Joseph Prince - The Time For Your Miracle Is Near

This is an excerpt from: The Kairos Year Of Right Time, Right Place - Part 2

Okay, now green fig. Very important, green fig. Why is this important? Because I'm gonna share with you something. Have you ever read the portion where Jesus came in the story of Jesus cursing the fig tree? Remember that? And then He taught His disciples faith? All right, now watch this. In Mark 11, it's from Mark 11. "Now the next day, when they had come from Bethany, He was hungry. And seeing afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it. When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs". In the Hebrew, in the Greek, "It was not the kairos for figs". Kairos describes harvest. That's the, how many agree that in every, in all the stages of growth, the best favorable part is your harvest? It was not the kairos for figs, not the season for figs. "In response Jesus said..."

By the way, nowadays in Singapore there's a whole lot of kairos for durians it seems. I heard that they're oversupply, all right? You don't know where to put your supply of durians, okay, my place is quite good. I love durians, amen. "In response Jesus said to it", "But Pastor, it's a corny fruit". Ah, we are redeemed from the curse. "In response Jesus said to it, 'Let no one eat fruit from you.'" So Jesus cursed the fig tree, right? Jesus cursed the fig tree and His disciples heard it. Of course the next day, the lesson was how to use faith in your spoken words. Yes, we understand that, but can I ask you a question? Ever wondered why did Jesus curse the fig tree? He came to the tree hoping to find what? Fruits, right? He was hungry. He came to see He will find something on it. It doesn't say what. When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, all right? It was not the season of figs.

So it wasn't a season of figs. Why would He curse the fig tree? Just to let you know, our Lord never loses temper. Don't think that He lost temper, all right? Don't think He doesn't know, okay? There's a lesson in all these things. You see, it's good that we study, we go to Israel, we learn the traditions and all that, because a tree that just, a fig tree that just passed the winter season, and in the spring, the fruit of the fig, by the way, will come forth, okay? The ripened fruit. But in between, there's a fruit that comes out even during winter, before spring. It's called pag. That's why it's called green fig.

So if a green fig appears on a tree, not season for figs yet. The season will be around like spring. You know what's gonna happen if there's a green fig? It can be eaten, by the way. Just like some of your fruits, right? It is green before it's red. Even green, it's a bit sour usually, compared to sweet when it's red, all right? You can eat it, but it's not the season of figs yet. It's an early, it's a bikkurim. It is a tithe. It's a first fruit of what is to come. Are you listening, people? All right, so Jesus was looking for that because if any tree has a pag, a green fig, it's a guarantee that tree will be fruitful in the season. But you can't find even one fig, green pag, a green fig, that means there'll be no harvest. So Jesus came to the fig tree and all the tree have, more than one time, the word "leaves, leaves, leaves".

Fig tree, leaves. Fig leaves. First mention of fig leaves, man tried to cover himself with fig leaves, Adam and Eve. Fig leaves, the Bible says. It's a picture of man trying to cover himself with their works, their self-righteousness. That's the biggest hindrance to the gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm quite okay. I don't need Jesus. I'm not lost. I can save myself. I'm doing good. I'm quite a good man. I'm not like the man down there. Don't compare yourself with the man down there, compare yourself with God. That's God's standard. So the thing is that, you know, we, it's the very thing that Jesus cursed. He cursed that belief in self-righteousness as your salvation.

I wanna go further in telling people, like, "unless you curse", the Lord spoke to me one time, "unless you curse self-righteousness in your life, you won't see the faith of God flow in your life". All my righteousness is Jesus. He is my righteousness. I have no self-righteousness, amen. And that's the essence of the gospel of grace, amen. The biggest, the hardest thing, people can repent from sin and all that. The hardest thing is to repent of self-righteousness. They still want self to, you know, they still look to self as some good in self, and that's why they are not saved, okay? So you follow the story so far?

All right, so "pag" appears only in the Old Testament one time. Only one time. First mention, last mention also. And because when I heard "pag," I spoke to my friend in Israel and he told me, "Yeah, 83 is pag, which is the green fig," you know? But he didn't tell me anything else after that. But for me, because I've been reading this particular book which I enjoy a lot, which you heard me share last week also, Song of Songs, something in my spirit jumped. Let's go to it right now, shall we? See what God has for this year. All right, this is Song of Songs 2, "My beloved spoke".

