Joseph Prince - Be Occupied With The Word Not The Enemy
Good morning. I wanna thank all of you for being here, especially this crowd because you braved the rain, and the fire, and the storm. Amen, that means this is the backbone of the church, amen? Solid. You all remind me of Pastor Mark. Now you all don't feel complimented. Some of you do, some of you don't, amen? But it is really amazing when you have people that, you know, are willing to weather the elements, amen, to come to church. There was a time that meeting together as a church can mean death, and those were the times when our Christian brothers and sisters would meet underground, subterranean. And the Romans at that one time before their emperor was impacted by a vision in the sky and embraced traditional Christianity at that time, but before that happened, there was persecution, right? And it's hard to even acknowledge you're a believer. It was rampant. Christians were being thrown into the arena, become gladiators, or many of them just were crucified on numerous crosses.
So we thank God for the freedom we have today, amen, freedom to be able to come to church to worship together, amen? Praise the Lord. So let us not be numbered among people that say, "Oh, today I can't go to church because it's raining," amen? If you are just in love and your girlfriend says, "Maybe we don't meet today because it's raining," say, "Darling, I'll go through the fire. I'll go through the waters," amen? "If there's an earthquake, it will crack a passage to you, for the course of true love never did run smooth, my love," amen? Amen? Hey, this is not the preaching. What chapter and verse. Someone is trying to take down the...it's not. It's not. It is, I think, "Midsummer Night's Dream," yes. William Shakespeare, praise the Lord.
You know, we are going through the principles of interpreting the Bible and we are learning as much as we can, but there are so many principles. And I believe God is teaching you Himself as you open up the Scripture. What is most needed as we approach the Word of God is really a teachable heart, a humble heart. You know, you can open up the Bible, and if you don't have a humble heart, you don't have a teachable heart, you open to just read to accumulate knowledge, and knowledge puffs up, revelation doesn't, then it doesn't serve its purpose, amen? But if you come to the Bible, regardless of whether you understand all the principles or not and you say, "God, speak to me," God can speak to you from Jonah. God can speak to you from Ezekiel. And when I say, "Speak to you," I mean it's a now Word, amen?
I remember when I was a youth, attending youth services in my previous church where I was growing up in, I remember that my mom, I kept long hair and my mom would tell me, "Cut off your hair. It's too long already. Cut off your hair. Cut off your hair. Cut off your hair". And I remember going to that service and my mother just told me at that time...no, I don't have a wife at that time. My mom told me at that time, all right, on that particular instance, "Cut off your hair. It's too long". So I attended the service and all of a sudden, I look at my Bible and my Bible fell open to one verse, Old King James, "Cut off thine hair". So I know God can speak. That's why I'm saying that. You know, people say that you can open a Bible, right, I've shared recently, right, you open up the Bible, it says, "Judas went and hanged himself". Then you say, "Oh, that's not good". Open up, "Speak to me again, Lord". You open up, "Whatever you do, do quickly".
All right, so of course that's not the way for direction, but if your heart is open to God and you want to know what God is saying to you, God can use means, but it's always by the Word of God, amen? The enemy is afraid of seeing you spend time in the Word, studying the Word with a teachable heart, amen. God can teach people who are teachable. The Bible call it "meek," amen? People are easily instructed. And when you learn, you receive. There's a, "Ahh". That experience, I want you to experience that, that warm heart, that warm heart that comes out of revelation, amen? Not knowledge that puffs up, but a revelation. Sometimes I will say this to God before I open the Bible. I will just say, "Father, speak to me through Your Word. Let me see Jesus," amen? "Grant me seeing eyes and a hearing heart". And I know, and I say this, "Lord," even as I'm preparing my message, "I am coming to Your Word not to accumulate knowledge," amen, "but grant me that revelation".
So knowledge is of the mind, a faculty of the mind, and it can puff you up. "Oh, I know about this. I know this. I know this". There are those who can go to seminaries or theological centers and all that and they can learn without encountering the Lord. What you want is revelation knowledge. What you need is a revelation knowledge. And revelation, when revelation, I want you all to become revelation junkies, amen? I mean, go for revelation. Wow, that was a revelation. Let God give you your own revelation, amen. I mean, the Word of God is all the same, but God speaks, and speaks, and speaks, even from an established passage, and that's your revelation. And revelation will make a rock out of you.
People will come, they want to spend time with you because in a world where they live in, it is always topsy-turvy. It is messy. There's no stability. They are looking for some stability, and when they look at you, you are like a rock. There's stability. For some reason, they like to be near you. They might not come to you and say, "I want Jesus". They might not even be able to see that the reason is Jesus, but they know there's stability, amen, and they like to be around you because you speak words of wisdom. You are like refreshing waters. Every time they leave you, they feel lifted. They don't know why. Because you have God's Spirit and the spirit of depression doesn't like it. Every time those people spend time with you, those spirits leave them for awhile, amen. Amen.
Do you know you're a light going somewhere to happen? You might not know it, but you're a light going somewhere to happen, amen. And I think I told you all this story before. It's a true story. I think it was in a place somewhere in one of those places where, you know, witchcraft is still being practiced. And there was a witchcraft ritual going on, and people were beating their drums and things like that, and there was all kinds of, you know, incantations and all that. And all of a sudden, the leader, the main witch that was leading the entire group, it was open air, fell to her face with a thud, and then trembling, and you know, it's like whimpering like a cat, whimpering like a cat that's afraid, or a dog that's afraid. Trembling on the floor, on the ground.
And then all the people looked behind her because they were in a field and there was a small path. And an old lady was passing by, and the old lady was singing, looking at them, and just going home. Later on, they found out that old lady just came from church. She's minding her own business and she's singing hymns to God. But what they saw was a ball of light passing by, and that's what all those people, the witches, the leaders among them, said they saw a ball of light. The people saw her, but they saw a ball of light, amen? So you do not know your influence. And Moses wist not that his face was shining. Look around you, amen? Already the people's face are shining. So revelation knowledge is what you want.
And when Jesus asked the question of His disciples at Caesarea Philippi, "Whom do men say that I am?" so one said, you know, "Some say You are Jeremiah. Some say You are John the Baptist raised from the dead. And some say this, some say that". Then Jesus says, "Who do you say that I am?" right? Then they said... who answered? Peter, "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God". Then Jesus says, "Blessed are thou, Simon bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you". So he had a revelation knowledge. And flesh and blood, in other words, "You didn't get this from yourself. You didn't get this from anybody else". "Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven". And you see what happened to Peter now? He has a revelation knowledge. And He says, "And I say unto you, you are Peter and upon this rock", it's a difference.
