Joseph Prince - Live Stress-Free By His Spirit
Thank you, Lord Jesus, hallelujah. Praise the Lord. God is good, amen? Now, we are now in the year of Jubilee. Jubilee is proclaimed just like the healing of God just now. God proclaims it. Back then, it was through a ram's horn. The trumpet would blow and the sound of the ram's horn. You see, you get the horn of the ram by the death of the ram. Then you take the horn. In other words, the horn proclaims the death of the Lamb of God, amen? In that death, he who is not supposed to die, he who is worthy to live more than any other man, he has every right to live, chose to die in our place, he who is worthy of every blessing chose to become a curse on our behalf so that you can enjoy the blessings that we don't deserve.
And you say, "But Pastor Prince, I don't deserve it". Exactly, Jesus didn't deserve to be a curse. But he chose to be a curse at the cross carrying your sins on his own body that you might be blessed, and it's humility for us to say "Thank you, Lord". What he died and suffered to give us, the best way to please him is to say, "Thank you". And this pretension of saying, "No, I'm not worthy of it," all right, it's not humility but pride, amen? If you say, "Pastor Prince, I'm not in the place where I can receive the healing," what do you mean? Are you trying to be worthy of healing? Healing is a gift. Did you hear what I said?
When the trumpet is blown in the 50th year in ancient Israel, whether you are good, whether you are bad, as long as you're an Israeli, amen, that sound means freedom. Whether you are devoted to God, whether you are less devoted to God, whether you have been to the synagogue during that time or you've not been to the synagogue, when they hear the trumpet sound, it's jubilee, amen. It's got nothing to do with who they are. It's got everything to do with who God is. It's gotta do with the sound that came from heaven, saying, "You are free". Can I have a good "Amen"? Praise the Lord. By the way, God has not finished healing people. Just because, you know, we're not addressing the needs and the conditions does not mean God is not healing. God is still healing. So God can heal while the Word is being preached, amen? So just receive your miracle, praise God.
I want to announce to you that God is healing even hair conditions, scalp conditions, praise God, hallelujah. There's good news. And that's happening even as I'm preaching right now in Jesus's name. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Praise the Lord. Isn't God good? We are touching on the subject of the wonderful person of the Holy Spirit. Say "The Holy Spirit". The Holy Spirit is the third person of the divine Godhead, the Triune Godhead, three in one: God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. Now, God the Holy Spirit is as very God, as divine as God the Father and God the Son. But he is not shy, okay? However, he does not call attention to himself. He is here to glorify one, and that's Jesus. Can I have a good "Amen"?
The Holy Spirit's role, his primary role, is not even to reveal to you your sins. His primary role is to glorify Jesus, amen? And Jesus said in John 16 that then he convicts the world of sin. In the Greek, singular; the word "sin" there is singular. And Jesus explains: "Because they believe not on me," all right? So the Holy Spirit convicts the world, and all of us have been convicted with that conviction of not believing on Christ, and then we see the beauty of Jesus, that God sent his Son to die for our sins, and then we believe on Christ. Now, the Holy Spirit's not there to keep on reminding you of your sins, he's there to convict you of righteousness, because Jesus goes to the Father and you see him no more, and then he convicts you that the prince of this world, the devil, has been judged, broken to pieces, all right? Judged. That's the idea of the word there, and now in a very indirect way, the Holy Spirit is still there.
Sometimes you see Pastor Prince correcting certain situations in church. That's the Holy Spirit, all right, anointing me to correct. So when Jesus rebuked five out of the seven churches in Revelation, it is still the Holy Spirit, amen? That means Jesus walks by the Spirit. Hear what the Spirit says to the churches. So there is correction, I'm not saying there's no correction. But that's not the primary role of the Holy Spirit. The primary role of the Holy Spirit is to glorify Jesus. John 16: "He will glorify Me," Jesus said. He said this in the Upper Room. The Upper Room is the place of church truths. You know, many of us, we expound on the Sermon on the Mount, and that's fine and good. It is still applicable for us today, all right?
We expound on Matthew 24 in many places on prophetic truth, the Second Coming of Christ, and that's really in place. But we fail to talk about the Upper Room discourse of Jesus. The sermon on another mount, the Upper Room, where Jesus talked about nothing but church truths, truths that are applicable for us today in the church, amen? And over there, Jesus talked about a new commandment, which is "Love one another as I have loved you". We only have one commandment, and it's not a hard commandment. It's our new nature now to love. We know we have passed from death to life because we love. Do you know, it's like commanding someone who is very hungry, "I command you to eat". Now, how hard is that, amen? It's your nature. Is there someone in church you cannot shake hands with? Is there someone that you cannot say a greeting to? Do you have bitterness in your heart?
And you know that this is not your real habitat as a child of God. You know that you are walking almost like a zombie, you know, because whenever you have bitterness, you're not walking to your true nature. Your nature is to love, amen. So just enjoy that love, enjoy loving one another. Then Jesus talked about another truth in the Upper Room. Jesus says, "I will send another helper," John 14. "I'll pray the Father, He will give you another Helper". Notice the word "another". In the Greek, it means another of the same kind. "Just like me, I have been here. When you are discouraged, I am here to lift you up. When you are sad, I'm here to bring joy. When you are restless, I come to give you rest, amen? When you are sick, I heal your sickness. I'm your great physician. I'm your Shepherd. I'm your Master. I'm your Lord. I'm your good friend. Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. I am that friend. But listen, I'm going away, all right? But don't be sad. I will not leave you orphans. I will send you another Helper".
The idea of another means it's as if you are getting Jesus again, but now in his unlimited form, amen? Jesus, when he was on earth, was confined to one place, amen. But the Holy Spirit is not confined to one place. And that's why the same miracles that it was happening here just now is happening the other venues, it's happening over in America, amen, in GRC. It's happening whenever you're watching this broadcast, because there's no time nor space nor distance in the Holy Spirit. He's Jesus unlimited, amen? And the word "Helper" in the Greek is the word "para". Para. You know, para, organization? Para in the Greek means alongside, para.
So, paraclete. He's called to be your friend. He's called to be your helper. In fact, the old King James says: "I give you another comforter," Menachem in Hebrew. Menachem, all right? Someone's name, comforter. I'll send you another Menachem. I'll send you a comforter, someone who will always be there to comfort you, Jesus says, "that He may abide with you," for how long? "Forever, the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you". Now, he says, "Will be in you," because at the time they have not yet received the baptism of the Holy Spirit which came on the day of Pentecost. So Jesus said when he's abiding with you, he'll abide with you forever. "I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you," amen? Also in the Upper Room, we saw Jesus talking about the Rapture, praise God. He says, "In my Father's house are many mansions. I go to prepare a place for you".
Now, how did he go? Bodily or spiritually? Bodily. "I go," he has left us bodily. "I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again," how? Bodily as well, "and receive you unto myself". This is not the Second Coming. This is the Rapture. The Second Coming, he's gonna come to judge the earth. He's coming with his people. But here, he's coming, the Rapture, for his people, all right? For more of that, get my midweek service, where I preach on the Rapture, amen? And it's a blessed hope. The Rapture is not an impractical message. I preached on, just these past few days, in a midweek service, I preached on how the Rapture purifies believers. Pastors or leaders that don't preach on the Rapture, on this blessed hope, rob the people of this purifying hope, amen? And it's one of the most practical things that the Rapture will cause you to evaluate things in life the way God wants you to, amen.
