Joseph Prince - Powerful Keys To Unlocking God's Word

Good to see all of you. You all excited about Zone X? First, let's give glory to God for all the souls saved through the mid-autumn service, amen? Someone's grandmother, someone's father, someone's uncle, they are saved. Now they are saved. Something happened because we had this mid-autumn service, amen? Just imagine if we don't have it. Someone's mother, someone's grandfather would not have been saved. And now, what has come in from this, just these two service yesterday, are documented, right, that means they own up that they got saved, all right, 140 souls. Every soul there is precious that Jesus gave His life for these souls, amen? And those undocumented, when Pastor Mark led them in prayer, there's even more.

I always believe that there's always people praying that sinner's prayer, amen, that may not want to acknowledge themselves or whatever, but thank God they are saved. That's the most important. And this is what having a church is all about, amen, preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. What is dear and what is close to God's heart is His Son and what His Son did for us on that cross. God wants the whole world to know, amen. When Jesus was on earth, even though Jesus says that in His first coming to Israel, born in Bethlehem, grew up in Nazareth, His entire life, you know that He's preaching to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And that's why there are times, like for example when He was in Tyre. The most northern part of any place that Jesus ever preached was in Tyre.

I'll show you a map of Tyre, and with a map of Tyre, this is the division of the 12 tribes. All the different colors is to show you the 12 tribes, their territorial, their areas, okay, that belong to them. And in the tribe of Asher, there is Tyre, okay? This is the part that many years before Jesus was born, this is the place where Alexander the Great conquered, Tyre. It was very hard to conquer Tyre and Sidon, but he did it. Now, this is the northernmost part that Jesus went to, amen. And there was a Syrophoenician woman who is not a Jew, but don't forget, Jesus was sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. So He went to a Gentile area, which is Tyre. It's all Gentiles.

By the way, Gentiles are non-Jews. In a sense, all of us, whether we are Chinese, Indians, you know, we are non-Jews. That means we are Gentiles. We belong to the Gentiles. But when God promised Abraham Abraham would be the father of all the Jewish people, and God gave promise to Abraham, amen, that his seed, the Messiah will be a Jew. And that's what happened. Jesus is born in Bethlehem from the lineage of King David, amen? Although we know that there is no input from His earthly father, Joseph. He was born of a virgin, amen, but born nonetheless from the lineage of King David. And King David all the way traced to Abraham. So the first coming is to preach to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Only when He died, the gospel is for the whole world, but He has to fulfill the promise God made to Abraham.

So here and there you will find Jesus saying, "I'm not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel". So when He was in Tyre, a woman came whose daughter was demon-possessed, and she begged the Lord, but she came in pretense actually, as if she's a Jew. She says, "Son of David, Son of David". Now, that's a phrase used by Jewish people of the Messiah. Only they can use that at that time, but she came impersonating like a Jew, and Jesus did not answer her. And she kept on pestering the Lord, and the disciples said, "Send her away". And the Lord says, "I am not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel". There you see it, and she's not from the lost sheep of the house of Israel. That's His first coming. But do you believe that the Lord has compassion and love in His heart, even for her? Why did He go to Tyre in the first place, to the farthest place of His journey?

Of any journey He ever made, the farthest He ever went was Tyre. Why was He there in the first place? Because of that woman. He would traverse even the Sea of Galilee because of one person who is so demon-possessed, the most demonized man. He would travel all the way just for that man. Even though He was tired and He was sleeping in the boat, He would do it for one person, for one soul, amen? And so Jesus gave her a way out. Jesus says, "It is not right to take the children's bread". In this case, she wanted healing for her daughter, so "children's bread" is healing. Say, "Children's bread". You're about to feed on children's bread. If you are sick in your body, you're about to receive health and healing, amen. So Jesus says, "It's not right to take the children's bread and to give it to the," listen carefully, "the puppies". So the word "puppies" is used, right? A diminutive term.

If your Bible has "dogs," it's not accurate. So "puppies" belonged, puppies are loved, and because you know why? In that day and age, Jesus is using the language of the Jewish people. They're called Gentiles, okay, don't be offended, dogs, okay? But Jesus used the term, "It's not right to take the children's bread to give it to the puppies". He gave her a loophole, even though she has no covenant at that time. All Gentiles don't have a covenant with God. He gave her a loophole, because puppies usually belong where? In the house, and usually they are around the table. Then she answered, "But even in the puppies eat the crumbs that fall from the master's table". And by the way, she says, "Lord, even the puppies eat the crumbs".

Now she didn't come impersonating herself as someone else, right, impersonating someone else as a Jew, but she came as herself. She called Him the term that all Gentiles can call Him, Lord. She's honest. How many of you know that the Lord doesn't want you to be a hypocrite or a dishonest or pretentious person? Do you know why? Do you know why? One of the strongest words that comes out of Jesus' mouth against the Pharisees especially, people who are self-righteous and pretentious. Self-righteous as if they are so holy, holier than thou attitude, looking down on others, and Jesus is very strong on that. When it comes to the tax collectors who are the social outcasts in Israel at that time, when it comes to the prostitutes, when it comes to the people who are lepers and all that, Jesus, even though they are all sinners, Jesus never used strong words on them.

So that tells us He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. What He doesn't like is pretension. Hypocrite means what? Trying to be something you are not. So I asked the Lord one time, I said, "Why are You so strong against hypocrisy"? You know what He said? "It's because I love the people. I love those people and I love you, and I don't want you to come to Me trying to be someone else. Because if I love you when you are trying to be someone else, you will never feel loved, because you think that I love that pseudo-me, that me that is not me". It's like you're dating, right, and all the while you act like a rich person, but you're not. You wanna impress the girl, so you borrow from your friend the car. You borrow from your friend all, it's only for awhile because you cannot pretend for too long. You cannot marry, you cannot let someone fall in love with a pseudo-you, a fake you. By the way, you're wondering is this preaching already? Yes, it started already, the ministry of the word.

All right, so in order for you to real feel loved, you must let the person see you as you really are. Then when the person falls in love with you, amen, good, bad, and ugly, then you know you are loved. Can I have a good amen? So the Lord wants you to know that only when you are yourself, if you're a sinner, that's no problem to Him. He came to be the Savior. In a way, sinners have, because they are sinners, they have the title. The fact they are sinners, they have the title to the Savior. Those who act like they are righteous, they have no title to the Savior. So if you're a sinner, just tell the Lord you're a sinner. He says, "I'm a better Savior than you are a sinner. You can't outsin My grace. My grace is greater than your sin. My grace is greater than your bondage. It's greater than your addiction". Can I have a good amen?

All right, so don't pretend to be what you are not. And you know what Jesus says? "Oh woman," Jesus told her, that woman of Tyre. We're still on it. Jesus says, "Oh woman, great is your faith". It was a test. "Great is your faith. Be it unto thee even as thou would". First of all, He complimented her for her faith. Have you noticed that Jesus only commented on great faith in the Gospels for the Gentiles. One was a Roman solider, remember? The Centurion, and the other is this woman. Both Gentiles. They did not know the law. They just know Jesus, or somewhat about Jesus that really matters at the end. They see His heart. You know, His heart will not begrudge a crumb that fall from the master's table. With that crumb, and what a royal dainty, it's no mere crumb, because that crumb drove the devil out of the daughter. When she went home, the daughter was healed.

How 'bout, I want to share with all of you how to study the Bible, okay? Things that the Lord has taught me, and these are things that, you know, if I teach, like, in a Bible school, you know, you go through the curriculum and all that. I just want to share not based on that, but based on how God teaches me down through the years, all right? Things that I feel that needs to be focused on. These are the things that are necessities when it comes to study the Word of God. All right, first and foremost, let's look at, we are still continuing our teaching on where I left off the last time. Look at Deuteronomy chapter 8. It says, "For the Lord your God brings you to a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills".

