Joseph Prince - Rest For Your Soul In Restless Times
That was good, Pastor Lian. She always looks younger and younger, right, when she comes out? And, weren't you all blessed the last two Sundays when she preached? Right, the word was amazing, amen. You know, I'm so glad, I'm so proud of our pastors and leaders that God is raising, and we have new pastors being raised, and we are having new leaders coming into the church. People, the leaders are here to serve you, okay? The pastors and leaders, we don't see ourselves, and that's how it should be, above you, right, serving you like this. We see ourselves underneath you, pushing you up towards the Lord, amen.
And you need to know that there are gifts, there are impartations of different kinds of anointings, different ones like you see Pastor Lawrence, he has a different anointing. Every time he comes up, you cannot stop that gentle anointing, amen. I mean, he and Pastor Joel Osteen, I mean, they can cry, you know? Amen. And, they are very tenderhearted, you know? And you don't want him to become the preacher that says, "And I'm telling you, the fire of God's judgement," he cannot do that kind of preaching, right? Amen. But you see the variety, you see the different gifts that the body of Christ has, amen. And that's a reflection also of your gifts and your callings. Each one of you, you were birthed into this world with a purpose and a calling.
I want to really impress that on you, because I want you to not find your purpose and calling later in life, maybe too late. Yes, God can restore the years, but you missed out on what could have been. You know, there's a saying that, you climb the ladder of success, make sure that the ladder of success that you climb to the top is on the right building. No point climbing a long, right, tall ladder all the way up, that's long way up, and then finally you find yourself on top, but the wrong building, amen, and the years have passed. And I feel that you need to know your calling, you need to know your purpose, and the calling is given, like the Apostle Paul says, "God separated me in my mother's womb to reveal his Son in me". And yet the Apostle Paul, you find him chasing down believers, thinking that he's doing God's service by killing Christians or bringing them, throwing them into the dungeons, into the prisons, and he's thinking that he's doing God's service, because these grace people, they are just advocating lawlessness, amen.
We keep the law, and, we need to stop these people, and he doesn't realize that he was coming against the Lord. And when the Lord appeared to him, the Lord says, "It's hard for you to kick against the goads". The goads are the instruments that they used to prod a bullock from moving on the field. It's a sharp goad. I shared some time back that in the book of Judges God used simple things, and Shamgar used an ox goad to defeat all the enemies. What is that like for us today? How do you apply that? A simple word to your child if it's an ox goad, amen, will prod him, direct him to the right direction. But many of us, we despise small things. What are words? You know, words are just, you know, words have no power, my words have no power over my children, my words have no power in the place where I work, you know. People ignore my words. It's time for us to stop thinking that way and believe that God will make your words as ox goads, amen? Amen.
So, he started pursuing the Apostle Paul who was then Saul, thinking he was doing God's service. But you can see that all the giftings already showing up, but in the wrong direction, amen. He grew up at the feet of Gamaliel, the best rabbi at that time, and, he wanted to learn about the Word of God, why? Because there's a teacher, there's an apostle in the making, right? But his ladder was on the wrong building, amen. He didn't believe Jesus is the Messiah, the Savior of the world, and God had to deal with him. So, when the Lord met him, the Lord says, "Hard for you to kick against the goads". Try your best. Something sharp, a knife, kick against it. You only hurt yourself. So, a lot of people think that, you know, they hurt the cause of Christ, they hurt Christ when they blaspheme and all that or they use the name of Jesus in vain, you only hurt yourself. The Lord cannot be hurt. He can touch a leper, and he doesn't catch what the leper has. The leper catches his healing. He cannot be affected or be defiled, amen.
So, you use the Lord's name in vain, you see your friends doing it or whatever, they are hurting themselves, amen. Because angels, they revere that name. They honor that name. You know, I sometimes feel like if there's too much of, the name of Jesus being taken in vain in a movie, I just walk out. I've done that. If there's too much of, you know, that kind of blasphemy, I just walk out, and, honestly church, you might think that I am splitting hairs here, but I think Christians should not say OMG. The world can, but honestly, you know, about taking the name of the Lord in vain, unless you're using God's name for a purpose, why are you using the expression of the world? Find another expression. Oh, ho, ho, ho, oh, it suddenly got so quiet, no amen. See, some of that... oh. Okay, try another one. Oh my Joseph. Try. You can take my name however you want. Oh my Lawrence. Amen.
So, just like the Apostle Paul, there are people who are, they love, you know, they love, ministering to the kids. They might be studying psychology for kids in school, right, mental health and things like, psychia, psychiatric studies. It's because there's a calling to join Rock Kidz, amen. And you will find your fulfillment in life in your calling, in that purpose for which God birthed you into this world. And you know what? It will not be a struggle, because if God calls you into the area, God has equipped you with all the gifts, the anointings, with all the charismatas that go with it. Take my advice, there's a book called Ecclesiastes, and it starts off by saying, "The Son of David, King of Jerusalem," who is that? Solomon.
So, why is that book there? That book, when you read that book, you can get depressed. If you don't know the purpose for that book, you'll get depressed, because it starts off by saying, and remember when you study the Bible, the key to the book of the Bible, what the Bible, that book is all about, whether it's Ephesians, whether it's Genesis, the key is always at the door. The first few lines, the first chapter, the key is there. Like, Genesis, what is it all about? "In the beginning, God created the", so it's all about the book of Genesis, beginnings, the beginnings, amen. So, likewise for Ecclesiastes, in Hebrew Qohelet, which is preacher, a preacher. But then it starts off by saying, the key is, "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity". What an opening. That means in Hebrew hebel, hebel is vanity. Empty, empty. Take it from someone, this book is there for a purpose.
It is showing you if ever there was a man who has achieved everything, whose cup of the world, pleasures, worldly pleasures and anything that you can enjoy in this earth this side of heaven, and he has the ability because of his position and he was the most powerful king at that time, and, his domain was such that he extended the farthest ever for Israel, all the way to River Euphrates in Babylon, and, all the way to Israel, and he's, his domain, his power was so vast, and his wisdom was so admired, people came from the far east to come all the way there, and then the Bible says that, even the kings of the east looked up to him. His wisdom was far exceeding the kings of the east, and the wise men of the east, think about all the wise men of China at that time, of names that y'all can just quote, you know. We still read some of their books and all that, and, even in history we know about them, well, wisdom of Solomon exceeds all that, because he asked God for wisdom.
So, think about a man who has wisdom, who masters all the languages, and in Ecclesiastes he says that "I tried singing, I tried music to find fulfillment there," all right. He say that "It gave me nothing, vanity, it's empty. I tried", now, in terms of fulfillment, all right, God gives all music and things like this for us in our lives to enjoy, amen, but not to find fulfillment in. So, it starts by vanity of vanities, another phrase that appears often besides vanity of vanities is under the sun, under the sun. So, remember this, the next book is Song of Songs. It's about the one who is above the sun. Once your eyes and focus and priorities in life is on the one, the Son of God who is above the sun, amen, you'll be fulfilled. He tried everything. He is a man, you know, he want something, he says that in Ecclesiastes, he wants something, he'll get it. Amen. He has, 700 wives, and, 300 concubines. That's 1,000 women. One year, work out the math.