So, in the Upper Room, he talks about the Rapture. In the Upper Room, he also talks about a new prayer. "Up till now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask and you shall receive, that your joy may be full". Asking in Jesus's name. What is asking in Jesus's name? When you ask in Jesus's name, it's as if Jesus is praying, all right? When you say "in Jesus's name," it's not just something you tack to your prayer, amen, hoping that God will hear your prayer because you put "in Jesus's name". No, "in Jesus's name" means in the person and representation of Jesus. It's as if as Jesus is accepted, so are you, when you are praying. As Jesus is pleasing to the Father, as he is under God's favor, so are you when you're praying. And so when you say "in Jesus's name," it's as if you must see as if Jesus is praying. And how many know when Jesus prays, the Father hears, amen? Praise the Lord.
So how many of you realize that you have the Holy Spirit with you, amen? Just wave your hands. Okay, about ten of you. In a church of 30,000, about 10 of you, okay. One more time, how many of you know the Holy Spirit's with you? All right, if you're not saved, by the end of this service, you'll be saved, amen? And the Holy Spirit will dwell with you. Don't forget, he's not there to nag at you. He's there as a friend, as a comforter, as a paraclete in the Greek, someone who's called alongside to help. Now, he's actually inside us, amen. In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit comes and goes. He comes on Samson to do certain exploits. Samson tore a lion apart. I don't believe Samson is a muscular guy, or else God will not get the glory. I believe he's a skinny, scrawny guy. So when the Holy Spirit came on him and he tore a lion apart, the glory goes to God. But the Holy Spirit comes and goes. Comes on Gideon and then it goes. It comes on David and then it goes. It comes on...sorry, when David sinned, David says, "Take not your Holy Spirit from me".
Now, he can pray that prayer, but for us to pray this prayer today even when we fail is nothing but spiritual ignorance. The Holy Spirit will never leave you. That's why he can be grieved. Do you understand? But he's there with you, all right? He's there to show you the way out, amen. When you are sinning, he knows that you were not created for this. You were created for a more beautiful destiny than this, amen. So he grieves because he loves you. We can only grieve when we love someone. Someone we don't love cannot grieve us. And do you know the Bible says that the Holy Spirit loves us? Do you know there's a phrase in the Bible, in the New Testament, that says: "the love of the Spirit"? Not only the Holy Spirit is with us, he loves us. Just like Jesus loves us, the Holy Spirit loves us. Can I have a good "Amen"?
And do you know that in the book of Romans, which is the Magna Carta of Christianity, the Holy Spirit is not mentioned in the first four chapters? Now, in the introduction he's mentioned very briefly, all right, but just the introduction. But in the first four chapters of the Magna Carta of Christianity, which is the book of Romans, in the first four chapters he's not mentioned; why? He's mentioned for the first time in Romans 5, verse 5, and he's mentioned as like this, he's first mentioned: "The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit". So the moment you see the Holy Spirit, he's there to let you know God loves you. Now, that's very seldom you hear that the Holy Spirit comes to let you know that God loves you but at the very first mention of the Holy Spirit in Romans, is Romans 5:5, it says: "The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who was given to us".
That's the first mention of the Holy Spirit. Why in the first four chapters... look up here. Why in the first four chapters, the Holy Spirit's not mentioned? Listen carefully. Because God doesn't want you to confound the work of Christ for you with the work of the Spirit in you. Let me explain. Many a times, believers are looking for inside them, "Do I feel saved? Am I saved? Well, you know, people say that when you receive Jesus then you are saved, but I don't feel saved. In fact, I feel lost. I feel empty". So what happened is that they do not know what Christ has done for them at the cross. Now they are looking inward when they should be looking outwards, amen. God doesn't want you introspective. God wants you focused on Christ. So for the first four chapters of Romans, it is all about the work of Christ on the cross, it's all about being justified by faith. It's all about the blood of Jesus that has been shed.
So God wants your eyes delivered from self to Christ, outward, as opposed to inward. So don't confound the work of Christ for us with the work of the Spirit in us. So unless you are established in the work of Christ for you, then you are ready to hear about the work of the Spirit in you. Or else, many believers when they are saved, straightaway, especially in the charismatic circle, they start trying to sense the Holy Spirit. "The Holy Spirit's in me but how come I feel lost? I feel empty. How come the Holy Spirit's with me but", because they're not established in the work of Christ for us in the first four chapters of Romans. Are you all with me so far? God doesn't want you to confound, that's why God wants the Holy Spirit to come at the right time to let you know that only when you are established and understanding the work of Christ for you, can you appreciate the work of the Spirit in you, okay? So stop being so introspective.
Let me ask you a question. Did Jesus die on the cross? Yes, did he shed his blood? Yes, why was the blood shed? For himself? No, he has no sins. Why was the blood shed? Because without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins. His blood was shed for you and I. When God told the children of Israel to put the blood on the doorposts of their houses, on the night the angel of death would pass by, what did God say to them? God said, "When I see the blood, I will pass over you". God did not say, "When you see the blood". It's not about you appreciating the blood. It's not about you understanding about the blood. It's not about you having faith in the blood, even. It's about God seeing the blood. God is the most important and distinct person to see the blood. Did God see the blood of Jesus shed at the cross for you and I? Yes.
Now, God says: "When I see the blood, I will pass over you. I will let the angel of death pass over you. I will not allow the destroyer to come into your house when I see the blood". Not when you see the blood. Now, if I know that when God sees the blood, judgment has passed over me, judgment has passed over my family. When I see that God sees the blood, not when I see the blood. When I know that God sees the blood. God calls that faith in the blood of Jesus, okay? Are you all with me so far? So it's important to realize, for us to realize, because the Holy Spirit, number one, you know, there's two witnesses of the Holy Spirit. We're about to see the Holy Spirit bearing witness with us, and the Holy Spirit witnessing to us. In Hebrews 10 it says here: "But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us". He witnesses to us.
Now, this is outside witness to us. It's like in a court case, you know? A witness is summoned to the stand. What does a witness do? All right, the prosecuting attorney or the defense lawyer will ask questions and the witness cannot say, "I think". He is not there to say, "I feel, I think, I gather, I conclude". No, no. Did you see it or didn't you see it? "Yes, I saw it". That's why he's there. The Holy Spirit witness to us after the Holy Spirit said, "This is the covenant. I'll put my laws in their hearts". Very important. After he had said, then he adds, "Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more". Now, what is the witness of the Holy Spirit to us? Not in us, to us. He witnesses like in a court of heaven, he witness all your sins God remembers no more. What a blessed witness.
I tell you, whether we are spiritual one day or we are less spiritual another day doesn't change this witness. Whether you're a spiritual Christian or a carnal Christian doesn't change this witness. Whether you're a good man or a bad man, if you're born again doesn't change this witness. This witness, the Holy Spirit witness to us is that your sins and your lawless deeds, they're all in plural; God says, "I will remember no more". Because he was a witness at Calvary's cross. God the Father was there. God the Son was there, hanging on that cross. God the Holy Spirit was there, and the Holy Spirit witnessed at the cross. God took all your sins and all my sins, every single one of them from childhood to youth, every sin, every itemized sin was put on Jesus from youth to adulthood, every sin. None of them missed God's eyes, was put on Jesus at the cross. And the Holy Spirit witnessed to that.