So here, we mentioned last week the parallel between the land of Israel as the possession of the children of Israel and for us it is the Bible. It is the Word of God, amen? It has mountains. It has valleys. It has, "I bring you to a land of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills". And then when we go through a valley period and we study the Word, we find that there's a spring that gush out in our valley, in our times of trial from the Word, amen. So that is our inheritance. And what do you do with the land? Even for Israel, they have to cultivate the land, dig deep, amen, sow the seed. Now, you cannot make the rains come. That is God's prerogative, amen? You know, you just have to pray and trust God.

So in Israel, when they were in Israel, the Egyptians, they trusted the River Nile. At that time, no one knows where the River Nile comes from, amen? So they looked down. But in Israel, God says when you come to Israel, it's not like the land of Egypt. You look up. You gotta trust God for the rain. If the rains don't come, there'll be no harvest. There'll be no food for you and your family. You gotta look up. I think right now we are in the world where everything is coming to a place where you have to trust God. You know, things that are automatic, you know, things that we take for granted, things that, you know, oh yeah, you know, the harvest is plenteous in the world. If this side here runs short, you know, we have another supply from another country.

Then if this country, you know...no, no, friend. Almost like there is a shortage that's happening all over the world. In some places, there's a drought like they never had that kind of drought, not just in 10 years or 20 years, like in 100 years. Another place, there's a flood like they never had that kind of flood for 50 years, you know? It's happening during this time. And all this will affect the harvest. All this will affect food, amen?

Now, don't run out and see whether there's food available outside, all right? I'm just telling you that we cannot trust the norm. And all these things that we go by sight, that we trust in, is now being removed from us. But you know, the Bible always talks about famine, and every time you study famine, the Bible talks a lot about famine, whether it's Abraham's time, that even his seed, Isaac, went through a famine. But it was during this famine that they prospered, that they prospered in a significant way. Not that they didn't prosper in the good times, but especially, for example, Isaac. He sowed in the land of famine, and the Lord blessed him, and he reaped 100-fold. A hundred fold in that year of famine.

Now, Isaac is a picture of Abraham's seed. And the Bible says, "If you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to a promise". So we are types of Isaac, amen. What God did, the reason God put the picture there, Bible teaching is happening right now to teach you how to study the Bible. When you look at stories like Isaac, I mean, he lived 90 years ago. Why am I concerned for it? Because that is you. Whatever he goes through, and you're going through your own famine, right? God knows. I tell you, God knows the year 2030 before it happens, 2050 before it happens, amen. God knows because God is outside time. So when God designed the Bible, it is very relevant. It speaks to you now. Even from a story that happens last time, it speaks to you now. There is always a now Word.

You can read, you say, "Pastor Prince, I memorized by heart Psalms 23". Well, Psalms 23 can still speak to you. Don't think for one moment you have exhausted it. Don't think for one moment you've exhausted it, amen? Even if you memorize it, meditate on it and God will give you more, and there'll be springs that will gush out from valleys as you meditate, amen? It'll be like a gusher. You'll feel like, "Ooh, hallelujah"! You will feel like Jeremiah 15:16. This is what he says. "Thy word was found, and I ate them". The first thing, your first assignment is not to look at the Word of God and say, "What must I do"? all right? That's a law mentality. The first thing you do with God's Word is you eat it. It's for eating. It's for eating. If you ask the Lord, all right, "Why is it that people are rebellious, people are bound by addictions, people are enslaved to certain habits and they can't break free? Why are people depressed? Why are so many people depressed today"? Right?

You know what the Lord will say? "They're hungry". They are hungry. The very first thing the enemy attacks is always the harvest. The Bible says when Gideon was threshing wheat, he was threshing wheat in the vine press. Now, that's not the usual place that you thresh wheat. Threshing wheat is like studying the Word of God. The Word of God is wheat, right, bread of life. So he's threshing wheat to eat, right? But he was doing it at night to hide from who? The Midianites. The Midianites have come in, and every time there's a harvest, the Jewish people have a harvest, they will come and rob them of their harvest. So they are staying in the mountains, and whenever their harvest is there, they come and rob them of their harvest. So Gideon does it quietly so that he has a secret harvest, and a secret threshing, and a secret reaping, right, that he wants to have secret eating as well. But God called him forth. God calls those who are studying the Word, amen, to feed others.

You know, yesterday I was studying the Word and I was preparing for all of you, and I always see all of you as hungry, okay? You might say, "Pastor Prince, I think I'm hungry for more of the social media. I feel that the more I read, I think I feel better". No, you won't. You will feel empty. You will feel more depressed. You are hungry and you are hungry for true bread. You are hungry, the Bible says in Isaiah, "Why labor for that which does not satisfy," amen? So you are hungry. You're not depressed, you are hungry. You're not actually a rebellious person, amen? You are fighting something because you are hungry. Have you noticed people who are hungry physically can be very bad-tempered? Wives, have you noticed that? Sometimes your husband is not angry with you. He's not angry, he is hungry. Look at your husband, smile, and say, "Amen"? Have you all experienced that or it's just me? It's just me, come on. I see Pastor Lawrence putting up his hand. He's one honest man. There's one honest man. The Lord loves it. The Lord loves honesty, amen? Amen?

So many of you need to repent, amen? So a hungry man can be a very angry man, right? But the anger is not actually his problem. His problem is a deeper problem, he's hungry. So many of you are hungry, but you're not feeding yourself with true bread. So you pass by, you think you need something from the fridge. You open up the fridge. You feel like you need to eat something. You feel hungry. You don't realize that it's spiritual hunger because you've not been feeding on the Word. So you take out something, you eat. Now, after for awhile, you still feel hungry so you eat some more. Wrong thing to do, bro, all right? Not good. You will see some results that will tell you it's not good, amen? Or I watch TV. I think this is good. I watch this drama. I watch this movie. I watch this, all right, it will feed me. For awhile, your mind is stimulated no doubt, all right?

You are stimulated, but after that, you finish everything, you still feel like there's an emptiness. Like, "What is it I really want? I think I need to watch some more," you know? That's not the answer. The next day, you have raccoon eyes, you know, or panda eyes, and things like that because it doesn't feed. So the Bible says in Isaiah, "Why spend your labour for that which does not satisfy"? Now, all these things, eating and all that, or watching, you know, I mean, it all has its place. I'm not knocking them. They are not sins. It's not a sin to eat. I'm just saying, realize that you are hungry. The enemy always attacks your food. Some of David's mighty men became mighty men, they marked themselves as mighty men when they refused to let the enemy take their harvest. They would stand in the middle of a patch of a field of harvest, like lentils, all right, and they will stand there with a sword. And they are outnumbered by the enemies, but the Bible says the sword will clave to their hand, and the sword is a picture of God's Word. And they will fight.

They say, "This is my harvest. You ain't taking it, all right? There's no way. I sow it, all right, I grew it, I watered it, and where were you? You wanna come and take the food? No way. I'm gonna stand here, stand my ground". And the Bible says, "Stand therefore". Stand for your food, amen. Don't let anything rob you of that time that you spend in the Word of God, amen? Whether you are, in the morning, whether you're sitting on the toilet bowl or...like I told you, it's a good time. Some of you, "Oh, you know, I feel so irreverent". No, you are just being religious, because I'd rather you do that than not do that and spend the whole day not in the Word. So if there's a Bible there, Bible everywhere, amen, commercial time, look at the Bible. Spend time in the Word. Even a little piece of it can, like a little crumb, can bring healing. Can I have a good amen?

So here, God says there's food. Not just drink, there is food, all right? By the way, Jeremiah was saying that the first thing you do is eat. And what happens? "Your word was to me the joy. Your words were found, and I ate them". That's your first responsibility. Eat the Word of God. And number two, it becomes the joy and rejoicing of your heart. So eat it until there's a joy and rejoicing springing up. And there's a joy, I'm telling you. It's like that joy heals, by the way. That joy heals your body. The joy of the Lord is my strength. It's not just spiritual strength there. If you read it carefully, it's strength. spirit, soul, and body. So the joy of the Lord. So how do you get the joy of the Lord? Thy words were found. And what did I do? I ate them. When Jesus says, "I am the bread of life," what do you do with bread? You eat it. You don't just admire it or else you will stand up, "I'm the portrait of life," all right?

