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On Wednesday nights we have, for some time now, been studying in depth each of the twelve disciples of Jesus Christ, and in researching and preparing for those lessons, I have often been frustrated with how little we know about such men who played such an important role in the New Testament church. It is the same with many notable and prominent heroes and characters in the Bible, we are given just a hint and just a few references and details of their character and often are left wishing that we knew much, much more and yet must admit, that we know everything that God obviously wanted us to know about them.

With such a trait of scripture, it is with some surprise that I have in the past read our text in Genesis of the story of the birth of Tamar's children. It seems very unimportant and trivial to spend four verses of scripture detailing such an event, and yet there must be something important to it for God to record it for us to learn from it. And it's importance, it turns out, is resounded throughout the Bible in a powerful lesson to us of the lasting effect of a breakthrough.

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Tamar was with child, and she was having twins. Our first hint that there might be a spiritual parallel to the story comes from the children's father, Judah, which means "praise." To put it another way, these boys to be born would literally be the product of praise.

We today cannot fully comprehend the meaning and significance of the birthright in Biblical times. In those days, the order of birth had tremendous meaning and authority. The first born would get a double portion of the inheritance and the father could not remove this inheritance from the son, even if he desired. The first born would often be given preeminence in spiritual blessings as well. The first born would have the authority and the prestige of the father's lineage, fully passed to them. If the father were a great or powerful or wealthy man, then the firstborn son would receive that honor and respect. If the father were a king or a high priest, then that office was passed on to the eldest son. The first born would be blessed and revered and have a greater lot in life simply by virtue of the fact that he was born first.

In Biblical times it was the custom for a midwife to assist with the birth and such was the case in Tamar's delivering of her boys in our text, but in the arrival of twin boys, the midwife carried a greater responsibility than just ensuring the safe arrival of the babies, because it was left up to the midwife to determine and mark which of the twins that was born first and thus received the glorious birthright. The importance of not getting this mixed up, led to the practice of keeping a red piece of cloth or thread nearby to tie around the leg or arm of the first born; in the births of twins, the prestige and extra blessing of the birthright would be often decided by just a matter of seconds in their arrival.

And so as Tamar began the child birthing process of labor, the midwife stood ready not only to assist in birth, but in case they were two boys, mark the one who would be the most blessed. As the birth began, a hand pressed through the cervix and into the birth canal and the midwife -- dutifully watchful -- quickly tied the red thread around that child's arm saying "this one came out first." I have recently learned that a hand thus protruding is a bad sign, a sign of a child in a breached position. In other words, the one with the hand extended was turned in such a way to block the exit for both of the babies and thus was obviously the lowest in the womb and the closest to delivery.

But as the labor continued, finally the first child came forth and the midwife was shocked to look down and realize that there was no thread around either of his hands. And when the second was born with the thread around it's arm, she realized that a remarkable event had happened and that the child that had been wrongly positioned and in an ill-favored place had pushed the other out of the way and pressed forward to claim the birthright for itself. As she stood amazed at what she had seen, she pronounced him as "Pharez" or "Perez" and this utterance would become the child's name. His name means simply "to push forward through an obstacle," or as one translator put it: "to breakthrough." And despite his brother pushing a hand out first, "Pharez" had broken through to the birthright and the greater blessing.

Is there not a tremendous lesson for us here today from this obscure birth story? Did not Jesus teach Nicodemus in the 3rd chapter of John that we cannot enter the kingdom of God unless we are "born again" and born into it? I have seen many people born of the Spirit and none of them ever received the gift of the Holy Spirit until they began to praise and magnify God for themselves, and so like the sons of Tamar, could we not say that if we have been born into the kingdom of God, that we are also "children of praise?"

And yet there is even more to the story than just salvation because I am preaching to some people today, that if you would completely be truthful with God and yourself, you would admit that you are being held back from great blessings and anointings of God because there is something that is blocking your way to full commitment. The reason some of us have not received all that God has for us is because there are things in the birthing canal of that blessing that are keeping us from receiving our spiritual blessing. We have been "begotten" by the Word of God but along side of us in the spiritual growth process there has arisen another that appears to have come to steal our blessing.

