Joseph Prince - Don't Let Your Age Define Your Worth
This is an excerpt from: Power To Renew Your Youth
When I sought the Lord after the staff meeting, I preached both messages, but, the Lord said to me that Leviticus 27 message is not just for the staff, it's for all of you. Okay, "Well, Pastor Prince, early morning Leviticus"? Yes. I'm gonna share with you from Leviticus, but I'm gonna ask you to hold your horses as we read this verse, okay? Hold your horses first, okay? Don't jump to conclusions. Read real fast, all right, "Now the LORD spoke to Moses, saying", who is God speaking to? Very important you take note, who is God speaking to? Moses, okay?
Remember this, sometimes he speaks to Aaron, all right, but here it's Moses, he speaks to Moses. "Now the LORD spoke to Moses, saying" so, whenever God says you, you is referring to Moses in the context. "Now the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 'Speak to the children of Israel and say to them: When a man consecrates by a vow,'" now, when you vow to God, it implies, what? It implies a human strength, it implies energy. Now, God wants us, we learned that for the past few weeks, to be conscious of our weakness. All right, but don't stop there. Depend on his almightiness, amen. Praise the Lord. That's where prayer comes in, am I right or not? But if you wanna vow, that's what Israel did at the foot of Mount Sinai. God said, "I'm gonna make you a kingdom of priests," amen, which all of us today are through Christ. We are kings and priests unto God. But that was God's desire even back then.
God told Israel, "I wanna make you a kingdom of priests," but instead, amen, this is what they respond to God in Exodus 19 before Exodus 20 when God gave them the Ten Commandments. Before they heard the Ten Commandments, they told God all that God commands us, we can do it. "Kol asher dabar Adonai na'asah". And it's a very strong word, na'asah means, "We can do it". It is pride. So, for you to presume on your strength, and all the while God brought them out of Egypt when they were in dire bondage, they cried to the Lord. They like, you know, all they can do is cry, all right? And, God responded. God opened up the Red Sea for them, not because they are good, but because he is good, amen. There was no water at the, in the Marah, but God turned the bitter waters into sweet waters, and there God made a covenant of healing with them. "I am the Lord that healeth you".
And there's a secret there, all right? Bitterness leads to sickness. Sweetness, the cross, leads to healing. And then it goes on. God brought water out of the flinty rock. God gave them manna from heaven, and it always preceded with their complaining. So, grace was in action. Complaining is sin, but grace was in action, amen. Where sin increase, grace superabounds, amen. This doesn't encourage you to sin more. When you realize the truth of that and you uncover God's grace, it transforms you, amen. So, it goes on all the way to the foot of Mount Sinai, and now they started feeling smug and self-important, right? They feel like they can do it. "All that God says, we can do".
So, man is vowing to God, and that means, what? God gave them the Ten Commandments, "You shall not, you shall not, you shall not. You do it. You shall... you stop yourself from doing that, you stop yourself from doing that," and they find they can't. For 1,500 years until Jesus came they realized they could not, amen. Until today, actually, I should say. People still think they can keep the law, all right? They cannot. But in Christ the law is fulfilled, amen. In fact, in Christ you do more than the law. The law says, "Thou shall not steal". In Christ, you give. Not only you don't steal, you give, amen. The law says, "Don't commit adultery". In fact, grace gives you the love for your spouse.
So, I can go on and on, telling you it is by no means, right, a life that is less holy, because only grace can bring a holy God and sinful man together. Therefore, grace is the greatest holiness there is. Right smack dab in the middle of the Holy of Holies, which means the greatest holiness, is the Mercy Seat. So, grace is in the center of God's hut. Can I have a good amen? So, when you vow, God says, "Okay, if you want me to assess you by your strength," then God gave them the Ten Commandments. Am I right? So, the Ten Commandments based on natural strength, "You shall not, you shall not". Got it? So, this chapter here before you read, you must know this, all right? I don't want the ladies also to get angry and all that, because you will find that the measurement is all different, because this one is measured to people back then who go to war.