If you look carefully, all right, the terms used there is different. Peter is not the rock that Jesus will build His church. The revelation that made Peter a rock is what Jesus is referring to. "Upon this rock," greater rock, "I'll build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it". So there's one branch of Christianity that says, "Oh, Peter is the rock," you know? Peter... we built on Peter. No, we don't build on Peter. We don't build on man. We build on Jesus Christ. There's no other foundation but Jesus Christ, and that rock He talk about is Peter's revelation. Now, Peter, because you have this revelation, you are now a solid rock. And all of you also. Once you have that revelation, a revelation from God, it makes you solid, amen? Praise the Lord.
You ready for the Word? Smile at your neighbor and say, "For the next three hours, I might as well get to know you because you are seated by me," amen? All right, and look at somebody else, behind or whatever, and say hi, amen? And look at the one on the right and say that, "Next time, come with perfume," amen. Oh, sorry, sorry. Okay, praise the Lord. You know, we are getting people back. It's amazing. Look around you. People are hungry for God's Word and they are willing to brave the rain. I think I see more people this morning and it's raining than when it's dry. Maybe it should rain more, amen? Ha ha ha. Okay, let's dive right into the Word. And it could be our last of the series on how to study the Bible, amen?
I just wanna say a word real quick to all those of you who are studying to be pastors, or Bible teachers, amen, missionaries, evangelists. For workers, this is the word from Timothy, "Study to show thyself approved unto God," all right? "A workman that needs not to be ashamed". And the idea there is that if you don't study, right, you will be ashamed, amen. You will be ashamed, right? There'll be cause for shame. But if you study, there'll be no cause for shame, amen. God even told Joshua at the commencement of his ministry or his career as the captain of God's people to bring them into the promised land, the land flowing with milk and honey, Moses just died. Joshua took over. But the very first thing that God told Joshua is this, "This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night". What's the result? "You will make your way prosperous and you will have good success".
Good success will never take you away from your family. Good success is not looking at the chart day and night, amen, until your eyes are swollen. That's not good success. Good success is not having, like... No, good success will always give you time to serve the Lord, to come to church even on Sunday, amen, to serve the Lord, amen. And it seems like money is working for you, not you working for money. That's good success. You will make your way prosperous and you shall have good success. "But Joshua, this book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate".
In other words, people, listen. There was an enemy out there. In the promised land, there were enemies. The same, 40 years ago, remember, they saw Anakims down there. They were still there. The same enemies were still there. If anything, they are more established now, more entrenched in their fortified strongholds. And we know the walls of Jericho are thick. So the enemy is there. The hurdles, what seems insurmountable hurdle, even more so at that time, at that season because the River Jordan is now overflowing its banks during the time of harvest. Talk about the time to cross. It's the worst of times to cross the River Jordan. So you have a natural obstacle, but you know something? Whatever is in front of you, whatever obstacle, whatever enemy, "You are not to be engrossed with the enemy, Joshua. You are to be occupied with My Word".
What an instruction to a leader. From the very start, "Don't be occupied with the enemy. Don't be occupied with the troubles and the obstacles. Be occupied with My Word and you will make your way prosperous and you will have good success," amen. You know, there is a law, I think it's in Deuteronomy, that says that when a king ascends the throne, his father passed on or whatever, he ascends the throne, the very first thing he must do is, with his own hand, write the law, the book of the law, which is the first five books of Moses. He need to write it with his own hand that he may learn to fear the Lord all the days of his life. Listen, that's number one. That he may fear the Lord, that he may humble himself and not lift up himself above his brethren. He's king. He is king, and yet writing and being familiar with the Word of God, amen, I'm not asking you to write the entire Bible, all right? It's already written for you, amen. But instead of asking and passing that responsibility to a scribe, the king himself is supposed to write.
And then the next result, like I said, is that he will humble himself. He will not be lifted above his brethren. And the third one is amazing. The third one says that he and his children, the king and his children, will live long. His career will be extended. He and his children will live long. All the result of the Word of God. Be occupied with the Word. And many of us, because we're not occupied with the Word, amen, we're not meditating on God's Word, we are meditating on things that we see, you know, on TV, right? And now especially with Netflix so abundant everywhere, available and all, people are just occupied with evil. A lot of stories are evil because evil draws the flesh, amen. Before we know it, we are occupied with evil. We are occupied with negative things. We're occupied with scandals and things like that, and the bad stuff, and gossipy spirit, and before we know it, we are occupied with this. And the Bible says we are transformed by beholding the glory of the Lord. Where do you find that? In His Word. We are not occupied by looking at the gory.
So I'm not saying don't spend time, you know, watching or things and like, I'm just saying make sure. Occupation is your main state, what are you doing most of the time. Do not neglect the Word of God, amen. And of course, one of the best ways is that, you know, the Bible says God give gifts to the church. When Jesus ascended, He gave gifts to the church, amen. And one of the gifts are pastors and teachers. Why are they there? To teach the Word of God. So it doesn't mean that God teach me direct, I get revelation direct, I don't need anybody. No, no, no, that's an attitude of pride. It's not teachable. God raised them. God raised pastors and teachers, and they face the same problem that you face, and they have some experience that God allowed them to go through so that they will have the riches within them to dispense to you.
So not only the Word of God, but the Word of God worked through a life already. So especially those older men, and I consider myself, one of those with advanced age. I have many years of experience behind me, amen. But when you look, when you see older people and they are teaching the Word of God, and you can see the anointing of God in them to teach and to impart revelation that transforms lives, and it's proven, there's a proven track record, cling onto it, amen. Not for the person's sake, but for that ministry, that gift, amen. That gift is from Jesus, the ascended Christ. He gave gifts to man as He was ascending. He gave gifts to man, some apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers. Some put pastors and teachers together because a pastor is usually a pastor and a teacher, all right, but there are also teachers who are not pastors. So they are there to teach. So when you say, "I got my own revelation," no, humble yourself. Listen to the teaching of God's Word, amen. Be near. Be near any spout, like a pipe coming out. If here is a trickle, don't have to worry about that. Go to the places, be under the spout where the glory comes out and park yourself there, amen? Praise the Lord, hallelujah.
So one of the key principles I wanna leave behind with you also is to remember that the things that we are teaching as a church, right, in this church in particular, we believe we are majoring on what is major in the Bible. Now, some might want to, like, study certain things that are more specific and all that. Every Word of God is profitable, because every Word of God is God-breathed, amen? It's profitable for doctrine, for reproof. Reproof, no one likes to hear reproof. Correction, there you have it. No one likes to hear that, right? But we never learn from our people complimenting. The compliments never help us grow. They make us feel good. It's when people correct us. And many times it's people who love you who correct you.