Imagine the mother-in-laws he has. That part isn't the wisdom of God operating. So, he has the wisdom, and you'll see that at the same there's a natural wisdom, and then he says that as a man, there's never been a man who can try anything and everything. He was the most powerful, he made his own law. Even the richest man today is bound by the laws of the land. He cannot just go and, you know, but he had everything and anything. He tried everything, he said. He tried horticulture, he tried buildings, everything came to emptiness, he said. So, the book is there for all of us to learn, because sometimes as a guy, we start thinking, you know, "Oh, you know, I wanna achieve this, then I'll be fulfilled. If I make X amount of dollars in my life, this is my financial statement, then I'll rest. I'll be happy". And the Bible says Jesus shared a parable about such a person who built, and then Jesus says, "But that night, God said", he said, "I'll build greater barns". He's planning without God in his mind. And the Lord says that God appeared to him and says, "Thou fool. This night your soul shall be required of you".
Think about it, Ecclesiastes is basically telling us, "What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, but he lose his soul"? Amen, but when he looks at the one, he says, "Everything is vexation of spirit," but then he's looking within himself. He's looking at all the earthly pleasures, and don't misunderstand. Many of these earthly pleasures and, like food and all that, all that's given by God. Amen. But he had access to all of them, he looked for fulfillment in them, and he came up by saying, "It's all empty". But in the next book it's the Song of Songs. Why is it a Song of Songs? It's a song that... Song of Songs means it's a song beyond any other song. All your love songs that you sing, boy-girl songs, romantic songs, it's not at that level. This song is a song above all songs, amen. Why? Because it's a song about the Son of God, amen, and his love for you. It's a romantic and lovely, song, amen. It starts off by, "Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth," amen. So, it is like, "Let me experience his love, his personal love". That's when you find the fulfillment in life.
So, don't make the same mistake, you know? By the time you arrive 60 years old, 60 plus, you say, "Oh, I got my financial statement, there already, amen, I can rest". And then you find that you got other battles, maybe healthwise, and now you're trying to use all the money you've made to get back the health you lost. Vanity of vanities, amen. Enjoy the Lord now. Amen, find out more about him now. He's the only who could, he comes to us saying that "I am the water of life". He told that woman at the well, "You drink this water, you will thirst again," and by that she knew what he meant, because she was looking for love in all the wrong places, amen. But did God give us relationship? Yes, "In the beginning," the Bible says, "God made male and female," amen. And a man shall leave his father and mother, and they two shall become one flesh. God ordained marriage, so marriage is of God, right?
But God is telling us, even in your marriage, and this is the key to, having a successful marriage, it's actually not look to your spouse to fulfill your innermost desires. Yes, there are other desires you have, other wants and all that, but look to the Lord for only what the Lord can give, amen. Don't make your spouse your god. I pity those who don't have the Lord, because they look at their spouse, and they draw from their spouse, and the spouses will draw back from them. So, they can't get it, they hammer them verbally, and then they can't get it, they hammer back, you know. Because they are drawing, they're looking to each other. Why they can be so hurt by each other is because they are looking to each other for the fulfillment, and when it's thwarted, they don't receive what they wanna receive, they transfer that to their spouse. "It's because of her. I need a new spouse". Get a new spouse, guess what? The problem is still there, amen. Because you are still there.
"Okay, Pastor Prince, start preaching, pastor". Wait, let me mess up first. I'm standing on your foot, I just want to stand there for a while. I just want to tell you. It's for you, church, this is what, you know, studying the Word of God is all about. Don't pursue things just to make money. Are you sure that you will have the extra million, okay, another 5 million, now a million is nothing. "Oh, I want a billion". You sure you'll be happy? You sure, I mean, there's a guy who is worth more than a billion. To date he's still probably trillionaire, but maybe more than that based on, you know, inflation and all that. You look at Solomon, he's the richest man in history. If he's here today, he's richer than Elon Musk. Plus, no restriction, he was king, absolute sovereign on the throne. By his word, a man can die. By his word, a man can be saved. In those days, like Nebuchadnezzar, sovereign.
Think about it, people. The purpose, the calling, the destiny that God has for you is a beautiful destiny. Flow in it. Can I have a good amen? Amen, praise the Lord. Now, Matthew 11. Jesus said, "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden". Now, he's not talking about a day of rest. He's talking about the person of rest. "Come to Me". Come to who? Him. He didn't say, "Come to religion". Some people make Christianity into a religion. No, he says, "Come to Me," it's the real presence of the Lord. Do you know the Lord is here right now? I'm telling you, the Lord is here right now, amen, and that's why as the Word goes forth, things happen. Like, the testimonies that you read, you hear being shared, we have all these testimonies on our website, you can read all about it. Go to JosephPrince.com and, you know, you can read even more testimonies that's happening, and it's happening constantly.
Remember Jesus says, "By their fruits, you shall know them". If ever you hear bad things about your pastor, in case you're hear, you'll never hear one, nah? In this world of social media. But ever you hear, ask yourself this, the one who is sharing, who is that person? Do I know the person? Has the person impacted and changed my life? You see, one thing Jesus says... Jesus didn't say, Jesus didn't say, all right, "By their great social media," or "By their good relationship," or "By their appearance and all that". "By their fruits, the fruit of that ministry, you shall know them". How do I know his interpretation? There's so many interpretations in the world. Yeah, everyone has their privilege to interpret the Word of God, but if you see the focus, amen, is it on the Word? Is it on the person of Jesus?
Now, sometimes you hear your church is a cult church. You ever hear that? No, you never hear that, not today's world, amen. But just in case you hear that, all right, the number one, number one, cult means that something that is deviant, not the mainstream teaching, okay. Remember this, a cult, number one thing about a cult is this, the leader will always point things to himself, that he is the Messiah, he is the leader, he is the one, you know, with only the gifts that y'all must come and he actually crave worship. Every cult leader does that. The cult leader will never point to Jesus. Amen. And they'll never go without salary. So when you hear things sometimes, ask yourself, where did it come from? Has that person transformed your life? If that person has a ministry, by their fruits, check their fruits, how much fruits do they have?
If God is working in his life, there will be track records of God's miracles and works, especially in transformed lives. Have you fallen in love with Jesus more, or with Pastor Lawrence? And if you do fall in love with Pastor Lian, write to the office. We celebrate you. Okay, so ask yourself, who is it pointing to? Who does the preacher, the leader point to? I don't think I'm a good pointer, but I endeavor by the grace of God down through the years to point at Jesus Christ, to tell you don't look at me, look at him, don't look at the leaders here, look at him. It's always about Jesus. My sermons is all about Jesus, amen. I endeavor, okay. Now, sometimes the accusation come from people who have been corrected, but they leave church.
Now, always be careful, when people are corrected, they should remain, because part of love is correction. Imagine your son come to you and say, "You correct me, I leave church". Amen, no, your son should feel, and they will come to a place as they grow older, they are grateful you corrected them. "Thank you that you love me enough that you know, some of my friend's parents don't even care what they do. But I remember, mom, dad, you corrected me. That's why I'm on the straight and narrow, praise the Lord. That's why my life is successful. That's why I'm in church, serving the Lord, and my life is full of peace, and I look at my friends, some of them are in jail, some of them, all kinds of, you know. And they are stone drunk almost every weekend, their relationship always changing". By their fruits, you shall know them.
So, ask yourself, when people are corrected, listen, you might think some people out there are with us, all right, but we are against them. No, when you read things like, you know, why these people leave church and all that, or they put it on social media, there's a real story, I have some of my own media I can put out there, why they really left. But I'm not gonna put it there, why? It's not nice for that person. It's not right, it's not Christian love. So, would you listen to someone who has bitterness in their heart? Ask yourself, you are not a garbage truck that people dumb their poison on. All right, listen to them. Now, I'm talking about people who have poison, all right? You spend time with them, there's poison coming out. All right, they're disparaging your leaders, they're disparaging, why? Because they're gonna cut down your leaders to have influence with you, so watch out for that.