And also from youth all the way to adulthood, adulthood to middle age, middle age to old age, God saw all your sins, even before you were a middle aged person, God saw all your sins. God put them all on Jesus and the Holy Spirit witnessed all that. And Christ was punished in your place for your sins. He who knew no sin was punished in your place. Christ became a curse for us, that the blessing of Abraham might come on us. Christ was rejected that you might be accepted, and the Holy Spirit witnessed to that. So now, what the Holy Spirit does righteously, he will tell you, righteously, your sins God remembers no more. Can you see that, "no more"? No more means what? There was a time God remembered all your sins from childhood all the way to old age. God remembers every item of your sin, amen. And God judged them all. There was a time God remembered. He will not pass by any transgression. God cannot pass by any sin, but what he cannot pass by, he can forgive.
And that's exactly what he did at the cross. And the Holy Spirit witnessed to it. So now the Holy Spirit witnessed to us. He testifies to us. In the new covenant, after he talk about God will put his laws, his new want-to's, desires, in your heart, the crux of the whole thing is that after he has said all this, then he adds: "Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more". How often do we hear that preached? And yet it's the blessed truth. Not for you to add to it, but to be believed. Believe it. So that's the witness. Now, this is not the Holy Spirit witnessing in us. "But Pastor Prince, I don't feel like my sins are forgiven. I feel like God still remembers my sin". That's your problem. That's your emotions. I'm not asking you about your witness. You're not summoned to the court of heaven, all right?
The one sitting in the witness court is the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit testifies your sins God remembers no more. And he says it righteously. He says it judicially. And there's nothing for us to do but to accept and to believe. And if you believe it, you have perfect peace. Perfect peace. Because if the work of Christ is done outside me, then it cannot be undone by me. If Christ did the work, amen, the atoning work, the redemptive work, then I cannot undo it. Whenever we think that we have a part to play, that's why we can undo it. Even a sliver of a hair, you think that your responsibility is as slim as that, you will still come back to yourself. No, it's all of Christ and none of us. So that's the first witness we must understand, okay? The work of Christ. The Holy Spirit testifies to that.
Now, let's talk about the Holy Spirit in us, within us. This is where guidance, being led by the Spirit, comes in. But you need to understand all this first. You must not confound what? The work of Christ for us, the first four chapters, and the work of the Spirit in us. Now we come to the work of the Spirit in us, because "Pastor, how can I tell when the Spirit of God is leading me and all that"? Actually, you've been led by the Spirit, okay? The fact that you are here today, you're led, amen? You might think that "I just have a desire to come to church today". No, the Spirit of God led you. Many of us, we learn the lessons of being led, all right? We think that only then we are being led. No, many of us are being led. The fact that we come to believe on Christ, the Holy Spirit led us to him, amen?
So here we go. In Romans 8, listen, this is very serious, about living by the Spirit. Look at this: "For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit," emphasis, "by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live". So God wants you to live by the Spirit; why? Because God knows how your body's designed. But many a times, if you obey the dictates of your body, your body wants to be addicted to this, addicted to that, your body wants to do this thing that's wrong, that thing that's wrong, and many a times those thing leads to death. So if you don't put to death the deeds of the body, and how do you put to death the deeds of the body? Not by willpower, not by grinding your teeth and saying, "All right, I will do my best". No, the way the Lord helps you put to death the deeds of the body is "by the Spirit". As you are led by the Spirit, see the context? "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they're the sons of God".
So when you're led by the Spirit, you won't do the deeds of the body, all right? Obviously, he's referring to something sinful. Now, King Saul, the first king of Israel, God told him to destroy the Amalekites. He refused to obey. He kept the king alive. He kept all the best of the flock. He wanted to boast himself to the king of Amalekites, just like you know that many years after, on Mount Gilboa, and I've been there on Mount Gilboa with my pastors, King Saul fell before the Philistines, all right? But even though it was a Philistine and Israel war, you know who killed the king? It was an Amalekite. Because he refused to put the Amalekite to death, an Amalekite killed him. Let me just tell you this. The deeds of the body that you don't put to death, they will put you to death. Some people literally, you know, their addiction bring them to a place of death, amen.
Now you might think that you're thinking of some far-fetched, you know, like drugs and, you know, a heavy drugs kind of addiction. Even addicted to food can bring you to an early grave if you don't watch it. "Pastor Prince, I wish you didn't say that, Pastor Prince. You were doing fine, Pastor Prince, amen"? No, I want to tell you something. The way we are no more under the law is Galatians 5, verse 18: "If you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law". Now, even though the definite article is here, "the law," the law usually in the Bible refers to the Ten Commandments, the laws of God, the laws of Moses. But without the definite article, it can refer to any law. In other words, any dogmatic thing we hold on to. If you are led by the Spirit, in the original there's no definite article. You are not under law.
You know how many people are under law? They must do certain things a certain way. If not, they will have a big quarrel with their family. It must be done a certain way. They are so dogmatic about it, they cannot help it. They must leave the house on the right foot or something like that. And it's making people miserable, but they think it's okay but they don't see that as bondage but the Holy Spirit says... the Holy Spirit has a flowing nature. He has a spontaneous nature, amen. Now, the Holy Spirit will never lead you to divorce your wife. But the Holy Spirit when he leads you, you're not under law. What it means like this: instead of committing adultery, the law says, "Thou shall not commit adultery," when you follow the Spirit, the Holy Spirit will actually lead you to love your wife, love your husband.
Let me explain. If you follow just law in your head, you read somewhere, "When a woman is feeling down, give her flowers". So you say, "I'll go buy a bunch of flowers, I give to my wife". It's a nice thing, isn't it? But it is not the Spirit thing. The Spirit of God may tell you to spend some time with her, listening to her. But you give her flowers and then she gets more angry, and you're wondering, "What's wrong with you, woman"? Amen? So you can even do a good thing but it's not the Spirit thing. It's not the Holy Spirit leading you. Diet is another area we see happen a lot. All kinds of diets, as many books are out there. There are all kinds of diets. One time, they say, "Don't eat wheat". Another one, "Eat wheat, all right? You need wheat". Some say, "Don't touch fat. All fats are bad". Some fats are good, all right? Some say this, some say that. "Vegetables only," or some say, "No vegetables". And there's even like, "Eat according to your blood type".
Oh my goodness. Am I supposed to go and find out my blood type and go and find out what kind of food? "Bananas is not for you. Okay, you can eat meat". But the doctor over here, the diet rules here, the diet laws here, says eating too much meat is no good, but your body type, your blood type, you need meat. So I'm confused. And that's why all diets don't work. They may work for a while and while you're on diet you actually feel self-righteous against your friends that are not on diet. But you won't tell them you feel self-righteous, you feel special compared to them, but that's the result of the law. It makes you self-righteous and you are okay and you look okay. You are fine, it's good. I mean, "Nothing wrong, Pastor Prince. Better be on diet than anything". Well, listen to me first, okay? That's the best the world has.
So you're okay for your diet, but once you stop dieting, okay, now you start eating, and usually you eat clean because you don't want to spoil all those weeks of detoxifying. So you eat well, right? But then, every little thing you eat, it seems like your body retain. Your body retain every single calorie, every fat because your body says to one another, "Hey, guys, remember, a few weeks ago, we were starving". So what you say is diet, your body says is starving. "So now, we get food finally, all right? Let's retain everything we can". So this guy eats lesser now but gets fatter, all right? And he doesn't understand why. Let me tell you this. That's why diets is spelt D-I-E-T, without the cross.
So, what am I saying? If you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law can mean while you're eating your food, it doesn't mean Mosaic law. It can be your mother, grandmother's law, you know? Your grandmother said to you when you were small, now she has passed to be with Jesus already. She's no more alive, but yet her voice is alive and you are a 41-year-old man and you have eaten your nasi briyani or your rice or your food, whatever, and there's still a lot left but you are full, you know? But you are about to leave the food and then you hear this voice. The law is in your head, the law of the mind. And it says this: "You shall not waste food. Wasting food is sin," you know?
