Joseph Prince - You Are Blessed To Be A Blessing
Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. I enjoy my job, amen. And I believe that if God calls you to be a pastor or a preacher, okay, do not settle for anything less. I just felt like there's a whole new generation God is raising and he's gonna equip them, especially because of these last days, you know, the Bible says "perilous times will come. Man shall be lovers of themselves, and all kinds of sin. The love of many will wax cold". But together with this generation, God's gonna raise completely brand new preachers. Gonna come from the young generation. And perhaps maybe that's the reason why, just like me many years ago, you know, you wanna make money for the Lord, you tell the Lord. "I wanna make money for you, Lord," you know? But then you get frustrated here and there, again and again.
Perhaps is a sign that the Lord wants you to go full-time into ministering the gospel of Jesus Christ. And if God is calling you, don't step down. Any other thing that you do will be a step down, amen? He's the high calling. Praise the Lord. To Jesus be all the praise and all the glory for all the lives transformed. This is all about the gospel of Jesus Christ, because it's based on the Bible, amen. And the most important thing about the Word of God is to see the gospel of Jesus Christ in it. What God is doing all over the world today is that God wants man saved, mankind to be saved. And that's why there is a move of God. At the same time the devil is working overtime because he knows his time is short, but God is working mightily, amen?
If you wanna know what God is doing, just see what the devil is doing, and reverse it. Because what the devil does, usually, is more manifested to the eyes, all right? Whatever, we all know, we learned just last week that the things which are seen are temporal, amen? If you can see anything, it's temporal. But the things which are not seen, God, angels, the heavenly realm, the spiritual realm, which is all around us right now, like, angels are all around us right now. You can't see them. The things that are seen are temporal. The things that are not seen, not visible, are eternal, amen. So all your supply is there in the kingdom of God. Praise the name of Jesus.
Just that we live in the physical realm for so long, we live in this temporal realm for so long, we get accustomed to it, we get used to it. But, friend, it is not where your habitat is. That's not where your real dwelling place is. You are in the kingdom of God, where there is no lack, there is no shortage, amen? I believe that, as we come out of this pandemic, I think I can see something prophetic in the Bible. In the Scriptures, you know, things that happened to all of God's people, is something that we can see that which was, like Ecclesiastes says, is that which shall be. Was there a time that all of God's people went into bondage, the chosen people of God, Israel at that time?
In the Old Testament, Israel is the chosen people of God, the chosen nation. Was there a time they all went into captivity for 70 years? Yes, in Babylon. Remember that? Amen. It is what happens after that when they came out, amen. I believe that we are at that stage, because all this is written even for us upon whom the ends of the world are come, the Bible says, amen? That we might have hope. Say "hope," amen. So we don't live a sense of despondency as we look to the future. I know there's a lot of bad things going on, there's a lot of, like, in the world, it's like the world is going crazy, it's getting darker and darker, and we are stepping into inflation, into hyper-inflation even in the days to come. And we're gonna see all kinds of lack all around, physically, but thanks be to God that that which we see, can be seen and visible, are temporal, amen?
The supply is eternal, hallelujah. Praise the Lord. So God is restoring truths to the body of Christ. You know, people always say, "Well, in church history we don't see that". Well, depending on which church history are you pointing at, amen? If you point all the way to the early church, amen, when it was just born again, do you know that there was a time that great grace was upon them all? Look at this in the Acts chapter 4. It says: "And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus". That means there were all kinds of healings, all kinds of miracles happening to people, amen? This is the early church.
If you wanna use the early church as an example of the church in its pristine glory, amen, the way God meant it to be, there was this time that they ministered with great power. Say "great power". With great power comes great responsibility, amen? So with great power, they gave witness. That means it's something visible, something tangible, something for all to see, amen? The healings and the miracles primarily refers to healings. "And great grace," say "great grace," "was upon them all". Can you see this connection? Where there is great power, you know there's great grace. "And great grace was upon them all. Nor was there anyone among them who lacked".
Wow, there was a time in the church where everyone was healed. And not one lacked. C'mon. So as we look at church history, if you say that what God is restoring in these last days, for example, is this teaching on prosperity, amen? Now, when I say prosperity, I do not mean, all right, just for your self-aggrandizement, for your own self, your needs, just to fill your needs and to have more and more and more around you and for you and your family only. No, no, no, no. That is greed, that is covetousness. The Bible calls love of money the root of all evil. Not money itself, but the love of money, the root of all evil, amen.
The Bible says to be hasty and for those who make their ambition in life to be rich, they will fall into many hurtful perditions. The Bible says that very clearly. Yet, on the other hand, the Bible says when the Lord is your shepherd you will not lack. You will not lack in any area of your life, amen? The Bible says: "There is no want to them that fear him". All these truths are coming back to us in full force in these last days. But you say, "But in the early church they don't talk about it". Yeah, just like in the earlier church, the church then, the church that was, before the time of Martin Luther, was a church that believed that, you know, you can only get saved if you put in enough effort, you do penance, you do good deeds, and then you can save yourself, all right?
Accumulate your good points. But then Martin Luther came on the scene and then God uncovered from the Bible the truth that the righteous are righteous because of faith. By grace through faith, not by your efforts are you saved. Not of works, not of your efforts, amen? Lest any man should boast. So he discovered this truth: the righteous shall live by faith. And then that day became, when he proclaimed that, that day became what we... the world just celebrated Halloween day. Actually, the word "hallow," all right? Hallow saints, hallow saints day, hallow. Hallow means holy, not Halloween. Isn't it like the devil to take something of a day that commemorates justification by faith, the reformation, and turn it into something else? The devil is always doing that, okay? But know what is the original, all right, that day is actually supposed to be a celebration of reformation.
So in church history, you find that if you go at the wrong time, you find that the truth about something that God wants restored is not there yet. So Martin Luther restored justification by faith, amen? Caused a great revival, a reformation in the church. And then, in the turn of the century, in the last century, you find that God poured out his Spirit with the Azusa Street Revival in L.A., and we have, all over the world, a great revival and God began to restore the baptism of the Holy Spirit, this truth about being baptized in the Holy Spirit, with speaking in tongues and with all the gifts of the Holy Spirit. They are still for today. And God is restoring it. And as we come closer to our times, all right, in this contemporary times and all that, you find that God is now restoring the truth about healing and prosperity.
Now, what is happening is that every time God restores the truth in the past, the people attack Martin Luther, for example, on justification by faith. They assassinated his character. And then when the truth about the baptism of the Holy Spirit was restored back, the truth was attacked by the enemy because the enemy is afraid. Every time God restores truth it means what? The church become richer spiritually, become richer in their health, richer even financially, even they're able to provide. So the devil put in all kinds of saying, like, for example, as poor as a church mouse. Why must be a church mouse, right? Whereas Mickey Mouse is so wealthy, all right? You talk about health, wealth. Well, Mickey Mouse is still alive. Looks quite healthy and forever young, right?