I'm not talking about those, you know, people who are taking cheap shots, all right, through social media. I'm not talking about that. Those are not people who are...they are always looking out for, you know, things to say, right? I'll tell you, if the best government runs, if there's an ideal government that never makes mistake that runs Singapore, all right, there would still be a lot of critics. I think we are living in a good country, safe country, protected country. People want to come to this country, all right? Is there perfection in the government? There's no perfection in the citizens, and you are the guys that supply to the government. They come from all of you. And there's no such thing as perfection, but you know what? Considering all the factors and all that, we have a very good and safe country.
I read about people eating, all right, eating mura bowls or eating chicken rice and all that in New York, crying because they've been staying there for so long, they never tasted. And recently, when someone went down there to make, you know, a special food, Singapore food fair and all that, they cry when they eat. We envy them for staying there. They envy us for staying here. People are not happy because the grass is always greener, until you go the other side like I did many years ago when I was in Switzerland...sorry, New Zealand with some of the brethren. We were there for ministry and I told them, "Stop the car," because it was so green, so beautiful. And I jumped across the fence and I ran, "The hills are alive", I literally ran. It was so, I love nature and it was so green, green like you can never imagine. It was so green! Literally, the grass is greener.
So we were traveling on the road, I told them to stop, and I jumped over, ran across the green, and then I stopped. And the nearer, once you're on the other side, you see some things. I look around, there's this brown, brown stuff all around me. Brown, brown everywhere, not a drop to spare. Ugh, anyway, it's like some are dried, some are fresh. And I look at my shoe, my nice shoe, and it's like, "Oh no, what has got", I mean, I didn't see it from there. All I saw is green. So the moral of the lesson is, somebody's marriage always looks nicer, always looks better. And social media now is pushing this agenda, amen, so that you will be in a place of depression, you'll be in a place of, you know, having mental health issues. Everyone's life is good except mine. Cut off, don't spend, I'm not saying cut off completely. I'm just saying that don't spend too much time. Don't be a slave to that. Your life is more important than to get involved with who is who, and who is the present girlfriend of this guy, and who is like... No, your life is more important. Your life is important. Time is precious. It's passing you by. It's fleeting by, amen?
Then I realized that this is what happens. By okay, before I speak clearly, some of you got the revelation already what is those brown stuff. Droppings, droppings of the sheep, amen. The grass is greener on the other side, but when you go to the other side, what do you see? Poo poo, amen? But you don't see it from where you are, amen? One of the key principles of studying the Bible which I think that, like I said just now, we endeavor to teach what has made us today, amen. I mean, there are a lot of principles you can teach from, but the things that I feel that God wants me to share with you are the main things that really change our lives. Number one, I know there are eight covenants in the Bible, but when you hold your Bible, all right, when you hold your Bible, you see Old Testament in the front and you see New Testament, right? That's all you need to know to grow in the Lord, amen, to continue in the blessings of God.
Although there are eight covenants, when you have time and all that, it's for pastors, leaders, and all that to get involved in that full-force, amen, if they want to share or with any spiritual intelligence the things that they are saying. But for you, you just need to know the law, old covenant, and grace, new covenant. That'll be so helpful. But if you think your new covenant starts with, "Okay, my new covenant", Malachi, last chapter of Malachi, it says, "New Testament". Ah, I'm now in the New Testament. You are not. You are just in the place where Jesus was born, right? Now, Jesus, listen carefully, here is where some, you know, some things are, in fact, some of the things I say is controversial, but hey, what else is new?
All right, it's controversial because people, you know, they are all entitled to my opinion. Okay, every Bible teacher will have their opinion, right? Amen, but I endeavor by the grace of God to preach accurately. You test for yourself. You're no fools. You're no fools. I've taught in front of all of you. It's an open thing. This ministry is an open thing. In fact, compared to many teachers, this ministry has a lot more people testing. I got people testing, I was told, every week, amen. And some love me and some don't love me, amen. I wonder why, amen? So don't worry. If it's tested, proven, whatever, it's gone through the fire, a lot of fire. It's not just friendly fire, amen. All kinds of fire. And I'm now, I feel like Joshua. I am now 120, you know? But no, 110. He passed on 110. I am now, choose you this day. But church, you can decide. You can see the Bible for yourself. Okay, go straight right now to the Scriptures. Are you ready?
Galatians 4, let me show you something about law and grace. It doesn't start with... just because your Bible says, "New Testament," that's when the New Testament starts, okay? New covenant. Testament is covenant, all right? Old covenant, new covenant. I know there are eight covenants and all that, many of which we find in the old covenant, but basically the thing that God deals with them is law and grace, whether you are under law or under grace, old covenant or new covenant, okay? Galatians 4 says this, "But when the fullness of the time had come", that refers to the time when Jesus would come, all right? "When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law". Look at that, He was born under the law. He was born under the law. Okay, remember that. Whatever Jesus did, He was born under the law.
Now, we know He is above the law. Yeah, He is above the law. He gave the law, amen. Like for example, the law says you cannot touch a leper. You'll be contaminated. You'll be unclean, all right? Jesus touched the leper. And there are teachings I've heard, Jesus, when He touched the leper, now He's gotta have recourse through the ashes of the red heifer, all right, to cleanse Himself. That is blasphemous. Jesus touched the leper, He didn't catch what the leper had. The leper caught what He had: health, healing, wholeness. The leper was healed. Jesus did not come, all right, listen. When Jesus come, He's not there to enforce the law over you. If He enforced the law, no one could come to Him. All those sinners would not come to Him. And He never qualified them. So there's a change, okay, but before we look at that change, look at this. "He was born under the law," remember that, "to redeem those".
Why was He born under the law? "To redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons". Then there are those who read the New Testament...in fact, my son asked me recently, "Abba, why is it that they write Jesus' words in red"? I said, "Very interesting, son. You noticed that". But not every Bible has Jesus' words in red. Some people just want you to know that in case you don't know, this is Jesus talking. Actually, you can tell because it starts with, "And Jesus said". Jesus answered Peter, all right? Don't have to put in red. The more you put in red, it's like the rest are not Jesus' words. But actually, even Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, they're all Jesus' words. They are given through Paul, the secretary, amen, but they are the words of the ascended Christ, whereas Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are the words of Jesus when He was on earth.
And then there are people who say, "Well, Pastor Prince is saying that we don't have to read the Gospels". No, the Gospels is where I love to feed on, man. I love to feed on the Gospels because I see the life of Jesus and I see Him doing miracles and all that. Especially when I'm not feeling well, I just go through the healing miracles of Jesus. And many times, before it's finished, I'm well, amen. And that's where we see Jesus clearest, but don't forget that the words of Paul, the words of Peter, the epistles, after the Gospels, are the words of the ascended Christ through them. Because even at the end of Jesus' physical life in the upper room, what did He say? "I have many things to say to you, but you are not yet able". I mean, I thought He said everything already. No, "I have many things to say to you, but you are not yet able".