We all have or have had an obstacle which seeks to keep us from the complete blessings of surrendering all to God. To some, that obstacle may be their past. To others, it is a wrong that was done against them long ago that they cannot seem to shake. To others, it is a desire or a cycle of sin that continues unchecked in their life and just when it seems that they have shaken it and overcome it, it rises up to pull them back again and take what was rightfully away from them. To some people, their obstacle to being everything that they could be is family traditions and excuses that were passed down from the lips of generations long ago. For some it is a personality quirk that dominates; for some it is doubt and unbelief.

Time and time again, I have seen people so close to being "free indeed" and so close to making a change in their life, but when that giant of an obstacle rises up, they give in and give up and have to settle as they always have for second best. The world is full of people who have convinced themselves that the greatest spiritual blessings and the most dynamic power and callings are for others and not for them. The world is full of people who have repeatedly given in to sins demands and believed the lie that they can do nothing about the circumstances that they are being born into, and so they sit back and do nothing spiritually and allow their obstacles -- their fear, perhaps -- to reach forward and grab a hold of the scarlet thread of promise and forgiveness, and to their minds, it seems that the ribbon has been tied, and the thing has been marked, and in their life that cycle will just continue without being ever truly conquered. Like the children of Israel hiding in the bushes as Goliath thunders in the valley, they seem resigned to a life of fear and suffering.

But to a child of praise, there is always hope! What needs to happen today is somebody to forget about the lies of the past and the lies of the cycle of sin, and to get the attitude and determination of little Pharez. There was a struggle and a fight going on in that womb, that day. And it seemed as if the other was almost in position to take the blessing, but something came over the little guy and he fought to get past it! He pushed through the very thing that was keeping him from the birthright and broke through to the true promise. Close ended up not counting. Close didn't get it. What everybody else thought would happened didn't happen, because somebody made up in their little mind that "I'm going to breakthrough this." I'm going to push beyond where I've always been.

What you need, ma'am, is to breakthrough your problem. What you need, sir, is to breakthrough your doubt. What we need is to breakthrough as a child of praise until we have broken through the doubt and lack of commitment that were keeping us from the blessings of God and we grasp the blessing of the birthright of God. It doesn't matter what other people have said you will always be. It doesn't matter what has been marked as seemingly insurmountable. If you will breakthrough it, then you will lay claim to the promise. If you will press onward to a place where you have never been before, you will inherit the double portion, but it will only happen if you are willing to have a breakthrough!

God has a tremendous blessing awaiting someone who will grab hold of it. His promises are "yeah and amen" if only somebody will seize them today. Jesus Christ said this, a scripture that we don't quote too often:

That doesn't mean that you should get physical with people and fight them with literal swords, but it does mean that the greatest blessings of God come to those who are willing to do whatever it takes and overcome whatever odds that they have to overcome in order to have them. In other words, you are going to have to overcome some things to possess in the kingdom of God. You will not get the greatest blessings of God by sitting passive in your life and just hoping "things work out."

Some people are surprised that when they begin to live for God, that the devil doesn't just roll over and give up. Some people are surprised when they have to endure persecution or face this or fight a little! Why are you surprised? Don't you realize that when you come towards God, that is when the devil is the most worried about you? He didn't care about your actions as long as you were doing what he wanted you to do, but when you begin to move toward the blessings of God and when you begin to come toward the promises of God, that's when the enemy rises up against you. Are you surprised that there will have to be a fight? Did you not forget that when you believed, you were signed into the Lord's army? Did you not forget that when you were baptized, you took on the name and authority of Jesus Christ? If you are to receive your blessing and your change and your power, it will be through a fight with an enemy of your soul that doesn't want you to have it. Don't be surprised if you've got to get active with this!

But before you grow weary in the fight for truth and obedience, let me let you in on a little secret that the devil doesn't want you to hear. If he could -- and he cannot do so or he would -- he would come to you and clamp your ears, because he fears you getting this revelation most of all. And that is when you are in the struggle and in the fight of your life, you are the closest you have ever been to the birthright of God's blessing that is rightfully yours. And this is the part that the devil doesn't want someone to realize: although you may be tired and sick of fighting, realize that if you can just "breakthrough" then once you have broken through this enemy. Once you have broken through to a place that you have never been before. Once you have broken through to seize what God has for you, then it is forever yours! It belongs to you! If you can just breath through and grab hold of what God wants in your life, then you will have it and nothing that the enemy can do will ever cause it to leave your possession. Just breakthrough! And then you will be able to live the rest of your life with the blessing and the honor and the prestige of the birthright of God. Such is the lasting effect of a breakthrough!