So, someone should come against Mickey Mouse saying that he believe in the health-wealth doctrine. I was talking to one of my dear brothers, our pastor Darren, just the other day, just yesterday. And he was telling me that, "Pastor, do you notice that we are stepping out from the pandemic into the recession"? 'Cause he and I were discussing some things about what I'm gonna share with all of you. And he said that "it's like what you've been saying, Pastor, during this time," and we started this series last week, "that health was being attacked in the pandemic, all right? Right? Would you agree? This 3-year pandemic is about health issue, isn't it? And now, stepping out from the pandemic, we've got a recession". And what is recession? It's attacking what? Your provision, your supply.
Now, there is voices out there, especially in the kingdom of God, unfortunately, these people are really born again, they are saved people. But they believe otherwise. They believe and they believe that Christians should not even believe God to be prosperous or successful, amen, to be a blessing. But we teach prosperity with a purpose, and the purpose is to propagate the gospel of Jesus Christ, amen? Because there's a whole new generation who have not heard these teachings. And they're so afraid to believe in the teachings of healing is available for us today, or provisions, prosperity, is available for us today.
So much so they don't hear it and they are now entering into a generation where, right now, in our times, in our day and age, we are entering into a recession. And they are at the brink of starting a new life, all right, entering into marriage, and entering into a house, a new home that they are building, and everything costs a lot. Would you agree? It costs a lot more now than ever. Someone says: "Looks like they all gotta stay with their parents all the time". And all the parents said, "No"! Amen? Some some parents love their kids, say, "Forever," amen. Okay, but whatever the case is, you know, I find that there's a whole new generation so afraid, all right, because of the teachings of health and wealth.
Now, let me just say from the start, let me say this categorically, okay? I'm against selfishness. I said that just now. I've been saying that all this while, okay? If you're hearing what I'm saying. I'm against the love of money. I'm against greed. I'm against covetousness, okay? I'm against avarice, amen? We're talking about prosperity with a purpose, amen. We're talking about sponsoring the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Bible says: "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God," in the context of preaching the gospel, Romans 10. It says: "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God," amen.
So how does the Word of God comes forth to bring faith into people's hearts, people who are lost, without Jesus. How can they have faith to believe? And then the verses before that says: "How shall they hear without a preacher," right? Let me show you that verse, okay? First of all, Romans 10:17 says: "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God". Look at the preceding verses. It says: "How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher"? And today we have people saying, "Well, I hear God direct. I hear God direct".
Well, friend, God's ordained way of hearing his Word is through a preacher. Notice that? "How shall they hear without a preacher," amen. And then it says this: "And how shall they preach unless they are sent"? And the context here is those who preach good news, the gospel, the gospel. "Good tidings of good things," amen? Amen? He goes on to say: "'Those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!' How shall they preach unless they are sent"? Then he go one step further: How can they be sent unless there's money? No money, no send. Come on, people. So it all comes back to the gospel of Jesus Christ and the devil does not want God's people to have more than enough to be a blessing. We are talking about when God blessed Abraham, God says, "I will bless you and you shall be a blessing," amen?
If God can get the blessings, his blessings, amen, through us, to bless others, through us, he'll get it to us. He can trust you, amen. So, as we look at what is happening, the devil is so afraid that the church walk in health because if you're on your back all the time, how to preach the gospel, amen? If you cannot afford, they say that "I wanna preach the gospel in Uganda. I wanna preach the gospel in Alaska. I wanna preach the..." Anywhere you wanna name in the world, it takes flight nowadays. You must be sent. And how to send you without money? Amen. So, listen, money is a tool, amen? Money is just a tool, amen. Prosperity, Bible prosperity, includes money. It has to include money, amen. But Bible prosperity is more than just money. Can I have a good "Amen"?
So there are some sincere people who could rise up, you know, and because of the abuses, there are abusers with every restoration, justification by faith, there were abuses, all right? And then God restored the baptism of the Holy Spirit, there are also abuses. And then when God restores the gospel of grace, there are also abuses. And then God restores in our day and age, all right, the truth about healing and prosperity, there are also abuses. And abusers are those who preach nothing but money. And money in only one aspect, all right? They become richer and richer, that you become richer and richer and forget about the plans of the world. No, when God gave Israel, and think about the time when God prospered Israel, not when they were slaves, but at the end, the very last day in Egypt, the last plague.
There were ten plagues. God did not give them the wealth that he did on the last night. The Bible says the children of Israel, God gave them favor with the Egyptians and they asked for articles of silver and gold and clothing, and they got it from the Egyptians. Now, there's nothing illegal about that. Nothing at all. It was righteous. You know why? For 400 years, Israel slaved for the Egyptians with no pay. This is just all their pay of 400 years coming back in one night, amen, together with interest. So all that our brothers were cheated of, our sisters were taken for a ride, even financially, down through church history, is all coming back upon the endtime generation of believers. There's gonna be a transfer of wealth.
Notice when it happened: on the last day, just before they left Egypt, just before Jesus comes for us in the Rapture, there's going to be a transfer of wealth into your hands. But what is the purpose for the gold and silver and the materials and all that? And the rich clothings and all that that they received that night, what was the purpose? Notice that the purpose was to go out of Egypt and to build God's house, amen. Notice this is prosperity with a purpose. The whole purpose for the gold and silver is to receive this wealth to build God's house. There's the priority, amen? And when you line up your plans and purpose with God, God becomes your sponsor because you are in line with the blessing of God, amen?
So the whole purpose was to build God's house but notice when Moses, when they all arrived at Mount Sinai, and Moses was up there, receiving the pattern for the tabernacle, remember that? What was happening to Israel below? They were building the golden calf. Where did they get the gold for the golden calf? The gold... don't forget, they were slaves, right? They received the gold and the silver on the last night, amen? So the devil knew that gold and silver had come into God's people's hands, and he knew, he probably guessed, all right, he's not all-knowing, but he guessed that God's gonna, because he heard from what God said to Moses or not, he knew that God's gonna build his house, so while Moses was receiving the blueprint up in Mount Sinai, below the devil want to distract God's people.
And that's what's happening right now in these last days. Very soon, we'll be out of this Egypt, amen. We'll be with Jesus face to face and don't think your job comes to an end. We've got whole galaxies and universes to explore and we'll never get tired, we'll never feel bored in our brand new body, a body that's forever young, forever healthy. Forever, my friend, is forever. Forever's a long time. And when it happen, the Rapture happens, all of a sudden you realize, "I wish I had served the Lord more," amen? And all our pursuit of gold and all that, in heaven, you know, the angel says, "I don't understand. Your focus every day was going after money, going after gold. You know, see where we're standing now"? Walking on gold. Our priorities will change. All of a sudden you'll see, "My goodness, this is what I lived for".
So our minds are very worldly and earthly, but gold is a tool. So, the whole purpose, while God was giving the plan to build the tabernacle with the wealth that God has given them, the devil was trying to distract them to build a golden calf. As a result, when Moses came down, he punished them, all right? Three thousand people died under God's judgment, God's direction, and what happened after that was that there was still, even after they'd built a golden calf, there was still enough gold and silver to build God's house. Not only that, when they brought in the gold and the silver, and the rich materials to build God's house, Moses had to tell them, "Enough, stop bringing".
