Sermon of the Week: Pastor Livingston: Generational Curses Explained And Refuted by Scripture

 Pastor Loran Livingston continues his WARNINGS about False Teaching in the visible Church. He teaches the Christ took the Curse for us and preaches the gospel that Christ has washed us in his Blood 

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Transcript

Why We Need Faithful Preaching

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Beloved, sinful people don't run toward what is holy. They run toward whatever pleases the flesh. That's why they must sit under the faithful preaching of the word. And we, the blood washed believers, we must feed on the same word of God every single day because our soul can't live on yesterday bread. Here's the sermon of the week.

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Last week I spoke to you about some of the false doctrines and false teachings that seem to be permeating the body of Christ these days, all of them foretold by the prophets

False Teachings And A New Target

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and our Lord. We were told plainly these false teachings and teachers would be evident in the last days. I didn't realize the response I would get. I'll leave it at that. But I'm not finished yet either. So today, again, we talk about false apostles, false teachers, false prophets, false brethren, false doctrine, and false teaching. And one of those false teachings that seems to be so innocent and yet seems to be in a silky manner permeating the church is the false teaching of generational curses.

What “Generational Curses” Claim

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Now, in case you don't know what that means, it is the idea that a person can be saved and yet have a curse on them from the sins of their fathers, mothers, parents, grandparents, on down the line. Well, I will tell you that we all came into the world with a curse because of our daddy. His name was Adam. But I can also tell you that the last Adam came into this world with the power to break all curses. And before I say anything else, I want to make sure you understand this. All unsaved people are under a curse. If you don't know Christ, you are under the curse. The judgment of God is hanging over your head. All saved people are not under a curse. The judgment of God was taken upon Jesus at Calvary's cross, and when we believe in him, there is no curse. He did away with it. But there's this teaching that people sin and are controlled by destructive habits and cannot stop them, and there's nothing to do about them. So they go to find someone who can break the curse. Listen to this, in a Christian's life. And you know where they get this, don't you? The Old Testament. Leah, put up Exodus chapter 20 in that verse I gave you this morning. Here's where they get it. You shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children

Old Testament Texts And Their Context

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to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me. And that's where this whole premise is that children suffer for the sins of their parents. There are three other passages that say the same thing. One is in Exodus 34, verse 7, and I'm giving these references because someone will want to study them. The other is Numbers 14 and 18 and Deuteronomy 5 and 9. They are all saying from God that the children will have to suffer for the sins of their fathers. Can you hear me? That was the Old Testament. That curse was upon a specific nation, Israel, for a specific sin, idolatry. But if you'll read a little farther in all of those passages, you'll see that when they repented, God broke the curse. When they repented and turned back to him, he erased the power of the curse. People like the Old Testament passages to support their beliefs, their teaching. So I found one in the Old Testament that just might help you a little bit. Ezekiel 18, verse 20 says, The soul who sins shall die. Everybody got that? The soul who sins shall die. The Son shall not bear the guilt of the Father, nor the Father bear the guilt of the Son. There you go. That's the Old Testament, if you still believe that stuff. God said, You die for your own sins, not for the sins of someone in your family. I want to make this perfectly clear today. You are not suffering because of the sins of your father. God doesn't do things that way. He judges individuals for their lifestyle and their sins and their righteousness. Folks, we're in the New Testament. We're in the New Covenant. God is dealing in a different way. God's dealings with Israel have been suspended right now. You got it? He has suspended his dealings with Israel right now. He will pick up on those dealings during the tribulation period after we, the church, have been taken out of this world. We, right