I've known people who through the strength of the Holy Ghost, broke through the generational curses in their life. I know people who through the power of God have broken through the giants and the obstacles that dogged them constantly. Things that used to be a thorn in their side, they now laugh at. Things that once seemed as the insurmountable odds in their life, are now just the testimony of a great victory that God has brought about in their life. I know people who when others said "you'll always be that way" they got a breakthrough and didn't give in to that negative opinion! And now, they live their life in a more blessed place than they ever thought possible. They live their life in all of the power and blessing and prestige of the promises of God. They live a happier and more fruitful life than they ever imagined. Such is the lasting effect of a breakthrough in their life! In your struggle, remember, there is more at stake than just a victory for today, but if you will breakthrough, you will live from the effects of your victory for the rest of your life!

I've come to bring hope to someone who can't imagine your life truly happy. I've come to bring hope to someone who have believed the lies of hell about what your future will be. Breakthrough all of that through praise and the power of God today! And you will find that your future will be colored and blessed for the rest of your life with the joy and victory of the breakthrough! "Pharez," you may not even realize it yet, but you will live the rest of your life in a blessed state as the result of what has happened this day! Such is the lasting effect of a breakthrough!

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We read as our other text, the blessing that the people of Bethlehem placed upon Naomi and her grandchild which was born of Ruth and Boaz. If you don't know the story of Ruth, then I encourage you to read it. It is the powerful tale of how a Gentile woman who was an idolater believed in Jehovah God and following her mother-in-law back to Israel, placing herself in the lineage of the kings of Israel. What people don't often realize is that Boaz, Ruth's husband, was a direct descendant of Pharez, "Mr. Breakthrough!" All those "begots" that we read in our text were the lineage of how Pharez gave birth to a son who gave birth to a son, which eventually came to Boaz and Ruth, and then continued on to Jesse and the young shepherd boy, King David, who would become the great king of Israel and the man known as "a man after God's own heart."

You see, when little Pharez broke forth in the womb that day, it seemed a very little event, but it was recorded in scripture because it had huge consequences for the future of his family. Something was given in the spirit that day that was passed on to Pharez's first born and that continued on to his firstborn and so on. In what had been a lineage of cursing and sin and promiscuity and doubt and lack of obedience of God's Word -- go read the circumstances of Tamar's pregnancy some time -- yet that lineage became one of power and of blessing and of anointing! Where did it change? Not just with Ruth's decision, her decision to leave Moab just got her into the flow of promises that already existed. But where the flow came from goes all the way back to a fight in a womb where little Pharez decided that nothing or nobody was going to keep him from missing out on the promises of God! Such a seemingly pointless and little event started a great lineage of blessing!

I'm preaching to people today, who you view your spiritual battles with less seriousness than you ought to. "Oh, it's just my life, preacher, if I want to live for sin and under this pressure and mess, then it's my choice, I can decide to do it and you can't change that." You're right. But what you don't realize is that the choice that you are making not to live right and not to stand for truth and not to obey God's Word, is not just making your life miserable, but you are starting or even continuing a chain of sin in your bloodline. Your kids will fight against the same giants that you are giving in to right now. Our actions don't just affect us, you see, but everyone that comes after us, and so while you may think that you are only affecting you, the sad truth is that when you are dead and gone, your offspring will have to deal and fight the very things that you have introduced into your family through your disobedience and stubbornness.

But if someone could get a revelation of the importance of a "small breakthrough" there would be some futures that would change greatly. "It's just a small thing preacher, that I battle." Yes, but it has a lasting effect. But if that is true, then so is the principle of Pharez true. It may seem to be a small affair, but if you would allow the power of God to help you to breakthrough it and overcome it and seize the promises that God has for you, then you would -- like Pharez -- start a trend of blessing and a line of promise in your life! Your issue isn't "small" because it could be the beginning of a great line of victories in your family! Your obedience is not a "small matter" because it could mean the difference between your family being saved or lost. It's a big thing to breakthrough and claim the promises of God despite the obstacles! It's a mighty big thing! Because a breakthrough always has a lasting effect, much longer than your life! The blessing from your small breakthrough will most likely outlast you!