But He says bread. He says He's the water of life, fountain, amen. He is the bread of life. What do you do with bread? You eat. And because it's called, "I am the bread of life," you receive life. You see, every day we leak life. You know, the things that we do, the things that we watch, the things that we hear causes us to leak life. You know, I thought life is intact. Once you get life, you get life. No, every day you're losing life. Ask the doctors. They will tell you it is shown by death has set in. That means what? When there's no life, that part there's death. So different parts of your body, when you leak life, right, death comes in. They call it aging, they call it whatever, which means what? Reduction of life. But you can receive more life. Jesus says, "I am come that you might have life and have it more abundantly". Can I have a good amen?

So praise the Lord. Give Him praise, amen. It's true, amen. He wants you to have this life more abundant. And if you look, there's also food in the land. Remember I shared about the land in the Bible? There's a land of wheat, barley, vines, fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil, and honey. In my last sermon, I broke this down to show you the Word of God and how rich it is. "A land wherein you shall eat bread without scarceness, you shall not lack any thing in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you may dig brass," or copper here in the Hebrew, all right? So it's a rich land, amen. It's a rich land. It has different vistas, different facets, and every part of it is a blessing. So sometimes you go, "For the Lord your God brings you," so it's a land that you go into.

So there are times you take a verse, you meditate on it until it gives you its iron and its precious metals, amen? Gold, silver is there as well. The Bible says, "More to be desired is the Word of God than gold," amen? But as you study God's Word, you find that there are times you are eating pomegranate. There are times you are eating figs. God has variety. God is a God of variety, the manifold grace of God. Even grace has manifold. You know, God gave you a tongue. You know, you will never know the different tastes. If God gave you one tongue with one taste, you wouldn't complain. You don't know. You don't know. You only have one taste. Imagine rice, same, all right? You eat beef, it's the same, all right? You have your pickles, it's the same. All the tastes is just one taste. But God gave us a tongue with many tastes. And recently they discovered there's even one more taste called umami hidden somewhere, amen? Umami, all right? I'm sure there's somewhere else. I prophesy to you, if they study some more, there will be another one called udadi. Oh, that one is, oh, Pastor Prince, you are so corny. Amen?

If there's the umami, there must be an udadi somewhere, you know? All right, so there are things that...and they say that our brains, we only use 10% of our brains, right? Amen? Have you met people that you don't even think it's 10%? Don't look at your neighbor now, amen? All right, I mean, scientists tell us that we only use 10% of our brain, so I believe that the other nine-tenths, right, where is it missing? The Bible promises the gifts of the Holy Spirit are exactly nine, amen? It comes when you are filled with the Holy Spirit. It can maximize your mind. So it covers every area and figs is for certain, by the way, do you know figs is very sweet, right? Just to let you know something about figs, figs is very sweet but it does not spike your blood sugar. It does not. In fact, it is said that even people with high blood, you know, sugar and all that, they can actually eat figs, amen. Don't Google it now. Go home and, you know?

And so it's amazing the land, whatever God promised down there is good for the taste as well as for health, amen? If you are a man and you wanna be fruitful, he that have ears to hear, all right, pomegranate is very good for you. That's why it's a lot of seeds. Okay, I'm getting myself ahead already. Okay, that's just free, okay? Just free, amen? Look at the pomegranate and ask yourself why is it full of seeds and all that. I believe it's gonna be helping you. That's all I can say. He that have ears to hear, let him hear, amen? Amen? Ha ha, okay, so that's a promise. Now, that is microscopic. Sometimes when we study the Bible, we study the Bible up close, all right, like a microscope, and sometimes we study the Bible like a telescope.

Here we look at Moses when his last stand on Mount Nebo, just before he passed on to be with the Lord, right? He stand at Mount Nebo and he looks into the promised land in Deuteronomy 34. "Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah". Many of you have been there. Let me see your hands if you've been there in Jordan, where Moses's last stand was. Let me see your hands. Yeah, you are blessed, amen? You saw that view. You are seeing the same view where Moses was. Somewhere there, he stood at Pisgah, Mount Nebo, and then he looked into Israel. So today, of course, it is on the side of Jordan, okay, the country of Jordan. But at one time, it's all one, all right, and they looked down. He looked down into the promised land. And here, it says that, "And the Lord showed him all the land of Gilead so as far as Dan".

So he looked like this, okay? I'm looking at the promised land. This is Jordan. I'm looking at the promised land. So he started like this. He looked at Dan, as far as Dan, then he looked at Naphtali, which is the area of Galilee, the Sea of Galilee, all right? Now, he could have looked straight away up front. You know what's up front? Jericho, the nearest, the city of Jericho, the area of the Jordan valley. But he didn't. He looked far, right? So this is a picture of the overview of the land. Sometimes when you read the Bible, you read the Bible, you don't feel like reading, like, microscopic, or meditating on one verse, all right? You want to just general reading, like you read the book of Ruth. It can be done in one sitting. It's a very romantic book, amen. It's a beautiful story of a young bride. In fact, not only a young bride.

You know, usually a woman who has been married before is not so much, does not stand so much an opportunity as someone who has not been married before, and she's been married before. And in those day and age, when your husband dies before you and all that, they could see you as a person who brings a curse, right? But then she followed her mother-in-law to a land that's foreign to her and end up marrying the most eligible bachelor. And together, they became the great-grandfather of David. And from David came our Lord Jesus. Imagine if they didn't meet. And she doesn't belong there actually. Like the Syrophoenician woman of Tyre, she's a Gentile, but she was included in the genealogy of our Lord Jesus. Isn't that a beautiful story? Amen, you can read it in one sitting, so it's like a panoramic view, amen? A panoramic view. Sometimes you just feel like reading, and what the panoramic view does is that it washes you.

All right, you say, "But Pastor Prince, when I read the Bible, I really don't understand a lot of things". Keep on reading and enjoying it. You know, I tell you this. A lot of people who start reading novels, even children when they start reading books and all that, there are parts they don't understand. But just enjoy what you do understand, all right?

There was a man who was a devout Christian, and he wanted his son to learn about the importance of studying the Bible and reading the Bible. And he told, he was a farmer. He told his son, and they had a stream nearby their farm. He told his son to take a basket, all right, a basket, and go collect some water. The son looked at him kinda strange, right? He was about, the son was about seven, eight years old. And he was trying to impress on his son, 'cause his son told him, "When I read the Bible, I don't understand. I don't understand". So he said, "I tell you what, go get the water". So the son went, scooped the water, came back. Of course, the water dripped out. I mean, it came out, right, of the rattan basket. Then the son said, "Dad, it's all gone". "Go get some more water". He went and came back again, and the water all left, you know, and nothing left. He said, "Dad, it's useless. You cannot take water in this". "You see, son, how clean that basket is right now even though it cannot hold water. You don't understand the Bible, never mind. Keep on reading, because it washes you".

It washes you. It has a washing, purifying effect. It has a healing effect. Same thing if you are honest. You say, "Well, I don't wanna read anything I don't understand". If you're honest, because we talk about reading as eating God's Word, apply that to your eating. Do you understand every food and its components that you eat every day? Oh yes, over here we have vitamin E in this little bean here. And this chicken rice here, all right, has this. You know, do you go down all that or you just enjoy? When you approach God's Word, have the same approach. Don't try to understand its components and all that. Just enjoy. And many times, God will speak to you directly from something that happened in the past. Are you with me so far? Is this helping you?

And the first principle to remember, like what I shared, I must reiterate this because some people have not heard me share this. The very first thing you wanna see is Jesus in the Scriptures. That's why you need to take even the words of the law and make it the Word of Christ. Are you with me? Make the word of the law the Word of Christ. How do you do that? Jesus did that. On the same day he rose from the dead, all right, and I'll just say it real fast for the sake of those who are hearing it for the first time. When Jesus rose from the dead, you would have thought there were other important things to do. But you know what He did? He walked with the two disciples who were discouraged and He kept their eyes from seeing who He was, right? And that part is very intriguing, because later on we will see why. And then they were discouraged, and you see how He brings them out.