May the day come for every pastor in every church that he'll tell the people, "Stop bringing," amen? There was a time, you read in your Bible. "It's enough. Stop bringing". And they still had enough for their own families and their own selves. Are you listening? So it's prosperity with a purpose. Are you listening to what I'm saying? But these voices that come strong and say, "Oh, you know, oh, you guys believe in the health and wealth gospel". They make it sound so dirty, all right? "Health and wealth gospel". They make it sound so bad that a lot of young people are afraid, all right, that this is a cult, this is something that is not from God, because these people are saying that it's not God. So much so, they go to the other side of the ditch.
So they still want to be prosperous. Mind you, these young people, Christians, they still want to be prosperous but guess what? They're not gonna trust God anymore for prosperity, to prosper them in their jobs and all that. Why? Because they are afraid of this teaching. So you know what's gonna happen? They'll start relying on themselves. Or they start relying on some worldly methods. Or they'll start relying on some so-called motivational guru to tell them, "This is the way," or this expert in this industry and that kind of thing. And they'll start trusting these things. They'll still trust someone to provide for themselves and for their families, instead of trusting God.
So let's be careful that we don't go from one ditch, I'm against those who just preach "Money, money, money, nothing but money". And turn out to be a lover of money, amen? Selfishness, covetousness, avarice, I'm against that, but let's not push the whole thing right now 'til the place of poverty is holy. The funny thing is that they themselves don't believe it when their child falls sick, all right, the first thing they do after they pray for their child is what? Bring them to see the doctor, amen. You don't have to ask them, "Do you want your child to be well"? Ask any parent, "Do you want your child to have enough, more than enough to be a blessing"?
C'mon. Jesus himself said, we can use this analogy. He says that if you, being parents, natural parents, being evil, all right, you parents know how to give good things to your children, your children ask for bread, would you give your child a stone? Your children ask for fish, will you give them a snake? If you know how to give good things to your children, how much more will your father in heaven give good things to them that ask him? Amen. So your child is sick, do you want your child to be well? Put aside your doctrine. Speak from your heart. You are made in God's image. Do you want your child to be well? Yes! When it comes to healing, "Oh, we gotta be careful. With some healings, you know, God wants us sick to teach us a lesson, amen"? But you don't believe that about your child.
Do you want your child to prosper? You know, these people that advocate, you know, health, wealth, that kind of thing, it's funny how we think, like, for example, when we are citizen we think differently. When we're in church, we change. We become religious. You know, I believe it's the work of the enemy to push you to the corner where, at the end, you rely, you still have to provide for your family, you still have to buy that new home, you still have to come up with that salary every month, that you can't trust God for it anymore, amen? To make you a blessing, amen. Then you start relying on what? On some Egyptian method, some manmade method, the latest fads that come up, instead of trusting God's way, amen.
"Well, you know, God wants us to give but not give with all these reason..." No, if not, then why did Jesus tell you, "Give, and it will be given to you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, shall men give to your bosom"? Is he teasing us? Is the Lord teasing us? He should just say, "Give, because it is holy to give". Why did Jesus say, "Give, and it will be given to you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, shall men give to your bosom"? I think, church, I submit that he's encouraging us. He's telling you there's a return. And it's very funny, you go to a farmer, right? You tell the farmer, "I know why you're sowing bountifully on your land. I know why". The farmer says, "Why"? "You want a harvest, right"? He say, "Duh". Like people say, "I know why you're giving. You wanna get a return, right"?
The Bible doesn't say it's wrong to believe God for the return. Thank God you are believing God and not some other. He wants you to be grateful: "Thou shall remember the Lord thy God for it is he who gives you power to get wealth". "You shall remember the LORD thy God: it is he that gives you power to get wealth". You see? "He gives you power to get wealth". Doesn't give you wealth but he gives you power to get. And the word "get" also is to create, to get wealth. "That he may," what's the purpose? What's the purpose? "That he may establish his covenant". Mm, covenant of God established through wealth, all right?
"Which covenant is this? From what I know, Pastor Prince, there are seven to eight covenants in the Bible". Well, I know you, I'm glad you know your Bible. So which covenant is this? Is it the covenant of law, the Sinaitic covenant based on the Ten Commandments? No. "To establish his covenant which he swore to your fathers," that's Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, who lived 400-over years before the law was given. It is the unconditional covenant of Abraham, the covenant of grace. That's the covenant that God wants to establish in these last days. It's the gospel of Jesus Christ, amen. To get people saved, amen. To have the means and the resources to get people saved, hallelujah.
You know, when the Bible thinks of poor people in the Bible, we think of people without money. Well, actually, there are a lot of people who have lots of money, even millions, even billions, who are poor people because that's all they have. That's not God's definition of poor. Poor is always first and foremost those without the gospel. They're not saved. Regardless of what they have, they are poor. Just like in the book of Proverbs when the Bible says "foolish" we think of foolish people like, you know, foolish is a bit slow up there, you know. "Life is like a box of chocolates," all right? We think of foolish like that. But in the Bible definition of foolish, in the book of Proverbs, foolishness refers to rebellion. Foolishness refers to evil, amen. Like, the Bible says: "The fool has said in his heart, 'There is no God,'" amen. Are you with me so far? All right?
So, when we look at this, what the devil is doing in these last days, he wants to distract you. He wants to take away the truth and then whereas the New Age teachings, you know, in the New Age, you can be healthy, you can be wealthy, and you know what? They've got nothing to substantiate that. They only promise you, and it's empty promise. Why? Because there's no power. The power to create wealth, the power to give you power to get wealth, the power to prosper you, even in your body, is to heal you when you're sick, as Jesus demonstrated, hallelujah, and he demonstrated openly, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power who went about doing good. What is doing good? Healing all that were oppressed of the devil. How many? All that were oppressed by the devil. That means what? Sickness is of the devil. It's never of God, amen?
Jesus demonstrated. He attracted sinners by healing the sick. And so, devil is so afraid that we have the substance. You know, New Age promise all that but we actually have it in the gospel of Jesus Christ, amen? Now, we don't believe in a health-wealth gospel, but we believe the gospel does produce health. Look at down through church history, wherever a nation has received the gospel of Jesus Christ, it becomes civilized. Women are respected and honored. It becomes prosperous in education. Many schools started by Christians, many hospital started by Christians, amen. They become prosperous, they become prosperous in health as well as wealth. So it produces that in our lives, amen. But by no means should we run after these things. We run after Jesus. And gold, silver, frankincense, still follow him, amen. Are you with me so far?
Now watch. I'm gonna share with you something right now about something that happened in Jesus's home town when he went back to his home town. His home town, Nazareth, that's why they call it Jesus of Nazareth, and the day came that... they always have a reading of the Parashat, the Scripture portion for that day, the Shabat, that Shabat. And Jesus stood up, and he read from Isaiah where it says: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor". Now, there's the first thing the anointing is for: to preach the gospel to the poor. What do you think is the gospel to the poor? "No hope for you. Remain poor". Is that good news?
