Sermon: The curse of the “Sweat of the Brow” – 14^th Feb 2010

Proverbs 13:21… Misfortune pursues the sinner, but prosperity is the reward of the righteous.

• Chinese New Year is a time when “Good Luck and Prosperity” is of the primary focus! Everyone wants to prosper or at least be stable financially. Yet each one has his own formula;
  • Some believe in Luck  / Feng Shui
  • Some even believe in Cheating & Lying
  • Most people believe in Working Hard
• Many people work hard in this generation. Yet if working hard is the formula for financial prosperity, then everyone who works hard SHOULD be financial prosperous! But that is definitely not the case. Many people who work very hard are still very poor!
• Proverbs 10:4… The bible clearly says that God is against laziness and every Real Christian should repent from laziness. Yet – the truth is that working hard is not how we experience Jesus’ financial prosperity in the Kingdom of God. A Christian, who works overtime all the time and is stressed out, is a Christian who has not been set free from a curse that Jesus has broken 2000 years ago.
• Genesis 3:17-19… Work is not a curse because God blessed Adam with work before the curse came. Adam was given the work of taking care of the Garden of Eden before the curse came. But after Adam sinned, the cursed entered Adam’s Work Life. Adam experienced what I call – the cures of the “Sweat of the Brow”.
  • Antecedent: The Curse of the Sweat of the Brow
  • Behavior: Working Hard yet producing little
  • Consequences: Experiencing stress, struggle and anxieties in Work Life
• John 19:2… Working hard and yet producing little is a sad thing and that is not God’s plan for us. Praise Jesus – he took the crown of thorns and his brow was pierced. When Jesus did that – Jesus declared that He has taken the curse of the “Sweat of the Brow” for us and redeemed us from the curse. Jesus wore the crown of thorns so that our Work Life can be stress-free and we can have great results. We don’t have to worry and be stressed out day and night like the people of the world so to experience financial prosperity.  Jesus can get you there without the worries and stress.
• Matthew 6:31–33… Every curse that was supposed to fall on our head fell on Jesus’ head, through the piecing of the crown of thorns about 2000 years ago. Jesus wore the crown of thorns for us so that we can have peace of mind. Jesus wore the crown of thorns for us and took the curse of the Sweat of Brow so that we can wear the crown of glory and take His righteousness, and all the benefits being the righteousness of God!
• Matthew 11:30… The children of God are not called to Work Hard like the people of the world. Instead we are called to work Christfully! We are to believe and meditate that the curse of the Sweat of Brow has been broken and we the children of God can expect to see the blessings of Jesus come into our lives without blood, sweat and tears because Jesus wore the crown of thorns for us!