Now, the bride, you see, the church is the bride. Do you know why God calls you the bride? The bride, hello? Look at me. Because you are loved. You, in fact, one verse in Song of Songs, the bridegroom, the Lord Jesus, looks at the church, and the church can be corporate and the church can be individual. He looks at the church and says, "Your eye, just one eye, one look from you, my heart is taken". You have stolen my heart. Now don't go away. Lest we sing, on Moonlight Bay. We were sailing along on Moonlight Bay. You don't like it? Okay, never mind, I'm sorry. I thought you all like the hymn. He says, "One look from you". I love that one, "One look from you, you ravish my heart". One translation says, "You ravish my heart".

You see, do we really believe it that when we look to the Lord, His heart is ravished? Don't ask me why. But Pastor, I'm not, I'm sure in His eyes I'm ugly. Don't you ever say that to Him. He keep on calling you, "Oh My beloved, there is no spot in you", in the Song of Songs. It's so good. It's so good. It starts off with saying, chapter 1, verse 1 says, "Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth". Or verse 2, it says, "Let him kiss me". What is that? I want a personal experience of His love. I don't wanna hear Pastor Prince's experience. I want to have my own. Let Him kiss me with the kisses of His mouth. Kiss means close proximity experience. Have you been kissed? No, huh? Right time, right time. Right time, right place, okay? Okay. The pastors cannot do that for you, okay? The healing room is for the healing room, not for to demonstrate, okay? God will give you your husband at the right time, at the right place.

Have you noticed that many of the right time, right place illustrations with Ruth meeting Boaz at the right time, at the right place, it's all gotta do with relationships, finding your life partner. As well as Abraham's servant at the well to find a bride for Isaac. So the Lord puts it as the bride, and it's beautiful. There's a verse that says in Isaiah, "As the bridegroom rejoice over the bride". It's not like the husband rejoice over the wife. No, we should maintain that bridal love all the way, right? But you see, why God didn't say, "As a husband rejoice over the wife"? Because God knows mankind. That illustration doesn't say, "Oh, my wife, okay now, no more lie, love her a lot. She know I love her. She know I love him, lo," you know?

Yeah, when was the last time you say? "Ten years ago, lah, but she know I know, lah," you know? It is valid until it's revoked, lah. But it's valid until now, lah. Don't have to say every day one, Or might want to say every day, but a bridal love is like you look at her, you can't wait to be alone. Let all this crowd go home, lah, you all. You all hang around for what, amen? Give you, feed you all, give you a lot of food and all that, you all still hang around inside the bridal chamber. Hey, go home, amen? Amen? It's that kind of love. It's like passion. There's, the heart is beating. Heart is ravished. And it says like this, "As the bridegroom rejoice over the bride, so the Lord your God rejoice over you". Oh man, I pray that this year you will experience the love of Christ like you have never experienced before. Because when you experience the love of Christ, you will be at the right place at the right time, okay? You with me so far?

Okay, so Song of Songs, the beloved, the bride, it's talking about her beloved, Jesus, all right? You are talking about Jesus. It can be applied individually as well as corporately as the church. We are all the bride of Christ, amen, and you are beautiful in His eyes. He puts his comeliness on you and says, "You are beautiful". You are so beautiful to me, yeah. Amen. That's how He feels towards you. You are so beautiful in the Lord's eyes. I mean to say there's no spot in you. Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow. I don't know if I can take it, but you must take it. Don't be like that kind of Singaporean. No lah, no lah, no lah, no lah. You want this cake or not? No lah, no lah. Finally you say, "Okay," all right? Or they get angry, you know? You should go on some more. You tell me how many times you don't want, wah. Are you a liar? No, no, you must go on, must go on.

