Joseph Prince - The Significance Of This Generation

I pray that the next few days, you will hear what God wants you to hear, amen, that in the multitudes of words, you will hear that rhema Word that God has for you. You know, more than anything else, like Mary, you have taken time to sit at his feet these few days. And the Lord says, "This one thing needful. This is one thing needful". So, can I just say this? We are here to serve you as well. Our church have been set aside to serve you, to wash your feet. I come here with the mentality of washing your feet. I don't want anything from you. I want to be God's servant to deliver the living bread that you need. All right, perhaps there is something that is waiting to manifest in your life, except for you marry that Word, and that seed, there's no explosion.

Just like Elizabeth, John the Baptist's mother, when she was pregnant with John the Baptist, the miracle was there already in her. But when Mary spoke the Word, the baby jumped. So, perhaps in these next few sessions, your baby will jump again, that vision, that ministry, that hope that you have for your ministry, for your church, for your life, will spring to life again. It'll be resurrected. It is dead, okay? Amen? Let the Lord serve you. Mary, on the other hand, sat at Jesus's feet, and we have many from Asian background. The Middle Eastern background is the same. When someone comes to your house, you set aside everything to serve them. You don't sit at their feet, amen. But Mary sat at Jesus's feet, so culturally, culturally, she was out of it. But based on God's economy, based on God's culture, the Lord loved it so much so when the sister came out and sister say, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me alone to serve"?

You know the mentality that most of us pastors we have is, is that we get impatient. We don't get impatient outwardly with the Lord many a times. We know better not to speak against the Lord, but inside we are impatient with him. Then outwardly, we criticize our wives, our husbands, our leaders, our people, or whatever it is, when actually we are stressed. We are burdened. You know why? Because we have this mentality of, "I'm pouring out. I'm pouring out. I'm pouring out". Instead of this mentality, "God is supplying me. God is supplying me". And Mary sat at Jesus's feet and took in the supply. She took in the supply. And the Bible says she did nothing but sat at his feet and heard his Word, so much so that when the sister came out, and nothing wrong with the sister. Please understand that Jesus... you know, people, I hear people teach on this many a times and they say that, you know, the Lord rebukes busyness and all that. It's not busyness.

The Lord didn't rebuke Martha's busyness. The Lord rebuked her anxiousness. "Martha, Martha, you are careful and troubled about many things". By the way, when your name is repeated twice, it's a compliment. Do you know that people in the Bible that are, whose names are called twice, "Abraham, Abraham, stay your hand, Saul, Saul," are always people who are marked by God. God never calls an enemy, someone who's not part of his Kingdom, twice their names. The shepherd loves to call your name, amen. "Martha, Martha," so there was love and compassion for Martha. The Lord says, "Martha, Martha, you are careful and troubled about many things". Why is she troubled about many things? Because she didn't do the one thing. Jesus says, "But Mary has done that one thing needful". There's one thing needful, one thing necessary. I was telling the church the other day also that I don't believe, I don't believe for one moment that we believe that. If we believed that, there'd be more receiving and sitting down. We don't really believe it. We believe there are other things needful.

"Now, Pastor Prince, meetings are needful and making sure that our target is there and our goals are set is needful and reminding your leaders and vision casting, all that's needful. And this is needful, that is needful. I need to spend time with my wife more. That's needful. I need to spend time with my kids. That's needful because my kid is sort of straying away. And I'm concerned about this, concerned about that". You know, the Lord says one thing. If Jesus says one thing, how many think he exaggerates? One thing is needful. And if we attend to the one thing, perhaps we can attend to these many other things in the right spirit and with the anointing and wisdom of God. Can I have a good amen? Because we can do a lot of things, even spiritual things, quote, unquote, "spiritual," yet they are attended to in a wrong spirit, a spirit of strife, a spirit of there's no grace. And you can tell the moment you push them, "Why have you let my sister? Don't you care? My sister". And the Lord says, "One thing is needful".

Mary chose the good part. Did Jesus say, "Mary, get up, go help your sister"? No, we shall not be taken away from her. He loves it. And I always like to say this, which sister made Jesus feel like God? The one who saw him, now, don't forget, he came as man. He existed, he preexisted with the Father. In fact, the Bible says that he is Jehovah of the Old Testament. When John the Baptist says, "Prepare ye the way of the Lord". The word there the way of the, Jehovah, Yahweh. And then that is a quotation from Isaiah that says, "Prepare ye the way of Yahweh" which means he's preparing the way of Yahweh. Yah, weh, shua, amen? Isaiah saw the Lord high and lifted up. And then the verses to quotations of "Make these people's eyes heavy, their ears dull of hearing".

And then John says... this is what Isaiah says when Isaiah saw Jesus's glory. And John was talking about Jesus. So, put them two together, Yahweh of the Old Testament is Jesus of the new, amen? When he wrote on the stony ground, it was Yahweh demonstrating. Yes, we all know that. If you don't believe that, you're not... let me tell you this, you are not born again if you don't believe Jesus is God. So, we all know that. But the problem with many of us also is that we don't think of him like, for example, when he's seated at the Father's right hand, we think that he is seated there because he is God. No, the Bible says you know why he can sit down there? Because he successfully purged all our sins. In other words, if Jesus... our sins are still not dealt with, okay, he cannot sit down. Hebrews 1 says, "Having purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of".

So, in other words, he's there today, listen carefully, he is there today as man, representing you and I. He's not there as God. I've established that he is Yahweh. He is always God. But God wants us to focus on the fact that we have a representative there. When God wants to take a look at you, God looks at Jesus. It's not a question of how good you are. It's a question of how good Jesus is. If the Lord is accepted, you are accepted. He is there as the second Adam. He's there as our representative, amen. Praise the Lord. And he still loves to serve us. And sometimes we are bad receivers, amen? We don't know how to receive. People give us things, we say, "Oh, you shouldn't have done it". You are right, they shouldn't. There's no should, amen. "Oh, I don't deserve it". You are right, amen? You are right. No, we don't deserve this holiday. You are right. We all deserve hell, but we get heaven, amen. We deserve defeat. We get victory in our lives, amen.

