Joseph Prince - Why Jesus Is The Answer?

Church, I'm here to tell you that whatever you're faced with this morning or this evening, God loves you and he's at the point of your need. Jesus is the answer. Now, it might sound very simplistic. It might sound like, "Well, Pastor Prince, you know, yeah, and I hear people saying Jesus is the answer, but do you understand I need more financial help? Pastor, I need breakthrough for my depression. I've been having this condition for two years now. Pastor, I need help in my family relations. I need help in my teenage boy, my teenage daughter. Why do you say Jesus is the answer? What do you mean by 'Jesus is the answer'? I understand Jesus is the answer for those who are looking for salvation, for forgiveness of their sins, for a new life. I understand that. But, Pastor, when you say that Jesus is the answer when my body is reeking with pain and I have an addiction that no one knows about, what do you mean, 'Jesus is the answer?'"

Friend, I'm gonna answer that for you today, and I want you to know that God loves you and that's the reason why you are here. 1 Peter chapter 1: "Of this salvation," verse 10, "the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you". Now, when I say "grace," I can also interchange grace with the word "favor" and I won't be wrong, all right? Because grace is favor you don't deserve. Favor was something in the Old Testament that seems to come and then it goes. It comes, it goes. So all the prophets are saying, "We are prophesying of the day that's coming when favor will come on you and favor will stay". So they are prophesying on all of you, amen. They're prophesying of our generation, you see? All right, "Who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching," for what? "Of what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow".

So these Old Testament prophets, they prophesied before the sufferings of Christ. You and I, we live in the glories that follow. Are you listening, church? "To them it was revealed," to these prophets it was revealed, "that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things which angels desire to look into". In other words, these prophets, they were prophesying not for their benefit. They were prophesying of the future for our benefit. Next verse: "Therefore gird up the loins of your mind". "Gird up the loins of your mind".

Now it's interesting that the mind is described as the "loins of your mind". You know, loins is your reproductive area. "Gird up the loins of your mind". What does that tell you? It tells you your thoughts reproduce. It tells you be careful of what you think. If you think fearful thoughts all day long that you might get this disease, that disease, you're afraid of this, all right, be careful, because thoughts reproduce. "So what do I do, Pastor Prince"? "Gird up the loins of your mind and focus on Jesus Christ". That's what this verse is saying. The way you protect your mind and make sure it reproduces wonderful things in your life like favor, grace, joy, peace, is to put your mind on Jesus Christ. "Gird up the loins of your mind, be sober". The word "sober" here, in the Greek, Thayer's says, I love it. Thayer's, sober here, is calm and collected in spirit.

Don't let your thoughts go wild. We tend to think about the worst all the time. And that's because our minds are not focused on Jesus Christ because he tells you, be cool, be calm and collected, "and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ". "Hope fully," hope to the end, "for upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ". Now, first and foremost when you read it like this, all right, revelation is the word "apokalupsis". All right, look up here. Apokalupsis. Let's, for example, you go to a Greek, you know. This is apokalupsis is Greek, all right? Your New Testament's in Greek. You go to a Greek restaurant, you go to Greece today, before they open up, they say, like you say, "Voila," you know, they'll say, "Apokalupsis". "This is the unveiling," "This is the opening," "This is the unveiling," unveiling of Jesus Christ.

Now, first, I need to tell you this. When I studied this verse sometime back, I realized that the word "brought to you," "brought to you," if I tell you today the grace that is to be brought, to be brought, to be brought. Is that past tense or future tense? Future tense, very good, class. To be brought is future tense, right? But in the Greek, it is present passive, which means it's being brought to you. Now, when there's an unveiling of Jesus, grace is being brought to you, favor is being brought to you. Another thing is that the word "at" is not there in the Greek. In the Greek, it's not "at". It refers to "in". It's the Greek word, E-N, "en". In other words, "hope fully upon the grace," the favor, "that is being brought to you in the revelation of Jesus Christ".

So this grace is being brought in the revelation of Jesus Christ. It reminds me that every time Jesus did a miracle, it's always either followed up or preceded many times by a declaration of who he is. He would tell someone who is sick or someone who is, you know, the relatives of the guy who was dead for four days like Lazarus, when Martha says, "I know he will rise again". The next day, Jesus says, "Martha". He rebuked her. "I am the resurrection and the life, if you have a revelation of me". Next thing you know, after he said that, he became the resurrection and the life to Lazarus. To those who are hungry, Jesus didn't say, "I am the resurrection". No, he says, "I am the bread of life". To the blind, he didn't say, "I am the bread of life". To the blind he says, "I am the light of the world," and the blind saw. So every time there's a new need, Jesus reveals himself. It's always a fresh unveiling of Jesus Christ. Same person, more unveiling. Are you listening? And when he's unveiled, grace and favor comes to you. You don't understand.