See the difference? "But when the Holy Spirit has come, He will guide you into all truth". Which means whatever He taught, all right, it's not the, shall we say, the meat. They were drinking milk. That's how you need to see the words of Jesus in the Gospels. Are you with me so far? For example, if you disagree and you say, "Pastor, no, everything must take hook, line, sinker, and all that if it's in red," okay. Then how do you explain this in Matthew 10? Matthew 10, "These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: 'Do not go into the way of the Gentiles.'" Don't go to the way of Gentiles. In other words, don't preach to the Gentiles. Don't preach, "And don't enter the city of the Samaritans". These are all non-Jews. "But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel". So how do you explain this?
"Oh Pastor, Jesus said, 'Go into all the world and preach the...'" Yes, that came later, I know, but what do you do with this verse? It is in red. I said it is in red. What do you do with this? "Oh, well, we can just explain by saying that later on he says, 'Go into all the world.'" Yes, but what do you do with this verse? It is in the Gospels. So you are now, you are bound to interpret that in the light of at that time, correct? So you have to submit that you are actually interpreting this in the light His first coming is to the Jews, to fulfill the covenant made to the fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He came because they were the people God made a covenant with before the world is blessed actually through them. I believe that the ideal situation that God had in mind was the kingdom of God, if they accepted Jesus Christ instead of rejecting Him, they'll be the evangelists to proclaim to the world, amen, and Jesus will be in the center.
"He came unto His own and His own received Him not". His own received Him not, the Jewish people. "But as many as received Him, to them gave Him power". He gave power to become sons of God, amen? Amen? So yes, now today is not just isolated for the Jews, although God, listen, God still has a special covenant that He will fulfill in the days to come. Especially when we are raptured, God's whole program, prophetic program, will go back to the Jews, amen. Amen? And we will be watching down. Say, "Well, I don't believe in the pre-Trib Rapture". You can stay. We'll be watching you from above, amen? And it's very clear. To me, the Bible is very clear. The Bible says we are delivered from the wrath to come, amen. We don't go through the wrath. Are you with me so far? So when Jesus came to His hometown in Nazareth where He grew up... He was born in Bethlehem, but He grew up in Nazareth. Many of you have been there. Before long, you'll be there again, amen.
So when He grew up there, as His custom was, the Bible says, He went to the synagogue. That's their church at that time. And they asked Him to read, amen. It was time for Him to read. Now, you must know one thing, that every Shabbat, when they read, they follow a program. They call it the haftarah, okay? The parashat of that particular reading. So at the time they asked Jesus to read, isn't it amazing it's from Isaiah 61. "The Spirit of the Lord is on Me," amen, "for He has sent Me to preach the gospel to the poor, to heal the broken heart, to proclaim liberty to the captives," amen, "to open the eyes of the blind," and then He said this, "to preach the acceptable year of the Lord". And the Bible says He closed the book, right? "To proclaim the acceptable", this is a quotation from Isaiah 61. Jesus is quoting in His hometown, Nazareth, but notice, "Jesus came to proclaim the acceptable year of the of Lord. Then He closed the book".
But if you look at Isaiah's reference where the "proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord," here is what you see. "The Day of Vengeance of our God". This is from Isaiah. The Day of Vengeance has not yet come. His first coming is to save. The Day of Vengeance is still future. Even for us now, the Day of Vengeance is still future. There are people who try to make it sound like, "Yes, all these signs, and the plagues, and all that are the days of vengeance". No, it's not the days of vengeance. In fact, Jesus Himself said these signs, plagues, famines, recession, and all that are the beginning of sorrows. Okay, so notice he stopped. Go back to Jesus reading. Where did He stop? "'Proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.' Then He closed the book". But after this, there's a comma, "And the Day of Vengeance of our God".
So between the comma and the Day of Vengeance is 2,000 years, man. Two thousand years. We need to rightly divide the Word so that we'll not be ashamed, all right? You cannot just apply the Bible just like that. You need to rightly divide the Word. We are not in the year of vengeance. We're not in the Day of Vengeance, I should say. We're not in the day of vengeance. Year, by the way, is longer than day, huh? God is good. All right, and the vengeance is not for us. He's not coming to judge our sins. In fact, we are coming with Him, amen. You don't know how to ride horses, you will know how, amen. We are coming with Him. I said we are coming with Him. Those who believe that the Rapture will happen when Jesus comes in person, all right, to come to earth, then how do you explain? We go up halfway, then Jesus says, "U-turn". Just like down here we say, "Go stun". You know "Go stun" comes from the... we all use the word because of the British. They say, "Go stern," all right, stern. So, "Go stun," all right? You come up halfway, Jesus says, "Ah, go stun," then you come down. No, of course not, amen. We will be with the Lord, and it's the Jewish marriage picture there, amen. You go to be with your bridegroom and there's seven days of festivities, amen. Praise the Lord.
Very simple to look if you have eyes to see, but if we say that, "No, everything in the Bible", it sounds so noble, sounds so good, but God expect you to rightly divide. Can you see what Jesus did? Okay, another instance. He was in Luke 9. All right, by the way, in Luke 9, Jesus was going through a city of Samaria, which is not a Jewish city, by the way. And they claimed that Jerusalem is not the center for worship, it's their place. Their Mount Gerizim is the center of worship. So the Jews and Samaritans don't see eye to eye. So Jesus went through Samaria and the Samaritans saw that Jesus was favoring Jerusalem. Actually, He was looking forward to Jerusalem, so in His conversation, in His demeanor and all that, it shows that He was going to Jerusalem. So they didn't like it and probably they said something against the Lord and all that. The disciples heard it. You know who heard it? The apostle of love, John.
James and John heard it, and this is what they said, James and John. So they said, "Lord", "When His disciples James and John saw this", imagine the apostle of love saying this, "Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven, consume them, just as Elijah did"? Now, do you remember the story of Elijah? If not, I'll tell you this. Okay, this is ten years after the fire fell on Mount Carmel. Remember the challenge against the prophets of Baal? Elijah challenged them and for three and a half years, it's been a drought. There is a drought. Nothing can grow and the people are struggling all because they worshipped, all right, the idol of Jezebel. And God says, amen, "Turn around," all right? God loves them. God wants them to repent. So God sent Elijah and Elijah says this, all right? The God who answers by fire. You all know the story. I won't go into the story.