So He said this to them, "O fools and slow of heart to believe". They keep on saying, "We thought it was He who's gonna redeem," talking about the Lord, and the Lord is there. "We thought He's gonna redeem Israel, and you know, bring the kingdom down and all that". And Jesus says, "O fools and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken". You see, foolishness means you don't know. These are two indictments against the church, because they were disciples, believers. The other one is "Slow of heart to believe". If you know, then another problem comes in. You are slow of heart to believe. So what's the cure for foolishness, ignorance, and slow to believe? People all want great faith, right? We all don't want to be slow to believe, amen? What's the answer? And the Bible says, "Beginning at Moses". Jesus said, verse 27, "Beginning at Moses".

Now, when it says, "Beginning at Moses," what is that, "Beginning at Moses"? The first five books of Moses. Moses is not the author, Moses is the writer, like a secretary. God is the author. All Scripture is God-breathed, every word. I said every word. You know, when Jesus stood before the Pharisees of His day, all right, some people say, "You know, the idea is inspired, but not the words". No, no, we believe in the plenary inspiration of Scripture. That means every word is inspired. Every word, even every letter. Let me tell you this. Jesus stood before the Jewish people of the day who didn't believe, the Pharisees, and then the Sadducees who don't believe in the Resurrection. Sadducees are those who don't believe in the Resurrection, all right? Nor do they believe in miracles. And Jesus told them this, and they say that when you die, you die, all right? And they talk about whose wife will she become if the first husband died, then the brother takes over. That's a Jewish law, the brother must take over, all right?

Then finally all the brothers died and she go to heaven. You know, people ask you questions sometimes, it's very extreme, all right? You ever thought of that? You see how Jesus answered? Jesus says, now, listen carefully. Jesus is amazing. He says this, "God is not the God of the dead, but God is the God of the living". So they were arguing there's no Resurrection, right? Jesus answered, "God is not a God of the dead, but God of the living". Then He quoted Scripture, "God says, 'I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.'" Where's the word that, Pastor, you are trying to show us? "Am". Am. He argued from one word. Because if they existed, they are no more, God will use, "I was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob". But God didn't say, "I was". God says, "I am". In the Hebrew, it's present tense. "I am still the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They are with Me". Are you listening, people?

Jesus answered based on one word. And you know, the Pharisees never said, "Oh, you are arguing. You are arguing from one word, not fair". They understood. They knew the inspiration of the Scriptures. At least for them, compared to some people today, some Christians even, they don't believe in the verbal inspiration of Scripture. Paul, in his writing in Galatians, he argued. When God promised Abraham and God says, "And to your seed will I give all these promises," notice He says, God didn't use the word plural "seeds". He used the word "seed". Paul argued from whether one letter, S in our English, in their Hebrew, all right, plural. He argued from one letter. And none of those he wrote says, "You're arguing from one letter". They understood Scripture is inspired. So you're studying something, imagine, when you're handling social media, you don't know what is truth. Even some videos are manipulated. Are you listening?

And what do you hear about this person, that person. You do not know what is truth. But when you handle the Word of God, it is truth. Jesus said of the Word of God, in His High Priestly prayer, He says, "Thy Word is truth. Sanctify them through Thy truth. Separate them from the world". You see, church, we are not called to imitate the world. But on the other hand, we are not called to be isolated from the world. Because if you isolate yourself, how to impact them? So we are not called to imitate, we're not called to isolate, we are called to insulate when we're in the world. And the way we insulate ourselves, Jesus says, "Thy Word is truth. Sanctify them, separate them from all the filth, the uncleanness, from all that's in the world as the curse. Sanctify them while they're in the world". He says, "Sanctify them by Your truth. Your Word is truth".

We are dealing with truth. You shall know the truth. Truth always frees you up. That's why the enemy will always keep you from the truth of God's Word. Number one, he's happy when you don't spend time in the Word, all right? Number two, you are not having the cleansing effect even, amen. And he will try to convince you why, you know, it's only for people like Pastor Mark and Pastor Lawrence. It's not for people like you. No, even a child. Timothy was a child. In fact, the word there is actually an infant. The Bible says, "You have known the Holy Scriptures". 2 Timothy 3, drop down all the way to that part. Drop down, drop down. Yeah, it says, "That from childhood," Paul is writing to Timothy, "you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise".

In an earlier chapter, it tells you where he got this teaching from. From his mother and grandmother, Lois and Eunice, all right? So a mother's part, one of the best things you can do is like Wendy does that, okay? Before Justin sleeps, she will read a Bible story. And sometimes he sleeps before the Bible story is over. It's the best way to sleep. You sleep, last word is God's Word. Now, I'm not saying that's how you should do it. You can do it in the daytime, but it's the best time for us for Wendy to share the Word with Justin before he sleeps. He loves his mom's teaching, and I always kept telling him this is the most important part of the day, amen. Do we share with him here and there? Of course, during the daytime and all that, here and there, as the Lord leads me, I share, amen? But the Bible part is the part at night.

We read something to him from the Word, amen. So Timothy had the same blessing. He learned the Scriptures from his mother and his grandmother. His father is a Gentile, by the way, so we are not told whether he's saved or not, right? So he learned the Scriptures from the mother and grandmother. And notice that these Scriptures "are able to make you wise for salvation". When you see salvation, don't always think of, like, being saved from hell. Salvation is a very rich, all-inclusive word. It is the word for healing. It will make you wise for healing. It will make you wise for deliverance. It will make you wise for protection. It will make you wise for wholeness, amen? Wholeness, no part of you broken, no part that needs fixing. You're coming to a place where shalom, and shalom means wholeness. Can I have a good amen?

Okay, so the first thing you wanna see is Jesus. Back to Emmaus Road. So what the cure for ignorance and the cure for, you know, slow to believe? All right, we all have this problem, either foolishness or slow to believe, or even both, right? The answer is, "Beginning at Moses," the five books, "and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself". So, Moses is the first five books, right? Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. So from those five books, Jesus is there. He's there in the Tabernacle in Exodus. He's there in the blood on the Passover door, right? The Passover night on that door, He's there. He's there in the story of Genesis when God told Abraham, yes, God told Abraham, "take your son, your only son," amen? But Abraham has two sons, right? The other one is Ishmael, by then. But God says, "Take your son, your only son, the son that you love". Wow, and God says, "Offer him".

Of course, God didn't want Isaac as an offering. God was actually talking about whom? His own Son. "Take your Son," like talking to himself, "Your only Son". God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. Your only Son and the Son that you loved. You see, you must know that He loves you because the Son that He gave up on that cross is the Son that He loves. You must really be greatly loved by Him for Him to give the Son that He loved for you, right? So when you read that, wow, you know? There's another way of teaching it. What is your Isaac? What is that in your heart? Is there an idol? Is that an idol in your heart? Right? That's your Isaac. You must give up your Isaac.

Now, that can be a secondary interpretation. There are times you want to correct people that are, you know, shall we say misplaced priorities, people with misplaced priorities, but I don't think that's the primary way to see the Scriptures. The primary way is to see Jesus. Now, the other one has become heavy, right? And you are wondering, "Do I have an Isaac? Oh no, last week my wife gave birth and we already called the name Isaac already". So sometimes it becomes, like, heavy, it's about you. It's not about you. Then, Pastor, why did the Lord blind their eyes? I mean, not blind their eyes, but restrain their eyes from seeing who He was? Because the Lord said this to me. Never heard anyone share this.

The Lord said this to me many years ago. I asked the Lord, "Why not just show yourself in your resurrected form"? The Lord says, "It's more important for them to see Me in the Scriptures than to see Me in person, because if they see Me in person and they believe, then today you all will say", He said to me, "You all will say, 'We never got a chance to see you in person.'" But once He make them see Him in the Scriptures, He gives all of us equal opportunity today to see Him in the Scriptures. Can I have a good amen?