All right, is this coming from a bitter place? If it's coming from a good place, never mind. Of course we welcome that. We are not perfect, amen, our church is not perfect. The moment you step in, it became imperfect, all right? And for that information, all right, the moment the pastors are here, it's imperfect, and, if you go to another church, "I'm looking for a better church," the moment you step in, it becomes imperfect, all right? So, the church is all about imperfect people, but a perfect Savior who loves us, and he loves us perfectly, and his perfect love casts out every fear, amen. Amen? Just a little bit of, uh, housekeeping once a while is good. It's good, Matthew? It's good, Gideon? Asking my leaders, amen.
So, don't open the door, all right, open the door to bitterness or resentment, you find the door is open, you know, bad things happen. Bad things happen when, the Bible says, "Where there's envying and strife, there is confusion and every evil work". You open that to your company, all right, there'll be confusion and every evil work. You open that to your family, confusion and every evil work. Don't allow strife to come in. And you're not a garbage truck, don't let people dump things on you. "Hey, have you heard about this colleague or not? Have you heard about..." Don't, you know, don't, don't be, "Ha, tell me more, tell me more". Don't be, don't be that kind of, you know what I'm saying? "Ah, did you hear about this pastor?" and you know it's something bad, "No, I don't wanna hear". So, will I suffer spiritually because I don't wanna hear? Some things are out there in the open, in the media, we know about it. I read just roughly about it, all right, because I need to know if people ask me. That's it. I don't wanna read the details. And the details is as good or as bad as the journalist that's writing it.
There's a lot of things that you must know the spirit behind everything. Some things are true, but exaggerated, all right. So, out there in the world where you do not know what is truth, the Word of God is truth. You can find truth in the Bible, okay? So, Jesus says, "Come unto me". There's no one more lovely than Jesus. You know, I see the moral beauty of Jesus', the moral beauty. Like, even when he was 12 years old, remember, he was in the Temple. The Bible says his family was looking for him, so finally when they found him after three days, because there's a large crowd there, and then, they were doing, probably it's a feast day, yeah, it is a feast day, and then the family left because at the age of 12 he was quite independent, he would go with the relatives and all that, so they thought he was with the relatives until they found out that he wasn't there. They went back to Jerusalem, and it was the third day when they found him where? In the Temple.
That's why he says, "How is it that you sought me, sorrowing"? And the word sought there is keep on finding. "Why is it you keep on finding the wrong, I mean, the other places. I'm always at the Temple. Did you not know I must be about my Father's business? If you knew that, you would know where to find me," at the age of 12. Remember that? And what was he doing at the Temple? There were the top rabbis and Bible teachers of that day, and the Bible says, this is the moral beauty. You see, at the age of 12, he didn't preach the Sermon on the Mount to them. "Blessed," to all of them, "are the poor in spirit," amen. He didn't preach that way to them. There'll be a time for that. Everything beautiful in its season. You know what he did? The Bible says, "They were amazed at his understanding". They were... let me say it again. He was asking them questions and hearing them, and the next verse says, "And they were amazed," the rabbis, "At his understanding and answers".
So, he was asking them questions. He didn't say, you know, so even though he knew more than them, after all, he wrote the book, all right, it was not his place as a 12 year old to tell, you know, all the rabbis in a preaching way what's in the Word of God. That's the moral beauty. As a 12 year old he's asking questions. And then they throw back the question at him when they can't answer. "What do you think it is"? They were amazed at his understanding and answers. What timing, and then the next verse, look at this, and the parents came, and the following verse says after he says, "'I must be about my Father's business,'" and the mother came, the father came, took him back, the Bible says he was subject unto them. Smarter than his parents, amen, knows more than them, he was submissive to them. And the Bible says this is the result, this is the fruit, "Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, in favor with God and with men".
That's a good prayer to pray for your children. Pray that "Lord, but..." Martha, okay? You wouldn't call your daughter Martha in Singapore, right? All right. My advice, don't call your son, if your family name is Teh, don't call your son bible name Habakkuk, okay? Just an advice, just an advice, all right. For those who do not know, all right, it's Habakkuk Teh. Bak kut teh is a very nice dish, pop dish. So, your family is Teh, becomes, it's called bak kut teh. So, Ha is the definite article, "The bak kut teh family". It's a good prayer to pray for your children, so-and-so increases in wisdom and in favor with God and man. Increases in stature, amen. When I come to increases in stature, I'm a bit reluctant praying this prayer over Justin, that he increases in stature. I want him to stay young, so that when I come to that, I say, "It's in the Bible, Jesus increased in stature, I have to pray," amen.
I don't want him to, to hit puberty too soon, you know. Especially with a lot of sweet, pretty girls around in our church. At the Rock Kidz, amen, we don't want our kids to grow up too fast, all right. But, again, everything's beautiful in its season. Say season. To say something, a word in season, how beautiful it is, the Bible says. So, here, I'm gonna share with you something, about the Word of God, but before that, I just wanna show you Jesus standing in front of all the people, and this is a beautiful, again, a moral beauty of the Lord. You know your Lord is so beautiful. Do you know that when he said this, "Come unto Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden," they were laboring, they were heavy laden under trying to please God? The law was heavy on them. No one could keep the law. I said no one could keep the law, all right. No one, I'm telling you, no one. Even those who fight for the law, they cannot keep the law. And the Bible says, "Cursed is everyone who continues not", it's not starting the, I'm trying to keep the law, but if I fail God, I understand. No, no, it says, "Who continues not". "Cursed is everyone who continues not in all things which are written in the book of the Law to do them".
So, don't think about being under the law. Thank God you're under grace. Does that mean that we don't have the morality? No, no, of course we have, in fact, morality that is even you're not conscious of. It's got the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, gentleness, even self-control is a fruit. So, Jesus stood for the people who were struggling under this, you know, this burden of trying to please God, and they'd been heaped up with all these, uh, laws, and, and even man-made laws as well, and they are heavy laden, and Jesus says, "Come unto me, and I will give you rest". So, it's rest given, right? Now, this rest comes to us, the first rest comes to us when we receive the Lord, we come to the Lord, we receive rest, rest in our conscience.
People, you are not just a body going somewhere to happen, okay. You are not just a body, this is a house, actually, you live in. Amen, look around you. All kinds of houses, amen. Some take care of their windows, some don't care about their windows, amen? Some take care of the other window, amen. This window here is open. This is a door, this is a door, said, "The door," "Set a guard on the door of my lips," the psalmist says, so the mouth is a door. Wah, their door is open all the time. Everyone's welcome, amen. All right, and then, some take care of their, you know, their structure, whatever it is. It's a house, take care of your house. You don't take care of your house, you cannot just say, "Check out, I'm buying a new property in Sentosa," amen. No, this is the only body you have. You don't take care of this body, no more, my friend. Until you have the body from Jesus when he comes again, amen. So, take care of this body.
Now, you don't have to take care of it to the point, like, you have muscles, you know, so every time you preach. you just flex a bit, you just flex a bit, you know what I'm saying. You know, and say, "People". You know, you can just say, "People," but, "People," like that, you know, I mean, we know, we know. You wanna show us your muscles, but, "Pastor, sour grapes". Guilty. So, when Jesus died on the cross, he didn't just die for our future sins, why? God lives in the timeless, there's no time. The cross, what he accomplishes are all outside time, because he created time. Time has no beginning, no end. That's why he says, "I'm am the first and the last," amen. So, the cross and the work of the Jesus Christ is outside time. He died for us as if he died for us just now, which I always encourage people, when you take communion, always be, aware of the freshness of his death, okay. So, your sins, we think about, okay, I committed the sins from 1973, you were born then, or whatever, until now, he forgive all my past sins. No, friend, God saw your entire future. When Jesus died on the cross, God took your entire sins and put it on Jesus Christ. So, all your sins are forgiven.