So God answered by fire. This time, the fire... did the fire fall on the disobedient, rebellious children of Israel, those who worshipped another God, not the God who brought them out of Egypt into the land flowing, the land of Canaan? Huh? They are the same people. They forgot God. But did the fire, when Elijah put a bullock down there on the sacrifice, it was a picture of Jesus' sacrifice, Jesus on the cross. And when the fire fell, did the fire fall on the people, on the guilty people? No, it fell on the innocent victim. It's a picture of Jesus. But the Bible says when the fire fell... by the way, there were 12 stones to represent the 12 tribes of Israel underneath the altar that Elijah placed there. And the Bible says he asked them to pour what? Water, right, again, and again, and again. The Bible said when fire fell, it consumed the bullock, it consumed the wood, it consumed the 12 stones.
By the way, you are going there also. When you go there, you can't see the stones. Don't look for it. They were all consumed, everything gone. Thus depicting under the old, the judgment is greater than the sacrifice. But in the New Testament, Jesus hung on the cross, bearing your sins and my sins on that tree. When the fire fell, this time Jesus shouted, "Finished"! He finished off all the judgment, released forgiveness for all of us, it's all paid for legally, righteously, and he remained. When He cried, "Finished"! the judgment is finished. He still remained. This time, the sacrifice is greater than the judgment. See? All right, so ten years have come and gone, and now the people are rebellious still. Can you believe it? So Elijah is sitting on the mountain. This time, Ahab has died and his son took over, and he sent soldiers to arrest Elijah, to come and pray for him. Can you believe arresting someone to come and pray for you?
And Elijah was sitting on a mountain. The Bible doesn't say what mountain. I suspect it could very well be Carmel again. It's all in the same vicinity. This is ten years after the first fire fell. There's a lesson here for us to learn. And the soldiers came, and very rude, "Come down, you man of God. Come down and follow us". And he says, "If I'm a man of God, let fire come down and consume you". The fire fell, all right, and 50 of the soldiers plus their commander, they were all fired. So the king says, "Wow, send some more 50". All right, this is what we call wisdom of the world, all right? There's no wisdom there. So they sent 50 and then another captain said, "Come down, I say! All right, come down, man of God". Said, "I'm a man of God, let fire come down". Psssshh, again, they were all fired. And this king, this is brilliance, all right, he sent the third group. So this time, the commander was humble, and dropped down, and he says, "Please don't kill me. Please, man of God. Please spare my soul".
You see, God is always, you know, humility has a place with God, let me tell you this. One day, maybe I'll just preach a message on humility, how so many of us have a sense of entitlement. Preach it, Pastor Prince. A sense of entitlement. We forget to say thank you, please. We treat people like they're supposed to serve us. Just thank God, okay? If people are working for you, all right, appreciate them, amen? Even those domestic workers, appreciate them. One day you may not have them, then you know what life is like. Thank them. Appreciate them. Don't be so calculative. Don't be so calculative. Don't punish them for everything. Humph. Preach it, Pastor Prince! Okay, can you please continue "How to Study the Bible"? I didn't come here for you to tell me and mess up how I treat my domestic worker.
Okay, you want some more? As if the fire of hell didn't put any fear. Okay, anyway, the guy was spared. God says, "Go with him," so he went with him, okay? So this is the instance, the incident that James and John, the beloved disciple, James and John said, "Shall we call fire like Elijah did"? right? "Consume them, as Elijah did". By the way, Samaritan, same place. It's the same place. "And Jesus turned and rebuked them, and said, 'You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. The Son of Man did not come to destroy man's life but to save them.'" And you know what He did? He didn't punish nothing, He just went to another village. I tell you this, all right, that's worse. The One who can open the eyes of the blind, amen, the anointing is on Him to unstop deaf ears, open the eyes of the blind, raise the dead, cleanse the leper, He moved away from your house, moved away from your city. Bad for you. So sad you had the opportunity. He just went to another village.
But look at what Jesus says, "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of". They can say, "Elijah's spirit"! Don't you think the disciples have a scriptural precedent? Answer me, talk to me, okay? I know it's early in the morning and the rain has soaked our hair already, but tell me, is there's a scriptural precedent? There is, isn't it? Elijah's a man of God. It was right for his day. And this is a lesson. If they don't accept the sacrifice that the fire did fall on Mount Carmel, but did not fall on the guilty nation, but fell on the sinless, I mean, it's a picture of Jesus, right? The sacrifice, fell on sacrifice. If you reject that, this is a picture of the Second Coming. Not Rapture, Second Coming, when Jesus comes again with all of us, the Day of Vengeance. This time, the fire fell on the people. Got it? If you reject grace, there's no more hope, okay? You all can say amen, it's a fact. The Bible talks about it. All right, that's the Day of Vengeance of our God.
Notice it's a short thing. He will do a quick work, and then a new heaven, new earth, "wherein dwelleth righteousness," the Bible says. The wolf will lie down with the lamb. Nothing will hurt or destroy in that millennial rule, Jesus' rule, amen? Amen? So you can actually say Peter and John... I mean, James and John can say, right, James and John can say, "Actually, Lord, we are following the Bible," but Jesus can say, "You are reading it and not rightly dividing it". We are not under this. So be very careful. These are the days of Elijah. Be very careful. Yeah, I understand, all right. Before Jesus comes back, there will be a spirit of Elijah, but notice carefully it's not to call fire down or judgment. It's to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the children to the fathers, because Elijah and Elisha raised children from the dead, their ministry. That part, stick to that part, the spirit and power of Elijah, not to call judgment.
There are people who just, when things happen, they are happy in their hearts because they prophesied that this would happen to this country. What kind of spirit are you? Happy when judgment falls on people? Jesus even said... you know what Sodom and Gomorrah, you know what their sins are? You know what Jesus said to Capernaum? Capernaum is the place where Jesus opened the eyes of the blind, unstopped deaf ears, sent a Word to the centurion, Roman centurion, a gentile servant who was dying and raised him up, amen? The place where Levi, who later on became Matthew, who wrote the first Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament, amen? I mean, a lot of miracles happened down there. But Jesus said of Capernaum, because they rejected Him finally, it was worse because they reject grace. And you know what Jesus said? "If Sodom had the same miracles that you had, they would have remained". In other words, they would have repented. Until today, they would have repented.