All right, so that's the cure for ignorance and for slow to believe. Your faith will grow, amen. Without faith, it's impossible to please God. The next thing, when you read the Old Testament especially. You all know that Joseph Prince loves to teach from the Old Testament, right? You all know that, right? So when you read from the Old Testament, the governing principle is this. Number one, see Jesus. Why see Jesus? Because when you see Jesus, you become like Him. Show them verse 18. Oh, is it 2 Corinthians 3:18? "We all, with unveiled face, beholding", it's amazing. When I was preparing this, I was smiling to myself because "unveiled" means no more mask. And I said that, "Wow". You know, I didn't plan to teach on veiling, unveiling, because it's a special Sunday for Singapore, right, but it just so happens. "We all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just by the Spirit of the Lord". Can you see that?

All right, we are transformed by beholding Him. Where do we behold Him? In the Scriptures. Pastor, can you prove that from this verse? Yes. Can you wait? I'll show you. I will show you it's from the Scriptures. Seeing Jesus in the Scriptures, just like the two on the Road of Emmaus did, and their hearts were warmed. There's a joy and rejoicing of my heart, amen? By the way, "Emmaus" means hot baths, amen? And that's where, back in those days, people, the Romans have hot baths. The Romans would go there and people would go there, especially the Romans, but they would do it. They would dip themselves, there was a skin condition and all that. That tells us it was a healing process. How to be healed, seeing Jesus in the Scriptures. "Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom".

Another principle that you need to see when you study the Old Testament especially, New Testament is very direct, right? The Old Testament, types and shadows. If you're not careful, you might turn exactly what it tells you into a law. For example, there's a law that says, "Though shall not muzzle the ox that treads out the corn," in Deuteronomy. Show them Deuteronomy 25, verse 4. "You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain". That means what? When the ox goes round and round in those days, right, they put grain in a circle so the ox will move in a circuitous way all around the floor, and as it does, right, it is carrying a load, like a log, and the log will grind. There's a...you put wheat, or you put rice, or whatever, right, the grinder. It's very hard for a person to do that. There's a small grinder you can do, but the big one, to get more, you gotta have an ox. The ox will go round and round, and a lot of the straws are all over the place.

It's telling you, "Don't muzzle the ox," like you muzzle a dog. Why? Because you are kia su. You are afraid to lose that. Every profit must take, all right? If you are an ox, don't dare to eat what is on the ground. But God is saying... see, God cares for animals also, right? God says, "Don't muzzle the ox. He has a right to eat as he works". In fact, if you are smart, a well-fed ox work more. Work more means more profit. Don't be stupid, right? Amen. God's words benefit you. But when you read this, is that the application? Oh, today, all right, don't muzzle the ox. Very interestingly, you know how Paul interpret this?

Let's go to 1 Corinthians 9. Paul says, "Whoever goes to war at his own expense"? Like, when the ox is doing it, we're trying to make it like don't reward the ox, but God's way is like this. Who goes to war at his own expense? No, the country sponsors all the soldiers. Everything that he has, all right, is sponsored by the country. Am I right? He doesn't pay for his rifle. He doesn't pay for his helmet, right? He doesn't pay for his clothes. All right, so "Who ever goes to war at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its fruit"? Singaporeans, come on, all right? "And who tends a flock and does not drink of the milk of the flock"? All right? "Do I say these things as a mere man? Or does not the law say the same also"? I just showed you the law just now.

So Paul is arguing from the Old Testament, but how does Paul see the Old Testament? He sees something that I think it behooves all of us to learn. The next verse, he says this. The law says, "For it is written in the law of Moses, 'You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain.' Is it oxen God is concerned about"? Is it oxen God is concerned about? Is it oxen God is concerned about? Is it oxen that God is concerned about? Just now I said yeah, God cares also, right, in superficial, but in other words, that law was given for us to dig deep. Now, Paul has expounded for us and Paul is saying, "Is it oxen God is concerned about? Or does God say it altogether for our sakes"? Our sakes? What has the ox gotta do with me? Are you talking about my size?

I know my wife said, "You big ox, go away from me," or whatever. No, but God is...is it because God cares for the oxen? God said, "Go deeper". This is what God had in mind. Was it written altogether for our sakes? The answer, "For our sakes, no doubt, it is written". For our sakes. When you read the Old Testament, number one is to see Jesus because when you see Jesus, you are transformed like Him. Number two, whatever Jesus has, you have. It behooves you to find out what He has. And whatever you see Jesus doing, you are able to do because as you behold Him, you become like Him. So that's the first thing you need to do, amen. It's a photo album. The Bible is a photo album, and Jesus, when you see Him, you feed. He is your food. You feed on Him. Can I have a good amen?

It is God's photo album of His Son, His beloved Son, the Son that He loves, amen? If you come to my place and I show you a photo album, right, of my son Justin, whom I dearly love, and I say, "This is Justin at one years old. This is Justin, you know, his first day in kindergarten. This is", and I see you looking out the window, looking at the birds, right, look outside, look at the plane outside flying, you know, you're not paying attention, you know what I do? You know what I'll do, right? I will close the book, amen? So it's the same thing. When you find the Bible is a closed book, it's because you don't want to see Jesus. God loves to show you Jesus. The Holy Spirit has been sent to glorify Jesus. Not to speak of Himself, but to glorify Jesus. He'll be there to help you, amen. And when you see Jesus actually, it's like He who has the Son has everything, amen?

There was a rich man, a wealthy man who was an art collector. He collected very expensive art. And he had a dear son, a very dear son, and his son died in the war. And this man grew old, and finally he had no other heir, and he passed away. So when his will was written, all the who is who in the arts, you know, arena, everyone who came to look for a good bargain, all right, but his art pieces are very expensive. He has very expensive art, so they hope they can get a bargain, you know, even though it's very expensive. But then the father had an art piece of his son, his late son. And so the auction started and they said, "Get it going, get it going". So the auctioneer says, "The very first one, all right, that we are gonna sell off is the picture of his son".

They look around for someone else to buy because no one wanted to buy this picture of the son, right? Then finally, an elderly man at the back stood up and says, you know, "I'll take it. I'll take it". So the offer was like $10, let's say, you know? He said, "I'll take it". And this man at the back is actually the butler for the house, and he loved this boy, okay? So no one knows what the father said in the auction until now. And then, "Come on, okay, it's done, done. The old man has bought it. Let's continue with the others". Then the auctioneer laid his gavel and said, "Auction is over". They said, "What"?

Auction is over, because based on what the deceased have said in his will, he who gets the son gets all the paintings, amen? So when you get Jesus, you get everything. When you see Jesus, you get everything, amen. Don't forget you're a joint heir with Jesus, all right? So God didn't put Jesus, right, so that Jesus is Jesus by Himself. God sent Jesus so that you will be identified with Him, amen. He's your new identity. He is our righteousness, amen? He's our wisdom. He's our holiness. He's our redemption. Amen, are you all blessed? Okay, so when you look at it, be aware of God's love when you study the Old Testament especially, amen.

Now, New Testament is quite obvious, like I said. So I'm focusing a bit more on the Old Testament because I want you to study the Bible. When you read the Old Testament, many of you are conscious of God's wrath, God's judgment, and we'll come to it, but look at this real fast. When you read the Old Testament, you see, see God's love, God's care for us. Is it oxen God is concerned about? No, God is concerned about you. He wrote that for you. So what does that mean? "For our sakes". "Does He say it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written, that he who plows should plow in hope, and he who threshes in hope should be partaker of his hope". Earlier on, he says, "Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of it? Who goes to war at his own expense"? In other words, God is saying, "Take care of the one who treads out the Word of God".

In the whole passage here, Paul is talking about taking care of people who are serving the Lord. You should not muzzle them, amen. In other words, they should prosper, even materially. The next verse actually tells you that. "If we have sown spiritual things". Now, Paul is including himself as the ox. "If we have sown spiritual things for you". We sow into you spiritual things, right? "Is it a great thing if we reap your material things"? Amen, the pastors live off the salary, right, from the tithes and the offerings. Is it a big thing when they sown into you spiritual things which is eternal, which is non-tangible? Come on, that's more important, amen. Amen? So Pastor, what's going on? We don't have enough salary for them. Huh. No, I'm just teasing. I'm just telling you what Paul did. Paul had the wisdom.