So, you are in a conference where you are not here to learn how to serve God more effectively. You are here to learn how to receive more and from that reception, you will learn how to serve without even serving. Do you know the times that John loved the Lord the most? For example, at the cross, the Lord wanted someone to take care of his earthly mother, Mary. All the disciples fled, only John was there. John, behold your mother. John was there to be of use. And yet John wasn't conscious he was loving the Lord. John, at that point, called himself the disciple whom Jesus loved. He was conscious of the Lord's love for him, not his love for the Lord. When we are conscious of receiving from the Lord, when we receive, we don't think of serving, right? But these are the ones that served the Lord the most. But when you receive from the Lord, wild horses cannot keep your mouth shut, amen. Amen.

Come on. You will talk about the Lord all the time. Grace is not a message. Grace is the gospel. Grace is the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. So, when you are touched by grace, I mean your entire life you talk about it. You talk about it during lunchtime, during your breakfast, during your high tea, if you have high tea or whatever it is, our team sometime, you know, you'll talk about Jesus, amen. Remember, John the Baptist's father Zechariah? When the angel appeared and the angel says, "Your son will be born," John, right? And John means what? Y'all know that. Oh, man, I'm glad. One more time, testing. John means? It's still not in unison. It's like there are voices that are wondering. John means? congregation: Grace! Jospeh Prince: In Hebrew, Yohannan, hannan is grace, yo is God's name, Yahweh, okay, Yohannan.

So, John means grace. Zechariah did not believe the message of grace when the angel says that your son, grace, the message of grace. In other words, it was a good message, but Zechariah didn't believe. And the angel says, "I am Gabriel and I stand in the presence of the Most High, and you shall be dumb because you believe not my words". So, when you don't believe in grace, you got nothing to share. Your mouth is shut. Nine months came and went, finally the time came John is to be born, right? And they say that, "We have to have a name for him," and they name him another name. And the father was still dumb. But the moment he took the table and he wrote down, "His name is grace," his mouth was loosed. His mouth was loosed, amen. Maybe some of you, you don't have that passion anymore to preach or to share because you have believed the wrong thing. You thought that this is the message, that is the message. And perhaps God is raising you up in this generation, amen, to be part of the Benjamin generation. I said, Benjamin generation.

"What is the Benjamin generation, Pastor Prince"? Okay. Remember this, you asked. Before we talk about the Benjamin generation, we need to talk about Joseph, okay? Many a times you hear teaching on Joseph, and that shows that our, many a times, our teaching of the Bible is very self-oriented, is very subjective. I mean, there are great lessons we can learn from the life of Joseph. You know, you hear about visions, vision, dream. He was a man of dream. Don't lose your dream. Don't lose your dream. Again, but you know something? It can be man centered because I can dream dreams that's not of God. And I think I'm a Joseph, I'm not. And then there are people that say, "Well, Joseph is an example of perseverance". That he is. That he is, amen, but all these are, I will call them secondary interpretation. The way we interpret the Bible is the way Jesus interpreted on the road of Emmaus.

When there were two disciples who were discouraged, the Lord, the way he brings them out of their depression, was to unveil in the Scriptures the things concerning himself. Remember, the two things he said to them? "Old fools, foolishness is actually ignorance". So, either you do not know it, that's why you are depressed, you are discouraged. Or if you know, "Yeah, I've heard this before," you know, you don't believe. He says, "Old fools," that's the first one. "And slow of heart to believe". Slow to believe are people that know but they don't believe. So, perhaps some of you have heard me preach grace before you said that, "Yeah, I know all that, Pastor Prince". Do you believe?

So anyway, both of them, the cure for both, for lack of knowledge and slow to believe, is expounding in the Scriptures the things concerning himself, amen? Then you know what? When you expound on Jesus, we'll find ourselves because we are placed in him. To know him is to know yourself. With all apologies to Socrates, the first thing in life is not know thyself. It is know him, amen? With all apologies to all the spiritual warfare exponents who teach, "know your enemy," all right, I'm here to tell you know your commander, know Jesus, know your Lord. So, the Scriptures, when you talk about Joseph, the first thing you see, you must see Jesus because no other character portrays the Lord more clearly than Joseph. Take it from Joseph. No character.

First of all, you see, the beloved son. He was the beloved of his father Jacob. Our Lord is the beloved of his Father. He came amongst his brothers. His brothers did not receive him. He had supernatural abilities of dreams and visions, and his brothers didn't acknowledge him. They were jealous of him. So, the Jewish people, the people of his flesh and blood, did not accept him. And you see how he became the bread of life to the Gentile world. Because they sold him for 20 pieces of silver, the Lord Jesus was sold for 30 pieces of silver, the price of a slave. Anyway, you all know the story of Joseph very well. He became the bread of life to a lost, dying, crying, sighing world, amen? Amen? Who benefited from Joseph's wisdom? Who did Joseph actually save? The people of the world, Egyptians.

So, in a sense for 2,000 years, the Jewish Messiah has become the bread of life to a predominantly, look around you, Gentile world. But Joseph never forgot his father's house. He never forgot Israel. He never forgot his brothers. And today, they think just when the brother saw him, they thought, with his Johnny Depp makeup and all that, they thought that he's a Gentile, just like Jewish people today, they think of Jesus like a Gentile. He's a Gentile Jew, you know? You can understand that. He's a Jew for the Gentiles. He's not part of us for 2,000 years. Where are we now prophetically speaking? We are we now? We're coming to that place. Finally, there's famine. For 2,000 years, even though God is still merciful to the nation of Israel, you know, the sufferings they went through. And they never came to a place they said, "Maybe it's because we sold our brother". But they're coming to the place. They're coming to that place.

So, after for a while when there's famine, Jacob sent his sons to Egypt, and Joseph saw them, amen. And the Bible says, you can read the story yourself. Y'all know the story. I'm coming to the core of what I want to share. Joseph actually said to them, "You are spies". Now, what does he want? He actually spoke strangely to them in such a way that he wants them to see their sin before he can save them, right, to see whether there's a change in them because they didn't care about how their father felt. The father loved Joseph. When they went back, they deceived the father, they didn't care if the father died. He wants to know whether there's any change of heart, whether they still care about their father, whether they still care, is there a change of heart, right?