So that tells me the sin of rejecting grace is worse than the sin of Sodom. Moreover, by saying that, the judgments, even of Jesus, it's encouraging to me because in it lies this. He says, "If the miracles that was done in you, Capernaum, was done in Sodom, Sodom would have remained". He gives us the key to approach Sodom. The key is what? Miracles, if Sodom had miracles. So if you meet people who are depressed, all right, they live a lifestyle that has caused such depression, such inner turmoil, you know, pray for them. Don't judge them, pray for them. Release miracles in their life. That's what Jesus says. And you know who are the ones to release miracles? Look at your neighbor, the one that's not wearing perfume. Look at the other neighbor. Yeah, in their hands, in their...you know what? Look, it's not hard.
Jesus says, "In My name, these signs shall follow them that believe". Do you believe? All right, one of it is, "In My name, they shall cast out devils, and they shall lay hands on the sick and the sick shall recover". So "shall recover" is future, right? But laying hands first, then they shall recover. Laying hands first, right? So watch this. Everyone put up your hands. These ones are hands. What to do with hands? Lay. Lay on who? Sick. What happened to the sick? Recover. Does it say you heal them? No, what's your part? Hands, lay. Hands, lay. What happened to them? What's their part? Recover. Might recover? Perhaps? No, Jesus, "They shall recover". It might be the same day. It might be three days. It might be one week. "They shall" means they shall recover. "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My Words will never pass away," amen?
Now, you can dispense healing through other ways as well, amen, anointing oil, from a distance, amen, but Jesus ordained, in Mark 16, He mentioned laying hands. So if you are sick and all that, look, we have a group every service. We have the healing center, our healing room, amen. Ask the ushers help you find your way there. They're all ready. They all got hands. All of them, amen? All of them got hands. Some hands very big. Doesn't say big hands, small hands, all right, puny hands. It doesn't say what kind of hands. Your part, just hands. Your part, lay. God's part is to heal, the power. If I obey and nothing happens, why should I be ashamed? I'm not the healer. I told you before, if I'm the healer, I would heal my face. I won't look like this. Don't laugh so loud. Every time I share this, you all laugh so loud. Okay, so after that, I'd also pray for Pastor Mark's face. So we have this, very clear. There is a division, law and grace. Do you see it, people? Are you with me so far?
All right, another principle that we need to learn is also the principle of interpreting every verse out of context. Miles Coverdale... show them Miles Coverdale again. "It shall greatly help you to understand the Scriptures if thou mark not only what is spoken or written, but of whom and to whom, with what words". Is it spoken to the Jews? I still can benefit. You know, someone write, like, a great man of God writes to, like, Deacon Mark, all right, or Deacon Matthew, sorry. I just demoted Mark. Okay, who's sitting in front here? Okay, so because he knows I love that man of God and that man of God gave him some teaching in the letter, he shares it with me. Can I benefit? So even though it's written to someone, can I benefit? Yes, so you gotta find out, even if something's written to the Jews in the Old Testament, you can benefit. And many of the things in the Old Testament are types. All these things are written for examples.
1 Corinthians 10 tells us that. All these things that happen, these things here are things that happen in the Old Testament, the wilderness experience from Egypt to Canaan, amen, all the Old Testament books, types there for our learning and our admonition. But can we benefit even direct words to the Jews even then? Yes, amen. Are you with me so far? But the epistles are written to us. All Scripture is written for our benefit, all right? But there are Scriptures, and that part is usually the New Testament that's written to us. So when Jesus says, "Don't go to the way of Gentiles, but only to the lost sheep," that's not written to us. It's written to the Jews, spoken to the Jews at that time who were His disciples. Okay, so is it clear so far? Very simple, right?
All right, yes or no is like this... all right? So if you don't shake your head then you just say yes. You gotta learn, folks. In church, you gotta bob your head for the pastor's encouragement, all right? I can only see your heads, you know? That's all I can see, so you move your head, right? I'm encouraged to know you understanding. Understand? One more time, let's all... Ha ha. So, to whom? "To whom, with what words, at what time, where, to what intent, with what circumstances, considering what goes before and what follows after". The last part means context. Look at everything in context. I told you all, right, a lot of Christians are afraid of Hebrews 10, "If we sin willfully". Every sin is willful in that sense. It must be a specific kind of willful sin that the writer is talking about in Hebrews 10, amen?
And we study Hebrews 10 from the verse 1 all the way to, "If we sin willfully," we find that it's a rejection of the once and for all sacrifice of Christ, amen? It is a rejection of the witness of the Holy Spirit, specifically in the area of, "I will be merciful to your unrighteousness and your sins I remember no more". It's a rejection of the Father's saying that, "I take away the first law and I give you the second," amen? So when you reject all that, that's sinning willfully. But I'm sure that you're not people who are so dumb as to reject the Lord Jesus Christ, right? I'm talking to the right people? You're not people that reject the Lord Jesus Christ when everything is done for you. He love you. See, the Lord never asks you, even when you serve Him, you think about it, He never ask you to do anything for Him, to serve Him, or to do anything, or to give to Him. He never asks you for that until He has given everything for you, and then He rejoices. He rejoices when you even give someone a cup of cold water.
Don't think that you are the first giver. He is the first Giver, all right? And can I say this also? In terms of morality and all that, it's more important to Him. Somehow He finds great joy, and by the way, you still can please the Lord. We are all in the place of highly favored in Christ. We are all accepted by Christ, but there's also a word used that there are things that we do that can please Him even. Like a child is highly favored with me. My child is always dear to me, always loved by me, amen? But there are some times my child will do something, at that particular moment, it pleases me. So there are things that you can do. The Bible says, "With such sacrifices God is well pleased," and we all want to please the Lord. Am I right? I said we all want to please the Lord, amen?
And just now when I show you the word, "Study to show yourself approved unto God," it's not approved in terms of salvation, all right, you are far away. No, no, we are all approved. That's for a workman, a server, a preacher. A workman there, to be approved, "approved" there is "dokimos," not highly favored as in Ephesians, but "dokimos". "Dokimos" is something used during the time of the Athens, the Greece, all right? Their means of currency was coins, all right, and they would whittle the coins, okay? And at one time in one century, there were more than 80 laws passed in Athens, all right, to stop this whittling of the coin because the coin was soft. The metal base was soft, not like our coin today. They can whittle it. And there are many moneychangers who refuse to accept coins that are whittled. They are people of integrity, these moneychangers. And these moneychangers are called people who are dokimos, tested people, people of integrity.
"Study to show yourself approved unto God". "Study to show yourself dokimos," a servant that needs not be ashamed. Are you all with me so far? That's the benefit of those who are gonna be Bible teachers, and servers, and evangelists, and all that. Okay, praise God. Now, look at the circumstance and look at what follows after. I like to use this verse because there are two things we can learn from here as you will see presently. Let's go to Philippians chapter 2. Learning? All right, "Therefore, my beloved", I'm laughing because I know what I prepared and I know what you're getting. I prepare so much, and from my preparation is only the first quarter, all right? But don't worry, I'll send you back. Don't worry, I'll send you back on time in three hours. "Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure".