New Covenant Freedom From Any Curse

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now, and all of the songs you heard sung today, verify it. We're in a new covenant, a covenant of blood, a covenant of grace. God's arms are wide open. God is not angry. God is welcoming. God is love. That's where we live right now. And I want to tell you something. You can't be saved and still have a curse. I don't care how foolish your children act. Was that funny? Because I got some more just like it coming up here. People say something's wrong with my kid. Yes, something's wrong with your kid. Something was wrong with you. Something's wrong with the whole world. But a child of God cannot be walking around with a curse on him, can't be suffering for and paying for the sins of granddaddy. No, how can a child of God who's been washed in the blood and forgiven be under Satan's authority anymore? He and God do not have a tug of war for your soul. It's like the way people teach things: God's on one end of the rope, and the devil's on the other end, and you're in the middle, and they're put tugging back and forth. God's not on the same ground with the devil. Satan already lost the battle. Satan is defeated, and Satan is a damned angel. You parents explain what I mean by that. He is under the condemnation of God and will pay an eternal price for what he's done. He and God are not equal. God sits on a throne of sovereignty. What he says comes to pass. When he says it, it's said forever. When he does it, it's done forever. And I'm telling you, when someone kneels at the foot of the old rugged cross and their sins are washed away, they become new creations in Christ Jesus, the curse is lifted and they are accepted in the beloved called Jesus Christ. Folks, it just cannot be that a child of God has a curse. It cannot be that what I did as a foolish young man has been passed on to my children and my grandchildren. That's just not the way it works. So, what I've discovered in my ministry here long time over the years, I've watched people struggle with their children, with themselves, with their habits, and out of desperation, they go around trying to find somebody with a special deliverance ministry who can break the curse in their life. I know someone who can break it. And you don't need to try to find his address. You don't need to get on a plane and fly anywhere. You don't need to go to Tulsa or Dallas or any other religious place. I know somebody who can break the curse. I know somebody who already took the curse. In fact, I want to read to you from Galatians chapter 3. This is pure word. Ready? Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law. Oh, but Pastor, he's talking about Judaism and the law. No, no, no. Anybody that breaks the law of God is under the curse of God. Anybody that violates the character and the holiness of God is under the judgment of God. That's what the law was all about. This may sound strange to you. Think about it before you judge me. God did not give the law for it to be kept. God gave the law for it to be broken. God gave the law so you people could see, I can't do it. He gave it knowing you couldn't do it. You can't keep the Ten Commandments one day in your life. So God gave it to prove to you how weak and incapable you are of doing anything. But Jesus came, the Son of God, with healing in his wings, the righteous Savior, the curse breaker, came into this world and he hung on an old rugged cross and he poured his blood out. And the Bible says he has now 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's in the Old Testament, too. Anybody that gets crucified or hanged on a tree is under the curse of God. And Jesus came and allowed wicked men to nail him to a cross. And when he was there, he took the curse of sin. I'm sorry I get excited if you're visiting. I've done well this morning to control myself. I'm trying not to embarrass you in front of your friends, but I'm telling you, Jesus Christ came, laid his life down, they nailed him to a tree, they split his side, they covered his head with thorns, they lifted him up between heaven and earth. He bled, he cried, he died, and he defeated death, and in that body all curse, all curses were in that body. So whatever you're thinking is, I don't know the degree of desperation you're dealing with today about some type of habit or some horrible sin that a family member committed, and somebody has somehow convinced you that you're paying for it. I just read to you from God's word. You don't need it from a man's mouth. God's word says Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law. The curse of the law included all other cursed things in the economy of God. In fact, you know, let's just be let's be practical, let's be logical. If when you were saved, you were partially saved, because some of you is still under the control of a curse, a devil, demons, then you aren't really saved. He doesn't save partially. You're not saved by fractions and increments. You're not gradually saved. At the moment you call on the name of the Lord, you are immediately, powerfully, eternally saved from sin and all the effects of sin in your life. The cross and the blood, this book says, sets the captive free. A fire and a sword. I think Jeremiah said that. A hammer crushes and breaks. The word of God crushes to powder anything that has cursed you or tried to assail you. A fire, it burns up that, which brings fear into your life, which mainly is uncertainty about your eternal future. A hammer, a fire, and a sword? Yeah. The word of God goes in deeply and it cuts and it cleanses. He does surgery on you. He cuts out the heart of flesh and puts a new heart of love inside of you. This word says, when you get saved, you are delivered from all the power of darkness. All of it. All of it. The powers of darkness include curses and bad habits and everything else. This book says, when you get saved, he forgives you of all trespasses. I need an amen. All there's not one tucked back in your far history. There's not one in a folder somewhere that God's hanging on to. He hasn't filed one away that hasn't been dealt with. Stop telling yourself that. When you get saved, you are forgiven of all trespasses. When you get saved, you are cleansed from all unrighteousness. Do you know how many times the Bible is using the word all? Because God does everything all the way. Not one part of a child of God doesn't belong to God. Everything about you, all of you, becomes the property of your Maker. And then to sum it all up, after we talk about the word delivering and us being transferred out of darkness and forgiven of all trespasses and cleansed from all unrighteousness, Paul seals it up by saying, and by the way, there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. No condemnation. As a believer, you cannot be any more holy in the eyes of God in your state of salvation. Now, in your practical walking, there's a whole lot to be done. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, but just know this know it well. There is no curse in Christ, and if you are in Christ, there's no curse on you. Or your children or your grandchildren. How can it be, because I've heard it all these years, that sometimes Christians need to have demons cast out of them. And I've dealt with it. Oh Lord,