So, he spoke roughly to them, and the Bible says he bounds Simeon. He says that, "You know something? To prove you're not spies, go, right. You mentioned to me you have a younger, youngest brother. Go bring your youngest brother here. There'll be no more bread until Benjamin stand in front of me," amen. "Your brother won't be released". Simeon, Simeon, one of the brothers, Simeon, his name means hearing. So today, today, Israel's hearing is locked up. When you talk to a Jewish person, it's like it takes the grace of God. You know something? They are getting saved. When I was there the last time, my security, Jewish security guy, you know, he got saved. And the trip before that, I had another Jewish security guy, he got saved. In fact, the previous guy was an Army officer in the, you know, the border Lebanese war, when two of the youngest men got, one of the younger, younger ones, excuse me, got caught by Hezbollah.

You know how they sent him, sent him back? Dead. And he said this to me, he said, "I was the officer in charge. I couldn't take that. I left the army. I couldn't face the parents. You know," he said, "I saw their tears, and I blamed myself. So, all these years I've been working in security. I just cannot". And he shared this after many days of following me around, hearing me expound about Jesus every place I go. And then one day, the pastors were there when that happened. He said, "Can I say something"? I said, "Sure". He shared this story. And he says, "For these past times, past days I spent with you, it's like a burden has rolled away". And you know what he says? "I believe in Jesus as the Messiah".

Come on, people. Joseph's brothers are turning towards him, amen. And Joseph said, "Simeon". Simeon means Shimon will be locked up. You know the greatest commandment of all in Israel, the greatest commandment in the Old Testament? Y'all say, "Thou shall love the Lord thy God," right? But actually Jesus did not say that. He start by saying, "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. You shall love God with all your heart". It starts with hear, Shimon, Shema Israel, Shema Israel. Eloheinu echad. God is one God. And the word "echad" is actually not a single unity, but actually it's a compound unity, three in one. That's in their Hebrew Bible, the Triune God. I'm just getting started, okay? So, "There's no more bread until Benjamin come in front of me".

Now, who is Benjamin? Benjamin, listen, have the same mother as Joseph. Now, I'm trying to, I want y'all to see where you are at in God's economy of things in these last days, why God is raising this grace generation, amen. I want you to see where you are at. This is not by chance that we are talking about grace and grace has taken root all over the world, so much so, the devil is trying to bring in pseudo grace, counterfeit grace, amen. So, you know what? All over the world, God is raising a Benjamin generation, amen. Do you know, "now, Pastor Prince, where do you get this analogy from"? I get my authorization from Paul. Paul can take a woman called Hagar and say that she's a mountain. Where you find that? Galatians chapter 4. He says that, "This Hagar is Mount Sinai".

So, he sees typology where we see natural stuff, right? He says that, "this woman Hagar is a type, is a type of Mount Sinai, which produces bondage". But Sarah, the lawful wife, Sarah, is the heavenly Jerusalem, is grace, is grace. So, Hagar is law. That's where the law came from Mount Sinai. Sarah is Mount Zion, grace. Then he says that the son that Hagar produced persecuted the son that Sarah produced. Both had the same father. I said, both have the same father. But it's never the son of grace persecute the son of the law. It's always the son of the law that persecute the son of grace. Now, people that persecute us are people who have the same heavenly Father as you and I. We have the same heavenly Father, but not the same mama, not the same mama. Are you my brother or a brother from another mother? Not the same mama, amen.

Today, all of us here, we have the same heavenly Father and bless God, the reason you are here is because we have the same mother. Our mother is grace, amen. Hallelujah. Do you sense that jubilee spirit here? Do you sense like God is just resting in you, setting you free, amen? So, Sarah does not need to invite Hagar back to take care of Isaac. She can do it very well herself. The church want to say, "No, I'm not trying to send Sarah away", but bring in Hagar. We need to balance. No, let me tell you this. When you have two women, guys, always remember that, unless it's your daughter. But if there's two women in your life, you cannot think straight. So, Sarah does not need, grace does not need the law to raise up Isaac. So, by the same analogy, you look at these two women Leah, Jacob's wife, and Rachel.

Now, the Bible says Leah's eyes were delicate. The King James says, "weak eyed". Rachel was beautiful of form and appearance. You know that these, the two sisters that married Jacob. So, Jacob is the father, okay? But Leah, she produced the sons and all the sons, that picture is a picture of bondage. Then Rachel also has handmaidens, handmaids, handmaids. That means what? They are also producing bondage. Rachel cannot conceive for a while. Am I right? So, all the other sons, I'm speaking prophetically now in terms of topology. They actually represent the law, ten of them, ten, ten, ten, ten represent the law. Two sons born of the same mother. Who is that son? The first one. Rachel finally conceived, and she gave birth to Joseph. So, the name, by the way, if you'd like to know the typology, the meaning for Leah's eyes were delicate or weak eyed, mostly she was shortsighted. You know what's the meaning of that? You are shortsighted or you're blind. There's a meaning there, and this is the meaning here.

Now, we don't make fun of real stuff. I'm talking about meaning, meaning, meaning, amen. Praise God. The meaning is this 2 Peter 1:9, "For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins". Every time you forget that you are a forgiven person, every time you forget you're a cleansed person, let me tell you this, you are blind, spiritually you are blind or you are shortsighted, amen. Whoa. The story of Samson is the same. He finally became blind. The last king when before Israel went to bondage after God sent Jeremiah, God sent all the prophets to warn Israel to turn around, they refused. They keep on, you know, worshiping idols. Then God says, "Enough is enough". God sent Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. You know who's the last king? Zedekiah. You know what happened to Zedekiah? His eyes was gorged out.

The last thing you saw was his sons killed in front of him, and then his eyes was gorged out. The last king of Israel became blind before captivity. The last judge, Gideon is a judge, right? All the story of judges. The last judge is Samson in the book of Judges. And what happened to him? Became blind. The last church, seven churches in the book of Revelation, the last church is Laodicea. Laodicea, lao means people, dicea means rule. It's the people rule. When people have the rule, the pastor have no more say. The people rule, whether it's social media or whatever it is, the people rule. The leadership have to kowtow to the whims and fancies of the people. That's the kind of church that's gonna happen in the last days and it's happening already.