Now, some people are scared of this kind of preaching, because they say that you'll produce people saying, "Wah, I can go and sin," but really, I don't see that, when people hear the truth, they fall in love with Jesus. Jesus himself says, "Where people know that sins are, where they are forgiven much, they love him much". And when you love him much, you don't wanna sin, amen. And since when you can just stop sinning by your own effort? We don't need the Savior, amen. It's an effect, we love, which is the greatest commandment of all. Love is the fulfilling of the law. We love because he first loved us. Can I have a good amen, people? Amen. Do you want to live a life of purpose? A life fulfilling that destiny for which you are called? Or you just wanna make money?
"I wanna make money. I don't care how, you know, my health suffers and all that, all right, I wanna make money. I don't sleep well, never mind. Money. Money. Money". Or "I just wanna live for pleasure, pleasure, pleasure," to the point, I shared before this a disease now that, uh, it's not physical, but mental, it's called anhedonia, which is actually, "A" means negate whatever comes. Hedonia is pleasure, right, anhedonia means you cannot have pleasure anymore. You keep on doing it all the time until there's no more pleasure. "Preach it Pastor Prince, hallelujah". Why? Amen. Come on, church. So, now the first rest for the conscience, because conscience is a function of your human spirit. It's rest for your spirit, am I right? Number two, he goes on to say, "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls".
So, the first one is our gift, say, rest given. Where's that fall? Your conscience, from all your sins. Right, once you know your sins are forgiven, there's no more that sin debt on your heart. Most people when they go to God, they have a sin debt on their heart. That's why they don't want to spend time with God, they don't enjoy being with God because they think that God is focused on their sin because of the wrong teaching they have received. Right, now, it's true, if you are without Christ, yes, your sin becomes prominent. But then once you have forgiven, and God says he forgives, not only that, God says, "And your sins I remember no more" in the New Covenant because of what Christ has done at the cross. It's wrong for us to be sin conscious when he says he has forgiven us and make that, sort of, like, a blockade, amen, between him and you. It's wrong. If I have paid your debt and you still come to me acting like you owe me, I don't like it. It's like you don't celebrate what I did. I love you, all right?
So, the sin debt is what's causing humanity to shun God, but the good news for all of us is that our sins are forgiven. We have written to our Father in heaven, amen. Our life is not vanity of vanities, it's joy of joys, peace of peace, hallelujah, amen. Holy of holies, hallelujah. Thank you, Lord Jesus, amen. So, the second rest after your rest for your conscience, your spirit, the next one is rest for your soul. Soul is the part of you that's emotional, the part of you that is, mental, and this is the part where we live. A lot of us, you know, after we are born again, many of you are saved, praise the Lord, but you have a battle in your soul. Like Pastor Lawrence was sharing, right? I don't know why he shares about driving so much. Maybe, like, his fellow pastor that he spends time with. But driving is one area you can see whether you have rest for your soul or not. You know what is the problem with this, you know, all these road battles and all that? The issue is pride. It's a sense of entitlement.
So, you have battles on the road, cars and cars, right? Sometimes cars and cyclists, and some cyclists have a sense of entitlement. "If I right, you wait". And some car, you know, drivers, they have a sense of entitlement. "No, no, you are just a cyclist, all right, see how big my car is"? It's based on pride, people. And why is it that you have to compete with each other to reach first just at the next red light? All right, it's a sense of pride. We find little battles like this to build our pride because we are so hurt. You know, don't forget I've shared before, Jesus, knowing all things has been given to him from the Father, knowing his purpose in life, that he came from the Father, he's going back to the Father, he rose up in the Upper Room, all right, and washed the disciples's feet. Only people who are secure, people who know who they are in Christ, people who know that they have received from the Father can afford to serve, can afford to give.
All right, people who are proud are people who are insecure, amen. Sometimes, you know, we have people that for no reason they will blast their car near us... and then my wife says, "I think he's compensating". Wendy like to say, "I think he's compensating for something," all right? It's true, it shows your insecurity, amen. Oh, some of you not happy. You're, "Wah, I bought my Porsche only last week, you know, Pastor". If you enjoy your Porsche, all right, go ahead, but if you think, "Oh, I'll find fulfillment, because when I blast my sound and I show off my car, then I'll find fulfillment from people," you won't. If that is your purpose, not the Porsche, okay, amen. I mean, if some of you wanna buy a Porsche for me, go ahead. I'll buy it, or I'll take it, and I have to sell it, you know. I cannot drive it. Amen, it's not a good testimony for pastors to drive Porsche. So, I'll sell it, and the money I'll give to the work of God. Amen.
Okay, so, when the Lord gave us rest for conscience, there's an area in our lives that he says, you'll find rest for your souls if you do this. "Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, I am gentle and lowly in heart, you will find rest for your souls". What is that, rest for your souls? Rest for your souls is your emotional, mental part. But notice what it says, "Learn from me, I am gentle and lowly in heart". Some people think gentleness, like what Pastor Lawrence preached last week, you know, it's weakness, if you're gentle, people climb all over your head. In the King James it says, "I am meek and lowly". Let me tell you a definition of meek. Meek is strength under control. Meek is strength under control. If you let go and you just say your profanities and just, uh, spout off all your vulgarities and just, show off your anger and all that, you're not under control. And deep down people don't respect that. You feel a sense of power, and people are, some people will succumb to that, but there's no love, there's no respect for you. Meekness, gentleness is strength under control, tender mercies. It takes the strong to be gentle. It takes a strong man to preach on tender mercy.
Now, I don't mean the muscles. I envy his muscles, leh. I thought about doing some fake muscles, you know. Now they sell it, you know. Made in China, some of the... yeah, they have muscles for your shoulder and all that. This is raw, organic, people. So is Pastor Lawrence's, okay. Now, Jesus says, "I am gentle, lowly in heart, learn from me. Learn from me. I am gentle and lowly in heart". And what's gonna happen? You will find rest for your souls. So, don't have a sense of entitlement, amen? The world is proud, you be meek and lowly. Look at Jesus and be like him. Now, notice it's not that he let people just climb all over his head when he was on earth. There were money changers cheating people, right, at the temple, what did he do? He drove them out with a scourge, but he was strength under control.
Can you imagine making a scourge? That takes some time, you know. He watched them, he made a scourge. He see them bullying people, amen, taking advantage of people, right? He take his time. Give them, the suffering of God is repentance, waiting for them to repent. And they didn't. He drove them all out single-handedly. Peter, James, John wasn't there. You know, I'm telling you to drive these people separate from their money takes a man, a man's man. When they came to arrest him in the garden, look at the beauty of our Lord Jesus. All right, "Oh, it's that meek Jesus, you know, the painting". No, no, sorry, the painting, I don't know who paint it, let me just tell you this. He doesn't look like that. A man who spoke two words which the US Marine has copied. He said, "Follow me," and strong bullies, you know, profane, fishermen leave everything and follow him.