So you pull the food back and you take a deep breath and you finish it. You feel a duty to finish that food. Or you buy a chocolate bar because you have an urge for chocolate. The law says, "No chocolates. Chocolates are evil," all right? But you have a desire for chocolate. So you buy the chocolate. Now you feel guilty about buying the chocolate so you eat, all right? And then you thought of throwing away but then there's a voice in your head, the law says what? "Don't waste food. You already bought this, don't waste it. Eat everything". So you try your best. You eat as much as you can and hopefully you forget this and you say, "Next time I won't do this anymore". And guess what? You do it again, all right? So listen, folks. This doesn't work because it's bound by law. God says, "Be led by the Spirit". If you feel like eating chocolate, eat the chocolate, and what you can't finish, either keep in the 'fridge or throw away. It's okay, but there's a law that says, "Wasting is sin".
You know what I'm saying? Follow the Spirit. He will tell you in everything in life he will tell you. Your children, for example, all right, if you just be bound by law, for example, the law says, you know, you've got to discipline the child when the child rebels against you. But maybe the Spirit knows the child is not rebelling. The child is sleepy, the child is tired, all right? The child is just acting out because the child is tired. And there's a restraint. You feel a restraint when you're about to discipline the child. Then obey the Spirit. But on the other hand, there are times you love your child. You can tell a soulish love. You love your child but your child is challenging you, challenging your authority. Well, if you don't have a rebellious teenager next time, all right, you better meet the challenge, all right?
And let the child know. Break the will without breaking the spirit of the child. You've got to break that will, amen, without breaking the spirit. And the child will become a wonderful child. It grows up. He'll walk in the ways of the Lord, amen? Not a rebellious, but the thing is this. The Spirit knows when and how. How to love your wife. It's not always flowers, guys. Thank you for what? Last time you say, "Give vacuum cleaner, also wrong. Now, give flower also wrong," okay? All right, sometimes, you know, like, the Spirit of God may say something simple like, you always want to have the final word, you know? When someone talks to you, you always think you are witty by putting on the final word and you think you're being smart. You think you're smart but you're only smart for yourself. The people around you don't think you're smart.
In fact, they don't like you having the final word on something always. And the Spirit of God may tell you that, all right? And the moment you refrain from that, there is rest, there is peace. Even your relationship, there is peace. That's how the Holy Spirit leads. Sometimes, those times, guys, when we are able to do this, your wife says, "You know, you do this a lot," all right? It's an accusation, right? And you know it's true. You say, "Yeah, you're right". That's peace. She's peaceful, you are peaceful, everybody around is peaceful. Even your teenagers realize what's happening 'cause it's unusual for you, all right? You may pick up your wife for a while from the floor, wake her up, because she's not used to you responding like that, okay? But whatever it is, there's peace, right? But most of the time we fight, amen, we fight, right?
And we know the time that we were arguing, whatever argument it is, you feel like you cannot let this go, whether it's with a colleague, even with the issues of Christianity and all that, you feel like you need to argue, there are times you need to defend your case and there are times all right, you could defend, you feel the anointing. The more you talk about it, the more you feel the anointing. But there are times you feel like, you know, when you talk, you feel the annoying. You'll feel like it's not working. You know what? Stop right there. Stop right there. "Well, Pastor Prince, I believe that God tells you to preach, you preach. You share your friends. You don't care whether it's the right time or not". That's where you'll miss it, friend. Let me show you something. I believe that the Holy Spirit leads you more with a red light than the green light.
Now, we all heard the saying, "The Spirit of God leads us with peace". Over here, it says that, "the Helper, the Holy Spirit," Jesus said, "whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things". All things means not just spiritual things. Things got to do with parenting, things got to do with your marriage, things got to do with your career, your business. All things is all things. Don't qualify it. "He will teach you all things," amen? "And He will bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you". Many of you have experienced this already, the Holy Spirit leading you or you remember the Holy Spirit telling you something from the Bible or something that Pastor Prince preached and all that. "He brings to your remembrance," right?
Many of you experienced this already. You may not know it, but you have experienced this. That's the Holy Spirit in you. But what kind of wavelength does the Holy Spirit operate on? Next verse: "Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you," Jesus says, "not as the world gives do I give to you". "Not as the world gives". So the world gives some sort of peace, temporary peace. You go to a spa, you go for yoga, you go for any calming exercise. Now, I'm not against calming exercises and all that, but it doesn't come to the level of the peace Jesus gives. Jesus gives a peace that the world cannot give. The world must give you the peace, only when you're in that environment, but once you leave that environment, it's all outward, but Jesus give the peace that is inward. The word is temporals peace but your peace is abiding. "Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid".
So you see the context here. The Holy Spirit teaches on the wavelength of peace. The Holy Spirit will remind you of things on the wavelength of peace. So peace should be our natural habitat. Peace should be our default mode. You know, there's a teaching that says when you feel the peace, then you follow. When you feel the peace, this is the way, then you follow. The thing is this. That suggests that before the felt the peace, what were you feeling? Where were you? You were in restlessness. You were in anxiety. And when you feel the peace, then you follow. No, but I believe that the Christian's natural default mode, his modus operandi, his "spiritual and natural" state as a believer, is peace. You should be at peace at all times. I'm not saying a peace that you feel with your emotions. A peace that rests more securely than on emotions, but on the unshakable Word of the living God, all right? I stand on God's Word.
Now, I may tremble while I'm standing on the rock, but the rock under me never, it never trembles. So I'm resting on the rock. So that's our peace. The thing is this, people. I believe that green light is your natural habitat, your default mode. But when you take a wrong step, you're about to sign something, you're about to embark on something, you're about to do something, and there is a disturbance of the peace, there is a restlessness, there's something. Stop, that's the Spirit of God leading you. Okay, are you with me so far? The devil push us, the devil drives, okay? That's why when you pray, people say things like, "Pastor, ask God for the baptism of the Holy Spirit and I've been waiting for the Holy Spirit to take over my tongue. And he has not taken over".
See, the Holy Spirit doesn't possess you the way evil spirits possess you. He wants your cooperation. He wants you to flow with him. In other words, you need to speak, but the flow comes from God. You need to open your mouth, but the language comes from heaven. Are you listening, people? He doesn't take over your tongue. God does not drive you the way evil spirits possess a person, it's almost like they are possessed, all right? They start doing and, by the way, I've seen, Pastor Henry and I years ago, we dealt with a lady who was demon-possessed and it was a lady but all of a sudden, out of her throat came this masculine voice telling us, "I want her mine". I told Pastor Henry, "You pray for her. I'm gonna pray behind for a while, all right"? So I fled for a while, all right? I was under, I forgot, was it a piano or under a table. I was praying, "God, show me what to do. Show me what to do".
I remember, by the way, she was delivered finally. I came back and we prayed for her again, and when the demon came out, Pastor Henry will witness to that. When the demon came out, the whole room smelled like a garbage truck just unload itself. That's how it smelled when the evil spirit came out. Just like sometimes, don't always expect this. Sometimes, you smell a fragrance in the air when the Holy Spirit's moving. Like Jesus, every thought, every word, every deed, in Leviticus chapter 2, is like frankincense to the Father. Have you ever smelt frankincense? All right, it's a picture of Jesus' aroma to God, amen? So we are unto God a sweet fragrance of Christ.