When the people of Israel blessed Naomi, they said this:

Bible scholars note that by the time of Ruth the blessing of Pharez's offspring had been so pronounced that to "be like the house of Pharez" was a figure of speech for being "mightily blessed throughout your generations in every way." Time does not permit us to detail every possible blessing of the house of Pharez that is recorded in scripture, but let me just give you a few so that you realize what this phrase is saying. There is no more remarkable record of a small breakthrough making such a large impact than that of Pharez's family.

Ruth and Boaz were not the first famous, faith-filled descendants of Pharez, but long before them there was a man named "Caleb" who was also a direct descendant. It was Caleb who alongside Joshua said "God can give us the land" and after forty years had passed and all of the doubters had died off, it was Caleb who as an old man took a sword and conquered the giants in the Promised Land of God. We admire Caleb for his courage and his faith and his willingness to fight for the things of God, but we forget that it started in his forefather, Pharez, in the womb, breaking through to the promises of God!

King David, as a direct descendant of the firstborn of Pharez, needs no introduction. What a warrior! What a lover of God! What a praiser! What a mighty man! And yet never forget that the seed of faith in God was planted years before David was even conceived in the womb. That's why when a big ugly giant stood between Israel and the promised victory of God it was David who was willing to stand and fight and win a great victory over that giant. To "breakthrough" a large obstacle to God's promise came naturally to David. What Pharez started, God continued in his offspring! And it would continue on to Solomon and to all of the kings of Judah throughout Israel's history.

And it was not just the firstborn line of Pharez that was blessed, but all of the other lines of Pharez were great also. Some of you may be familiar with the list of David's mighty men who were the warriors above warriors and who through tremendous exploits of faith and strength, rose to the highest level in David's time. To even be a part of this group, one had to have single-handedly killed giants and hundreds of the enemy at one time. I don't have time to go through all of these great men listed in 1 Chronicles 11, but I'll quote the Bible scholars McClintock and Strong who said that it is remarkable that, "a considerable number of the other mighty men seem to have also . . . to have been of the house of Pharez..." They were discussing this after noting that the chief of the mighty man, the most mighty man of all, Jashobeam, the greatest warrior of David's time, was a direct descendant of Pharez. The scholars think it is remarkable that there were so many of Pharez's descendants who were so blessed, but it is no remarkable at all, but is rather a testament to the lasting effect of the smallest breakthrough in your life! Your overcoming today, will impact generations of the kingdom of God!

After the Jews were taken into captivity into Babylon, groups began returning to brave the odds and rebuild Jerusalem. A man named Nehemiah came with a group of men and despite having to have one group build and the other fight off the enemy they succeeded in courageously repairing the wall of the city. By now you probably are not surprised to hear that the Bible lists the men who accompanied Nehemiah and many of them -- a large proportion in fact -- were direct descendants of Pharez. Maybe we should notice a pattern here!

Another man came with a group of people to begin rebuilding the house of the Lord that had been destroyed. This man's name was Zerubbabel, and he was a direct descendant of Pharez. Furthermore of the groups that were living with him and helping to rebuild the temple, 468 of them were direct descendants of Pharez. It was Pharez's offspring who played the major roles of rebuilding the temple and the walls of Jerusalem and restoring Israel to serving God. Coincidence? No way! It is a testament to the lasting effect of a breakthrough to God's promises and God's will!

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I wish that I had time to tell you every little detail of my parent's pasts and my father-in-law's testimony. They were not raised in truth and were born into cycles of sin that dictated to them who they would be and what they could and couldn't become. My father was an alcoholic before he left his teenage years. My father-in-law's father died an abusive drunk and I don't have time to tell you the horrible things that my wife's father was raised around and in. Both of them seemed destined to recreate the cycle of sin and for their children to be the same as generations had before! But God got involved!