Gospel means good news, okay? What is the gospel to the poor? What is good news to the poor? You don't have to remain poor. Jesus says, "I have come. I am come that you might have life, and have it more abundantly," amen? And then, "He has anointed me to heal the broken heart," beautiful, "to set the captives free. The opening of prison doors to those who are bound, the opening of eyes to those who are blind". To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. In Greek, the year of free favors of God, ratson in the Hebrew. The year which has lasted for 2000 years, since he came, all right? The year is a prophetic year, it is a season, amen. It has lasted for 2000 years, where the free favors of God profusely abound.
So please don't read from the book of Revelation into today, amen. We are not there yet. In fact, what is restraining the Antichrist from appearing and he will appear from the United States of Europe. The Bible talks about Europe coming together in the end times. And from there, the Antichrist will appear in the revived Roman Empire, amen, the ten toes and all that of the statue that Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream. So all that is prophetic, but we're not there yet. You know what's holding back the Antichrist? Maybe he's a man in his 20s, maybe in his 30s, maybe in his 50s right now, we do not know. But what is holding him back, or what is holding evil back, is the presence of the Holy Spirit in the church.
So the moment the Rapture happens, that's when evil runs unhindered, unrestricted, on this earth. That's when the Antichrist appears. Already there was a news a few days ago, I don't know if you saw it, a guy from UK planted a chip under his skin, and he could make purchases and all that with a chip. So the technology is already there, where the Bible says: "No one can buy or sell without the mark in the end time". Remember that? I'm not referring to Pastor Mark. I'm talking about the mark of the beast, amen. No one can buy or sell without the mark of the beast.
Now, some Christians say, "Well, the mark of the beast is here. The mark of the beast is this, is that, is that, is this". No, friend, the mark of the beast cannot appear because we are here. The Holy Spirit is here, and he is the one that holds back evil. But the day that we are raptured, the church is raptured, then and only then, can all this happen. Then you see the 7 years' Tribulation kicks in, amen? Like the world has never seen since the beginning of time until now. Trouble like never before. Then Jesus will return at the end of 7 years with all of us, and he will rule from earth, hallelujah, amen? And once again, Jerusalem will be the capital city of the entire world where the rule is righteousness, amen, and there's such equity and peace throughout the domain. Praise the name of Jesus, hallelujah.
You are in for a bright future, amen? We are looking forward for the Rapture and when Rapture happens the instant Rapture happens, the first thing you feel is, "So feel so alive, man"! You feel so good. Why? This old body of encumbrance is gone. Even right now, you say, "Pastor Prince, have you seen my body lately? The six-packs, amen? It's nicer than Pastor Lawrence's. Man, I'm telling you, have you seen my bicep lately, hm? Hm? Hm? Hm? Hm? Have you seen it"? We've seen nothing, Pastor Prince. The things which are seen are temporal, all right? So, it's nothing compared to the body that you will have called the glorious resurrected body.
When Jesus comes again, the only thing that we will receive because everything about us, our level of growth and all that, will remain, amen. We'll continue to grow in the Lord. But not grow physically because, you know, I believe that probably around the age of 25 to 30, who knows, all right, that's the age you'll be at forever and you never fall sick ever again, you'll never die again. You will never grow old, hallelujah. Once again, looks like your future is very bright, amen? And then the Bible says there'll be allotment of rewards. There'll be those who are ruling over ten cities, some ruling over five cities. All depends on your faithfulness to the Lord, amen, while you're on earth below. Anyway, that's the future.
So, and some of you have a problem with prosperity. You've got a problem walking on the streets of gold. "If I walk too much on this I'll feel like I'll be corrupted". Then you see God's throne. "Whoo"! You know? And then you'll say, "God, tone down," amen? No, no, you know, if gold and silver is evil and the Bible says God put them here, right, then heaven will be... 'cause it's full of all these things, amen? These are not the things, friends. But please don't go on the other hand saying, "These are evil," amen? It's how you use them. Prosperity with a purpose. Can I have a good "Amen"? So back to Jesus's home town, all right? He says that to preach the gospel to the poor and then he ends with the "to preach the year of the favor of the Lord," amen? And then he stop there because if you know, you look at Isaiah, it goes on to say the day of vengeance.
So there is a postponement of 2000 years before the day of vengeance, amen? And where Jesus stopped, we stop. His First Coming is to bring forgiveness, grace, healing, wholeness, and not to bring judgment, amen? But when he comes again, it's to bring judgment, and we won't be here, we'll be coming with him in our new bodies, hallelujah, amen? So he stopped there. And then he rose up and he said this: "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your ears". And there was a murmuring among the people. "What does he mean that this Scripture has come to pass today? How come? Who is he? Isn't this Joseph's son"? Joseph of, you know, Nazareth. "Isn't this Joseph's son, Joseph the carpenter"? And they start reasoning. And then this is what Jesus said. He says: "Then He said, 'Assuredly, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own country.'"
Then Jesus gave two illustrations. He says to the people in the synagogue, and these are Jewish people, you know? He says, "I tell you truly, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah". So, many widows were where? "In Israel". Israel's God's chosen nation, God's people, am I right? So "there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a great famine," we're entering the great famine, people, just like then. "There was a great famine throughout all the land". So, Israel was experiencing great famine and all across the areas around Israel was experiencing great famine during this time. But to none of the Jewish people, God's people, was Elijah sent. "To none of them was Elijah sent except to Zarephath," notice this, "in the region of Sidon".
Why did he say, "In the region of Sidon"? He said it purposely, I'ma tell you why. "To a woman who was a widow". We know this woman as the woman who only had a jar full of wheat left, right, enough, she said, enough for her and her son to eat and then die. She says, "Enough for me and my son to eat and then we die". Wanna die, don't eat, all right? So, we eat, we die. So the man of God came to her house and, actually, she knew that he's coming because a few days before, when Elijah was at the Brook Cherith and God fed him there, God said, "Go to Sidon, Zarephath, where I have commanded," past tense. "I have commanded a woman there to feed you".
So the woman heard from God already, and yet when the man of God came, he said, "Is there anything in your house"? "No, no, just a bit of flour only, for me and my son to make bread. We eat, we die". And then the man of God said something that, you know, if today any man of God says, it's gonna be in the social media, all over the world. You know what the man of God says? "You make a cake for me first". Read your Bible. "Make a cake for me first," amen. Imagine, the woman is starving, it's great famine, and he asked for... a cake, by the way, is a bread in those days. "Give me the bread first". And you know what happened to her? She did that, and the Bible says the entire 3 years and a half, right, 3½ years, the jar of meal, right, the flour, never ceased, during the time of great famine, amen?
So, Jesus illustrated this, but why did Jesus say, "In the..." He sent... to none of them in Israel, God's people, who knew the law, who knew the Ten Commandments, who were people of God, compared to this woman. She's not a Jew, she's from the region of Sidon. Now, do you remember when Elijah's ministry came into play? Elijah the prophet? During the time when the king of Israel married a woman who's not a Jew but from the area of Sidon. Her name was Jezebel, and Jezebel was evil, was a evil woman and she introduced Baal worship into Israel, and she literally caused, because the people's focus away from God, she caused the 3½ years of famine.