Do you know when you come to God in prayer, God smells fresh perfume? We are unto God a sweet aroma of Christ. We are accepted in the aroma of Christ. And God smells it like Jacob or rather Isaac, remember that? He smelt the aroma and he says that it's like the smell of a field that God has blessed, right? And Isaac gave the blessing to Jacob, thinking it was Esau. So God the Father smells the fragrance of Christ and gives you all the blessings, amen? You are in a sweet aroma to God. So, likewise, the Holy Spirit never drives you, he leads you. You might feel your tongue getting a bit more thick or whatever, speak it out. Speak those words out. So, the Holy Spirit never drives you. He never forces you. He never, never takes over you, your personality. No, he works with your personality.
Right now, I believe the Holy Spirit is speaking through me but he doesn't do it apart from my personality. My personality is different from Pastor Mark's, thank God. It's also different from Pastor Joel's. It's different from bravo, bravo, amen? It's different from different pastors and they all are anointed by the Holy Spirit in their unique way but God never bypasses their personality. Matthew writes differently from Mark, even though they write the same accounts. Mark writes differently from Luke. Luke write differently from Paul, and John, and so God, the Holy Spirit, uses your personalities. God likes your personality that's why he makes all of us unique, but he will never bypass your personality, amen? So, you don't have to be like me praying for people publicly but I believe that it's not just the pastors that are called to pray for the sick.
If you are with your colleague and all of a sudden, you have a red light like you're in the presence of someone and you can sense like sickness or something like that, even the person seems fine say that, "Are you okay physically? Everything fine, you know"? The person, "No, actually", and they start tearing. And that's the time to... if the Holy Spirit shows you, he wants to heal the person, amen? So say, "Can I pray for you"? Now, this is the real supernatural life of Christianity, the way the early churched walked in it. It cannot be a special elite few, no, no, no. It doesn't say the gifts only operate for the specially devoted, those who are called full time. It's never that. This sign shall follow them that believe. All believers can walk in the gifts. Can I have a good amen, amen?
So, just flow with the Spirit. You feel like writing or now we don't write, we text, right? You feel like saying something encouraging, it's a prophecy to someone, all right? Don't feel like you're the only one, God is with you, amen? Like I told you a few weeks ago, the Holy Spirit is there, he's Jesus unlimited. There was a time Jesus was limited, confined to time and space but now he's unlimited. I'll send you another just like me, another helper. So, when you have your heart troubled, your heart heavy, your heart is pressing you or burdened down with troubles, anxieties, worries, maybe it's a child, maybe it's your physical symptoms or whatever, take a walk with Jesus. I like walking, okay? Walking is my thing.
When I walk with Jesus, I'm in the open air, I'm free. But you can do it in the confines of your office space or your bedroom. But when you walk with him, tell him. Tell him from your heart, "Lord Jesus, I'm feeling so frustrated with my teenage boy. I'm feeling so frustrated," or "I'm feeling worried, Lord. I'm having these symptoms for some time. Lord Jesus, I'm very worried about these symptoms. I'm concerned, Lord Jesus," or "Lord Jesus, I'm feeling so cold, Lord. I don't know why. I don't feel like talking to you". You got it? "I don't feel like talking to you. I feel like you are so far away from me". Tell him. Tell him everything. Tell it to Jesus. "But Pastor Prince, don't you know what you say is what you get"?
Friend, there is a place for releasing a positive confession of faith, amen, but it's until after you shared everything to Jesus. All right, this idea... again, you have made faith into a law and that's why you're not seeing results. There's a place where there's relationship where a wife can just pour out without...sometimes she don't want your mouth, she wants your shoulder. How to say this? She wants not for you to advise, but for you to listen. I, for one, I got advice, answer for everything. So, when Wendy talks, "Yeah, what you need to do and all that," later on I see the result is not what I wanted. I thought, you know, she's sharing with me so that I can bestow upon her my wisdom, you know? But I see the result is not restful. It's not peaceful, right? So, what she wants is a hearing ear, amen? And I'm telling her, maybe, you know, you need to do this, maybe you need to do that and sometimes the Spirit of God knows, right?
So, there's a place where with Jesus you can just pour out your heart. Don't have to worry whether you're positive confession of faith or not. Just pour out your heart. You're worried, tell him you're worried. You're anxious, tell him you're anxious. I'll tell you something, nobody ever dies in Jesus's presence. Jesus never had anyone when he was on earth, never had anyone die in his presence. And that's why the other day I was, it just really, I saw this like I never saw it before. When he was crucified, he had to die first before the two can die. As long he's alive, he two thieves cannot die because he's the resurrection and the life.
So, when you're talking to him, you're talking to the resurrection and the life. Even telling him about your symptoms and all that, whatever it is, just talk to him, talk to him. I tell you this, at the end of the journey, and I've experienced this myself. At the end of the journey, you don't know why you feel like something had been imparted to you, a strength, a grace has been imparted and yet you didn't pray the prayer of faith. In fact, you just pour out your troubles. So, there's a place for the prayer of that, a prayer of such, okay? Tell it to Jesus. Tell it to Jesus. And you'll feel the comfort of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes, guys especially, you got nowhere else to turn, you know? Who do you tell to? Who do you tell your problems to? You might not want to tell all the problems to your wife because you don't want to burden your wife. You don't want her to be frightened. You don't want to tell your children because they might be too young to understand what you're going through. You might burden them with too much.
So, where do you turn to? Where do you turn to? Sometimes, some problems are so private, you can't even tell your close friend. So, all these toxic emotions, all these worries, fear, stress, it's gotta go somewhere and because it goes nowhere, your body retains it. Your body thinks that your colon is the place for dumping trash, you know, right? That's where naturally all your waste goes into your colon. So likewise, your toxic emotions go, they push it into your colon. That's why people have a lot of colon problems. They have a lot of stomach problems when they are stressed, they're fearful, and worried, it's all dumped there because there's no outlet. Whereas guys, listen.
Ladies, don't be angry, okay? I'm just saying this generally observation. Ladies are more excited, more anxious than guys are. Guys are more calm generally, generally, all right, generally. But listen, statistics show that women live longer than men, why? Because when they have all these negative emotions, they pick up the phone, they call their friend. "Do you know what she did, blah, blah, blah, blah," all the poison comes out, all the poison. And the other side the friend also take all the poison so all the poison come out, you know? Whereas we guys, when we have all this toxic emotion, we just... Grin it. So, statistically men die younger. They got nowhere to put their poison emotion. Even though men are more calm in a sense but this is a proven statistics, okay, okay? So, women are more expressive.
You know, there was, back then before the advent of smartphones and all that, if you want news to travel around, all right, telegraph, telegram, telephone, tell a woman. The word will spread. But at least they pour out their heart. They pour out their emotions. So, tell it to Jesus. When you pour out to Jesus, your body don't have to dump those toxic emotions anywhere. Just tell it to the Lord. The more frank you are, the more honest you are, the more you will sense his presence. You know, let's save the protocol for the President and, you know, for the very important people. But with God, God wants you to be a child, amen. That's why the Bible says, when it comes back to Romans 8:13, "As many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God". So, how to be led by the Spirit? Next verse, "For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship by whom we cry out, 'Abba, Father.'" You see?
"The spirit of bondage again to fear" in the context here is fearing God. It is an old Jewish, Old Testament Jewish people, the children of Israel, fearing God, like you know, God, there's a sense of distance. Now, there is a right fear of the Lord. I repeat, there's a right fear of the Lord, which is worshipful, amen. Once in awhile, I still say to my Heavenly Father, I still use the Old King James, "Thee, thy, thou". I just love it, all right. It gives me a sense of respect. But I don't fear him in the spirit of bondage again to slavish fear. That's a slavish fear. That's a fear of God that God says you are free from, and God calls it the spirit of bondage. "You did not receive that Old Testament spirit of bondage, you have receive the Spirit of sonship," "Adoption" here in the Greek is "sonship," "by which we cry, 'Abba, Father.'"