Both of them received the Holy Spirit and began to live for God and seek to obey His Word in every way. Both of them had to face some generational curses that lied to them telling them "you can't be different." Both of them had to face what others told them that they could or could not do. Both of them had giants of sin and circumstance raise their ugly heads and say "to get to the promises of God, you've got to come through me!" And yet they broke through those lies and obstacles and grabbed hold of the blessings of God for themselves. And they couldn't know the lasting effect that their breaking through and grabbing truth would have brought. They didn't realize that one day they both would pastor a church and see thousands get the Holy Ghost under their ministries. My father-in-law couldn't realize when he was struggling with those enemies of his soul that he would one day marry a woman who was five generation Apostolic, and that her daughter would continue the lineage!

They also couldn't foresee the lasting effects of their breakthrough on the next generations. Both me and my older brother are in the full-time ministry. He teaches and preaches God's Word every Sunday. I ended up in Castroville, pastoring a church at the age of twenty-four years of age. You are here as a result of not only my decision, but of a decision to breakthrough to the blessings and promises of God that my parents made over forty years ago! My wife's brothers are in the ministry. You know that she is definitely in the ministry. All of the grandchildren on both sides are being raised in an Apostolic home in an Apostolic church. There's another on the way that will be raised right here in this church home. I pray that they will grow up and go even further than anything that I ever achieve in the kingdom of God, and if God tarries, I pray that a mighty anointing rest upon them and their children. That they would hold to truth and the cause of Christ. And if by God's mercy, it happens, then know that the kingdom of God will have been impacted in such a way because of a breakthrough that happened in revivals five decades ago. You think that your struggle and fight is a small thing, but if you would surrender to God and press through to His promises and His way of living, you can't even begin to imagine the lasting effects that would come as a result of your breakthrough today!

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The symbol of the firstborn and the blessed one was supposed to be the scarlet thread. And Pharez' opponent had possession of the thread, but Pharez broke through and grabbed the birth right for himself! I don't know when it happened, but it had to happen soon after birth. Somewhere the midwife had to take the scarlet thread from the other child and put it on Pharez's little hand, lest anyone be confused as to whom the birthright belonged. That scarlet ribbon was rightfully given back to the one who had broken through.

The symbolism of the red thread is great and it testifies of Pharez's greatest mention in scripture. His greatest honor is not the mentions of the Old Testament of the mighty men and such. It is not even the honor of being the forefather of the great King David. The greatest mention is in Matthew chapter 1, the genealogy of Jesus Christ. And it was significant that it be a thread placed around his arm, because he began a genealogical thread of blessing and promise that ended with the greatest man that ever lived, Jesus Christ. Mary, you see, was chosen for her virtue and her faithfulness to God's cause. She was chosen for her faith and courage. She was chosen for her remarkable spiritual walk with God in a time when many Israelites lacked in that area. But Mary was also a direct descendant of a twin named Pharez. For that matter, so was a faithful man named Joseph whom she was dating. Coincidence? No, it's a testament to the lasting effect of a breakthrough!

And that the thread of the birthright was colored red, was significant because the thread of blessing and honor started by Pharez' breakthrough would culminate in a cross where the perfect One would shed His blood to provide salvation for humanities' sins. If you have applied that precious blood to your life today and had your sins washed away through the power of that red flow, then you are a "son and daughter of God" and since Jesus was "God in flesh" your salvation is in effect traced through Jesus Christ and back through His lineage all the way to a breakthrough in a womb in Genesis. If you endure to the end, you will be saved for eternity and you will live forever in a blessed place with the honor and riches and glory of a child of the King of Kings. And it all started with Pharez as a baby pushing past an obstacle to get to God's blessings. Eternity? Forever? Ultimate salvation? Such are the lasting effects of what seemed at the time a small affair. Never underestimate the lasting effects of a breakthrough to God's blessings!

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I do not know what it is that most of you face today. I do not know what it is that has placed itself as an obstacle between you and the perfect will of God. I do not know what it is that keeps you from giving everything to Jesus today. But I do know this, that if you will push through it and break through whatever it is and allow God to change you and allow the Holy Ghost to come inside of you and determine that "I will serve the Lord" with everything, that you can overcome anything and that your breakthrough will have a lasting effect: it will change the rest of your life on earth. It will alter your children's courses of life. It will affect the kingdom of God positively for generations to come. It will bring you to a place where you can live forever one day with Him! Such are the lasting effects of a breakthrough!