Laodicean church where they are very wealthy, all right, but it's not a wealth that comes from God. Amen, they're boasting in that, and it's also confession of faith gone wrong where they say, "I'm rich," the name of Jesus is not there. It's not, "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not lack". It is, "I am rich. I have need of nothing". It sounds like a church that confession has gone wrong. I believe in confession of faith, but it's confession gone wrong because God is not in his speech. And Laodicea church, what did the Lord say? "You are blind, you are blind". Now, I want to believe with you that your churches, your ministries, will not be the last final one. It's gonna be Philadelphia, the church of Philadelphia. I believe Philadelphia and Laodicea will exist together, contemporary one another in the last days.

So, either you are part of the church of Philadelphia or the church, because seven churches there, I believe is prophetic of the church history down through these 2,000 years. And we are living in the days of Laodicea or Philadelphia, you choose. And that's where we are in this conference. Philadelphia church, the name Philadelphia, the love of the brethren, the love of the brothers. You know, and it's a church that has not been denied my name. They love the name of Jesus. They love to talk about the Lord Jesus. They love to see Jesus. They love to sing about the Lord Jesus, amen. It's all about? We lift up no other name but the name of? Amen. Praise the Lord. Where were we? Joseph. So, weak eyed, Leah, amen. And the father loved grace. So, the thing is this: There's a place where sometimes grace becomes the type, but sometimes it becomes, a woman can also be Israel. Or a woman in the New Testament can be the church in the New Testament already, right?

So, here we find that, how did Rachel give birth to Benjamin? We know that she gave birth to Joseph and when she gave birth to Joseph, she had faith. She said, "His name is Yossef," which means God will add to me another son. So, she prophesied already the coming of Benjamin. You know, when Jesus came into this world, God already knew that God was looking forward to the Benjamin generation. God was looking forward for you for such a time as this. I know it took a long time for Benjamin to come. It took a long time. It took a long time for this Benjamin generation, but they are here. The youngest of all the brothers is Benjamin, amen. And that's why this Benjamin generation is made up of a lot of young people. I'm telling you, amen. And young looking people. Amen.

Pastor Mark is so happy. Oh, hallelujah. Yeah, with men it's impossible. With God, all things are possible, amen. It's not so much the young generation. It's more like it's the latest and the youngest and the most, it's the newest of all the movement. Because let me tell you this, when Benjamin was born, the mother died. In other words, Israel or the church in a way, the the church that has been given a bad rap, testimony, or whatever you wanna call it, is going off. But out of that, many of you came out from traditional churches, from churches that were even legalistic, all right, amen? Because the name Rachel means ewe lamb. It's not referring to Jesus. Ewe is the female lamb. It's referring to the church. I mean, she was weak, she gave birth, and she died. So, she's a picture of the church there that died.

And many a times, you know, when I meditate on this, I think to myself sometimes, if you were Benjamin, if you were Benjamin and your mother died giving birth to you, at times you go to Joseph, not the other brothers because they don't have the same mother. Your only same mother will be Joseph, and you will go to Joseph as a young boy and you will, "My big brother, can I ask you something"? "What is it, Benjamin"? "They said that mama died because of me". It's a generation where the church will tell you, "Because of you Benjamin people, you grace people, you are spoiling the church. You are destroying the church". They want to put guilt on you, and it's the brothers that will tell Benjamin that. It's the brothers. "You know, your mother died giving birth to you. Your mother died giving birth to you". "That church split because of you, because of grace. Grace came in and that church split".

Have you heard that before? How many of you? Let me see your hands. How many have had that accusation before? Come on. We're Pastor Carl Stringer, by the way? Oh, right under my nose. That is a mighty man of God. And let me tell you this. This man here is definitely part of the Benjamin generation. Don't let that beautiful, wooly hair fool you, amen? We got another woolly, woolly hair behind there. Come on, Josh, stand up. All right, that's a young guy, but he has wolly has well. Look at that. That's our Grace Revolution Church Dallas pastor. It's not a matter of age. There is a youthfulness, there's a vibrancy. When Carl preaches, there is something that comes in that raises a young generation. Many of them, they do not know who they are. They are killing themselves.

Do you realize that even in Singapore, young people are committing suicide? It seems like they have pleasure whenever they want. At the touch of their fingertips, all right, they can get a phone, they can look at anything they want. They're saturated. They're a hedonistic culture. They're always excited. There's a game after a game after game after game. They're so excited, so much so to the point that they are jaded. And they start thinking to themself, "Is this all there is to life"? It's a generation that is looking for more because they were not designed for this. They were not designed. They were designed for greater things, and that spiritual need can't be satisfied with natural means. So, to, you know, to drown that cry in their heart, they try to distract themselves all the time. They're so afraid of silence. They are so afraid, afraid of being, no one is around, only Jesus. It's a generation that needs to be occupied. They need to look. They need to, because they're so afraid of being alone.

Sometimes, you know, you see people sit down together, whole family, and they're all looking at this. They do not know who they are. All the movements in church history, the church has called the movement, the Joshua generation, this generation, the prophetic move, the prophetic generation, the Word of faith generation, this generation, that generation. Finally God says, "No more. The church won't name it anymore". The mother was the one that named, as she was dying, all right? "And so it was, as Rachel soul was departing that she died, that she called her son's name," what? Called his name what? Ben-Oni. Ben means son; Oni means sorrow. Ben-Oni, but his father called him Benjamin. So, for so long, the woman, the mother, the church, has named the movement. This is the first time the father says, "I will name this generation. Benjamin! Are you there? Benjamin! You are not the son of my sorrow. You are the son of my right hand, the son of prosperity, the son of power, the son of my grace, the son of my righteousness. For I've upheld you with the right hand of my righteousness".

Do you think there's a difference in this move? What do you think? Do you think there's a difference? I reckon. You better believe it. You better believe it. We are that generation, amen? So finally, Simeon was locked, right? By the way, when Jesus was born, a man came called Simeon, remember? And he says, he's a very old man, and he says that, "You know, my eyes have seen your salvation". Now, he's speaking Hebrew, right? So his prayers, "My eyes have seen your Yeshua. Now let your servant depart in peace". So, he represents the Sh'ma Israel, Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Ehad, "Hear, O Israel". Hear, sh'ma, the first word. "Hear, O Israel: the Lord your God is one Lord". Even the law saw Jesus and the law says to the Father, "I can now depart," amen? Even the law was happy to see Jesus, because the law doesn't want to condemn. But it cannot. But to be the law, you cannot bend, you cannot help. To be the law, you've gotta be unbending, inflexible, so the law was very glad to see Jesus.