So, that's why I made my son, since he was born, all right, he will call me Abba. So, whenever he read this verse next time in the future, he will sense that, hopefully I'll be a good father by the grace of God. He will sense the warmth of the intimacy of Abba, Father. Abba is like the way the Israelis call their father. Israeli boys, they will call their father, "Daddy, Daddy, Abba". It's a very deep, very intimate, very homely, very close cry of a child to the Father, Abba, amen. God says unless you have that spirit, you not ready even to pray. You're not ready to be led by the Spirit. Are you listening, people? So, to be led by the Spirit, you must have this intimacy. It's a family thing. You must know God loves you, amen? And the Holy Spirit loves you. So, you gotta call God, what? Abba Father. Can I have a good amen?
All right, then the spirit himself bears... so notice that this Abba cry is something from deep within so sometimes your prayer is so short. You just say, "Oh Father, I'm just full of care, Lord. I have all these cares". "Well, Pastor Prince, the Bible says casting all your cares upon"... Yo bro, relax, all right? When you are talking to God, isn't that casting your cares? You're talking to the one who can handle it so talking is casting. You can actually have the right phraseology and not have the spirit of it. You can even quote Scriptures like the scribes did to King Herod telling King Herod where the Messiah will be born so that King Herod can go and destroy him. You can have Bible knowledge and still be Antichrist against Christ.
So friend, it's not a method of knowing the Bible, it's a method of knowing him who wrote the Bible so you know the Spirit of the Bible. So, it's a Spirit of sonship we cry Abba father, that's how we are led. This is the verse that comes right after, "If you are led by the Spirit, you are sons, mature sons of God," amen? And watch this now, "The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God". So, that's why I had to tell you, you must understand the Holy Spirit's witness to us that because of what Christ did, because of what he witnessed at the cross, our sins God righteously remembers no more, no more, amen? So, you must know the witness to us, that's outward. But now it's a witness in us, inward. He witnesses with our spirit that we are children of God. All of us have that witness. If you're born again, the witness of the Spirit is in you.
Someone says, "Hey, I think you're not saved," you will just laugh it off. You don't have to even argue. You know that you know that you know you are saved. Sometimes you have doubts in your head but here you know you're saved. So, the Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. So, in the very most vital important area, probably the most important, he bears witness with you that you are a child of God. How much more in all the other affairs of life? Whether it's parenting, whether it is your career, whatever it is, how much more will he lead you? If he led you in the most important to know that you're a child of God, how much more in other areas? So, he will bear witness. But notice when you bear witness, whether it's in your eating or whatever it is, as small as that, and by the way, please don't think that God doesn't care about small, small things. You know Jesus says that God cares for the birds of the air?
In another place he says that two birds are sold for a farthing, okay, a farthing, let's use your dollar. Two birds are sold for a dollar, Jesus said. Another place he says, five birds are sold for two dollars, one thrown in free. So, birds are cheap, yet God feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than those birds? And listen, if you think God doesn't care for details, even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. All right, I care for my son Justin and he has a full head of hair but I never counted his hair, as much as I love him. Even the very hairs of your head are all numbered, every detail. You say, "But God want to heal the big diseases. I got this ulcer troubling me". God cares. If it concerns you, it concerns God. There's nothing too small for God, for the God of heaven and earth. In fact, when you bring the small things to him, you compliment him. When you bring the big things to him, you are saying, "No one can do it but you," you compliment him, okay? Amen, amen?
So, I said just now, it's very important as I bring this to a close, listen carefully, the Holy Spirit leads you more with red light than green light because green light should be your natural habitat. So, we make a wrong move, you're about to sign something, about to say something and you feel a red light, obey it. Now, how many of you know that even in the good things of life, don't do it? Like I said, he will never lead use to commit adultery. He will never lead you to cheat. He will never lead you to lie. We all know that. But even in the good things, don't just do it because it's a good thing. Do it because it's a spirit thing. Now, how many know Jesus said, "Go unto all the world and preach the gospel to every creature"? Wave at me. How many know that? Okay, but do you know that that means what? Go unto all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Go unto all the world, which world? All the world.
Now, we can go anywhere and we are fulfilling the great commission, right? By the way, they call this the great commission but do you know something that where to go? My part of the assignment, your part of the assignment might be Singapore, might be your workplace, or your assignment might be China. Whatever it is, the Holy Spirit will lead you to your great commission. You don't believe, "No, Pastor Prince, I believe when Jesus says go unto all the world, every Christian must have a passport. It means all the world. You can go anywhere and you're fulfilling a great commission". Well, I beg to differ because like I said, you need to follow the leading of the Spirit. Acts 16, in the missionaries' journeys of Paul, this is what happened to Paul and his partners, all right? Acts 16, "Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia". This is Asia Minor, not our Asia. Asia Minor is today Turkey, the country of Turkey. The whole area down there where the seven churches are, that's Asia Minor.
Now, can you believe that he was about to preach the word in Asia but it was forbidden by the Holy Spirit? Why would the Holy Spirit forbid you to preach the Word? Because the Holy Spirit knows whether a group is ready or not. The Holy Spirit knows that if you spend time there, it's useless time, wasted time because they're not ready yet. The Holy Spirit knows who is ready and who is not, amen? Or some people will say, "Never mind, Jesus says go unto all the world, just go". But remember this, they were forbidden so it's more of a red light or a green light? Red light. By the way, you don't do anything, right, how to guide you? God doesn't guide a parked car. God cannot say, "Turn right, maintain, go straight, turn left". If you are parked all the time, what to say? Bearing witness means, listen, I take a step, someone bears witness. That means you bear witness means there's an action done, right? Like a witness in court. You bear witness. You know what I'm saying? Means there's an action done. So, most of the time it's not lazy Christian that God leads.
I remember years ago I was told it's about 12 years ago now, but a number of years ago. Everything to me is a number of years ago. I remember coming to the office and I will say hi, right, good morning, or good afternoon, or whatever to the receptionist. We got two receptionist at a time manning the reception, and I'll say hi to them, basically just a small talk usually on my way to my office. And I passed by this receptionist and I said hello to her but I felt a red light and I stopped. Her name was Chi-Ching. So, I stopped I say, "How are you, Chi-Ching? How is everything? How's your pregnancy"? Because she was pregnant for about 5 months at that time. I say, "Is everything okay"? And she started crying. So, she was actually... the doctors told her that her baby in her womb, 5 months pregnant, they diagnosed the baby having two large cysts, not just small. Any cyst is big for a baby in the womb but this baby had two large cysts on her brain... on his brain, it's a boy. And I knew that the Holy Spirit arrested me so I knew that a miracle was gonna happen, that God wanted me to pray for her.
So, I just prayed a simple prayer in the name of Jesus. All remember this, people, that being led by the Spirit, rest is not inactivity. Rest is Holy Spirit directed activity. Okay, God gave me this phrase many years ago. Again, rest is not inactivity. Rest is Spirit directed activity. So, I prayed for her and the very next day was her checkup. She went back to the doctor and this is what came back, the doctors cannot find one cyst completely disappeared and the other cyst has shrunk so significantly, the doctor have seen it before, he say that in no time it'd be gone, all right? Today, the child is all grown up...not only grown up, it's about 12 years of age now. And I just received news that the child is well. I mean, the child is, you know, wonderfully blessed.