When Jesus comes into your life, amen, you'll be like him. That's what it means to be like him. It's not just, oh, you know, people climb over your head, "Oh, it's okay, it's okay". "But Pastor Prince, uh, what about he says, 'Turn the other cheek'"? Read carefully, I shared some time back about turn the other cheek, notice it says that somebody slap you on the right cheek. In those days to slap, most people are right handed, right? You slap in the right cheek, this is my right cheek in case you are all visualizing slapping me right now. Okay, this is my right cheek, right, when you slap me, right, usually you slap like this, on my left. But the left is like this, on my right. That means you use your hand to slap like this, in those days, it's a challenge to a duel. All right, but you know, you can kill this guy, but you don't want to, so you turn the other cheek. You are now in control. He wants you to react based on his action.
Now you respond, all right, you take the initiative. He just telling you, "Don't react to people," that's it. Don't react to their challenge to a battle or real battle or even physi... not just physically, but also verbally or any other challenge. Don't be ruled by people's poison of bitterness. Don't be ruled by their jealousies of you. Always initiate. "Preach it, Pastor Prince," amen. Are you with me so far? Now, believe it or not I'm closing already. I just got started, but I realized that, it took some time for housekeeping, so I have to close. You all want some more? Stay back, lah. Okay, do you find it's amazing, sometimes, you know, I'm preaching, and I say, my goodness, you know, time is passing, so I have to let you go, all right. I have to let you go so that you think of me as Moses, your leader. "Let my people go. Too long, we need to end early".
Sometimes we need a Moses in church, amen? Okay, no amen, thank you very much. All right, all right, so look at this. It says, "You will find rest for your souls". So, just because a Christian have found rest in his conscience, in other words, he knows his sins are forgiven, he has that peace with God, but then doesn't mean he has found rest for his soul. That is all based on whether he is looking to Jesus, seeing his meekness, his gentleness, amen. And you find that people who are gentle, right, like you don't have to push for first place always. It's very peaceful, you know? When you let go and let people win, maybe they need to win, 'cause he left the house, the wife's told him that crazy, so maybe he need to win for that. Give him the victory. Give him the victory, amen, amen. And what is this about parking as close as you can to that place of, restaurant or whatever. Don't you know it's healthier to park far away and walk? You get healthy. People are sitting down too much.
Stand up, all of you. No, no, we are too sedentary, come on. To walk a bit is good, especially after the restaurant. You find that you need to walk some space, right? Good for your stomach. Your stomach say, "Thank you". The bak kut teh is no joke for our stomach to handle, you know. Amen. Don't have that sense of entitlement. Don't let pride rule you. Push in, withdraw so that... I know it's hard. The flesh wants to hit back, the flesh wants to drive in front of the person, the flesh want to say back, but then that's not strength under control, amen. And how do you get it? By looking at Jesus, okay. And Jesus says, "My yoke is easy, My burden is light". Whenever you hear a revelation of God's Word, if it makes it heavy on you, if it's, like, burdening you, it's not Jesus. Those who say, "Actually, I don't wanna serve, you know, as an usher, I don't like meeting people". Listen, that's not your calling. You don't have a joy for it, it's not easy for you, it's a burden for you, some people, it's not a burden.
Some people, "Welcome to church, so good to see all of you". That one is called. We just need to restrain him, we just need to pull him back. Amen, we need to pull him back a bit. Are you all with me so far? But you got no joy, whatever it is, there'll be a joy, there'll be a flow, amen. But in the natural it might seem the opposite, but sometimes your weakness is an indication of your calling. Like, for example, I had, stammering, stuttering problem for the longest time in school. Both, elementary as well as high school. I'm speaking for our friends who are overseas. Right, and that's as a teenager, you know how embarrassing it is in front of all the girls and all that? But when God called me and I gave him my tongue, my voice, my vocal cords, and I told him to use it, I was appalled, I was amazed, it shocked me that when I stood up, there wasn't that stuttering anymore.
So, some of it will come, some of it is an indication that you are called for that. So, don't just shun it as you go along. But there must be, if you say, "I got a voice to sing," how many people believe they have a voice to sing, right? And they insist on singing it in the pulpit, but what's terrible, when they sing, they have a ministry of clearing the church. And they really think people have gone to the corners to pray. No, they have gone home. So, if God calls you to do, amen. He'll give you the voice. Same thing, if you go to someone and say, "I believe that God called me, to marry you," must make sure there's a response. God will also indicate to her, or as a lady you can say, "So far I have not received any telegram from God". You don't use telegram, or Instagram, you know. I don't, "I have not received any information from the Lord," okay, find someone else. You're not obliged. Don't be threatened just because someone says, "God says". Many a times God says things to me, and I'm very careful about saying, "God says," okay?
Now, God says it's time for me to share with all of you a principle of Bible interpretation. And by the way, before that, I wanna show you how beautiful this is. "My yoke is easy," say easy. Say light. Unfortunately it's not as useful beer and all that. But it's original with Jesus. So, when there's a...he put a yoke on you. You know, yoke, all right, oxen, all right, I didn't tell you all that just now, the mature ox will yoke together with a smaller ox, and then that's how their young apprentice will have to follow, because the young apprentice wants to go his own way, but the old ox, right, will move, and when he moves and the young one doesn't move, he will have sore neck. And then when the older one wants to drink, he knows it's time to drink, the right time, and the young one doesn't feel like drinking, he can drink later, all right, when he bends, he better bend, or else it will be a heavy yoke, amen.
So, for the easy yoke, you just flow with him, and then you realize that he knows best. So, Jesus says, "Take my yoke, take my yoke upon you". What does that mean? Yoke with Jesus. He knows the way, all right? All this that's happening, Taiwan, China, you know, Ukraine and all that doesn't take him by surprise. And how do we live, you know, during times of extreme inflation in the world today. Okay, whatever it is, we're gonna flow with him. All right, don't worry about the future, don't even worry about tomorrow. You can plan, but the problem, sometimes you plan, you worry. Just do the next thing he tells you to do. Just flow with him. When he... and pastors and leaders, listen, all right, sometimes, you know, we come to a passage in the Bible and a verse jumps out at us. Then you know what we say? Ready, this is how, uh, you find a sermon, okay, for your next outing to preach. Stop and look if the verse is talking to you, stop there, stop reading and look at it and let it talk to you.
Write it down, all right, look at it again, let it talk to you. Talk to it, let it talk to you. You talk to it, ask questions. The Holy Spirit is showing you something. Most people will do something, "Okay, next time I'll just come back to it. I'll remember this one, very hard to forget such a bright light". When you come back to it the next day, it's no more the same. When the ox drinks, the older ox drinks, you better drink. If the Lord is drinking, you flow with him, you drink. And also another thing, obey every impulse to pray. Don't say, "I'll pray for them later when everything's quiet at night, you know, before I watch my favorite TV program, I'll spend some time praying. That's my custom, I always pray, you know", don't say that. Obey every impulse to pray. Don't have to be long, can be short.
Paul says, "I thank my God upon every remembrance of you". So, you obey the impulse to pray. You think of your son who is now in school or whatever, and, you say that "I've prayed for protection last night," but if there's an impulse to pray, pray. You think of someone in church, amen, you didn't see them for some time, pray. Paul says, "I thank my God upon every remembrance of you". Don't have to be a long prayer. Say, "Lord, let your light shine on that person, Lord. Let your grace abound to that person". So many of us, "I'll remember you in prayer," you know, that cliché? "Yeah, I'll remember you in prayer". You better pray. Obey every impulse to pray, same thing. He's yoking you, he's flowing, go with him. Next time you come back to the water at your own time, "Now I'm thirsty, I want to drink," it's like it's no more refreshing, it's no more lighting up.