And then, after the law says, "Let me depart," you know who came in? Hannah came in. Hannah means what? Grace! And grace opened her mouth and said, "Come, come, see his child to all who are looking for redemption, this child, he's the one. He's the one," amen? So Joseph said, "Until you bring Benjamin, there'll be no more bread. Until you bring Benjamin, I will keep Simeon here. He'll be locked up". So Israel's hearing is locked up. But let me tell you this. I should say, "It was locked up". I'm seeing a change happen, already, because the Benjamin Generation is even visiting Israel. They are even going here and, I mean, the Israelis are now opening their ears to hear from the Benjamin Generation. The people like that former officer in the army will be drawn by grace, because the law will condemn him and he got saved.

By the way, he wrote a Jewish book, all right, in Hebrew, about his experience and his salvation, amen. So every time they gave me a Jewish security guard, he ends up saved by the end of our trip. Always ends up saved. 'Cause everywhere they go, they hear the sermon. They'll be standing on... all right? That goes for the guys that follow us also in the US, right, Lawrence? All right? There's a guy, I mean, steely eyes. During my book-signing, he stands down there, "Sir, please take your hands off your pocket," all right? He's looking at all the people who come to me, and that's how he talks to them. "Sir, take your hands out". Nothing, no "please," nothing. His eyes so steely. By the end of the time, in my US tour, he ends up saved, amen? Because he was listening. Everywhere I preached, he's listening. He's at the side of the, you know, the platform where I'm preaching, amen. I'm telling you, the fields of white are ready for harvest. So I should say there was a time Israel's hearing is closed, all right?

Then finally, Benjamin came, hallelujah. They brought Benjamin. They didn't wanna bring Benjamin but, you know, the stomach can do such thing that, you know, even you don't want to, hunger drives you. They need bread, so they brought Benjamin and let's look at the story here. As you drop down, you see "the men took that present and Benjamin," the men here are the brothers, "and they took Benjamin and they took double money in their hand, and arose and went down to Egypt; and they stood before Joseph". Double money. They always think that things can be solved with double money, all right? "It's not enough? I double it". That's not the answer. "When Joseph saw Benjamin with them," first time. Who is Joseph? Our Lord Jesus. He's been waiting to see a generation that has the same mother as him. For so long, the church has had the same heavenly Father but not the same mother. But for the first time, he sees Benjamin, and Joseph saw Benjamin.

And the Bible says, immediately when he saw Benjamin what did he say? "He said to the steward of his house, 'Take these men to my home, and slaughter an animal and make ready; for these men will dine with me at noon.'" All of a sudden they are treated with honor, with respect. They're even fed. Notice, he spoke to an unnamed steward. He spoke to a steward without a name. Who is that? Who is that? The Ruach HaKodesh, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit has not come to draw attention to himself. Jesus says: "He shall glorify me. He'll take the things that are mine and he will show it to you". You wanna see a ministry that's anointed by the Holy Spirit? You will see Jesus. You don't see Jesus that, I don't care how much of that is, all right? It's not someone who is anointed. Are you listening, people?

If you see the Lord Jesus, amen, like the two disciples of Emmaus, at the end they say that, "Did you feel that"? "Yeah, I felt that. Our hearts were warmed when he opened to us the Scriptures along the way". May that be the experience of your churches every single week. And they got pastors telling me sometimes, you know, "Yeah, I talk about Jesus, talk about what Jesus". I got one pastor very famous, very well-known pastor, he's on TV all the time. He told me, "How do you see Jesus? Do you look at a painting"? That was the tone. "How do you look at Jesus? Look at a painting"? No, there's something called the Bible, you know? There's something, right, amen? It's God's photo album about his Son. Let me tell you something about the Holy Spirit. If I show you a photo album of my family and you start looking at your phone, you start looking outside, you look at the birds and all that, and you're not paying attention, you know what I do? That's what the Holy Spirit does.

When God wants to reveal to you his Son and you're not interested, you know what he does? They'll be somebody else who will listen. That's how the Holy Spirit loves Jesus, and the Father loves his Son. And the Holy Spirit has come. If you're gonna cooperate with the Holy Spirit, make sure you focus on what he's focused on. How can two walk together unless they are agreed? He has come to glorify Jesus. When you pray for the sick, all right, always tell them, "It's not me. It's the Lord," amen. When they are healed, give the glory to Jesus. Learn to step back, amen. Don't molest his bride, okay? Don't try to take the, you know, don't try to kiss his bride. Let the bride fall in love with the bridegroom. Let 'em see his glory. Once you've done your part, you back away. You back away, amen? Can I have a good "Amen"?

Okay, then there was a previous meeting when he locked up Simeon, remember, when Joseph locked Simeon up? So what happened was that the money that came to buy the bread, the grain, he put the money back in their sacks. Why? You cannot buy the bread of life. You cannot buy, okay, amen? So he put back the money, and then when they went back home, they opened up their sacks and they saw money inside. So now they have to explain, okay? They said to Joseph, and they didn't know Joseph put it in. So they said to him this: "We have brought down other money in our hands. We do not know who put our money in our sacks". You know what the Jewish people are saying? The founders of Google are two Jewish young guys: Sergey Brin and Larry Page, two Jewish guys. Simple idea, but God gave them, all right? Now, however they use it now, I know, that is another question. I'm talking about technology advancement and the way they have been made wealthy.

WhatsApp, our Ukrainian pastors who are here. WhatsApp was created by a Ukrainian Jew whose name was Jan Koum. It's a very simple idea, "WhatsApp," what's up? We could have had the idea. We could have had it, but we didn't get it. Mark Zuckerberg. I don't have to explain, right? The name itself tells you, Zuckerberg, all right? Facebook. And you know what they're all saying in the quietness of their, "Why did it happen to us? Who put the money in our sacks"? Now, whether they are religious right now or not is not the question. Just the Bible says when you tithe, generations are tithing in you, amen? Hebrews 7 talks about how Levi tithed in Abraham through Jesus Melchizedek, amen. But who is Levi? Abraham tithed to Melchizedek. It wasn't Levi, but wait a minute. Levi was in Abraham tithing. So, Abraham brought forth Isaac, Isaac brought forth Jacob, Jacob brought forth Levi. Great-grandson. Generations participate in your giving.