In fact, the same verse is used, "Thou shall not muzzle the ox". Later on he says, "Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor," and the word "honor" there, all right, in other versions it says "double salary". Paul says that in Timothy, same verse, amen? How did Paul get this wisdom, how to govern the church, how to manage things? From the Old Testament. So the New Testament usually is quite general, right? It's quite general. People say, "Pastor Prince, your teachings should be more practical". My friend, it's as practical as can be, because I'm telling you, if you try to be practical the way that people are saying, "Be practical," what's gonna happen is this. "Husbands, love your wife even as Christ loved the church".

Is that practical? Actually, it's very general. Husband, love your wife as Christ loved the church. That means what? In a self-sacrificial way. That one we know, right? "As Christ loved the church". How did Christ love the church? Dying for her on that cross. That's how I am to love my wife. So I start thinking, "It doesn't tell me. It's not practical in a sense that it doesn't tell me how to love". Why? Because God wanted to give room in the new covenant to the leading of the Spirit as to how each of us love our wives. No two women are the same, although all of them love diamonds. No, I'm just teasing. I'm just teasing. Some things it's quite common, right?

But, like for example, Wendy is not so much into flowers. I used to buy flowers for her, dating, and I saw the reaction. Okay, she's very polite, you know? She thanked me for it, but flowers is not her thing. Her thing is something else, amen? So the other day, I gave her the thing that she wanted, right, but at the post office they told me to get out the box. Never mind, you are slow but you will get it, all right? Her birthday is next week actually, so you know, I try to give her a gift that she can fully appreciate, amen, that she can hold, and hug, and you know? But the post office told me to get out of the box. You know, so. Okay, so just by looking at the Old Testament, Paul is able to draw something.

So when people say you are not practical, all right, no, listen carefully, all right? It's dangerous to tell people, "These are the seven things you must do as a husband. These are five things to do," because those things you do can actually sabotage you. It's not exactly the thing to do. And you know what? You are going back under law. People love that, you see. People love that. That's why it's easier to tell me what to do than for me to see. But if you study carefully all the letters of Paul, whether it's Ephesians or Colossians and all that, you find that Paul begins with positional truths, what we call the wealth of the believer. Then comes the walk. The first W is the wealth in the first two chapters, the first three chapters. Then comes the walk, chapter 4 onwards in Ephesians. Then comes the warfare. "Stand therefore against all principalities and powers," right? Clothed in the armor of God.

So you have wealth, walk, and warfare. Your warfare cannot be good unless you understand the wealth you have. You understand who you are. So these are called indicatives. In theology, it's called indicatives, and this one is imperatives, what to do. But even in the imperatives is very general because God gives room to the Holy Spirit. For example, Paul says, "You yourself are taught of God to love one another". How? You are taught of God to love one another. God will teach us how to love. God will teach you how to take care of your children. He will teach you all things, amen? He will tell you sometimes to do this is right, is romantic, sometimes to do that is wrong. Even for a child, to correct at the wrong time when the Lord doesn't lead you can be hurtful to the child. Not to correct at all can be hurtful to the child. The child needs to feel you care and you love the child.

Discipline is something that brings out the best in the child. They feel loved. The funny thing is that they feel loved when you correct them. There are people who come from, especially wealthy families and all that, who grew up rebellious, and one of the things they say is that, "My father never corrected me. Doesn't even bother what I do, so I do this to get his attention". You see this in dramas also, right? Okay, so when you look at the Old Testament, be conscious of the love of God in the verses. But Pastor, it's very hard because many of the things in the Old Testament I read are all judgment, God's wrath. How do you interpret that? So notice Paul's perspective when he interpret the law. He interpret in the light of the love of God, right? So can we interpret that in the light of the love of God? How about the judgment, Noah's Ark, and things like that?

Okay, real quick I'm gonna show you something, right? Here's a principle for us to learn in Psalms 136. "Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever". "Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever". In Hebrew, all right, "Hodu le Adonai ki tov, ki leolam chasdo". "Chasdo" is "chesed," all right? Okay, so here we have, "Ki leolam chasdo". "Ki leolam". Every verse, verse 1 to verse 26 of Psalms 136, is punctuated. Every verse is punctuated with, "For His mercy endures forever". God did this. His mercy endures forever. Let me show you this, all right? Let's drop down to give you some samples. "To Him who alone does great wonders," I want you all to say, "His mercy endures forever". "To Him who by wisdom made the heavens, His mercy endures forever; To Him who laid out the earth above the waters, For His mercy endures forever; To Him who made great lights, For His mercy endures forever".

See, we understand this. We understand when God does all these mighty acts, amen, and His greatness is shown, so we say naturally, "His mercy endures forever". But watch this, the very next verse, okay, drop down, "To Him who divided the Red Sea in two, For His mercy..." we can see it. Amen, His mercy endures forever. He opened the Red Sea when there was no way for His people, am I right? But what about the next verse? It says...okay, no, not this verse. "And made Israel pass through the midst of it," say it, "For His mercy endures forever". All this we understand, okay? Now we come to that verse. "To Him", and it says, "But overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea," and all say, "For His mercy endures forever". So that's a judgment.

Now you're reading judgment, right? How is it, "His mercy endures forever"? You got the focus should be on "His mercy endures forever," His chesed. "Ki leolam chasdo," literally in the Hebrew. Praise His chesed, His grace. "Leolam" means forever. How is this? Definitely it's not good news for Pharaoh or his army. You see, it is good news for God's people. If He didn't overthrow Pharaoh in the sea and his army, you know what's gonna happen? They were so hard-hearted that time and time again, God gave them a chance, you know, to repent. God sent Moses to talk to them first. God gave them chance, a chance after chance. Even the judgment that came was like 30-fold, small judgment, then, you know, no one was hurt, no one was endangered, all right? Things are difficult, like what's happening around the world right now. Things are very difficult. Things have been difficult for the past two or three years, right, and getting more and more difficult, and people's hearts are still hardened. They stand up, you know?

Every nation that has fallen has fallen from within, you know? And they still defy God and God's ways, right? So we're seeing Pharaoh getting hard. So he hardened his heart, refused to let God's people go. He could have been spared, right? He refused to let God's people go. It says he hardened his heart, then the Hebraic picture comes in. The Lord hardened his heart, but actually he hardened his heart first. And until now, he's still hard-hearted. So listen, when you read judgment, ask yourself, "Where is the mercy there"? because in every judgment there is a mercy. God is showing mercy, and love, and grace to someone. And you wanna be that someone. You know who you wanna be? The one that He divided the Red Sea for, the one that crossed over, the one that He protected from Pharaoh and his armies coming, all right, like a torrential river, coming towards them to kill them.

So it's a wrong perspective, "Poor Pharaoh". No, no, no "Poor Pharaoh". It's easy for you to say that kind of thing. If somebody wants to kill your son, your little boy, all right, or do something bad to your little boy, amen, and then God does something to that person before it happens, you will say, "His mercy endures forever". Why? He protected your boy. What about Noah's flood? I'm glad you asked. Get this sermon, "Noah: The True Story," by Joseph Prince, okay? You will understand how God showed mercy to the entire world, the earth as well. But more important than that, God actually preserved one family so that the complete stock was left, truly humans. You see what happened in the world before that. It's all in that, and I also share with you how all the species of animals can be in the ark, all right? It's all young species, male, female, all young ones, and how they can live during those months of the flood, because many animals can hibernate.

So even there's scientific truths down there, beautiful truths like when God says, "Come into the ark," that means God is the first one in to say, "Come". God didn't say, "Go to the ark," like outside. God says, "Come into the ark". God is the first one in, amen. But when God says, all right, "Go forth out of the ark," again, to go forth, He tells Noah and his family, "You all go out first. I'm here". Isn't this beautiful? Simple things like this found in "Noah: The True Story (Why the Flood?)" okay? Get that message, all right? I know that author, all right? That speaker, that author of that sermon. I know him quite well. The other day he must get out of the box. The ribbon all torn open, you know? Get out, get out, get out, get out, you know? Very bad, you know? Willing to pay for the weightage and all that, amen, but...Ha ha. Okay, so when you look at the Old Testament, what do you do, people? See the love of God.