And church, when the Lord reveals to you something, usually he wants to do something. So here, he forbid to preach the word in Asia, so what did Paul and his partners do? "After they had gone to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them". Again, the Holy Spirit did not permit them to go into Bithynia. Why? Later on, if you keep on reading, God actually wanted them to go into Greece at that time because the Grecians in Macedonia were ready to receive the Word. Now later on, Paul did preach to the Asia Minor, he did preach, but there's a timing. Can you see the rhythm of grace when you follow the Holy Spirit? God knows who is ready.
Some people... now, listen carefully. I thank God for all the martyrs down through church history, all right? But listen, but there could be a few, all right, who are killed because they don't care. They've been warned not to go, they don't care. They don't even listen to the Spirit, and sometimes when we are confused, we need to listen to the Spirit of our brothers and sisters as well, because they have the Holy Spirit as much as us, especially our leaders, amen, those who care for us. And when you're in love, don't trust your witness. When you're in love, say, "Everything in me is peaceful. This is the man".
I remember a lady who told me many years ago, also happened, this incident. She had a divorce and a lot of broken hearts and all that, and she wrote this testament telling me that "Pastor, this is how I thought he was from God. He was bugging me and bugging me, you know, to marry him and all that, and I didn't know whether he was the one, so I walked by the beach," here in Singapore somewhere, all right, by the beach, Changi Beach or whatever. "I look up, ask God for a sign. I look up and I saw a shooting star". And her marriage was like a shooting star, okay? Let me tell you this. Do not depend on outside visions, do not depend on anything outside. Do not even depend on a hand writing on the wall, all right? Those days are in the Old Testament because the Holy Spirit was outside them.
Now you have the Holy Spirit inside you. The devil can imitate things outside, all right? Don't ask God for a sign outside, all right? Learn to follow the Spirit inside. Are you listening? Don't marry because of a sign outside, okay, amen? When it comes to relationship, especially, trust your brothers and sisters around you and their advice. They also have the Holy Spirit, amen? So here we go. Many a times, God leads us with a red light. And when God leads us, it's always in the paths of rest. It's always in the paths of refreshing. Let me just tell you this, okay, people? Look at this in 2 Timothy please, chapter 1, "Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind".
One of the best ways just to really be sensitive to the Holy Spirit is learn to pray in tongues, pray in the Spirit, amen. And many of you have this wonderful prayer language of the Holy Spirit, but many people don't realize what the gift is there for. Let me tell you this. Here it says, "Fan into flame". The word stir up the gift is actually the Greek word fan into flames like someone cooking satay, right? Satay, you fan into flames, amen, on the coals of fire. That's how you fan into flame. Now, it says the gift of God. Now, many people say the gift of God here is the Holy Spirit, but listen, you don't fan into flame the Holy Spirit. It doesn't sound right, okay? When it talks about the gift of the person of the Holy Spirit, it's always the word dorea. For example, repent and be baptized and you shall receive the gift, the dorea, of the Holy Spirit, Peter's sermon.
So the person of the Holy Spirit is always dorea, but the gift of tongues is charisma of the Holy Spirit, the gift from the Holy Spirit. Here, it says charisma. "I remind you to fan into flame the charisma". It's not the Holy Spirit, but his gift. And which nine gifts of the Holy Spirit can be activated at your will? Only one, tongues. In fact, if you learn to be faithful in tongues, it will light up all the other gifts, the gifts of healing, the word of knowledge, the gift of prophecy. You'll send people words, for example, you don't know why, you just, they come to your mind and you send them a word of encouragement, and all of a sudden they're crying on the other side. They say, "How do you know"? And because God is leading you, amen? And you are putting a word in season, the right time.
So, pray in tongues and what's gonna happen? "For God", notice the for is tied up with verse 6. Because of verse 6, "For God has not given us a spirit of fear". Now fear brings forth stress. Stress brings all kinds of troubles in your body, in your mind, in your life, but God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. So there are three rivers when you pray in tongues, when you pray in the Spirit. It will release these three rivers out of you. Power, and the word there, dunamis, where you get the word dynamite. Power, then love. When you're driving down the road and somebody cut you the wrong way, all right, you feel the anger, right? Where do you feel it? Usually around here, right, amen? So pray in tongues, and the poison comes out, and you have love inside for the person. All of a sudden, you may have a revelation that the person, you know, doesn't have Jesus the way you have it. Maybe he's under stress. Give him a bit of victory, love is stirred.
Have you ever prayed in tongues when you're angry? You all don't? That's why you're angry. That's why you stay angry, all right? You say, "I don't care if I'm angry. I let go". I'm telling you to let go, but let go in the Spirit, amen. And the other one is of a sound mind. Now this, sound mind, is not two words in the Greek, it is one word, sophronismos. Your nosmos, your mind. Sophro is from the word, listen carefully, is from the word saved. Literally, sophronismos, one word in the Greek, means to save your mind. When you pray in the Spirit, it's saving your mind. And how many know that our minds need saving? Smile at your neighbor and say, "Ah-ha," amen? Our minds need saving. We got, you see, the best word to describe this is poise. The mind, an even keel, poise, calm, balance. What God wants to give you, people, is this.
And by the way, the Greek there is very beautiful. Not just the mind, but also the heart, literally, parts of the heart. When you're praying in tongues, the root word there is not just the mind, it's the mind and the heart, okay? I'll challenge any Greek scholar to look at the etymology of this word and you'll find the word "Saving the mind and saving the heart," parts of the heart. Interesting. Okay, look at this. Let me explain to you that God gives us these two adrenal glands at the back, and they are for fight or flight. Fight or flight. You all know the true stories of a pickup that fell on a child and even a man, a grown man, a strong man, can find it very hard to lift up the pickup, but a mother, a weak, small mother, all right, small-sized mother, pint-sized mother, all right, can lift up a truck to save the child, all right? And it's not God's power.
This is just the adrenal glands all of a sudden releasing that fight or flight. Either you fight or you run. It releases the cortisol, releases the adrenalin where you are, she's able to carry, superhuman strength. And many a times when you're in that state, even your eyesight becomes sharper. Your whole being becomes like, you know, a super-person, but God meant it only for a while, for emergencies, after all, God created you with adrenal glands. But God never meant for you to live there. Like a barometer of your stress. Usually at work, our stress level's from zero to ten, it's probably about six, seven, right? The boss is extra demanding, seven, eight, nine, all right? Then, you know, customers are bad or you're dealing with people, relation, whatever it is, then you really go seven, eight, seven, eight, seven, eight, never really go down. Five, number of grace, okay, so I put five. Five and below is, Isaiah please, real quick, all right? "In returning and rest you shall be saved," God says. "In quietness and confidence shall be your strength".
So zero to five on the barometer is quietness and confidence, just a knowing. Quietness and confidence. Of all the blessings Jesus wants to give us, he says, "Come to me, and I'll give you rest". And the world desperately needs rest. It's a world that's, you know, like, the devil pushes you. Devil says, "You've got to do this now. Gotta decide now". It's a restlessness about the world, but God moves in the rhythm of grace. It's very restful. No one is more busy than Jesus. You read in the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, you'll find Jesus very busy, but never is anyone more calm, more restful, than Jesus. He accomplished in three and a half years what would take people their entire lifetime, and he move in the rhythm of grace.