Demons Voodoo And Misplaced Fear

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have I dealt with it? You know, believers can have demons. Some demons won't leave, they're too hard to get out. You are telling me that the same word that created the universe does not have the power to make a little stinking angel, dark, sinful angel, get out of a man's life. You're telling me that some little demonic creature says, I'm not leaving and I won't give up, and this is mine, and I'll keep it. And God says, Oh, what am I gonna do here? And I know we'll find somebody who can break the curse and make him leave. Brother, let me tell you something. If a devil's not afraid of Jesus, don't you believe for a moment he'll be afraid of you. If Jesus can't do it, nobody can. If Jesus didn't do it, it's not done. But he did do it, and it is done, and I'm sorry, I'm about to lose it up in here. He did it, he did it once, he did it for all, and he did it for all eternity.

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See, you're the temple of the Holy Spirit. You're not an apartment building. Nowhere in Paul's writings does he say, Don't you know you're the apartment building of the Holy Ghost?

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Don't you know that there are many residences in you, many uh occupants in you? Some are good, some are bad. Don't you know that you are the apartment building of the Holy Ghost? He did not say that. He said, Know you not that you are the temple of the Holy Spirit and God dwells in you? There are no demons in there, there's only one in there. His name is the Lord Jesus Christ, and he's there by the indwelling spirit of God. While I'm at it, I think I'll throw one out here. There are Christians that are still so afraid of voodoo and witchcraft. Oh, you better be careful. You better not have uh that thing you bought in Jamaica. You better not put it in your house. That little walking stick you got in Haiti, that's probably the reason everybody's sick at your house. That's why you lost your job. You you bought a stick in Haiti where the devil rules and where voodoo is is everywhere, and you brought it home. Oh, you ought to clean your house. Where you folks, you ought to start with your television if that's true. No, no, no little stick from Haiti. Is going to bring sickness into my house, and no little winch or warlock scares me. I'm about to lose it, I'm telling you. I'll just say it because I know what's going around the world. You go ahead and put my picture up on the wall and wring a chicken's neck, and then cut him and splash his blood on my picture. Light all the candles you want to. Say all the little incantations and curses against me that you want to. It doesn't bother me a bit. I've already had blood splattered on me from hell. Go ahead and do all of that. Which crap voodoo jump. Who is in the he who is in the world? Pastor, if all this is true, then why all the confusion and the defeat in my life? Did you ever consider that you might not be saved? You're trying to live a Christian life without being born again? Did you ever consider that going to church does not save you? Therefore, you constantly are constantly

Start With The Question Of Salvation

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defeated and kicked around by things. You always have to start with, am I saved? Before you start claiming blessings of the saved, you have to be saved. And before you expect God to do the miraculous and the mighty, you're gonna have to submit yourselves under the mighty hand of God that He may exalt you in due season. You may not be saved. Not the first time I've said it. We have people here all the time who think that because, yes, yes, just because they got baptized, they're saved. Nope. Pastor Baker said it well. This does not save you. This is an act of obedience whereby you testify. Jesus is my Lord, and you can testify that all you want to, but until you are born again of the Spirit of God, you're not saved. Again, I hate to sound like an old man. But over the years, that's what old men say. Over the years, I have watched people come to this church and go through the motions and try to act like a Christian and try to live the beatitudes without knowing Christ. I've seen them come here and desperately try things to try to get rid of their habit or their so-called curse, only to find out that it's not by might, it's not by power, but it's by my spirit, says the Lord. You cannot defeat the flesh without the power of the Holy Spirit. Now, don't get me wrong. Christians are going to fight stuff till we see Jesus. Can I? But it's not because I'm under a curse, it's because I'm still in the flesh. Oh, what are those terms they use so much? Uh genetic