All right, I don't know how many times this has been brought to me, even in a conference situation, another speaker even have brought this up to me and said, "What about Philippians that says, 'Work out your salvation'"? They all know this part, "Work out your salvation". They all know this part. So I said, "What do you mean by that? Are you telling me that we are supposed to work for our salvation today"? So the idea that people have is that we still are working out our salvation. No, friend, once you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you better know you are saved. There's no more working out. In fact, there's no such thing as working out for your salvation. You cannot work for your salvation. It's not by works, it's by grace through faith you receive. Abraham was justified without works. Abraham believed God. It was imputed to him for righteousness.
So this is taken out of context. What did Miles Coverdale, the man who translated the Bible into English, the full Bible, Tyndale wasn't the one. He translated only the Old Testament, but what did Miles say? Go look at the context, what goes before, what comes after. So it says, he's writing to believers, "My beloved". Writing to believers and telling them, "Work out what God has worked in. Work out because it is God who works in". You know, if you have a desire to serve in some area, know this, God put that desire, that willingness and the desire. And even, not only that, both the will and to do means He gives you the willingness and then He gives you the performance. Wow, amen. You got a desire to pray for the sick, amen, to minister to troubled women, amen, if that is your desire, amen, who put that desire there? It's God, both to give you that desire, that willingness, and then the power even to do it comes from Him. But notice he's saying, "Work out your salvation". You already have it.
By the way, "salvation" there is wholeness, healing, amen, all the good stuff in the Bible, all the blessings of God. That's in salvation. You find salvation means more than just saved from hell. Work out what God has worked in. Amen, work it out. So in other words, God gives you the willingness. God gives you the desire to work among children. God gives to the desire for all this, gives you the power to even do it, and then you know what? You never work it out, never let it flow out. Wasted. So in God's estimation, as I was saying just now, you know how God values, like, talk about morality and all that. You can believe God, ask God for a promotion in your job. You can ask God for, you know, "I need more income," or whatever, and that happens to you. You are very happy, all right? And God is happy, you know, when you are happy, yes, but you know what really pleases God? Not you getting all these things. When you are patient, when you are kind. It's in relationships.
You say, "What's the value of being patient"? It pleases God. I think that if I get another million, it will please God. I can do so much more for Him. No, that pleases God more, when you are patient with people, you are kind. People, today's world, they don't see any reason to be patient unless it's for show, so that I can get something out of you. The pleasure of loving is not so much to get something back, not so much of that as it is in the love itself. You shall find your fulfillment and enjoyment in loving, even if the person doesn't return. You can see somehow people who love in the other way, they get very angry when the person they love don't reciprocate. But in the first place, I didn't love you to get something back, so it doesn't really matter how you respond. And to all my critics also out there and all that, I love you. I really do. In fact, sometimes I take Communion for you, amen. I pray that God will bless you and your families, amen. Don't let any bad thing happen, amen. All right? I pray that you all also take for me, lah. Amen. Yeah, because people don't have to change for me to love them, all right? That's the love of God, amen? Bless them that curse you. Do good to them that hate you, right? Amen. So praise the Lord.
So this is a translation in its context. "Work out because God works in". Thank God, God works in. He's not asking you for something that you don't have. If God tells you to lay hands on the sick, all right, His healing virtue is in you already. Again, it's not for you to do it, but He gives even you the willingness. Imagine if He brings you right to the hilt. You just have to, it's like power steering, right? You just have to decide the direction. Sometimes people even use one finger. Decide on the direction, the power kicks in, right? And yet there are people who let all those gifts, charismatas, callings, anointings go to waste. Hey, there's no fulfillment. They want to make another $10 million. They want to make another, doesn't satisfy so much. Doesn't even satisfy you deep down, you know? But when you're kind, you're loving, that pleases God more than anything else, amen?
Can I show you a verse that just came to my heart? I didn't prepare for this actually, but it's not up there so can you go to Colossians chapter 1? Colossians chapter 1 real fast so I don't have to refer to my Bible. Who got it first? Okay, in the front row, they are the first one to get it. I know they are the first one to get it because they are my pastors and they're my leaders. They're my councilmembers. They are the first one to get it, all right? So come on, anyone got it in the first row? Anyone got it in the first row? Anyone? Colossians 1:18. Anyone in congregation? Congregation got it! Deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon. Pastor, pastor, pastor, pastor, pastor. Ha ha ha! Okay, what does it say? What verse is, "Strengthen with all might"? Is it Colossians 1:11? Yeah, 11. Okay, I didn't open my Bible yet, praise God. Thank God I have the mind of Christ, amen.
Okay, look, look, look, "Being strengthened", I am quoting from Old King James. "Being strengthened with all might," right, "according to His glorious power unto all patience and longsuffering". Your New translation says, "Endurance or steadfastness," all right? "Unto all patience with joyfulness". Am I right? Three words there, okay? You got the word "dunamis," "kratos," "doxa". You got the word, listen, "strengthen," right; "might," "kratos;" you got the word "doxa," "glory," glorious power. Actually, the word there in the Greek is the power, the might or the power of his glory. Look, look, friend, friend, you know what God does all these divine things? You know what divine power comes to you for? You know what divine power, divine might comes on you for? You know what the divine power and might is strengthening you for? When it says that Jesus grew up, "He waxed strong in spirit". What does that mean? It means exactly this, to make you a more patient person. What? All the power.
If we can put the verse up there. If you found the verse, Esti, you can put it up, yeah, so everyone can read it, all right? "Strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power". Can you see that? We got divine might, divine power, divine strength. We got glory. Do you see that? What is it for? Referring to you, it's a prayer, by the way. Paul is praying, "For all patience and longsuffering with joy". Listen, if you can be, the first one, "patience" there actually should be "endurance," "hupomone," endurance. Endurance is for trials, bad, adverse circumstances. You are steadfast. You endure. You stand for the Lord, amen. You keep on doing what's right, even though the pressure is on you to do what's wrong, amen. People say things about you, you endure. You endure. Are you listening? Are you listening?
All right, the next one, longsuffering, this is for people. This is where the patience that we use it is useful. The first one is endurance. The second one is actually patience. It's the word "makrothumio," where you get "macaroni". "Makro" means long, okay? "Makrothumio," "thumio" is temper. You got a long temper. Because the opposite, short temper, means what? You are impatient. So the Word of God says God wants to strengthen you for what purpose? So you become a person who is steadfast, enduring person. That's towards circumstances that are adverse, and then patience is towards people. Patience is towards people. And you think that's all? God says, "I'm patient with you already for so long. You know how patient I am with you or not"? "With joyfulness".
