cursed place so that the curse will not have the last say in that place. God comes into the lives of believers, and God takes you on a journey. He is going to show you the unholy places in your life—the cursed places, the places that are not changed yet, not transformed. Maybe you even feel like they’re getting increasingly, slowly but surely, worse. Other areas you’ve believed God for have been given in your life, or so it feels. But when you open this little door to your little Canaan land—that’s the ugly place in your life. The Bible even later refers to it as the Promised Land.
It's so important for you and I to understand what God is doing here because He picks the place, the last. It wasn't a Promised Land. It wasn't a good land. It wasn't a joyful land. It was the place where sin was running wild, where nothing good was coming about. It was a cursed place. But when Jesus sees an area in your life, a place in your life that is cursed—where there's no hope, no holiness, and no change—He says, "I'm going to take you there. I want to talk to you about it." The blood of Jesus Christ wants to cover that area, wants to cover that place. Then the Lord wants to give it to you. He takes it away from the curse, He takes it away from Satan, He takes it away from sin, and He says, "My children are going to get this back. My children are going to be in control in this place. You're not going to be overrun; you're not going to be a slave in this place."
But the Lord says, "I'm going to take you to that place. I want to take you there and talk to you about that place in your life." There are presentable places in our life—things God may have already done. Maybe you have good character traits that don't make you look bad at all; it's good stuff. And the Lord is not seeking to talk to you about those things today. But there are areas—the Canaan-land areas—they're unchanged, they're unholy. And the Lord says, "Now this is what I want to show you. I want you to see this place, and I want you to hear with the ears of your heart that I'm going to give this place to you." As if the Lord says, "If you let me take you there, if you let me take you there, I'll give it to you." But so often, our hearts do not want to be taken to that place. When there's a place left in our life that is really unholy or maybe getting worse, we don't know what to do. We don't know how to go about it.
I've given my life to Jesus to the best of my ability. I've called on His name, and now He seems to be drawing me and pulling me toward this place where I see more and more bad things and worse things, and I don't know what to do about them. I've tried; there's no strength. It's a cursed place. No matter what I do, it doesn't get better. No matter what I do, it doesn't change. Sin somehow has power in this place. There's nothing I can do about it. And God seems to bring it up to my mind. God seems to want to take me to that place. I don't want to see it. I don't want to deal with it. I'll believe for the forgiveness, but I do not have control in that place. I do not have strength in that place. There's no holiness in that place. I don't want to dwell on that. I'll believe for the forgiveness, but I don't want to dwell in this place.
Let me read to you Galatians 3:13–14:"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." Church, this is what God does. He takes an area that is cursed, broken, unholy, and occupied by sin, and He begins to whisper to your heart and to your mind. He says, "I want to take you to a place. I want to show it to you." Then He says, "Now this is the place I'm going to give to you. This is the place where I'm going to make you victorious. This is the place where I'm going to give you peace. This is the place that you will be known for. This is the place that is going to be turned around."
The very curse, the unholiness—Jesus has given His life. He’s redeemed us, the Word says, from the curse of the law. His blood has been sprinkled, if you will, on the curse. His blood has been sprinkled literally on that land of curse—not only the physical place but also representing that spiritual truth for every single person that would ever believe on God. Just like Abraham believed on God after He gave him a promise, the curse has been broken, the blood has been shed, and then God says, "Now I'm going to give it to you. I'm going to give you this land. It's not going to stay a place of unholiness. It's not going to stay a cursed place. It's not going to remain a place of powerlessness in your life. It's going to belong to the children of God."
That's what He promises. It's going to belong to the descendants of Abraham—in other words, to the descendants of Shem—not H and all of his sinfulness and everything that it cost. God says, "I'm sending someone into that cursed land."
Abraham, in that sense, was a picture of Jesus Christ, who would be born in the lineage of Abraham. God says, "I'm sending someone into that curse to turn it all around and to give it back to you so that sin and Satan do not rule and reign in that area anymore." God told Abram, "Go there, meet me there." And then, as Abram went, the Father sent His Son to die right there in that place that was cursed, to break the curse. Through Abraham, He brought blessing on all the Earth in Canaan land—the cursed ground drinking in the blood of the Son of God. That sacrifice, and that sacrifice of Jesus Christ alone, broke the curse that was on that land. It took that land away from sin and Satan and gave it back to the children of the Living God.
So, where does the King want to take you today? Where does He want to take you? What area of your life—where, when you run into it, you find unholiness? It just doesn’t work. No matter what you do, you can’t progress in this area. It’s cursed. Where does the blood of Jesus Christ need to be drenched into the earth of your heart? What area of your life does the King want to take you to? What does He want to show you? What does He want to talk to you about today?
He wants to take you there. He wants to meet you in that place. God is pointing out a place in your heart, in your mind, in your life today. There’s no holiness there—it’s all cursed ground. And yet, He’s pointing it out, and God is saying to you this morning, "I’m giving you that land." That is His prophetic word to you this morning. Whatever may come to mind, whatever the Spirit of the Living God brings to mind as the place in your life that is not made holy yet—that seems to be cursed—you may have even felt like this area is cursed. No matter what you do, it doesn’t change. No matter what you do, it doesn’t progress. No matter what you do, the unholiness just doesn’t seem to be able to be pushed out.
God is pointing at it. He wants to talk to you about it, and His word is: "I’m going to give you this land." Do you believe Him with all of your heart that He’s going to give it to you? He’s not calling you to fight the enemy. He’s not calling you to clean house. He’s telling you, "I want to give this to you. Do you believe me? My Son’s blood has covered this cursed place, and I’m taking it away from Satan. I’m taking it away from sin, and I’m giving it to you. I’m giving you that ground. I’m giving you that area." If you would stand with me for a moment, if you would close your eyes with me, the Spirit of God—the Spirit of Christ—is lovingly pointing at an area of your life today. You’re the only one who knows it. You know it in your heart; you know it in your mind. It may have just come to mind during the Word, but the Holy Spirit will invite you and say, "I want to take you to a place, and I want to show it to you."