Flesh Sin Patterns And Personal Responsibility

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predisposition. I love that. Because counselors will say, well, the problem is with your son, he has a genetic predisposition. Okay. The Bible says that. Our genes are sinful genes. We will sin no matter what. But he has a genetic inclination towards alcohol. Well, towards you name it. Folks, we all have a genetic inclination to do something that displeases God. And it's because we're in the flesh. You can't single out drugs and alcohol, alcoholism, and you have to include things like anger and deceit and lying. All these traits are already in you when you are born. They didn't come on you because your daddy did it. They were in you because your daddy helped your mother bring you into this world. And so what you do without Christ, your daddy was an alcoholic, he beat your mother. Oh, how many examples can I give? You saw that, and that became natural for you. That's the way you treat women. You saw somebody in your family with angry outbursts, rage, foul language, and you thought, that's the way it's done. So your genetic predisposition towards sin latches on to those things because you've seen an example of it in somebody else, and you act it out. It's in you. What you see in sinners that influences you to live and do a certain thing is already in you. And that's why you have to be born again. That's why you have to become a new creation in Christ Jesus. It's flesh. So the secular world has taught us to blame somebody. You blame your environment, you blame your skin color, you blame somebody else's skin color, uh, you blame uh everything. Folks, here's the bottom line: you can blame your your daddy and the devil, but God's gonna hold you accountable for the life you live and the things you do. You want me to tell you why people drink and get drunk? Because they want to. Want me to tell you why people stare at pornography? They want to. How much time do I have? What kind of list can I go through here? You know why people cheat in business deals? They want to. Lie? You want to. The devil cannot make you do it. All he can do is put uh something in front of you, like he did Jesus. Remember? He couldn't make Jesus sin, but he said, You can have this kingdom if you'll bow down. Uh you can have some bread if you'll turn these rocks into loaves. You can have, you can have. He couldn't make Jesus do it, but he put it in front of him. But because Jesus was without sin, he said, It is written. And he overcame. Now you have sinned. And when Satan sees your weakness, he's adept at putting something in front of you to make you fall into that. So you sin, you don't say, I don't want to do this, I don't want to do this, the devil's making me do it. No, you want to do it. You know why that guy left his wife and ran off with a young girl? He wanted to. You know why that mother uh drinks herself into a stupor every day because she says she can't handle the pressure? She wants to. Am I making my point here? That's why we will stand before God and give an account for our sins. But boy, do I have a stick of dynamite right here. You ready? Fasten your seatbelt. For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, human, and weak, but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds. Wait now. Casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the

Spiritual Warfare And Strongholds In The Mind

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knowledge of God, and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. Honestly, I did not see what I'm about to tell you till yesterday, about 2:30. The weapons of our warfare are not weak because we're not fighting with human weapons. We are fighting with the powerful word of God. And what we do with the word of God is we stand there and look at something taller and bigger than we are. It's called a stronghold. It means it's got a stronghold on you. And where is that stronghold? In your mind, in your thinking. Weapons of our warfare are not human weapons, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holes. And then he said, casting down imagination. You see, you had to pull the stronghold down because it was taller and bigger than you are, but because of the word, you pulled it down. Now you cast it down because you're bigger and taller than it is. And that stronghold in your mind says, you're always gonna be this way. Your daddy did this, your parents were divorced, you lived in a bad environment, you were brought up in bad schools, bad, bad, bad, bad, and that's what you got to deal with for the rest of your life. Paul said, Don't you listen to it for a moment. Take the word of God, take the weapon of truth, pull down that stronghold, and then cast down those thoughts that say, I'll always be this way, and bring into captivity your mind that says, I am a conqueror, I am an overcomer. Jesus, save me. I don't have a curse on me. I've been saved by the blood of Jesus. I'm filled with the Holy Spirit of God.

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Amen.

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