Now, imagine, what the people, the audience, in Jesus's day, thought when they hear Jesus say, "God did not send Elijah to the people of God, to the people of Israel, to people who knew the law. He sent Elijah to a woman who came from the city of Sidon". And they knew it's where Jezebel came from because Jezebel is from Sidon because she's the daughter of the king of Sidon, wow. Wow. And if that is not enough, you know what's that called? You don't understand, right? It's called grace. God gives grace to people who are undeserving, who don't deserve it at all. If anyone is undeserving, it's this woman. She's not even part of the chosen race, amen, the chosen nation, right, back then.
Okay, the next example Jesus gave: "And many lepers," say "many lepers". "Many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha," now Elisha who succeeded Elijah. "There were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman," then he says this, Jesus said, "the Syrian". You know why he said "the Syrian"? Because the Syrian is always, their number one enemy is who? Israel. They're always attacking Israel. And who is Naaman? Naaman is the commander in command, all right? Commander in chief of the Syrian Army. And this man is a leper. If you are in Israel and you hear that your enemy, the top commander has leprosy, what will you do? Will you pray for him? No, you pray that his leprosy become worse. C'mon, people, right? But instead, God sent Elisha the prophet, amen, to heal Naaman.
What happened was that Naaman has a hostage Israeli girl, a young girl whom he brought to his house as a maid to his wife, and one day he noticed all these spots appearing and he thought it was just normal skin condition when actually it was leprosy and then it started spreading and all that, and the maid noticed that as well and the maid told Naaman's wife, "If only the my Master can go to Israel, there is a prophet there who can recover him from his sickness".
So, the Bible says the wife persuaded the husband, and the husband brought an entourage to find Elisha, amen. So when he came to Elisha's house, a humble abode, and he calls for the man of God, he didn't even appear. Elisha shouted instructions from inside the house. He didn't even go out to appear. He says, "Go out, go out to the River Jordan, baptize yourself, immerse yourself seven times and you'll be clean". Oh, his pride was, like, "I come to your house, entourage. I am the commander of the Syrian Army and you don't even appear. And you want me what? To immerse myself in River Jordan"?
By the way, just to let you all know, right? Except for one time during Joshua's time when the Bible says it was a time of harvest, that the River Jordan overflowed, okay? But most of the time, have you seen the River Jordan lately? How many have been to Israel and you saw the River Jordan? All right, your guide will say, "Get ready, guys. We are about to cross the River Jordan," right? Then you get ready, your camera. You're about to press, then, "Okay, that was it". You crossed already. The River Jordan is not even as wide, the average part of the River Jordan is not even as wide as this. Or maybe almost like what we have on the stage here, all right, as broad as this, or slightly smaller. That's it. Then you ask yourself the question: You mean this is the famous River Jordan where Jesus was baptized, right? Where miracles happened? Where the iron's head fell and it was recovered and God made it to swim? Is this the famous River Jordan?
And then Naaman heard, "Go dip yourself in the River Jordan". "What? Muddy River Jordan in Israel? Why not allow me to baptize back home in Syria in Damascus? We have two big rivers called Abana and Pharpar. Why not let me baptize there"? But God's instruction always requires humility. That's why the Bible says: "By humility", Proverbs 22, "By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches, honor, and life". Every young person, I assume, when they start out in life, they want riches, honor, esteem from their colleagues, from their family members, from their friends, right? And life. What is life? Health as well as longevity. They all set out wanting to have riches, honor, and life. The Bible says: "By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches, honor, and life," amen?
Okay, so we have the instruction: "Go dip yourself seven times". Imagine that you are Naaman, okay? You take off your shirt, your fake six-packs. The whole thing, you know? Then the wife says: "Put it back on. Put it..." You know, only kidding, you know? So, the whole thing just... and he's the commander so he go into the water, the River Jordan, okay? I want you all to count with me, okay? Still have the leprosy. How many times? Seven times, right? He dip, he comes out again. Shout, "One". "Eugh, still there. What am I doing? I look so stupid. My soldiers are looking. Look at the guy down there laughing in one corner". "Do I really have to do it seven times? Nothing is happening". "Humble myself". "This is so humiliating. Hey, six times already. Might as well go for the seven". Bible says when he came out, his skin was like a little child. And I'm telling you it's truth, okay?
When I take Communion almost every day, right, I claim this: Now don't look at me. The manifestation is still happening, okay? But I tell you, I claim it. Why not? If God can do it for Naaman, amen, God can do it for me, amen? All the promises of God is Yes and Amen. The Bible says he's... I mean, imagine how old is he? To be a commander usually, he's probably in his 50s. He command other people to do the legwork, amen? He's probably in his 50s and all that. And yet, his skin became like a little child. So I can believe God for that, amen? Amen? So, you see, the two examples Jesus used, look at the reaction. Did people say, "Oh, praise God for his grace. Grace is amazing, huh"? In Hebrew, hesed. "Hodu ladonai ki tov, ki l'olam hasdo", which means: "Give praise to the Lord for he is good. His hesed, his grace, his mercy endures forever," amen?
Did they rejoice like that? Let's see their reaction. After Jesus used these two illustrations about the woman of Zarephath during the time of famine that God sent Elijah to provide for her, and then Naaman, the arch-enemy of Israel, the Syrian, amen, the commander whom Elisha ministered healing to. Let's see the reaction of the people in Jesus's congregation, right? "So all those in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath". American: wrath. They were filled with wrath wrath. Wrath wrath. They were angry. Oh, they were angry at these two illustrations. Then when Jesus says, "The Spirit of the Lord is on me," they were not angry. To preach the gospel to the poor, to heal the broken heart, to set the captives free, they were not angry. But when Jesus start using these two illustrations, they were angry. Why? I submit to you two reasons.
Number one, grace. Grace still make religious people angry. It's grace, right? These two are perfect examples of grace. They are not God's people, they're not Jewish people, they are not part of the chosen nation, amen. They are not part of people who know even God's commandments, amen? But what happened? They received healing. They received provision. So, first and foremost, the message of grace always cause anger to rise up in religious people. Is it still true today, hm?
Number two, these two examples, one is provision, am I right? You can say wealth during the time of great famine. The other one is health, am I right or not? Am I right? These two examples show what? Health and wealth. If you preach health and wealth, it cause a lot of religious people to be angry, amen? If you find them getting angry, just know, confirmation, amen. Unto the day. So watch out that you don't fall under this. Again, I repeat, we are not for greed. We are not for self benefit only, amen? This is where all the blessings come and that's where all the blessings stay. That's not God's heart, amen? God's blessing is that I will bless you and you will be a blessing, amen. Are you with me so far? Do you follow what I'm saying? Can you see these two teachings?
Grace as well as emphasis on health and wealth. You see, the way people make it sound, okay, you're not happy with wealth because health and wealth rhymes, right? So, okay, health and provision. Okay, is that nicer? Now, how many wanna have a fresh revelation on the Hebrew word, all right? I'm gonna give you something fresh. Again, never heard anyone preach this before, but I felt that the Lord challenged me to look this up and begin to show me something that I never preached before, okay? You like the smell of fresh bread? It's coming your way. Okay, now, in Psalms 23, verse 1, all of you know by heart. Say it. "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want," or lack.