Write down if something strikes you, write down, God is talking to you. In the midst of this sermon, some things I say, write down, it's what, "I remember all that, I remember all that". You walk out here, the Bible says Satan comes immediately. I was just telling that to my son the other day. Notice, immediately. To snatch away the Word, why? He's so fearful it takes root. Once it takes root, like Pastor Lian taught last, right, root life, once it takes root, it's very hard to remove it. So, he cannot afford any time. He must take it out. So, one thing you could practice, write down. Okay, type down, whatever you wanna do, amen. Write down. I have my wide margin Bible, the revelation God speaks to me I write down straight away, and I don't know how many sermons have come out of it. And it's very unique, amen. Don't run to the commentary. They had their time and season in the Lord, amen.
There is a now Word for the now season. The world is different also, amen. Give yourself a chance, pastors, leaders, listen to what God is saying to you. You are the one in the pulpit, God will speak to you. Not for your sake, for the people's sake. Amen, are you with me so far? All right, watch this, I wanna teach you a principle before I close, amen, but I wanna show you the beauty of Jesus. You know when Jesus said all this? "Come unto me and I'll give you rest," you know when he said all this? "I'm meek and lowly in heart," when he was being rejected. When he was being rejected, watch this. You go back to the context, he was talking about one city after another that rejected him. He did a lot of miracles, "And you, Capernaum," remember Capernaum? Where Jairus's daughter was raised from the dead, where the woman with the issue of blood touched the hem of his garment, God healed. He did a lot of miracles in Capernaum.
You go to Israel today, Capernaum is there, Kfar Nahum, most likely the prophet Nahum, the minor prophet in the Bible, Old Testament, Nahum, that was his city. Kfar means city, Kfar Nahum, Capernaum. So, he was in Capernaum, and he did a lot of miracles there. "You, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven," why was it exalted to heaven? The Son of God was there. Heaven is where Jesus is. I don't want heaven if Jesus is not there. Jesus is what makes heaven, heaven, amen. And for a while, "You were exalted to heaven," he said, "But you will be brought down to Hades," hell, "for if the might works," miracles, "which were done in you had been done in Sodom, Sodom would have remained until this day". That's a key right there to reaching this generation. Mighty works. Next one, "But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than you, Capernaum".
So, it was a time that they rejected him, all right, and remember this, he came as the Messiah. He needed to tell them the consequence, okay. But while he was going through all that, drop down, "At that time Jesus answered and said," while he was being rejected, he says, "'I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight". What a beautiful expression. He can praise the Father in the midst of rejection. You see, Jesus, when he said those words, it's not out of bitterness. He said it because he's the Messiah, he has to tell them the consequence. Love will tell you the consequence when you see the consequence happening. Like what I shared just now, right? But look at him, his heart is full of praise.
One thing about Jesus, his moral beauty is such, he's so beautiful that when you look at him, right, he cannot be flattered to have a good opinion of you, as the people in the gospels all found out. They cannot flatter you with, "Good teacher", you know, they cannot flatter him into a good opinion of them. They cannot insult him to a bitter opinion of them. He's just flowing in the Spirit. The initiative lies with him. Now, we are not there, not fully there, right, but that's the life of being yoked with Jesus. You don't react to people. I know it's hard, it's hard, amen. Take the initiative back. Don't let people dump on you like dump truck, hmm? You're not a dump truck. Okay, you smell something, "Hey, I wanna tell you something, you know, about your church, I wanna tell you something, you know," you smell the fly already.
You know who's the lord of all the flies? It's in the Bible, Beelzebub, lord of the flies. It's not a book, the title came from the Bible, all right? Satan's called lord of the flies. Don't allow the fly to come on your side, amen. Smell the frankincense of Jesus, amen. Listen to, you know, it's like people say, "Well, you don't listen to the bad part, you only listen to the good". No, no, listen, there are a lot of bad things to see in the world, okay? We're not pretending, but also there's a lot of good things to see in the world. So, I need to choose, right? Just because I choose to see the good and you choose to see the evil all the time, you're also filtered. And the best scope is the Bible. I wanna show you something real quick, are you all ready for this?
All right, Pastor Lawrence, I looked up this. Last week he said about Zechariah's prophecy, right? Now watch this, Zechariah's prophecy, from 68. Can you see 68? Verse 68, "'Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, For He has visited," say visited. Visitation, okay, "And has raised up a horn of salvation," say salvation. "As He spoke by the mouth of holy prophets," prophets, drop down. "We should be saved from our enemies," say enemies. All right, "Perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and remember his holy covenant," say covenant. Say, the oath. "The oath" is also covenant here, all right, covenant, oath. Drop down, next verse, "To grant us that we, Being delivered from the hand of our enemies," enemies again. You are about to see a mirror image. All right, "In holiness and righteousness, before him all the days of our life. 'And you, child, they call the prophet of the Highest," say prophet.
Earlier on there's a prophet, I think I missed it. Anyway, "To give knowledge of salvation to His people by the remission of their sins," remember last week? Salvation again. Can you see it? And then it starts with what? Visitation, right? "Through the tender mercy of our God, With which the Dayspring," the sunrise, Lawrence, "from on high has visited us". Now, there's a mirror image. How can someone who prophecies like that, and to show you the holy scripture is inspired, all right, I'm gonna show you this, look at this. Visitation, blessed is the Lord, verse by verse, okay? Verse 68 to verse 78. Visitation, "Blessed is the Lord, He has visited his people". You see that? It corresponds with the A below, the last verse, "Which the Dayspring has visited us". So, A and A, do you see that? All right, this is a beautiful order, just like our Lord Jesus.
All right, even the book he writes has this beauty, amen. Salvation, "Raised up a horn of salvation," the next verse, right, is "Raised up a horn of salvation", and below here, B, salvation, "To give knowledge of salvation to his people," do you see that? All right, next one talk about what? Enemies... or prophets. "As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets," verse 17. C, prophets below, "Be called prophet of the Highest". Theme for theme, subject for subject. Sometimes not the word itself, but the subject, it's the same subject. Okay, enemies, "That we should be saved from our enemies," D, below. Enemies, "Being delivered from the hand, being delivered from the hand of our enemies". Do you see that? And where it converge is E. Center, it converges there, right? E, E, what is it? The covenant, "To remember his holy covenant".
The next verse, the oath, oath here is the covenant, the covenant oath which he had swore. Is there a beautiful order in God's Word? Do you have to learn this? No need. These are things I do. In my wide margin Bible, I write this. I see the beauty in God's Word. There's not a human, there's no, uh, uh, novel that does this, no other book. And then as I was preparing this message I look at "Come to Me all you that labor". All right, let's go back to that Matthew 11. "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden". I'm just wondering, is there an introversion here as well? Is there, like, a mirror image?
All right, "Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden". A. And the opposite subject is what? "My yoke is easy". Talking about those who labor and are heavy laden, subject, easy and light as opposed to heavy. Do you see it? All right, B, "I will give you rest," B, "You will find rest for your souls". C, where it all converges, "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me," right? Learn from me. Learn what? "I am gentle and lowly in heart". Do you see that? So, what was the point of studying this? Do you see where's the focus? The focus is on, "Learn from me. Look at me. Learn from me. When you see me, whatever you see me as, you become". You are transformed by the Holy Spirit, not by your fleshly efforts, but from glory to glory, even by the Spirit of the Lord.