So this present generation of Jewish people, they might not be religious, they might not practice and all that, but they are blessed because of their previous generations as well, you know, in this area of tithing. And tithing is something that I want you to know, church, Benjamin Generation, there's a lot of grace people who will say things like, "You know what? Tithing doesn't"... If it doesn't qualify you? Jesus qualifies you. But you know something? When you come to the table, learn table manners. God will teach you table manners. And many of us, you know, we need to be taught how to be appreciative. I tell my son, Justin, "Justin, say 'Thank you' to the uncle who gave you something. Justin, say 'Thank you.'" And when they are young, they need to be taught. Look at them in the eyes, say "Thank you," because kids have to be taught.

Believe it or not, it's not legalism to teach your church how to say "Thank you" for the Lord's broken body and for his shed blood. And by saying "Thank you," you demonstrate. It's not a matter, "I don't want to do it. I don't want to earn it. I'll be trying. It's works, and all that". Who told you that? It's learning to say, "Thank you". The Lord's Supper is Eucharist. You know what's Eucharist? Giving thanks. It's giving thanks. You know what's tithing? Giving thanks. Tithing is saying, "Lord, I cannot have this salary that I have right now. I cannot have this wealth that I have right now. You are my sponsor and this is how I say, 'Thank you.'" We've got to learn to teach our church how to say, "Thank you". Many a times in a marriage counseling, you've got to teach the guy how to be romantic, what to say to his wife. You have to. This is not legalism; this is commonsense. Not very common nowadays. So you have to teach. You have to teach how to say "Thank you". The moment tithing becomes obligatory, that's when it becomes legalistic. The moment the Lord's Supper becomes obligatory.

I have a friend in Israel, many of you have seen him with me, very dear friend, Samuel Smadja. He has given me permission to share his testimony. When I was there this March, I prayed for him. He was diagnosed with a severe form of prostate cancer. And he says even with medication, I'm not exaggerating, I know the figures. Even with medication, with treatment, he says there's only 20%. I checked with him. He said that. Twenty percent chance. Only 20% of recovery. He was so down. When we were there, we prayed for him, right, Lawrence? We laid hands on him, we prayed for him, and I told him, "I sense that you are looking at a future that's so dark. I want you to know something: God just told me to tell you start planning. Spare not, lengthen your cord, start seeing yourself well. Start planning for your holiday, next year's holiday. You will be well. Start planning for wellness, amen, and you'll be okay. We'll pray for you". And he told me, "I'm taking Communion every day". And one question he asked is this: "Pastor Prince, how do you not make Communion legalistic"? He understands grace. He's a grace guy. He preaches grace. "How do you not make Communion legalistic"? I said, "You know what? When I think of Communion, like today, 'Have I had my Communion?' I don't think of me doing it. I think".

When Jesus came to Abraham, he brought the bread and the wine. Abraham didn't bring the bread and wine. It wasn't in Abraham's hand; it was in Jesus's hands. He brought the bread and wine. So I always picture Jesus waiting for me with the bread and wine. Even though I'm preparing the elements, I see, and I ask myself, "Joseph, have you taken your health today? Have you taken your healing today? Have you taken your daily bread today, amen? He's waiting. He's waiting," amen? So I see him waiting, I see him with those elements in his hands. When you see it like that, it's a relationship. It is not something, "I have to. Here we go, you know, in case Pastor Prince asks me, I can say that 'Yes, I did it.'"

Two months ago, he called me up. My phone kept on ringing and I was so busy because it was on a Sunday and I couldn't get back to him. And finally, I got back to him. He said, "I can't wait to tell you. Pastor Prince, I can't wait to tell you. The doctors examined me the last time. The doctors themself are surprised, they're shocked. No trace of cancer". Partaking of the Lord's Supper every day, every day, like medicine. Every day. He's a different person from the man we saw who was discouraged. He says, "It's like I have a new lease of life, Pastor Prince. I have a new lease of life". Every time I call him now, I say, "How you doing? Is it tough"? You know, he has a camp coming up and all that. "Is it tough and", he said, "No way, I have a new lease of life". A youth camp, he runs a youth camp where believers all over Israel come to the youth camp. We support that youth camp, amen. That's one place where we love to support. And many a times, it's wonderful for them because, you know, when you are isolated, you're alone, you feel like you're the only one? You come for a camp, like tonight, you realize, "Man, there are so many people who believe the same thing, from all over the world," amen? Praise the Lord.

So we do not know who put the money in our bags. That's where we are, and the answer comes finally. Joseph answered. Who is Joseph? Our Lord Jesus, right? Our heavenly Joseph. He says, "Shalom, don't be afraid. Your God," and I say this deliberately, "and the God of your fathers," the Jewish people. "Your God," your Elohim, "and the Elohim of your father has given you treasure in your sacks; I had your money". Watch this. "Then he brought Simeon out". The moment they are increasing in their knowledge of the Lord, Simeon is released. The hearing is coming back to Israel. It's coming back to Israel. "Then he lifted his eyes". Now, this is the first time Joseph is about to speak to his brother after many years, right? And the first word from Joseph's mouth, would you think is significant? "He said, 'Is this your younger brother of whom you spoke to me?' he asked the brothers, and he said to Benjamin, 'God be,'" what is the word that locates that generation? "Grace". "God be gracious to you, my son. Benny, my son, God be gracious to you".

It's like the Lord is saying to us, "My son, my Father, be gracious to you". Grace generation. The first word from Joseph's mouth, after all these years, finally you get to see Benjamin, his first words is, "Grace to you, Benjamin," amen. All right, drop down. Don't forget, they're supposed to eat, right? "Now his heart yearned for his brother; so Joseph made haste and sought somewhere to weep. And he went to his chamber and wept there". You have an effect on Jesus that you know not of. You know something? You have an effect on the Lord that you don't even know of. He loves to hear your voice. We say, "Time to do prayer," but he says, "I love to hear your voice". David says, "My voice shall thou hear in the morning, O Lord; In the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up". He knew he was in a love relationship. He knew that God loved to hear his voice. It's not a, "I've got to pray". No, it is, "I love your voice. I love your voice".