Like, Numbers chapter 1, 14 times it talks about, "Number the men of Israel from this tribe that go forth to war, from this tribe that go forth to war," 14 times that phrase, "Go forth to war," is war mentioned. So, in those days they judge your natural strength by your ability to go to war. Let's go straightaway. Now, "'When a man consecrates by a vow certain persons to the LORD, according to your valuation,'" next one, "'if your valuation is of a male from twenty years old up to sixty years old,'" twenty to sixty, this is the prime of their life, right? "'Then your valuation shall be,'" your valuation, whose valuation? Moses, all right? "'Shall be fifty shekels, according to the shekels of the sanctuary. If it is a female, then your valuation shall be thirty shekels,'" lesser.
Now, before you get angry, ladies, all right, and quote to me Marvel superheroines and all that, right, I just want you to know, this is based on war, all right? So, women are kept away from war, but their capacity is lesser here, because this whole chapter is based on, what? Not on their standing before God. Listen, it's not based on... our standing are all equal. In Christ we are all equally accepted, accepted. We are all forgiven, all of us. We all have that closeness with God in Christ. We are all in Christ. Regardless whether you are male or female, Gentile or Jew, we are all in Christ, so close to God. That is in terms of your standing. This is not about standing. This is about capacity, because you made a vow about man's natural energy, man's natural mental power, okay? Which doesn't go very far, actually. It's a lesson we are all learning every day while we're waiting for our body.
Now, watch this. So, there's a difference. Fifty shekels for those, age male twenty to sixty, female thirty shekels. "'From five years old up to twenty years old, your valuation for a male shall be twenty shekels,'" okay, lesser, all right, for children, am I right? Right, and teenagers, lesser, amen. "'And for a female ten shekels,'" drop down. "'If from a month old up to five years old, then your valuation shall be five shekels, for a female your valuation shall be three shekels of silver.'" Now, watch this, for many of you, you are more concerned for this. "'If from sixty years old and above, if it is a male, then your valuation shall be fifteen shekels.'"
So, from the prime of your life was 50 shekels, all right, you pay to the sanctuary, amen, and this like their annual, tax, okay, in back in those days, but it's to illustrate a truth, so listen to me till the end, and then you will see the beautiful truth that God has for us, and you will also learn at the same time how to teach Leviticus. God put Leviticus there as a compare and contrast, so watch this. Not just compare and contrast. Many a times it unveils Christ in the sacrifices and in the rituals and the ceremonies. So, here it says, "'If from sixty years old and above, it's a male, then your valuation shall be fifteen shekels.'" So, this is old age, the onset. This is what the world says. The world says when you're 60 and above, you are in your declining years. Okay, "'For a female ten shekels,'" drop down. "'But if he is too poor to pay your valuation, then he shall present himself before the LORD.'"
So, don't forget, all these things has to got to do with, what? Natural capacity, natural energy, mental powers without God's strength and all that. If you wanna go by that, in other words, you wanna go by the law, the Lord spoke to Moses. That's why I said in the beginning, the Lord spoke to Moses. It was to Moses that God spoke, right? And what did God say? All right, this is your valuation. If the law... the law is natural. You shall not, you shall not, it's all natural. Doesn't impact supernatural health. The law demands, grace supplies. Are you listening, people? So, finally you say, "But I cannot, Lord, I cannot. I'm just too poor. I can't even pay the valuation".
So, Moses represents the law. Then you go to the priests. If you are too poor, "'If he's too poor to pay your valuation, then he shall present himself before the priest, the priest shall set a value for him,'" and, you know, his only ability is to say, "I am too poor". So, if you are too poor, you present yourself before the priest. Who is the priest today? Jesus. Don't present yourself to Moses. Moses cannot descend to your level. The law cannot descend to your level. You have to go up higher. If you find you fall short, you are too poor, you cannot ascend higher, if you are a poor man, you cannot stand before Moses. You can always fall back into the arms of the priest, 'cause the priest represents grace.
Come on, the priest represents grace, amen. The first mention of priests in the Bible was Melchizedek, the priest of the Most High God bringing bread and wine, not demanding, but supplying, amen. Priests represents grace. Can I have a good amen? All right, so, you cannot, you are too poor to stand before Moses. Fall back into the arms of the priest. And the priest shall set a value. It doesn't even tell you the value, because when the priest set a value, man, I'm telling you, your value is higher than 50 shekels in the prime, amen.