He does that, Church, because He wants to give you the ground. God says, *"I’m going to give you that land. Whatever the Spirit has pointed out in your mind, God says, 'I’m going to give you that land. It’s not going to stay cursed.'” Now, if you believe that prophetic word over your life today—online or here in person—I want to invite you to bow your head with us and pray with us. Here in person, if you believe that prophetic word over your life today, over whatever Canaan land may be, whatever the Lord took you to in your heart or in your mind today, if you believe that prophetic word that God says, "I'm going to give you this land," if that is you, I want you to step out. Just slip out of your seat and meet me here at the altar as we prepare to pray together and to believe that God will keep His word and give the descendants of Abraham that promise—that land that God points out.
He doesn’t shy away from a cursed land. No matter if you caused it or someone else caused it, He doesn’t shy away from it. He wants to address it. He wants to give you a promise, and all we can do is say, "Lord, I believe You with all my heart." The only reason I can come up with this is because of Your Son, Jesus Christ. But I believe that You want, and You are going to give me that land just as Abraham believed when it made no sense. So much strength in that land, so much sin in that land—it made no sense that God would ever give that to God's children.
But if you believe today, you will see the hand of the Lord bear in your life, and He will bring to nothing the power of the enemy, the power of sin, and He will give you a song of joy in that very place where He will meet you. Hallelujah!
Lord, I pray, Lord Jesus Christ, for every person online, Lord, that has responded in their heart, every person that is here at the altar, Lord God. Lord God, You have promised that if we believe You with all of our heart, Lord God, You would be God to us. We need You, Lord God, to be God to us in Canaan land, Lord God. Lord, You have promised Abraham that You would give him and his descendants this land—the land that is cursed, the land of death, Lord God, the land of unholiness, the land of brokenness, Lord. And You’re pointing out areas in our heart and in our mind today, Lord God, that represent Canaan land in our own generation, Lord God, in our own lives. And Your Spirit is pointing it out and saying, "I want to give you this land. I want to redeem it. I want to bleed on this land. I want My blood to cover it. I want My power to take it back, and I want to give it unto you so that you may not be a slave in this place, that sin and Satan may no longer rule in this place."
Lord God, all we can say today is, "Lord God, I believe, Lord Jesus Christ, that by Your blood You’ve made me a descendant of Abraham, Lord God, and that You will give me the cursed land. You’ve promised it, Lord God, by Your mighty hand. Lord, You’ve done it for the people of Israel, by Your mighty hand, Lord God, You’ll do it for the Gentile Lord God who has become a part of Your people in the blood of Jesus Christ." Lord God, would You redeem? Would You uphold Your mighty hand, Lord God? Would You perform Your word, Lord God? Thank You that You’ve given us a promise. Thank You that You will surely do it. Thank You, Lord God, that You redeemed the broken. Thank You, Lord God, that You set the captives free. Thank You, Lord, that You open the eyes of the blind. Thank You, Lord, that You’re not offended with the cursed places in our lives, Lord God, and the broken places, the unholy places. Thank You, Lord, that You take us by the hand to see it and to meet You in that place.
Father, thank You that it is Your heart to send Your Son into that place, that the blood of Your Son may break the curse and bring the blessing in the most unlikely of areas. Lord God, You are faithful. Surely You will perform Your word. Lord Jesus, be glorified in our midst, Lord God. Teach our hearts to solemnly trust You and worship You because You’ve promised us that You’re giving us this land. Lord God, it may be different for every single one of us, but the choice to believe You is the same. Lord, I believe You, that You are giving this land to Your people, Lord God. Thank You that You cleanse that land. Thank You, Lord God, that You will cause it to become fruitful. Thank You, Lord God, that You will cause it to bring renewal. Thank You, Lord God, that the land of death will become a land of life. Thank You, Lord, that a land of shame will become a land that is presentable, a land of dignity. Thank You, Lord, that You have loved Your children. Thank You, Lord, that sin has been paid for. Thank You, Lord, that the sins of Ham have been paid for. Thank You, Lord, that Canaan land will not be defined by sin in my life, in our lives, Lord God, but that it will be defined by the God who sent His Son into Canaan land.
Lord God, be glorified in our midst as we worship You. In Jesus’ name, let hallelujah ring out! It’s incredible, incredible news, Church. Whatever the Spirit brought to mind this morning, God says, "I’m going to give it to you. I’m going to give you this land." Isn’t that worth rejoicing over? Amen. Amen. You don’t have to do the work. You don’t have to do the miracle. You don’t have to do the fighting. If God brought it to mind, His word to you is, "I want to give this to you." If you believe Him without questioning, you’re going to sing a song in that promised land. Amen. It’s not going to be a cursed land anymore. God promised something. Now I get to live in this land. Now I get to see holiness in this land. I get to see freedom. I get to see peace, dignity in this land. Out of all places, this is what God pointed out. This is what He will give to you.
Lord, we bless You once more, for You are worthy and You are glorious, Lord God. We give You a shout of glory because You are worthy and You are good. You give the promised land to those, Lord God, that have believed You at a simple word from Your mouth, Lord God, into our hearts. Lord, we bless You. We pray that You bless every person online, every person in this sanctuary. And we pray, according to promise, Lord, that You make us a blessing every place that You send us out to this week. Lord God, that freedom and forgiveness in the name of Jesus Christ may spread through Your people. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen.
-Pastor Stan Mons