I love Song of Songs, you know. I look at Song of Songs and the Lord says, "Just one look from you, and my heart is captured". You've seen that before? It wasn't the bride speaking to the bridegroom. The bridegroom says to the bride: "One look from you and my heart is captured". And he looks at us, says, "There is no spot in you". He loved, "Let me hear, let me see your face. Let me hear your voice". That is prayer. Praise the Lord. So he wept. See the effect you have? Praise the Lord. Let's drop down. "Then he washed his face and came out; and he restrained himself, and said, 'Serve the bread.'" Remember, when Benjamin is here, bread is released. I'm telling you, I love the smell of fresh bread, and bread is released through the church of Jesus Christ, hallelujah. All over the earth, bread is released. I feel like God is saying to me, even our broadcasts and all that, amen, "Serve the bread, son. Serve the bread. Serve the bread".

The Benjamin Generation is here. That's what I'm doing right now, serving the bread. You like it? You like this bread? Amen, serve the bread. Serve the noodles. Noodles, serve the noodles, amen? Different culture, serve the noodles, amen? Serve the chapati. Chapati, huh? Chapati, hallelujah. And dal. Chapati and dal, never a dull moment with dal. Amen? And they sat down there. I think they were shocked because he put them in arrangement of their age. He knew which brother came first. That ought to tell them something, amen? And then the Bible says: "Then he took servings to them, but Benjamin's serving was five times as much as any of theirs".

Of all the brothers, Benjamin has five times more. Five is the number of grace. Five, number of grace. All the dimensions of the tabernacle, the furniture, you will see a lot of five, multiples of five, amen? The fifth letter of the Hebrew alphabet is hei. Hei, the numerical value, because their letter is also a number, is number five. Hei is number five. Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. When? The fifth time his name was mentioned, it says he found grace. Five, number of grace, amen. So Benjamin's food was five times more. What can a young guy do with five times more food? I think that the older ones had bigger appetites right now, amen? Especially, Joshua, my colleague, his appetite has gone down for a number of years now. He has to run around in the shower to get wet. Five times more, people. And look at this. We'll just jump to chapter 45 and you see also not just that, but also through Benjamin: "He gave to all the brothers changes of garments; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five changes of garments".

Five times more food, five changes of garments, amen. Is this reminisces, when you read the Bible, does it remind you of something Jesus said? "Don't worry about what you shall eat or what you shall wear". The Benjamin Generation have so much more to wear and so much more to eat. It's a generation that's well provided for, amen? Spiritually speaking, five changes of garment can also mean you're not just a one-trick pony, Pastor or Leader. You have an anointing, you can flow prophetically in a place, you can flow as a teacher in another place, you can flow as a prophet in a place, amen? There's the five changes of anointing that's on you that wasn't on the previous generation. It's the manifold grace of God. Five times more food, five changes of garment. There's no insignificant detail in the Bible, amen? We'll just finish off by going to this chapter and looking at what the instruction of Joseph was to his brothers, and he says, "Go and tell".

We didn't put it up here but let me just tell you what Joseph said to the brothers: "Go tell my father all my glory". That, by the way, is worship. Worship is us telling his Father all about him, all about his glory. "Go tell my father all my glory". That is worship. Do you know the Father loves to hear you talk about Jesus? Everything you do must remind him about Jesus. That's why even our gift, our tithes, is the firstfruit, is a type of Christ. Everything that we do, our worship, the fruit of our lips, is all about Jesus, amen? That's what the Father accepts. "Not only that, after instruct them, go tell my father all my glory". He also told them something, and it's a Word for all of us. Now that we know Jesus, that the brothers know him, he reconciled with them. Isn't it beautiful, with all the power that he has in the world, he forgives them. The most powerful man at the time.

Pharaoh is in position, but he's in power, literally in power. And he says, "Come to me. Come near to me". With all the power he has, he says, "Come near to me," and he forgave them. But I need to tell you this. I didn't tell you this. He was waiting. He wept when he heard the brothers say, "You know why all this happened to us"? They were talking among themselves; they did not realize he understood their language because all the while, he spoke through a translator, right, an interpreter, he understood. They said, "You know why this happened to us? Because our brother cried and we didn't hear his cry". They repented. And Joseph wept. The time is coming, amen. It is here, even as we speak, amen, amen. It's a grace generation. And they can be at the well. They can be someone who had had five husbands, and the one that she's living with is not her husband. But it wasn't to Nicodemus, the previous chapter, that Jesus taught on worship. It was to this woman that Jesus revealed about worship.

If we think about people to teach on worship, we look for the theologians, the ones who are qualified who went to Bible school. But Jesus looked at a woman who was even living in adultery at that time, and taught her about worship is not in this mountain. This is not the right mountain. It's a false mountain. It's not even in Jerusalem. That is antiquated, it's past. Those who worship the Father will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. Grace, think about it. The previous chapter, chapter 3, with Nicodemus, it was so slow. Nicodemus is like, "You know, Master, we know", "You must be born again". Straightaway, he went straight for it, amen. Removed all his pride, you know, and said, "You must be born again". How come to that woman, next chapter, chapter 3, chapter 4, that woman at the well, he never said to her, "You must be born again"?

Obviously, she needs to be born again, right? But he never said that. In fact, if anything, he was kind to her. Nicodemus, he's almost rude, almost; he's never rude, but it sounds to us. "You must be born again". With all your erudite learning, the fact you know the Bible really well, "You must be born again". How can a man be, qíguài, strange. You see? And Jesus, you know, Nicodemus was very slow. His conversion was very slow. It was only when Jesus died that he and Joseph of Arimathea came openly to bury the body of Jesus. So, he did serve the Lord, don't misunderstand, but he was very slow. But look at the woman. Bang, within two hours, she went out to, "Come see a man". The reason she went down there alone is because she didn't want to hear the the people criticizing her and making, you know, talking behind her back. But now she, "Come see a man who told me everything I did".

When she met him at the well, first of all, she says, "How come you're a Jew"? Called him a Jew. "You asked me, a Samaritan, for water". "Pastor Prince, there you go. Jesus asked something for someone". No, listen to what Jesus says. "If you knew who is the one asking you, you would ask him". The fact is, the Lord asked the lady, yes. He was setting her up. He said to her, "If you knew who is the one talking to you, you would ask him, and he'll give you living waters. If you knew that I came not to be served, you would ask me, and I will serve you. I'll serve you healing. I'll serve you provision. I'll serve you protection. I'll serve you favor. If you knew who is the one talking to you". "How come you're a Jew"? From a Jew, "sir," becomes "sir". "The well is deep. You have no bucket to take the well". Then from now on, "Woman, you've had five husbands". "I perceive you're a prophet".