All right, the word "want" means lack. "I will not lack for anything". When the Lord is your shepherd, you will not lack, okay? Now the word "lack" in Hebrew is the word "haser". Say "haser". Haser is spelt like this. Like Old Chinese, reading from right to left, all right? And by the way, every Hebrew letter has a picture. The picture is always consistent, it's always the same, all right? There's a meaning to every letter. So the letter "cheit". Cheit can mean fence, a fence, or life. When you go to Israel today, you go to the souvenir shops, they have, you know, necklace, all right, and they have this pendant, and you will see the letter "cheit," this letter "cheit," all right? It is the letter that means life. What does it mean? Life. And life is pronounced like cheit, hi, hi.
Jewish people, when they toast, they drink, they toast, you know what they say? "L'chaim". Le means to. L'chaim. Chaim is life in plural, to life in its extreme form, amen. To life, l'chaim. So they have necklaces they sell. You can see all over the place, all right, with the letter "cheit," and a "yod" for chaim. So this means life. Samekh, the next letter, means support. Say "support" or supply. Supply. Support or supply. Just to let you know, the main, the essence of both grace and law is this. Grace is all about supply. Law is all about demand, amen. You know, law says: "You shall not, you shall not, you shall not," demand, demand, demand, amen? Grace says, God says, "I will do this for you. I will give you this. I will do that for you. I will be your God. I will remember your sins no more".
It's all God, supply, supply, supply. Whatever you do in a given day, you can be under grace or under law, amen? If you are law minded, you are demand minded, "Oh, my boss requires this from me before the week ends. All right, there are so many claims on me and my time and my energy. Oh, my family needs me, my wife needs this, my family needs this. I need to do this". Demand, demand, demand. You'll be stressed out. Which law is thus. But if you see with the challenge, with the responsibility, comes grace, the supply, amen, amen?
Right now, if I'm preaching right, I can be under demand, like, whoa man, I gotta preach well because these people, right, will make you suffer, you don't preach well, amen? These people are so hungry, amen, they know Hebrew. Even though some of them just know how to make tea. "Pastor, that's so corny". Okay, and if I am preaching under a sense of, like, demand, demand on me, I'll be stressed. But if I preach and I believe God is supplying me the words, God is supplying me the anointing, God is supplying me even illustrations and all that, it'll be a rest. And that's what I always do. I always endeavor to do. 'Cause you don't wanna hear me, you wanna hear God, amen? But you wanna hear a preacher speak as the oracles of God, amen. Praise the Lord. So are you with me so far?
So this is... and the third letter, so the life here is supported by reish, the last letter. You know what's reish? The beginning of the word "rosh," for rosh means head. Reish, the picture of reish, is always head. Today in Israel you ask them what is reish or rosh? They'll say the head, amen? The head, reish, okay? Now, that means, why is it lack? Why does it spell lack? Because this life is supplied by his head. He depend on his wisdom, he depend on his understanding, his own intellect, his own logic, his own reasoning, to supply for himself. I submit to you the vast majority of the people are depending on their logic, their reasoning, to supply them. They look for the latest, you know, fad, the latest way of making money and all that, and they try, instead of trusting God and God's ways, they're still trusting all this, only to fall flat on their face. Because their life supply come from their head.
Not much supply in there, I'll tell you that, amen? And what God showed me next was amazing. God showed me this. Almost the same letters, see? Cheit, life, supply, but the last letter changes. This is dalet. Dalet means door. This person, his life is supplied by the door. Now who is the door? Look at John 10, all right? "I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and he will go in and out and find pasture". The context is talking about sheep, he's the good shepherd and all that. That means what? They'll find food. Pasture is food, supply, provisions, rest. Who is the door? You either can have your life supply by your head or you can have your life supply through the door, by which all the provisions come in and you will find pasture.
And by the way, if you put the word like this, cheit, samekh, dalet, it spells hesed. It spells hesed, grace. So the word for grace, just now I said, "Hodu ladonai ki tov", give praise to the Lord because he's good, "ki l'olam hasdo", His grace endures forever. That's hesed, amen. When David says, "Your loving kindness is better than life," loving kindness is one word, hesed. He's telling God, "God, your grace is greater than life," amen. Time and time again there's even a sum. Every verse says his grace endures forever. His hesed endures forever. His hesed endures forever, hallelujah. Can you preach too much on grace? No, the Bible says in Romans 5:17: "It is through the abundance of grace you reign in life".
To have abundance of grace, you must have an abundance of preaching, 'cause faith comes by hearing the Word, amen. So I tell you this. If you hear a pastor or a preacher preaching a lot on grace, stick your head there. Be under the spout where the glory comes out, amen? Amen, are you with me so far? People trust the worldly system. You see, they trust, and a lot of people nowadays, young married couples with perhaps one or two young children, they are looking at what is happening in the world and they're concerned. They're very concerned, but if you're a child of God, you need not be. Your life is not supported by your head. It's supported by the door, amen. By whom you go through in and out and find pasture, amen? Amen, church?
Okay, do you know that Hebrew people, they have a saying for people who are generous. People who are generous, they say you have a good eye. Eye, singular, all right? If you are a bad generous, a stingy person. If you're a stingy person, they say you have an evil eye. Now, in Israel, you'll find in the shops and all that, they have like a hand with an eye, all right? So they say that that's a evil eye. You don't have a evil eye and the hand is the hand of God, they say, to stop the evil eye from happening. So what is evil eye? What is an evil eye?
Now, I'm gonna show you what an evil eye is, by showing you this passage of Scripture and then we'll explain to you. Now, all of us have sayings in every language of the world, you know, every culture, they have their own lingo, right? Am I right or not? All right, for example, you know, by the way, there was an interviewer who interviewed a guy who was looking for a job. So this interviewer looked at this résumé and he says that "there's a few years blank over here. Why"? And the guy says, "Oh, I was in Yale". He go, "Yale? Wow, amazing". He says, "You know what, you are hired". "Thank you so much. I really need this yob". I need this job, so he cannot say "J," right, yeah? So he wasn't in Yale. Okay, so among... you're slow. You are slow. Here, Yoseph is saying to you all, "You are slow".
Okay, different culture have a different saying, you know what I'm saying? So in Hebraism, evil eye are people who are stingy, all right? Look at this portion here. It says: "No man, when he has lighted a candle, puts it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, or lampstand, that they which come in may see the light. The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single," this is old King James. In the New King James it says: "Your eye is good". "Your whole body also is full of light; but when your eye is evil," stingy, "your body also is full of darkness".
Now, the word "body" here is literally soma, in Greek, which means the physical body. Let me tell you this. It seems like the Bible is saying: "Those who are generous, those who are magnanimous, those who have prosperity with a purpose in mind, these people have their bodies, you are generous it means your body is healthy. Your whole body is full of light". There's no other way because the word "body" there is soma. You cannot spiritualize it. Do you see that? Now, let me show you and prove to you that evil eye means in Hebraism stingy. In Proverbs 28 it says this: "A man with an evil eye hastens after riches, And does not consider that poverty will come upon him". All right? That means his whole purpose in life is to make money, make money, make money, make money.