See the love of God, amen? When you see, you know, even the law, "Thou shall not muzzle the ox," do you see the love of God? See it for yourself first. God takes care of me. God is not a tyrant, "Work for Me, serve Me". No, God is a God who makes sure that you get to eat, that you are well-paid, amen. Amen? You want some more before we close? Okay, I'll give you another one, all right, and this is a principle. It's a principle, okay, of teaching the Bible. And you need to know this. Like I said just now, look at verse 18 again of 2 Corinthians 3. It says what? It says, "We all, with unveiled face," unmasked face, "beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord".

I think we have heard this before, that we behold the glory of the Lord, we become like Him, amen. And there's no one more beautiful than Jesus. The other day I was reading about how Peter came to Him and says, "Lord, you must not go to the cross. You must not go to the cross," and He rebuked Peter. But that's what we think, He rebuked Peter straight away, but actually it's not. You look at Mark's account, when Peter says, "Don't go to the cross," Jesus looked at all His disciples. Very beautiful, He looked round about at all His disciples and then He rebuked Peter, as if to say, "If I don't go to the cross, then what about all this"? You know, little actions, you see His love, amen? Say, "Oh, you know, your mother and your brothers, physical brothers, are outside waiting for you".

The Bible says, "He looked around and says, 'These are My brothers and sisters.'" I love, though, even the look of the Lord. There's love in His look. Peter denied knowing Jesus in the Gospel of Luke, excuse me, and the Bible says the third time he denied, the rooster crowed. And Jesus was within sight of Peter and Jesus was bound, beaten, and all that, and He turned around and looked at Peter. Beautiful, just a turn, the look of Jesus, and Peter wept. It's as if the look says, "Peter, what I said happened, but remember what I said. After you are converted, you will be converted. You will be restored. Strengthen your brethren". Jesus prophesied his victory, his restoration, before he fell. When He turned around, He looked at Peter, it's almost like, "I forgive you and I still love you". He broke Peter's heart. Just one look.

So I love all these little nuances in the Scriptures, you know, when you read the Gospels especially, all right? He saw the multitude. Some people say, "Wow, I can make a lot of profit out of this, you know? More views, a lot of views, you know? I wanna monetize these views, you know? I wanna contact all of them". There are people who see people as money-making opportunity. There are those, if you are a butcher, "Wow, look at all the sheep. So many sheep. I can just sell them". A tailor will say, "Wow, so many wool. Oh, so many wool that I can fleece". Jesus saw the multitude as sheep without a Shepherd. How do you see the world? They are just immoral. They are just hard. Nowadays, it's hard to get people to come to church. Nowadays, it's hard to get people saved. More important is saved, not come to church, amen? After that, come to church. It's very hard. People are hard.

Why do you see them as hard? I see them hungry. Jesus saw the multitude as sheep without a Shepherd. That means what? They need feeding. And the Bible says He had compassion on them because they were fainting, and you know what He did with them? He taught them. He began to teach them because they are hungry. Amen? Okay, so this verse, we all, when we see Jesus, like I just shared with you some of Jesus that I see in the Scriptures, His glory, so that you can become like Him. You see how patient He is, amen, you become patient. Is this practical? It's practical, but the practical that you think about that I should preach is not the kind of practical that God has in mind. That practicality is in the realm of the Holy Spirit leading you, amen? Of course you can read a book by so-called marriage expert, parenting expert, but those things can be deadly also.

All right, when the Holy Spirit leads you, it's life. It's life for your child if you are parenting that child. It's life for your wife or your spouse, all right, if you are in a marriage situation. And always look to the Lord. It's easier to pick up what to do. Tell me what to do, okay? You know it's harder to unveil than to teach the law? The Holy Spirit came to unveil Jesus. It's harder to unveil Jesus than to preach, it's easier to preach the law. I tell you this, don't steal. Hey, don't murder. Hey, don't commit adultery. You can't. It is the law. But be careful that you don't, all right, there's no feeding there. I'm gonna show you something real quick and we'll bring this to a close. Look at this verse. How do you see the glory of the Lord? Well, in worship, I close my eyes, I see His glory. Yeah, I mean, in a way you behold the glory of the Lord, yes. I just imagine when I pray. I just imagine the Lord. I just imagine the Lord.

Is that how you are transformed into His image? You ever thought? Where do you see Jesus? You're about to hear it here in this church. Aren't you glad you are attending New Creation Church? Amen? You're about to hear it. Where do you see Jesus? Now, if you are smart and you caught the Spirit of what we are sharing already, you will say, "In the Word of God," right? But that doesn't say the Word of God, right? Okay, we'll end here. We'll continue another time, okay? I feel tired already. It wasn't easy stepping out of the big box. I had to remove my ribbon here also. It was choking me. It would have been a great birthday gift. Okay, how do we know that it's the Word of God? Seeing Jesus in the Word of God, how do I know? Well, you read the context.

Go back. Okay, "Unlike". Go back earlier, much earlier. Yeah, "God has made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life". When you interpret the Word of God, all right, one of the most important principles. And that's why I'm saying sometimes even in Bible schools they don't teach you this essence, the most important thing to look at. Another thing to look at is that you must differentiate law and grace. Like you say, "Well, David was punished by God". Albeit it was tempered with mercy, his son died, all right? Then people are saying, "Be careful your son don't die because of your sin". No, that is applying something that was under the law. David was under the law. You are under grace.

Well, we just wanna scare people so they won't sin. You don't scare people not to sin. Fear will cause people to sin even more, all right? A flying trapeze person, all right, can demonstrate somersaults even better when they know there's a net. If you wanna remove the net, it will affect their performance. The more fearful they are of falling, they will fall. So listen, all right, it's important to differentiate law and grace. There is a difference. In the Old Testament, you read you can feed, I've been sharing from the Old Testament now because I know that's where the challenge is, all right? So when you read the Old Testament, don't forget the gospel. The gospel is all about the unveiling of the righteousness of God in Christ. For them back then, they had to do the law to be righteous. Many of them couldn't. No one can.

Then finally they offered the alternative is to offer the burnt offering, a picture of Jesus on the cross. And then God allowed them to continue and the blessings to continue, and continue, and continue until they exchanged gods, you know? They worshipped idols and then they were brought into captivity in Babylon because from then on they stopped offering burnt offering. Nothing to cover their sin anymore, the picture of Jesus. So for us, we are not under that. We are under grace. In other words, God looks at us, listen, as righteous in Christ. Today, hypocrisy is not owning up to who you really are. If you are the righteousness of God in Christ, amen, Jesus became sin on the cross that you might become righteous, amen? The righteousness of God in Him, am I right? So for you to act like you are a sinner, that you are sinning today, or you are still a sinner that sins today and all that, acting like that when Jesus became sin, hey, God didn't put sin on you both, amen, so that you all can both enjoy it. No, God put sin on Jesus so that He pays it, He takes your place that you might take His place.

2 Corinthians 5:21, if sin is on Him, righteousness is on me. If judgment is on Him, grace is on me. He was cast out, I'm accepted and loved. God sent His Son for this purpose. You must differentiate law and grace. So you see the things happen, they were under law. We are not under law, we're under grace. So when you read that with that understanding, you can read everything. I used to have a chop, you know, like those days they have the chop in red, you know, P-A-I-D, Paid. Have you seen that before? So all my old book, my old Bible, my book of Leviticus, all every page, paid, paid, paid, paid. So I tell myself when I read it, don't forget, in case I get engrossed with the details and I start fearing, "If you don't do this, you'll be cut off. If you don't do this, you'll be cut off". Paid. Or else if you don't obey, this curse will happen. Paid. So read the Old Testament in the light of the finished work. Are you with me so far? Are you listening?

All right, so it says, "We are ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit". So the old covenant is letter. Some people interpret it like this. They will say, "You know, sometimes when you read the Bible, it's like letter. You must make the Bible come alive, then it's Spirit". No, that's a misinterpretation. I know Charismatics are notorious for this. There are people who teach the Bible, teach the Bible, but it's just the letter that kills. No, it's not referring to the Bible. It's referring to law and grace. The context is law and grace. The letter are the Ten Commandments that came on Mount Sinai. The Spirit that gives life, and He came on the Day of Pentecost, by the way, the first Pentecost. And Spirit gives life came on a Day of Pentecost also, but a different mountain, Mount Zion. And down there, 3,000 people died. Down here, 3,000 people lived. The letter kills, the Spirit gives life. Under law, it kills. Under grace, life is given, amen. Are you with me so far?