I'm now working on Psalms 103. I look at the Bible, "Forget not all his benefits," before he lists the benefits, there are five benefits there, "Forget not all his benefits". I look at it, then it's like a mirror image. I see forgiveness of sins, the last one, the fifth benefit is renewal of youth like the eagles. Now, I tell you this, church, listen, that tells you straightaway that forgiveness of sins and your renewal of youth go together. People who are sin conscious, those who commit sin, all right, and they are conscious of sin, those who are living in sin, they grow old very fast. They grow old very fast. Their bodies even tell them that. They'll feel the weakness. I'm telling you, you live for Jesus, he'll renew your youth, just like Caleb found out about that. He renews your youth.
Every time I look at Pastor Lian, ooh. I won't tell you her age. Just write to the church. We'll help you, brother. Amen. You're called. If you write to the church, that means you're called. It's your destiny. Obey it. Okay, so where it converges, can you see it? Learn what about Jesus? He's gentle and lowly in heart. That's when you find rest for your souls, amen. Strength under control. Don't let people initiate, don't let people dump that, you know, on you, all their bitterness, all their resentment and all that. They want you to be like them. If you have a friend, and he doesn't like it if you don't listen to his nonsense, all right, that's not a friend. A real friend, many a times even a husband will not tell the wife something that will crush her initially, right? He'll find the right time, why? Because of love.
So, that friend doesn't love you. If he's dumping things on you, he wants you to become as bitter as him, that's not love. Mm. Are you with me so far? One last one, you wanna see another conversion? All right, I'm enjoying this. Okay, this is the last one, okay, and then I'll send you off. Okay, how about Psalms 91? You want Psalms 91? Okay, so it says, you all know this verse by heart, many of you, "He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, 'He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.'" Sometimes it's even so small, A, B, B, A. I'll let you know already, Abba. Verse 2, look at verse 2. Okay, that's a secret, by the way, that's a secret that makes everything happen. That's a secret, amen. It's what you say of the Lord.
During this pandemic, during this, inflation that's covering the whole world, and even the future, food and all, food substance and all that, there might be food shortages and all that, things are not growing as well, the weather's going berserk, and the reason, the Bible says, all creation is groaning for the manifestations of the sons of God. They're waiting for the rapture to happen, they're waiting for you to become the sons of, I mean, in completion, I should say. You're already sons of God, but receiving your body. Amen. Whatever your thought life, your, you know, your words can affect the ground. God never made thorns. Adam sinned, thorns came forth. All earth responds to its master. God made men to rule over the earth. So, whatever is happening, okay, you can say this, you can say that, the Bible says it's because of man's sin. the earth is groaning. One day we have a perfect earth when Jesus comes again, a new heaven, a new earth, okay?
So, how many want to walk in protection meanwhile? Why do we need to walk in protection? Because the earth is fallen. Okay, even if some areas there's a...don't ask yourself, why'd this happen, why'd that happen. Let's go forward, and let's believe God, because it's God's Word, amen. So, this is very simple. A, B, B, A, all right. "I will say of the LORD," A. What do you say of the Lord? "I will say of the LORD," "I will say of the LORD," okay. B, "He is my refuge". B, "He is my fortress". Am I right? It's the same subject, right? Where it converges that the Lord is declared as his refuge and his fortress, am I right? That's where it converge. And then it's back to, "My God, in Him I will trust". All right, correspond with A, A, A. "I will say of the LORD, My God, in Him I will trust". Do you see that? What can be learned from here? We can learn one thing.
Look at the last line, A, A. By the way, it spells Abba, I thought it was real cool when I wrote this out. Abba, that's what my son calls me, Abba. We are teaching about spirit of sonship in this season, right? So, A and A correspond. "Why is this, good, Pastor"? Because it shows you, even uncover the revelation, the key. When you say, "My God, I trust God, Pastor Prince, I trust God, I trust God, I trust God," yeah, but the A, "I will say of the LORD," are you doing that? What are you saying about the Lord? That is your trust in God. You cannot trust without speaking. You cannot act on this faith without speaking. "We, having the same spirit of faith, I believe, and therefore I speak". We are made in God's image. God believed, God spoke, and it was. And God saw good. God believed, God spoke, and it was so. We are made in God's image, and it was so. God didn't see the darkness.
There was darkness because of, that's another teaching altogether, Lucifer's rebellion and all that. There was darkness in the beginning, but God didn't say, "Wah, so dark". It'd become darker, right? God wants what? Light, and God look at it and goes, "Light be". So, you right now in the situation with your family, what are you saying of the Lord? "But there's darkness, Pastor, there's darkness. There's darkness in my marriage. There's darkness in my workplace. There's..." listen, what are you saying of the Lord? He is my refuge. He is my prosperer, amen? He grant me success. In fact, Psalms 118 tells us to pray, "Lord God, give me success," one new translation says, King James says, "Give me prosperity, send now prosperity," and that was a prayer they prayed when Jesus stood up in John 7 and says, "If any man thirsts, let him come to me and drink".
That was the Psalm they were saying when they said, "Give me now peace, shalom. Give me now prosperity". He stood up, "If any man thirsts, let him come to me and drink. He that believes on me out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water". All of you are rivers going somewhere to heaven. Yiruma was right. There's a river flowing within you. "There's a river of life flowing out of me. Makes the lame to walk and the blind to see. Open prison doors, sets the captives free. There's a river of life flowing out of me. Hallelujah, there's a river of life flowing out of me". Familiar? Bringing back memories? The old man has passed away, all things are now new, amen. Praise the Lord, hallelujah. Habakkuk Prince, that's a nice name. Maybe I should change my name. Habakkuk. Habba, Habba, close to Abba, short form, Habakkuk. Must learn to cook also, eh? Habba the cook.
So, do you see that, people? So, it tells you how, it's not enough to say, "I trust God, I trust God," but what are you saying? "Oh, terrible, and now this, wah, terrible now in Singapore, wah, now this terrible, ah, these things happen". What are you saying? But the Lord is my refuge, he's my refuge, means a place you can hide. He's my fortress. "My marriage is getting worse and worse," what are you saying of the Lord? The Lord turns the water of my marriage into wine. I look to the Lord, amen. Say it, confess it every day. That's how you show faith in God. That's how you trust God. By the way, "I will say of the LORD" in the Hebrew, Yahweh. "My God, in Him I will trust," my Elohim.
There's always this... and I'll close with this, watch this. If you read the Bible carefully, the Bible is so beautiful. It's always accurate and in its right place. There's an order. For example, it says God commanded the animals, God commanded Noah to build the ark. God, Elohim, God, whenever you read your King James Bible, okay, I stick with the King James, 'cause some new translations change it here and there. But in the King James Bible, which is from the Masoretic text, okay, God is Elohim. Capital G, small letters O-D, God. LORD, capital letter L-O-R-D is Yahweh or Jehovah, Yahweh, okay, got it? We sang Yahweh just now, right? And I was thinking when I was preparing my message, I wonder if the musician will sing Yahweh. If they will, they're in the flow. I didn't tell them to sing it. You are attending a church that's in the flow.
All right, the word's in season, the worship and all that. Hey, if you can, if you can, you cannot but stay home, stay home, but if you can, join us, amen. "No, I'm scared this will happen and" what are you saying of the Lord, amen? The Lord will keep you, amen. The Lord will be your refuge and fortress, amen, amen. A lot of things, okay, never mind. Let me just finish this. So, LORD is Yahweh, God is Elohim. In the story of Noah it says, "God," Elohim, "commanded Noah. Elohim brought the animals two by two, and the LORD," Yahweh, "shut him in. The LORD shut him in". When the Lord shuts, you are safe. If your boy, you say, "Boy, close the door. It's starting to rain," you wonder sometimes. How come there is water in the ark? All right, whether it closed properly. But when the Lord shuts, it's the picture of Jesus, the ark, and we are all in Noah's ark, we are all in Christ, amen. But you know who shut you in? You wonder sometimes, "Can I lose my salvation"? You cannot, because it's not you shutting yourself in, it is the Lord.