And you know, the whole purpose is wrong. Your purpose in life is not to make money. By the way, your objective in work is not to make money. Your money's no problem. Don't worry about money. Money comes from God. That's why we have to preach this. Our trust is in God, not in our boss. If your trust is in your boss and you try to impress your boss, when you put in effort to impress your boss and you didn't get the promotion, you'll get bitter with your boss and with the person who got the promotion, because your eye is on the boss. But if your eye is on the true source, God himself, "Then why do you work, Pastor Prince"? We work to express the talents and the gifts that God gives us. "We work as unto the Lord, knowing that of the Lord we shall receive the reward of the inheritance".
That's what the Bible says. Work as unto the Lord. What a deal, amen. You must believe that that thing that you're doing seems insignificant in the grand scheme of things in the kingdom of God, but as far as God is concerned, you do it well, even you're a road-sweeper, you sweep to the glory of God. All of a sudden, you feel like a prince in the midst of paupers. You know what I'm saying or not? So God is saying, "You do it for me, you receive the reward". Your eye is on the Lord. Okay, so watch this. Don't be hasty to be rich, okay? All right? Don't be stingy, don't be greedy. Poverty will come on you.
Next proof from the Old Testament is Deuteronomy 15. It says: "And your eye be evil," ah, "eye be evil against your poor brother and you give him nothing, and he cry out to the Lord against you, and it become sin against you". Again, it shows what? Stinginess, evil eye means what? Stingy. Do you remember the illustration Jesus shared about the parable of the Lord of the vineyard? He had no laborers working, all right? Or he was very generous, he wanted more laborers in his vineyard. He went out and he saw a group of people early in the morning, all right, with no jobs, standing idle. He says, "Guys, you don't... nothing to do"? They said, "Yeah". And, "I'll tell you what. Would you agree with me, work in my vineyard and I'll give you a full day's wage," which is a denarius, a denar. Even today it's called denar in the Middle East, all right? Denarius, full day's wage. They say, "Okay". They agreed with him, all right? There's an agreement.
Second group, he went back to the market later on, a few hours later. He found another group standing idle. He says, "Guys, you're unemployed"? They say, "Yes". "Let's agree on, you know, I'll give you what's right". The guy says, "Okay". They go into the field to work for him in the vineyard. Finally, the Jewish day ends at 6 p.m., all right? And he found some people in the market, standing idle, at 5 p.m. so he told them, "Hey, guys, nothing to do"? Said, "No". "Tell you what, go work in my vineyard and whatever's right," no agreement, no agreement. "Whatever is right, I'll give you". They went by faith, trusting his goodness, trusting his integrity. At the end, payday, I mean, the evening time is pay time, rather, all right?
The Bible says he went in reverse. The ones who worked only 1 hour came first. You know what he gave them? A denari, a full day's wage. So, those who worked early in the morning, the whole day, they say that, "Wow, only 1 hour got a full day's wage. I think we will get more". So their turn came and they say that "yeah, yeah, Boss, it's great working for you and all that". And said, "Here is your denari". Said, "Wait a minute, wait a minute," they said. "We worked the whole day. We bore the burning in the heat of the day and you give us only 1 day's wage"? He said, "Friend". Follow this. "He answered, 'Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius?'" All right? You agreed with me, right, full day's wage.
Then he says this: "Take what is yours and go your way. I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things? Or is your eye evil because I'm good"? Are you small-hearted? Are you stingy because I am generous. You know who is the Lord, right? Jesus. Do you know who shared this parable? Jesus. And you thought the Bible is not exciting. Oh man, it's so contemporary. Right? Now, he didn't do them wrong. Why? They agreed, they didn't trust him, so, "I better not trust you. Put everything in writing," all right? Whereas, the last hour, he's trusted him with no agreement. It's the grace generation, it's the endtime grace generation I'm looking at right now. Praise the name of Jesus. C'mon, church, okay?
So, from all this you can see evil eye means what? Stingy. Is your eye evil because I'm good? Are you stingy because I am generous, amen? So those who are full of grace are people who are generous. And it seems that the Lord is saying... by the way, look at another verse, the opposite. Proverbs 22: "He who has a generous eye," a generous eye, "will be blessed, For he gives of his bread to the poor". So the opposite of evil eye is a bountiful eye, a generous eye. Now let's go back to what Jesus taught about this: the whole body is full of light. See what he says. "No man, when he has lighted a candle, puts it in a secret place, neither under a bushel..."
Now what is a bushel? A bushel in those days is like a means of measurement. It's got to do with commerce, business. And what Jesus is saying: when God has lit your candle, that means your spirit man has received the revelation, don't put it in a secret place and don't go under commercialism. Don't allow your business life, your career, and your pursuit of riches, overwhelm you until the light cannot be seen, like in this picture. So the bushel in those days is their picture of their commerce, because they deal with harvest of the wheat, harvest of the barley, harvest of grapes, harvest of olive. And you know how they measure it, their prosperity? Thirtyfold, sixtyfold, with the basket. The bushel, they call it. Like a bushel of wheat.
So what the Lord is saying... go back to what the Lord said. He's saying, "No man, when he has lighted a candle", you know, the Bible says: "The spirit of man is a candle of the Lord". You wanna be led by the Holy Spirit, learn to let your candle be lit. All right? You will have guidance from within. In all the affairs of life you'll have guidance from within, amen? And the Bible says this: "No man, when he has lighted a candle, puts it in a secret place, or under a bushel". That means what? If you are so full of, you know, your priorities are all about making money, making money, making money, your light is being drowned. You're no more a testimony, amen. Because God gives true riches. Listen carefully. When God gives you prosperity, God used the word "good success" to Joshua: "You shall have good success".
That means you have time for your family, you have time to bring your wife out, to romance her again, amen. You have time to listen to your children because they grow up so fast, amen. You have time to spend time with them. You have time to be kind to your colleagues, you have time, especially, to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. You have time for church. But if you're overwhelmed, "I have no time, I have no time. I must make money, I must make money," the bushel has overwhelmed you. Are you listening?
So, the whole picture here is about money, commerce, business, the light of it, evil eye, generous, stingy, right? Generous eye, generous, right? It's got to do with money. Can you see all that? And generosity. Can you see the context? But what has this, "No man, when he has lit a candle, puts it in a secret place". What's a secret place? And what's a bushel? But where does he put it? On a candlestick. New King James: "lampstand". "That they that come in may see the light".
Now, where is your maximum impact? Where is your greatest influence? Where will your light be seen the most? When you are put in the church. Because why? The lampstand, remember Jesus, John in the book of Revelation heard a voice behind him. He turned around and he saw Jesus in the middle of the seven candlesticks, or the seven menorahs, the seven lampstands. These are same word here. It's a lampstand. So when God has given you a revelation, you are too precious for God to put you under commercialism.
Now, you might still be in business but God will not allow the business to overwhelm you. And don't allow the business to overwhelm you, that you have no time for God. On the other hand, he will not put you in a secret place. What's a secret place? Now, I got this revelation early in the year. When I received this revelation, our church, some of the young people and the business people were going to a certain realm of finance and all that and I was concerned because they are missing out the simplicity of trusting God, amen, and tithes and offerings and sponsoring the gospel of Jesus Christ, and trusting God to supply everything that's needed while you have time with your family and all that. I found them pursuing day and night until their eyes are swollen looking at the screen, you know? They've got no time for ministry and all that. Are they gonna seek the Lord about certain aspects?