Law focus on do, do, do, all right? Grace, see what has been done and I receive it. See what has been done and I receive it. Even our service today, amen, is according to what we have received. Such as I have, I give you in the name of Jesus Christ. And we strive according to the working of the mighty power which works in us mightily. It's always we receive, then we work it out. We work out the salvation. Work out. It is God who works in you. So God works in us, we work it out. Unless you see, unless you know what you have, you cannot do. That's why Paul always talked about the wealth in his letters first and then he talks about what to do, the walk. You with me so far?

Hey, you are blessed. You're going to Bible school in a short time. Aren't you glad you came to church today? Okay, let's bring this to a close. Okay, hold your clap. I wanna send you home already. Okay, all right, so drop down. "If the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones..." stop. God calls it a ministry of death. What's the ministry of death? Written and engraved on stones. The only part of the law, listen, people say, "We're not under law, Pastor, in terms of offering burnt offering or in terms of muzzling the ox, that kind of law, all right, ceremonial law. You know, we don't have to offer all this anymore. That's what God means. When you say, Pastor Prince, we're not under law, you must clarify to the people it is not that law, the Ten Commandments".

But the Bible says the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones. That's the Ten Commandments. The only part of the law that is engraved on stones, written with the finger of God are the Ten Words, and God calls it the ministry of death. We are not under that. The contrast, "So it was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away". At the end, he's gonna talk about our face unveiled, so keep that in mind. It's very consistent, all right? Now, the face of Moses, his glory was passing away. If you put in self-effort, there might be glory at first, but it's a fading glory. The reason why Moses put a veil on his face is not because the people say, "Oh, that's too bright. I cannot look at you". No, it wasn't that reason.

Read carefully the account, why he put the veil on his face. He put the veil on his face because it was fading. And if it fades, right, and if people see that it's fade, people say, "What happened to Moses? He's backslidden. What's wrong with our pastor? No glory in his face. Something happened". He's very smart. He put a veil so that they cannot see the end, the fading glory. Now, he contrasts that. "Whose glory was passing away, how will the ministry of the Spirit be more glorious"? So at Mount Sinai, God demand righteousness from spiritually bankrupt men. All of us are spiritually bankrupt. God tells us to do, but we don't have arms to do. Grace gives us arms, amen, but under grace, listen, under law, God demands righteousness. Under grace, God supplies righteousness. Much more those who receive abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness will reign in life through Jesus Christ. No wonder there's not much reigning. People are not receiving this.

The devil is attacking abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness because he knows that Christians will start reigning when they recognize these two and make these two their biggest focus in their study. Even in the Old Testament, when you read the Old Testament, bring grace out of it, like Paul did. See the love of God. See Jesus in it. All right, drop down. He contrasts now, "If the ministry of condemnation", earlier He called the law what? The ministry of death. Then you know how He's demonstrated? It makes it even more practical. If you feel you are being condemned, people use the law to condemn you, that is the law. "The ministry of condemnation had glory". It had glory. Some revivals in the past, they used the law a lot. Some revivals. And there was some glory, but the glory was fading. But there's a revival coming, and I believe we are already in it, where the glory keeps on increasing, never fading, amen.

Now, "If the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness," the new covenant ministry, people who preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, they are no more in your sin. You are now the righteousness of God in Christ. You are no more under law. You are under grace. God does not demand righteousness from you today, God supplies righteousness for you to receive. God is with you and never leave you nor forsake you. In the Old Testament, when you do right, God is with you. When you do wrong, God departs. Under grace, God never leaves you. Under law, David had to pray, "Take not Your Holy Spirit from me. Don't leave me! Your presence is what I want". Under grace, God says, "I'll never leave you nor forsake you". Why? Because a lonely figure suspended between heaven and earth hung there on that cross and cried, "Eloi Eloi, My God, My God". First time He called His Father, "My God". "Why have You forsaken Me"? So today we can say, "My Father, my Father, why have You so blessed me"? He left Him so that He will never leave you.

Okay, okay, I'm not preaching next week so can I take just two, or two minutes more? Okay? All right, drop down. "Unlike Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away". He's very smart. Put a veil so they wouldn't see he's fading, all right? We are not like Moses who put a veil. Today is good, huh? It's a unveiling day. It's a no mask day. "But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ". The Jewish people today, like Moses, there's a veil on their heart. Where? When they are reading the Old Testament. They don't see the grace. They don't see their Messiah. They don't see Jesus in it. All they see is laws, laws, and more laws. And I tell you that some Christians today, when they see the Old Testament, it's just laws, laws, and more laws.

Notice, "The reading of the Old Testament," now he paraphrases it. Instead of saying, "The reading of the Old Testament," "Even to this day, when Moses is read". How do you look at Moses's face back then? By reading the Old Testament. How do you see Jesus' face today? By reading the New Testament, as well as the Old Testament unveiled. Now we come to this, "When Moses is read," the first five books, right? So it's by reading of the Bible. Can you see it? They beheld, back then they beheld Moses, how? In the reading of the Old Testament. But the glory was fading away. Now, drop down. "Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away". Today is the day the veil is taken away. "Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all", that means what? Young, old, those who are knowledgeable, those who are ignorant, rich, poor, regardless, we all.

"We all". That tells me he's a bit Southerner. He's a cowboy, you know, this Paul. He says, "Y'all, we all. Y'all come, ya hear"? All right, we all. "We all," includes all of us, "with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror". So what is that mirror? The mirror of God's Word. What will we see? We see the glory of the Lord, not what to do, what not to do. That has its place when you see. Only after you see, see the wealth, then you can walk, all right? But see, "We are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory". And who does it? Your efforts? Your willpower? No, "By the Spirit of the Lord".

Your part is open the Bible, look, right? God's part is to unveil and God's part is to transform. And this is what the Bible says. How do I have the veil lifted from the Old Testament, especially when I read the Old Testament? The Bible tells you. "When one", look at verse 16, "When one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away". Always turn to the Lord before you read your Bible. Turn to the Lord. Say, "Give me seeing eyes and a hearing heart. Give me a...", that's what Solomon prayed. Give me a hearing heart. Give me seeing eyes. Open my eyes to behold wondrous things out of Your law, amen? Have you been blessed? Praise the Lord. Give Jesus the praise, hallelujah, amen.

If you have never made Jesus your personal Savior and Lord, I wanna bless you with this beautiful gift, the greatest gift of all. The Father wants you to have this gift. It's the greatest of all gifts. It's the gift of salvation where your sins are all forgiven, where eternal life starts. And eternal life is not just duration, it is the quality of life, the life that God Himself lives by. Jesus says, "I come that you might have this life and have it more abundantly". So you want to receive life that you might be resurrected out of death because you're in a state of death in your sins? Now is the time to confess Jesus Christ as your Lord. When you believe in your heart God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. You'll be resurrected in your spirit. Pray this prayer with me right now. Say:

Heavenly Father, I thank You for Your love for me. Thank You, Father, for Jesus Christ. He died in my place, became my sin on that cross that I might become the righteousness of God in Him. Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior. Father, I thank You that when I became the righteousness of God, you raised Him from the dead. Thank You, Father. He's alive today, and one of these days I'll see Him face to face. Come, Lord Jesus. In Jesus' name. And all the people said, "Amen".

Stand to your feet. Praise the Lord. If you prayed that prayer just now, you're a child of God. Old things are passed away. All things become new. You're no more under law. You're now under grace. No more in the flesh. You are in the Spirit, amen. Isn't that great? Keep on coming, because it's quite a good place to teach the Bible, okay? Keep on listening and keep on growing, amen? Lift your hands all across this place.

Now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that favor, that chesed that endures forever, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the sweet communion of the Holy Spirit be with you now and throughout this week. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And all the people said, "Amen". God bless you. We'll see you again.