"But Pastor Prince, I don't understand, the problem looks smaller". Either the promise removed or the problem looks smaller, or you're able to handle the problem now. Grace has come, amen. Are you listening, church? Now, let's go on. Okay, if you believe that, then "as obedient children," notice verse 13 ends with, "at the revelation". Just show verse 13. You see how it ends? "Comma". Now, church, you know what's comma? Comma means you don't stay in a coma. It's not finished yet. Comma means temporary, all right, suspension, stop for a while. Look at the next verse. "As obedient children, as obedient". In other words, the more you trust in the favor of God that comes to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ, or in the revelation of Jesus Christ, the more you believe in the favor of God, the more you are hungry for the revelation of Jesus Christ, the more you are looking forward to see more of Jesus, God calls that obedient children.

Why? Because the alternative is what? "Not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance". Ignorance here is not ignorance of not knowing what to do. We always think when we are ignorant, the word means "I don't know what to do". No, ignorance here is someone you do not know. Are you listening? That's why people live in lusts, amen. "I cannot trust God, therefore I steal. I cannot trust God will supply my needs". "As a businessman, I cannot trust God will give me favor if I speak the truth even, so I embellish the truth, I exaggerate". "I look at other women because I cannot believe God can turn the water of my marriage into wine".

So every time we don't have a revelation of Jesus Christ, we end up in lust, okay? 2 Peter chapter 1. Now, same Peter, his second book, all right? "Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ, those," all of us, "who have obtained like precious faith with us". Notice how you obtain like precious faith. How many want the faith? This same Peter who wrote this, the Bible says, his shadow even healed the sick. This Peter, amazing faith, amazing man, amen. No doubt, but he's saying, "All of you have the same faith I have, the same precious faith, like precious faith". How do you and I receive like precious faith, all right? "By the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ". That's why righteousness must be preached. Faith is effortless when righteousness is preached as a gift. The next verse. This is beautiful. "Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord".

This verse, I've been using this verse everywhere I go, in every conference, almost every conference I will use this verse, besides John 1:17. It's my favorite verse because people think that, "Pastor, how can I increase the favor of God in my life? How can I increase the favor? I wanna be full of grace like Jesus. I wanna be full of grace like the apostles. I wanna be full of grace. How do I increase grace in my life? What do I need to do"? It's not "do," it is not "do more"; it's "see more". See more of Jesus. "Grace and peace". You know what's peace? In Greek, eirene; in Hebrew, shalom. And shalom is not just mental peace. It includes that as well. But shalom is wellbeing, it is health. It's the kind of thing when you stand up one day at home or whatever, you say, "Man, I feel good. I really feel good. Life is good". That is shalom. You're experiencing shalom. And God is saying that health, that peace, that wholeness, can be multiplied. And how is it multiplied? "In the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord," hallelujah.

If only we have eyes to see, I'm telling you, we'll be like breaking down the doors or the church to "show me more of Jesus". 'Cause I know that when I have the favor of God on my life, everything that I need will come. All right, now, is there a comma again? See, God's Word is so rich, God says, "I can't tell you in one statement". So there's a comma, all right? And the comma says: "As His divine". By the way, the knowledge there in verse 2 is epignosis, which is actually correct, accurate, precise, revelation knowledge, all right? In the Greek, it means accurate knowledge. "Gnosis," if there's no "epi" in front, "gnosis" just means simple knowledge, just simple knowledge of anything. But you put an "epi" there, complete knowledge. It's revelation knowledge from God, okay?

So in other words, God had to give you a revelation of Jesus Christ. When you open the Bible, says, "God, give me a revelation of Jesus Christ". When you go to a sermon to listen to, all right, always ask God, "Show me more of Jesus," amen. Amen? Don't just say, "God, show me what warnings to look at, what laws to keep, what to avoid, and what to do". That's what we are taught last time, right? How many of you thought, "Show me Jesus"? When you have Jesus, the warnings will be kept, all right, the do's will fall in place. It's Jesus. All right, "As His divine power has given to us," he's not through talking yet. "As His divine power has given to us all things". Say "all things". "That pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him". Knowledge here is epignosis also, "Of Him who called us by glory and virtue".

Now, listen, church. He's now through talking. He's saying when you have knowledge of Jesus, listen, you will receive "all things that pertain to life and godliness". You see, the Christian people, they understand godliness. They understand godliness is to be godly, godlike. "God will give you all things that pertain to godliness," right? Which means, whatever you need for godliness, God will give you all things. But it's not just godliness. It's life. "All things that pertain to life and godliness". You see life? Let me ask you, does health pertain to life? Does provisions pertain to life? Does protection pertain to life? Does family wellbeing pertain to life? Everything, all things. "His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life," not just godliness. "Life and godliness," phew. How does it come? "Through the knowledge of Him".

There, he's driving this home, amen? He's telling you more ways than one. Whatever you desire, grace, peace, I mean, verse 2 alone is enough for me. But God is saying, "You ain't seen nothing yet. Everything you want for life and godliness is found here". Next verse please. "By which," has he not finished yet? Wow, this guy is really, Peter is really full of revelation, so blame him, not me, okay? I wanna finish the revelation really in verse 2 but Peter's fault. Okay, let's go on. So he says, "By which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises". Not laws. "Promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped," past tense, "the corruption that is in the world through lust".