And this is what God gave me. What I'm gonna show you right now, I didn't receive from anyone. It's straight from God, and I didn't even realize that it's in the Bible. And the first people I shared was my pastors. This was probably in January, December, all right? Early this year. But I think the time has come for me to share this. You know what God showed me? People say these things are not in the Bible. How do you know? Anyone tell you, "That one is not in the Bible," how do you know? It takes pride for you to say it's not in the Bible, as if you have mastered the entire Bible. Everything is in the Bible. If not in direct form, in type. If not, in the hidden words. You know what I found out early this year? "No man, when he has lighted a candle, puts it in a secret place".
You know what a secret place in the Greek? Cryptos. Early this year when I received this, I shared with all my pastors, all right? Focus on the pastors who are in front. Lawrence is away, you know, so we can't focus on him, all right? Right? Daniel, all right, I shared with all of you, right, and I shared, you know, shall I share this? I was praying about it to share early this year. I could have saved some of you, huh? But I felt like I wanna give time because I'll hurt a lot of people. I'll be hurting a lot of people with this, you know, but it's a fresh revelation from God. I never realized, I never bothered to look what is a secret place, and I found out it says cryptos. I'm just reading the Bible. Don't throw stones. I'm just reading the Bible. I'm just reading the Bible, okay?
So I felt like I would hurt a lot of people at that time. And my desire was God speak to them first. I feel that, you know, there's always a right time to share a truth. You see, a truth shared outside its time, the season, is no better than a lie, okay? It must be not just the truth, but the truth preached in season. And I think the season is upon us. So the Lord cares for you? I said, "The Lord cares for you"? "No man puts it in cryptos, and no one puts it under a bushel". Don't be overwhelmed by business either. Make sure your priorities are all there: the Lord first. I'm just preaching the Bible, okay? What you do with it is up to you, okay? Don't write to me, I won't answer it. Too busy loving my wife, amen.
She won't let me out of her sight, so I'm just too busy. My kids love me, I'm gonna spend time with them. Gonna spend time with my pastors. I'm gonna spend time preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, so I won't have time to answer you, okay? You pray to the Lord and you ask the Lord to speak to you, okay? Whatever it is, amen? I just tell you that today. So, the whole context here is about generosity, all right, about money and all that. "The light of the body is the eye: therefore when your eye is good or single, your whole body is full of light".
Now, it's amazing, right? He's saying when you're generous, your whole body is full of light. Do you think health is implied here? Isn't it amazing when you go for a CT scan, the doctor look at your lungs and say, "I'm concerned there's a dot here". And the dot is always a black spot. Your whole body full of light. And he goes on to say, drop down. "Take heed therefore that the light which," indeed, don't be a black spot. Don't be darkness. "If your whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle does give you light". Ain't it beautiful?
By the way, go back again to "No man, who has light a candle". Notice in verse 33, the end part: But God puts you on, in the church, on a candlestick. Notice, where you shine the brightest, where you receive the greatest health. Every Sunday, you're getting healthier. I believe that. With the impartation, as you worship the Lord, the fear of the Lord prolongs days, amen. You are supposed to die at this time, but the fear of the Lord, which is worship of God, prolongs your days, amen? You think you're just singing a song; you are adding days. The fear of the Lord or the worship of God, Jesus defined the fear of the Lord as worship, all right, prolongs days. Days, days, amen.
So, here it says that when God puts you on a candlestick, "that they which come in may see the light". It's even evangelistic. God puts you in the church so that those who come in, those who come in are who? Those who are seeking for Jesus. They have this thirst, they have this hunger, they do not know what or who they are looking for, but because of your light, they will come in to be able to see the light, amen? Have you been blessed? Is this helping you? So we are against covetousness, selfishness, amen?
Thinking about money all day long or becoming rich quick, okay, or becoming rich is your only motive in life or purpose or ambition in your career. Then you're on the wrong track. And the Lord says there's an easier way, without losing what you need for you and your family, I'll provide for you. Jesus says, "Seek you first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you". Not taken away. Added to you. Have you been blessed? Give Jesus the praise and the glory. Before I dismiss you, I just wanna share one testimony real quick and this is gonna help some of you because I feel that in the area of health, it's a short testimony. It says, a sister from Singapore:
Some months back I discovered a cyst in my throat. According to the doctor, I would need to go for an operation to have it removed if the cyst starts growing or when it affects my breathing or eating. That day I went home and had some quiet moments with the Lord. Then I recalled a testimony that Pastor Prince had shared several times in his messages. It was from a sister whose lump in the breast disappeared after writing on a medical report that as Jesus is without lumps in his body, so is she. (Remember that?) I decided to do likewise and wrote down, "As Jesus does not have cysts in his throat, so do I". Around a month later, I went back to the doctor. Before the doctor could check my throat, I asked him if the cyst could go off by itself and he replied that the possibility is very slim and that it has to be removed surgically. Then he took a photo of my throat and we looked at it together on his computer. I remember him looking puzzled, as he compared the latest photo with what was taken a month ago. Finally, he said that the cyst was gone. I told my doctor God had healed me.
Hallelujah! And she enclosed... sorry to gross you, but she enclosed before and after photo, all right? The lump is gone, okay? Praise the Lord, amen. So, miracles of healing still happening. So will miracles of prosperity happen to you, amen. Just get ready. Be expecting it, amen. Don't be afraid of all the bad news, you know, all around and all that. Not having enough and all that. Keep yourself in the Word of God. I have thousands of messages out there, amen. Keep on listening to it, day and night. You can hear your way out of anxiety, out of panic attacks, out of depression, amen. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God, amen? Stand to your feet. Praise the Lord. If you have never received Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and Lord, people, be praying right now. Souls are precious to God, amen? If you will confess Jesus Christ is your Lord, believe in your heart God raised him from the dead, you shall be saved. Pray this prayer with me right now. Say:
Heavenly Father, I confess Jesus Christ is my Lord. For God's beloved Son bore all my sins and took all my judgment upon himself on that cross that I might receive his righteousness, his favor, his acceptance with you. Thank you for raising him from the dead as a proclamation that death itself has been conquered. Jesus Christ is my Lord, my Savior, and my righteousness. In Jesus's name, (and all the people said) amen.
All right, how many of you are traveling this week? You want a blessed flight, you want protection, amen? Let's believe God, amen. For those of you who are staying put, blessed putting. Lift your hands all across this place.
This coming week the Lord himself favors you and your loved ones wherever you go, amen. The way of the Lord is to prosper you. His desire is to prosper you and cause you to be in health, even as your souls prosper. I pray in Jesus's name that you will be the person whose mind is on the Lord day and night and that whatever you do, prospers. Throughout this week, God will place you and your families at the right place, at the right time. God protect your flight from every incident and you have a smooth prosperous flight to the other side. The Lord cause your days to be like heaven on earth in these coming weeks in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the favor of our Lord Jesus, the love of God, and the fellowship, the friendship, the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you in a very tangible, real way throughout this week, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ (and all the people said), amen.