Finally I say, "No lah. Okay, maybe a bit, lah". You know, stop that nonsense. Say, "Thank you very much," and eat it. No wonder you got problems with saying grace. "I love you". No lah, no lah, no lah. You don't love me, lah. I'm very bad one. I'm very bad one. "I love you. There's no spot", What no spot? What here, or here, or here, or here? Here, here, here, I got a spot. You know what? I should stop letting Pastor Mark lay hands on me really. I'm beginning to sound like him. "My beloved spoke, and said to me". So the Lord spoke to me and said, "Rise up, my love, my fair one, And come away". Could this be a reference to rapture this year? We don't know, but for sure throughout this year, He's telling you, "Come up to a higher place. The air is better, fresher. Come up to where I am. Rise up, My love. Rise up from your depression. Rise up from your doldrums and your discouragement. Rise up to where I am".

Okay, I'm gonna show you how to rise up in awhile, okay? "Rise up, My love". He calls you, "My love," amen? "My fair one". That's, "My beautiful one". "And come away. For lo, the winter is past". I love this poetry. It's like He speaks in poetry. You know when you are in love, you speak in poetry, amen? Like I said before, you look at a girl, you don't say, "Aye, why are your cheeks so pale? Very terrible, so pale". All right, in Shakespeare they say, "How chance, my love, the roses there do fade so fast". Sorry Pastor, pale is pale. No, gentle, gentle. "How chance the roses there do fade so fast". Because you have not been watering it, my dear. You have not been watering it. That's how you respond, amen? Then you say, "Let him kiss me", Okay, never mind. All right, for husband and wife. This is a marriage seminar, amen. Come on. "Lo, the winter is past, The rain is over and gone".

So whatever it is, I believe He's talking, I'm gonna show you. You say, "Pastor Prince, why are you saying that this refers to this year"? I'll come to it, be patient, amen. I'm gonna show you He's talking to you about coming to a higher place and He's telling you whatever winter you had in 2022, whatever seasons of bad days, dark days, He's telling you, "Lo, the winter is past". And not only that, "The rain is over and gone". Hmm? And it goes on to say, "The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come". Hey, time, "eth" and "kairos" here. "The time of singing has come, the voice of the dove". Who is the dove a symbol of? What is the dove a symbol of? The Holy Spirit, the voice. You are starting to hear His voice. "The voice of the dove is heard in our land. The fig tree puts forth her green figs".

In the Hebrew, this is the only place it appears, "pag". That's a clue that this year is called Pag, and the only verse that has the word "pag" in the entire Old Testament in Hebrew is this one, this portion. He's telling you, like Jesus cursed the fig tree because it wasn't the season for figs, but here it's saying the fig tree is putting forth pag, amen. Which means what? The tree will be completely fruitful. What about my winter? What about my darkness, those bad days? "Lo, the winter is past. The rain is over and gone". The flowers are blooming. It's a time of singing. That's one thing I would love for you to come to be with all of us instead of online because when you sing alone online it's not the same. It's really "solo," you know? It's a low place. The Lord is saying, "Rise up". It's solo, so low also. "Rise up, rise up My love".

You know, you say that, "But online we are still gathering together. I'm not forsaking the assembling". Technically you can argue that, but actually when I, you know, I told you last year the Lord really corrected me in saying that kind of thing because the Lord showed me that in more places than one in the New Testament, "They were all gathered in one place," the Day of Pentecost. Another place, "When you all come together in one place". The Lord's Supper, "When you come together in one place". I understand that for a season we had to go online. I understand because of COVID, but you all know it's not a natural season. But we are back together.

There's something about the corporate anointing, being here, worshipping together during the time of singing that does something that being home alone doesn't, amen? "The fig tree puts forth her green figs and the vines with the tender grapes give a good smell. Rise up, my love, my beautiful one, and come away"! Come away. Could it be also there's a little bit of, besides telling us to come to a higher place, to forget the past and be with Him, could there be an allusion to the Rapture? No one knows the day, nor the time, nor the hour. No one knows when the Rapture will happen, but could it be an allusion there? I leave that with you, but for sure it's telling us to go to a higher place. Can I have a good amen?

Now, how do I go to a higher place, Pastor? Well, let's go to Genesis 24. And are you all with, understanding so far? So when Jesus came, He was looking for what? The green figs, which is a guarantee of the harvest to come, but there was only fig leaf, a show of righteousness, a pretense, but no fruit, amen? That's what He cursed.