So, God is Elohim. Elohim is the Creator that moves circumstances, moves events, he moved even the animals. Until today animals can tell if there's a tsunami coming. Even, uh, an elephant can tell. This one cannot go into science. They cannot explain. It is because of God Almighty. He loves and he cares for animals. Of course, he loves us the most, amen. And he put something in them, there's an instinct, homing instinct. All the birds, you know, they migrate, why? There's no GPS, there's no Google for them, amen. You gotta stop depending on your modern technology, people. Learn to memorize numbers. Phone numbers, memorize names. Or else your brain, you know, there's a law called the law of use. Jesus shared about the law of use. What you don't use, you lose. It's like muscles, Lawrence. The more you use, the... do you see it? The more you use, all right, it gets stronger. Use your brain, use your brain, use your brain. Sometime go without GPS, amen. Okay.
The Lord, Lord is Yahweh, covenant keeping God. You can say a covenant friend. It's a relationship thing. God, the whole world says God, God. God is the one, Creator of heaven, Elohim, Creator of heaven and earth. So, "I will say of Yahweh," my friend, my covenant friend, amen. That's the closeness relationship. "My God" is the one who will move everything, my Elohim. Now, do you know that when David saw Goliath, David understood this. You know what David says? "You come to me with a spear and a sword," he told Goliath. Goliath was so tall, and he was so short, and he was a teenager. He looked at Goliath and says, "You come to me with a spear and a sword". Today we will say nuclear weapons, whatever, anything physical. "You come to me with a spear and a sword, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel". Notice the names, all right?
"Today," watch, "Today the LORD," what is that? What name? Yahweh. "My covenant friend will deliver you into my hand... that all the earth may know there is a God," what's that name? "That all the earth may know there is Elohim," for then they can only know him as Elohim. For you, you know him as my covenant friend. There's another king, his name is Uzziah. Uzziah was the king that when he was young, he sought the Lord. He lived in the days of Zechariah, the priest who helped him in visions and all that, and the Bible says this word. "As long as Uzziah, King Uzziah sought the LORD," notice the name, "God made him to prosper". Are you listening? "As long as he sought the LORD," who? Yahweh.
As long as he has a relationship with his covenant friend, Elohim made him prosper. Elohim owns everything on the earth. Everything is under his sovereign power. He can move circumstances, he can move people, but it starts with you have a personal relationship with your covenant friend who is altogether beautiful. Every way you look at him is beautiful, amen. A time of extreme rejection, there's extreme joy. Hallelujah. To become like him is to be so radiant, so attractive, especially in the eyes of God. Don't you wanna be like him? That's true holiness. Now, watch this. "As long as he sought the Lord, God made him to prosper". As long as you have a relationship with your covenant friend, God will, God, the one who moved everything. Don't say, "Now this, there's no more, now this, the market is dimmer".
God is not influenced by the market. God don't say to the angel Michael and Gabriel, "Hey, you know guys, put everything on hold. Market is bad". He can move circumstances, he can move events just for you. Just for you. He'll move everything just for you, amen. When things happen, he will get the glory. People will know, wow. We built this place, we built this, performing arts center at a time when people said it cannot be done. "In Singapore, there's no more land. In Singapore this, Singapore that". Look, you are sitting in a miracle. I don't talk about it often, but it is so, it is so, amen, and we are here to serve. So, let me just tell you this one last one. King Jehoshaphat was very foolish. He's a king of Judah. He told the king of Israel, the king of the north, "I will join you".
The king of the north is an idol worshiper, you know? I mean, he was in for trouble. When the enemies attack him, Jehoshaphat, he purposely said, "You know, I'll be like your people. As your people are, so am I". Be careful what you confess. We confess, "As Jesus is, so am I in this world," all right. And a lot of people are saying, "As this person is". Be careful, be careful, you might get the same disease, all right? You can have these symptoms in your body, this person has the symptoms, turn out to be cancer. You know, you have the same symptoms, you might... no, don't identify. Just say, "As Jesus is, that's my identification, so am I in this world," amen.
All right, let me bring this to a close. Listen, it says that Jehoshaphat went to war with the king of Israel, and the king of Israel was destined to die, destined to be defeated, and he joined him. Foolish thing to do. But then you know what happened? The king of Israel says, "You know what"? To King Jehoshaphat, the godly king. "You dress like me". And the guy said, "Oh, okay, lah". And he went in disguise. And so when the enemies saw that he was dressed in regal clothes, all the enemies says, "Attack only him". So, they surrounded him, they surrounded the king, Jehoshaphat, the godly king. The Bible says, "He called upon the Lord," the Lord, covenant friend. And the next comma, he called upon the Lord, comma, "God move the people away from him". Elohim, who's in control, moved the people away from him, and he was saved.
And by the way, there was a stray arrow and the king died even though he was in disguise. So, I'm here to tell you, friends, I'll close with this. Do you know this covenant friend? Don't just seek for his power, his hand, all right, Elohim, seek for his face. Come to know him more, spend time in the Word, listen to the sermons, amen, continue in the Lord. The more you look at him, you don't get transformed by your effort, you look at him. When you see his gentleness, you see his beauty, you become like him. Many of you being transformed already from seeing him just now, amen. I pray that your life become life, you are transformed from glory to glory until we see him face to face. Even our bodies will be like his, amen. And all the people said? Amen. Praise the Lord. Every head bowed, every eye closed.
Friend, you might not know this covenant friend, Yahweh. His name, Yeshua, from Yeh, Yahweh saves. Jesus' name, Yeshua, is Yahweh saves. You might not know him personally, but he wants to come into your life. And what you heard about him just now, my friend, the most important thing you need to know is that the same Jesus, this wonderful Jesus, this beautiful, all glorious one, altogether lovely, died on the cross for you. No one can take his life from him, he said. He choose to lay it down, why? For you, that you might receive eternal life, life forever. And if you are here today, you say, "Pastor, I want to accept Jesus and what he did for me at the cross, I want to receive forgiveness of sins, rest for my conscience," pray this prayer right now. Say:
Heavenly Father, I thank you. Christ died for my sins and rose from the dead when you justified me. All my sins are remitted. I'm totally forgiven, greatly blessed. Jesus Christ is my Lord now and forever. Thank you, Father. I'm saved. I'm now your child. You're my heavenly Father. In Jesus' name, amen.
Stand to your feet, church. Lift your hands all across this place. Have you noticed that the blessing goes all Yahweh, the Lord, the Lord?
This coming week, the Lord bless you with the blessings of father Abraham and the blessings of Deuteronomy 28. May they manifest this week. And the Lord keep you, protect you and your loved ones, and the Lord keep you from the power of the evil one, you and your families. The Lord, Yahweh, keep you from all the power of the enemy throughout this week. The Lord make his face to shine on you, be favorable to you, impart grace upon grace upon grace, cause your children to increase in wisdom and in grace and in favor with God and men. God's grace be mighty upon your children. The Lord lift up his countenance and grant to you and your loved ones his wonderful shalom wellbeing, peace, and wholeness in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And all the people said? I love you all.