There once, I tell you, this verse is the verse that get me every time I'm on the road. It gets me every time I'm on the road, really, because I can be patient. I don't do anything back. They do, you know, funny stuff. I mean, just yesterday, only yesterday, you know, I was driving, right, and I saw that, honestly, church, this happened. I'm not trying to put a, you know, show you off, put a good deed, you know, get a feather on my cap or what, but honestly I saw a bus about to move out from its lane, the bus stop. And I always, if I can, let the bus go first because if you don't, like, car can just go on and on, you know? And the, you know, bus, come on, they got more people inside. So I stop. When I stop, behind me, bong, bong, bong. Bus is so big, lah! Can we just stop, breathe, and let the people in the bus go first, reach their destination? What is this sense of entitlement? My car must move all the time! If it stops, I'll have a heart attack. You live like that, you might get one. Then I had to turn to a small lane and forgive those jokers. Forgive them, Lord, in Jesus' name. Forgive them.
Then I think to myself, "Patience with joyfulness". Patience with joyful, I'm not there yet, but I'm praying for it. By the way, this is a prayer. It's a prayer that Paul prayed for the saints in Colossae. And that prayer is Spirit-inspired prayer, so what is good for Colossae saints is good for the New Creation saints, for the GRC saints. It's for all the saints today because it's a Spirit-inspired prayer. Pray for your loved ones. Pray for yourself. Strengthen with all might. With all things, strengthen with all might according to His glorious power so that I can do miracles, man. Hallelujah, come on, man. Are you sick? Are you sick? Put your head here. Blind? Come here. Let me spit into your eyes. Those who do not know, there was an instance in the Gospels it happened, all right? Come on, come on. Come on, come on. It's ready, come on. We think that the power is... no, no, no, God, I mean, that is pleasing to the Lord, yes, but if you see what He's after, it's with all the power. He releases His power, His might, and all that so that you can be a person who is enduring, all right, with joy and a person who is patient with people with joy.
Sometimes we see our responsibilities as duties when actually other people don't have the same responsibility and they would love to have that, because for them it's not a responsibility, it is a privilege. For you, your privilege has become a responsibility. Yeah, my wife, me, you know what? She's supposed to do that. Why say thanks? My domestic worker, I pay them. Why say thanks? Why say please? Before you know it, it goes on to your workplace. We become a, you know, the moment courtesy and all that is taken away from our society, you see everyone is entitled. Everyone. You will feel the pain because you will give a gift, for example, there's no thanks. People do forget. That's why I say when you give a gift, expect nothing in return. You love, enjoy the loving. Your reward, your fulfillment is in the loving. You get to love, amen.
So let's pray for each other, okay, being strengthened with all might. You know, I have to stop now, okay? I'm just joking. For those newcomers, the three hours was just a joke. It was a joke, okay? So I'll let you go now. And honestly, we have not come to the crux of what I want to share, okay? So, but nonetheless, it's good. Plus, this part here where the Lord just arrested me just now to share that. So once again, church, remember this, right? For the Lord, the way we treat others is more important than serving Him in a, you know, in an overt, in a dramatic way where others can see. Because we can serve Him for the wrong reasons, to be seen of man, amen. Especially leaders, we got to check our hearts and our motives because are we serving to be seen of man? Then you know what? Your service becomes, like, tainted with who you are serving.
I don't like that. I don't like to see a leader, the moment they hear, "Oh, so-and-so," you know, that famous person, or that person is, whatever it is, and then I see him. This happened many years ago, honest to God as my witness. Happened many years ago, so the leader is no more around. Zoom, make a beeline just because that person is wealthy. I saw that behavior. I was thinking, "Chi kuai". My problem is that people want to eat with me. I mean, there are people who are pretty wealthy, right, they want to eat with me, but I just spend time with these people. I don't look at people, amen. Rich, poor, you're all the same, amen. I see you in Christ. You are highly favored. You are glorious, amen?
So pray every day that, "God, strengthen me with all might unto all, according to Your glorious power, unto all patience, unto all longsuffering, unto all endurance, unto all patience with people with joyfulness". You'll find, first of all, you might reach patience, but not with joy. Never mind, it's a 30-fold manifestation, amen? I was so close until I met you, amen? I was patient with everybody, now I met you. Now it's the opposite of joy, amen? But you know what? If God puts all His, think about it, His attributes, divine dunamis, divine kratos, might, power, doxa, glory all in this, it must matter a lot to Him, amen? Are you blessed? Amen?
Every head bowed, every eye closed. One more time. Every eye closed, every head closed. Okay, listen, if you have never put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, He is coming back. The signs are already there showing He's coming back, amen. There will be wars and rumors of wars. There will be famines in many places. The Bible says, "When these things happen, lift up your heads. Your redemption draws near". And that's our physical body, bodily redemption. But perhaps you have never accepted Jesus as the final payment for all your sins and you are trying to do good so that God will remember your good. No amount of good, my friend, will ever measure up to the perfect righteousness of God.
So God, on His part, He loves us. The Bible says Jesus said, "For God so loved the world," God so loved you, "that he gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life". So if that is you, I invite you in Jesus' name, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved and you're housed. Pray this prayer with me right now. Say:
Heavenly Father, I confess Jesus Christ died on that cross for all my sins, bore my judgment. He was buried, and on the third day You raised Him from the dead. Thank You, Lord, He's alive today. Jesus Christ is my Lord risen from the dead. His victory is my victory. His righteousness is my righteousness. His closeness with you is now my closeness. Thank You, Father, Jesus Christ is my Lord now and forever and the blood of Jesus has washed me clean from all my sins. In Jesus' name, and all the people said amen, amen, amen.
Praise the Lord. Stand to your feet.
For this coming week, for you and your families, may blessings upon blessings, heaps upon heaps of blessings, after blessings, after blessings fall upon you, that you might be a mega-blessing to people around you everywhere you go. May the grace of God be upon you, grace upon grace upon grace, favor upon favor upon favor; that you might dispense this favor, even as he makes all grace and favor abound towards you, that you may have an abundance to every good work. May you flow in it this coming week. May the Lord strengthen you. Father, strengthen every one of us with all might according to Your glorious power, unto all endurance and patience with joyfulness for this coming week. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, amen.
Okay, okay, wait, wait. Just before you all go, I need to warn you all first, okay? Because once you pray that prayer, right, this week, right, just know, lah, okay? If you are tested, be complimented. God thinks you are important enough that He's recruiting you into His army, amen. Amen? Yeah, God bless. We'll see you again.