And many people just preach, all right, you know, you must not be lustful, all right? Don't go through the world, don't go, escape the world through lust, whatever it is. No, the thing is this. That comes last. Just like being holy, as I'm holy. It comes last. It's the focus on grace that will cause you to escape the corruption that's in the world through lust. Right after this verse, verse 5 says: "For this reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue," virtue is moral excellence, "to moral excellence knowledge, to knowledge self-control, self-control perseverance, perseverance godliness, godliness brotherly kindness, and brotherly kindness love". Next. "For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the," epignosis, "knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ".

All right, we all want that. We don't wanna be unfruitful, we don't wanna be barren in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. So we want all these qualities to abound: godliness, perseverance, self-control, moral excellence. We want all this, right? But you don't see these things in a believer's life. What is God's prognosis of this situation? Next verse: "For he who lacks these things," what things? Moral excellence, self-control, perseverance. "He who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins". See, God is very... but God say if all these qualities, godliness, brotherly kindness, perseverance, love, is not in a Christian, God's diagnosis: He has forgotten he is forgiven. I prophesy to you that we are now in the days... it's not a prophecy. It's a declaration of prophecy, actually. We are in the fulfillment of it. We are now in the days where there's a major transition going on. God is not gonna tolerate. There are seven candlesticks, seven churches, local churches, all over the world. It's represented in these seven churches of the book of Revelation.

I believe, it's not just referring to seven churches during the dispensation of the church. It's also referring to seven types of churches. And I'm glad that to every church, Jesus reveals himself in a certain aspect he does not reveal to another church. In other words, Jesus shows always fresh revelations of himself, okay, church? John 9, in closing. John 9: "Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, saying, 'Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?'" Now, his parents didn't understand, huh? But how can he sin that he was born blind? That's what happens when religion try to reason, when men try to reason. "Did this man sin or his parents sin that he was born blind"? "Jesus answered, 'Neither this man nor his parents sinned.'" Always remember, don't judge people based on whatever their life is, whatever they're going through or some sin. Don't be sin conscious. "'Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be made manifest.'" Then he says there in verse 5: "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world".

Do you think that the blind man heard Jesus? Of course. He had to hear Jesus. He had a revelation: "Jesus is the light of the world". You know the story at the end of this chapter? He saw. Grace came at the revelation of Jesus Christ. So spiritually, why can't some believers look far? Can't even look near, some of them. They are blind. I'll close with this, okay? It's the final close, all right, final close. All right, 1 Samuel 3. Final close. "Now the boy Samuel ministered to the Lord before Eli". I'm prophesying to you. There's a change coming. There's a shift coming, all right? There's a shift coming. God is, "Out of the old, in with the new". "Now the boy Samuel ministered to the Lord before Eli". Now who is Eli? Eli is the priest representing the old order, the order that's passing away. God is not pleased with Eli. Eli should be discerning, yet he allowed his son to be involved in promiscuous acts. Eli was a man who cannot even discern carefully when grace... Hannah means grace. Grace was in front of him, and Eli saw her with her lips trembling and say, "Woman, why are you drunk? Put away this wine bottle from you".

And she's not even drunk. Out of the bitterness of her soul, she's crying out to God softly, wanting a baby, and God gave her Samuel. Her name is Hannah which means grace in Hebrew. So even grace is in front of Eli; he can't see it. He will misconstrue grace. He will always misinterpret grace. And the Bible says: "The word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no widespread revelation". Just like today, there's no widespread revelation, but it's changing, hallelujah, amen? "And it came to pass at that time, while Eli was lying down in his place, and when his eyes had begun to grow so dim that he could not see". Bible interpret Bible. Why is it that this priesthood, his eyes began to be dim and he could not see? He represents the leadership that has forgotten they were forgiven. And that's why they can be very hard on people. Goes, "Yeah, we have forgiven. Yeah, yeah, but". No, we are forgiven past, present, and future. And once you know that, you're forgiven much, you will love Jesus much.

So this leadership is blind. This Eli leadership is blind. Why? He has forgotten. He has forgotten. Next verse. Last two verses, we'll close. "And before the lamp of God went out in the tabernacle of the Lord where the ark of God was, and while Samuel was lying down, that the Lord called Samuel". No more Eli, have you noticed that? God is finished with Eli. And Samuel says, "Here I am"! I am prophesying to you, church. Don't come against grace. Don't come against the truth of the person of Jesus. Jesus died to give us this grace, and God will not allow what his Son did to be maligned. And God will not allow a priesthood, a leadership, to misconstrue grace, even when grace is in front of that leadership.

But for those of you who are here, you say, "Pastor, I am for abundance of grace," I'm here to tell you, "Listen carefully. God is calling you. He's calling you by name". He's saying, "Richard, Irene, Paul". He's calling you by name. It's very personal. He's no more calling Eli. He's calling you. And church, whatever you need, the more of Jesus you see, grace will come into your life, and grace will bring all things that pertain to life and godliness. May this be the cry of your heart: "Show me more of Jesus, Holy Spirit. Show me more of Jesus". And all the people said... I've preached myself happy. Praise God, hallelujah, amen.