Very fast, she is rising. How many understand that? From "a Jew" to a "sir," now "prophet". Not enough. "Go call your husband here". "I have no husband". Rightly said, right? Five husbands. "Oh, you're a Jew, you're a prophet. Sir prophet". And Jesus says, "In this mountain," he talked to her about that. "Oh, we know that when Messiah comes, he will tell us how to worship". "I am," the "he" is added. "I am He. I who speak unto you, I am". Then when she went to her city she says, "Come, is this, come see this man. Is this not the Messiah"? She became an evangelist. She knew how to call him all within a few hours. I think grace can bring our people, can exponentially cause them to grow in the Lord like never before, amen? I'm looking at the time because the mind can take what the seat can endure.

So, I look at Pastor Mark, every time he smile at me with this smile and he doesn't move his smile in his eyes, I know that he's tired. And every time I look at Pastor Lawrence, and he look at me and then he does this, and his nostrils flare... that means he has just snored or yawned. Technically, technically, all right, it's still a yawn, but it's a polite yawn, okay? So, I'm aware of the time. I want to release you as much as I can. What an amazing Savior. And the Word for all of us now, as Joseph sent them back. You thought I forgot; I didn't forget. He sent them, what's that, "Go tell my father". Not just that; there's a little reminder. I love it. It's like his new commandment. All right, this is what he says. He sent his brothers away, and as they were leaving, he said to them, "Hey, guys, don't quarrel on the way"! Amen? That's for all of us, amen. On the way back to the Lord, amen. He's coming for us. On the way back, along the way, hey, don't quarrel. Don't quarrel on the way, amen. Love one another, amen. Isn't this like the Lord? Isn't this like the Lord? Amen.

Don't quarrel on the way. It might be like a, "See, I told you, told you don't sell him. Yeah, it was you who suggested that". "No, no, you are the one that said". "No, no, I was like, I was like, yo, yo, maybe yo". "I was like, yeah". "And I wasn't there. I wasn't there. When I left, you guys sold him," amen. "But the shoe, look at your shoe. You still have the shoe". "Yeah, but you know what? You got the money, use it. But I wasn't the one. It was Pastor Mark. It was Pastor Marcel. It is him". Now, don't quarrel on the way, okay? Remember his Word, speak about his glory, amen, and don't quarrel on the way. Came back to the father. This is Israel, and this is the world as well. There's a principle here. And they say to their father, "Father, father, Joseph is alive". Look at this. "'Joseph is alive. He's alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt.' And Jacob's heart stood still, because he did not believe them". How many a times, you know, we tell people Jesus is alive, they will not believe? They will not believe until they see, right? So, God wants to manifest his blessings in your life. The Bible says that, Hebrews 7, "Mortal men receive tithes, but there Jesus receives them of whom it is witnessed that he lives".

So, the Lord's Supper is a witness proclaiming his death. Tithing is proclaiming he's alive. So, I asked myself when I read that, it's a witness that he lives. I asked myself, how is it a witness? The Lord brought me to this passage. When you tithe, there'll be evidences that people will see. And these are people in the world, even natural Israel. Jacob here is Israel. And they will not believe when you say, "My Jesus is alive. He rose from the dead". They will not believe, but when they look at your life, and the Bible says, next, drop down, "When they told him all the words which Joseph had said to them, and when he saw the carts, the wagons, which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived. Then Israel said, 'Enough. Joseph my son is still alive.'" Notice, verse 26, "Jacob's heart," when he didn't believe, he was Jacob. Drop down. "Israel said, Israel said," same man. There's no insignificant details in the Bible. When the Bible changes the same person's name, it's to tell us something. How to turn a Jacob to Israel?

So, you know something? You say, "Pastor Prince, you know, I have enough. I'm very happy. You know, I'm not a prosperity gospel person". Neither am I. There's no one here who believes in the prosperity gospel. We believe in the gospel of grace and peace, amen? Now, I'm not into that crazy, you know, every time the mouth open, leh, money. Every time you hear the person preach, money. Something is wrong. In fact, I think when I look at the broadcast today on TV and all that, something you can tell: when this guy appears, money. You know, it's like, come on, where's the gospel? People are tuning in, feeling suffering. People are about to kill themself. And I read, I do have testimonies of people about to take a pill or something like that, and then they turn on the TV. And, you know, in America, the TV channels are, wow, multitudinous. It's like all kinds, all right? And different, and all of a sudden, they got on my channel? And they stop and they listen, and they got saved.

So many testimonies of people like that. We got a guy who just came out of prison many years ago, didn't know where to go. He was, like, hopeless. He cannot find a job and all that, and he said that he just walk around, took a bus. He walked around, came back then it was Suntec City, and walked into a place and then got saved. The Lord led him to come here, amen. Somebody looking for a church, jump into a taxicab, right, and the taxi driver says, "I know one good church". All right, brought us, I mean, it's like, and back then we were small, not as big as we are now. See, it's something else. We don't look for validation from man. Therefore, we are not crushed when they criticize us. If God validates you, what is man's criticism, even their validation, amen? Praise the Lord.

Have you been blessed? This is just a foretaste, amen, a little sampling of what is to come. I know in my heart that God has so many of you ready. I just want you to know that you are that Benjamin generation. You are that generation that God has been waiting, the Son has been waiting. He's just waiting for that generation, amen. And the trumpet will sound real soon, amen. We'll be raptured, hallelujah. Aren't you glad to be alive at this time? We used to envy the previous generation. We looked at other generation we used to, like, "I wish I was, you know, around when John G. Lake was doing this, when this man of God was doing that". But I really don't want any other generation. I'm so happy with this generation. I really think it's the terminal generation, it's the final generation. It is the generation that will see the coming of Jesus.

Okay, the Bible says that, "we who are alive and remain". We who are alive. Now, your children, the fact that they are young, they'll be alive when he comes. But you know something? When the Bible used, "We who are alive and remain," remain is different. Remain means you're not young, but you know how to remain, remain alive and young and strong and healthy. Not just a generation, he's coming. "When he comes, there's a generation who are alive and remain," and repeated twice. "Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord". Give him praise. Stand to your feet, hallelujah.