There's one time I read, you know, he was so tired ministering and all that, he slept in the boat. The devil raised a storm. The disciples raised him up to, you know, "Don't you care for us"? And Jesus calmed the storm. He was on his way to deliver the most demonic, demoniac, I mean, the most demon-possessed person in the entire Bible. That's why the devil tried to stop him. He was crossing the lake of Galilee just for one man who was crying day and night, cutting himself, crying day and night, and Jesus heard the cry, and Jesus went all the way. Even his sleep was disrupted. Jesus cast the demon out with one word, "Go". And all the demons left. Jesus went back into the boat.
On the way back, the moment he touched down, Capernaum, the ruler of the synagogue came, "My daughter's dying," his name was Jairus. "Please, please, please come to my house real quick," and Jesus says, "I'll come and heal". And as Jesus walk on the way, a woman touched the hem of his garment and Jesus stopped long enough to talk to the woman and Jairus is like, "What is happening"? You feel like that when your child is at stake. You don't, "I asked Jesus to come," and he was so desperate. And as Jesus is talking to the woman, someone came from the house and said, "Don't bother the Master, your daughter is dead". As soon as Jesus heard it, Jesus says, "Don't be afraid. Only believe, and she shall be well". And he went to the house, and you all know the story. He raised the girl from the dead, all in one day. Rhythm of grace. He has time for the woman. He has time to assure. He has time to walk. He never run. He had time, very restful. He accomplished so much more.
So, for us, God made us, okay, just imagine a barometer, right? So you come home from work, you wanna sit down in your lazy chair, you're gonna watch the late-night news or whatever. So you pop yourself on your easy chair, your La-Z-Boy. Your boy just bought a rubber snake and he left it near your chair. So here you are, drinking your orange juice and all that, until you look down, you saw the snake, and you jump. All of a sudden, where's your barometer now? Whether it's real or perceived or whatever, you jump and your barometer is ten, right at ten. And you were not even below five, you know, when you came home because it was a stressful day at work, so you're about five, six, seven. You're looking forward to come down below five but, pum, things at home. Even perceived, even not real, doesn't matter.
Now, after for a while, you realize he's just a fake snake, all right? You sit down again and you watch TV, and TV, see what's happening, and then your barometer goes up again. But even if you are resting, it never really goes down all the way to below five. That's where most of us live. God wants you to come to a place of quietness and confidence. That's why you cannot psyche yourself to be peaceful, you cannot will yourself into a place of relaxation. Can I submit to you, God has a supernatural gift not dependent on breathing deeply, certain positions, certain environment. It's called praying in the Spirit. This is the rest and the refreshing. So God designed us.
Let me say this in closing. God designed us, listen, God designed us to live lives like the tortoise and the camel. Not like the lion and the tigers. The lion and the tiger, their adrenal glands, by the way, they found their adrenal glands are swollen. It's always swollen. And do you know they live short lives? "Pastor Prince, these are animals". Well, the Bible says in the book of Proverbs, the book of wisdom, "Go to the ant, you sluggard, and learn from them". So animals are put there by God for us to learn. They don't learn from us, we learn from them, amen? So listen, God designed for us to be on camel speed, tortoise speed. And do you know, camels and tortoises and turtles live long lives? Camels, for example, all right, they live cool lives, relaxed, you know? In the desert. You feel like pushing a button, acceleration, or something like that. You know, move faster, can you, all right? But they are just relaxed.
"Hey, I know it's hot, all right? I know it's hot, but relax. Relax, bro. We'll arrive at our destination, okay? Just be cool, now, just be cool. I know there's no water, but relax. We'll find water. We'll find water at the right time, at the right place". And sometimes if they refuse to move, they refuse to move. You can't, they turn around, "Relax, relax, bro, relax. Cut the motor, relax". And they live lives so relaxed. Turtle are the same. It's the people taking pictures and all that by the beach that are really restless, and the turtle, "Relax. You wanna take me? Take me. You don't want, I'll still arrive at my destination," and they're just cool. You know, how many can lay eggs while someone is watching? But turtles can. Tortoises are the same. God meant for you to live at a camel's speed, never at a tiger's speed or leopard's speed. He designed for you to live life like a camel, like a tortoise.
I think the tortoise are the last one to arrive at Noah's ark. They're relaxed. "Hey, relax. We'll arrive. Don't worry. The door won't close until we are in". So one tortoise tells another tortoise, "Relax, relax, hey, relax. Can you see Noah? Hey, Noah. Relax. We'll arrive, we'll arrive". It's starting to drizzle and no one says... God says, "All the animals, this tortoise is the last one". "Hey, Noah," and Noah had to run and carry them into the ark. But I believe that God put them there to teach us to live life at a tortoise speed. Remember the story of the tortoise and hare? There's something there for us, all right? The race is not to the swift. Nor the prize to those men of skill, but time and chance which belongs to God happens to them all. God can put you in the right place at the right time. Don't worry. Don't be like the people of the world, amen? Praise God.
My time is up. Praise God. Give Jesus the praise, the glory, and the honor. Every head bowed, every eye closed, all across this place. And, friend, if you have never made Jesus your personal Savior and Lord, I wanna give you this opportunity right now. Wherever you are right now, I wanna give you this opportunity. Friend, salvation begins by saying yes to what Jesus has done for you on the cross. You don't have to do anything. Through this man Jesus is preached to you the forgiveness of your sins. It's for you to believe and receive. If that is you, wherever you are right now, pray this prayer with me right now from your heart. Pray this prayer, say:
Heavenly Father, I believe that you love me and I believe that Jesus died on the cross for my sins, was raised from the dead, when I was justified in him. I thank you, all my sins are forgiven and I thank you that because you glorified Jesus, you gave me the Holy Spirit. So baptize me right now with your Holy Spirit to overflowing in Jesus's name, all my sins have been forgiven. I'm now a child of God. God is my Abba Father and I have the Holy Spirit who loves me, who will lead me and guide me from this day forth in Jesus's name, and all the people said, "Amen".
Look up here. Now that you have prayed the prayer, listen carefully, you are saved, you have passed from death to life, it's not a process, it's instant, you have passed from death to life. You're no more in the kingdom of darkness, you are now in the kingdom of light. Not just that, you asked God for the Holy Spirit. And if you ask God for the Holy Spirit, he will not give you another spirit, Jesus said. You have the Holy Spirit. And listen, any time during this day, you may be at home somewhere, start praying in tongues. God will not force you to pray in tongues. Go like this. The more you pray in tongues, especially in the stressful times of life, the more you release the rivers of power, love, and sound mind, save your mind, amen. So will you do that? Praise the Lord. Give Jesus a praise, hallelujah. Stand to your feet. Thank you, Lord Jesus. Lift up your hands all across this place.
In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, for this coming week, I bind the devil from off your lives in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and all the designs that he has designed against you and your family, I call them to naught in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, every spirit assigned against you, I cancel their assignment and I bind them off you and your family in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, amen.
Just one homework from the Spirit. Labor throughout this week to enter into rest. Pray in the Spirit. It will not happen just because you want it to. It will not happen by your effort, but by the Spirit. Pray in the Spirit, amen, and labor to enter the rest. And God will do the rest, amen? And throughout this week, remember, and God will remind you that the devil is out to stress you. He's out to punish you, thinking that, you know, you need to do this, need to do that, just like Israel when they were in Egypt, the sounds of the taskmaster's whip still in their minds, "How can you rest? Get up and work, get up and work". Remember, that's not the voice of God. God will not drive you. God leads you. He loves you. And joy is leading throughout this week. In Jesus's name and all the people said, "Amen". God bless you. Thank you.