Joseph Prince - Indisputable Proof That God Is For You

TOPICS: Christmas

Merry Christmas to one and all, okay? To your families, from my family to yours. I'm so glad you've come. And for those of you who are here for the first time, a blessed welcome. You are in to smack dab right into the favor of God, amen. And while the Word is going forth, as I share what God has placed on my heart, I believe the blessings of God will overtake you, and it will overtake you in such a way that you don't even know of. 'Til all of a sudden you find that, "Wow, I don't know why but the pain is no more," amen? "That depression that I have felt for a month or so, is now lifted. I feel I'm free". I believe where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom, and that freedom is about to happen to you, amen.

You see, we don't believe that God is a God who looks at our situation from afar, amen? There is a song that goes like this: "From a distance" you know, "God is watching..." No, our God is not from a distance. The Christmas message is the message that he came down, amen, to be so close with us that his name is called, besides Jesus, his name is also Immanuel. Immanuel is Hebrew for "God is with us," amen. So let's read this portion of Scripture. Every time Christmas comes, we read this portion to remind us of that wonderful gift that God gave us 2000 years ago, but that gift stands before us here today, ready to meet you at the point of your need, amen? Matthew chapter 1: "Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed," betrothed means engaged, "to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit".

So, he's born of a virgin, amen. So none of the father's blood and medically, it's now proven, that the baby does not receive anything from the father, amen, or even from the mother in terms of her blood. Her placenta brings in nourishment, amen, takes away the waste from the baby, but does not minister her blood into him, amen? So Jesus does not have any of Mary's blood that has sin. "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God". So the virgin birth is so that God's Son can come into the world in human flesh but without sinful blood. And why is blood important? Because the Bible says: "Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness. Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins". "Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example," this is so beautiful. He must be really in love with her. Imagine you were engaged to a girl and the girl says, "I'm pregnant". And says, "The angel told me that I'll be the mother of the Messiah," and you'll say, "Yeah, sure," amen?

And don't forget, this is the first time it's ever happened, right? But the Bible says that he was not wanting to make her a public example. In those days they would stone someone like that. "Was minded to put her away secretly. But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream". I find it very fascinating that every time we think about the things of God, amen, God gives us an answer. So, because you have come today to just enjoy the purpose of Christmas, amen, perhaps you are here because your family member invited you, perhaps a colleague invited you, but whatever the reason is, I believe that your steps were ordered of the Lord. God meant for you to be here at this time. You were meant to be here to hear the Word, the glad tidings, the love of God for you. That you will know in your heart before you leave this place that "I am not alone," amen?

This same God who spoke to Joseph, he is speaking to me. Whether God will send an angel to speak to you, whether he'll speak to you in your sleep, in your dreams, or most likely, amen, even because you are here, he will speak to you in this message, amen? You are hearing God. And whenever you hear God, your ways prosper, amen. So he is not willing to make a public example, "But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, 'Joseph, son of David...'" he's from the line of David the king, notice that? Both Mary and Joseph came from the line of King David. Remember David, the one who killed Goliath? He became king. That boy became king. And from him, came the lineage. He has one son called Solomon. From Solomon came Joseph, the husband of Mary. From the other son, Nathan, came Mary.

So, in a way, both were from the royal stock, amen. Jesus was born. That's why when he was born, the Bible says: "Where is he..." The wise men ask, "Where is he born, the King of the Jews"? You see, most princes, royal family, they are born "Prince". They are not born "King". They are born heir apparent. Only one was born "King". And the wise men asked, "Where is he born, King of the Jews," amen. He's not the heir apparent. So he came straight and Joseph saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus". Say "Jesus". That name "Jesus" from the Hebrew, Yeshua, means "He will save". He will save you from your sins.

Your biggest problem is your sins, my sins. Our sins have caused a barrier between us and God, a God who wants to help us, a God who wants to come into our life, invade our life with his favor, his goodness, his blessings, his mercy. But he cannot because there's a barrier of sin, amen. But he will save his people from their sins, amen? And it goes on to say: "So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet," Prophet Isaiah, "saying: 'Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,'" say "Immanuel". See, you're speaking Hebrew already, amen? You're speaking Hebrew. When you say "Immanuel," it's Hebrew, "imm" means "with us". "El," if your name is Samuel, Joel, "El" is the name of God, Elohim, El Shaddai. El is the mighty God, amen. So when you put "imm," with us, "God, the mighty God," the mighty God is now with us, amen. What a message of hope.

Now, some people are afraid, "If God is with me, I don't want him to look at all my sins and judge me, and punish me". That's the natural, you know, disposition that most of the people in the world have towards God. They think that God is out to get them, they think God is out to punish them. No, my friend, God is for you. Another meaning of the word "God is with us," is that he's with us favorably, therefore, God is for us. I want to read one more Scripture and then we're gonna see what God has for us in this particular Christmastime. I think God will prepare us, starting from today, amen, whatever happens, what are we gonna say to these things? Already, we know that we are stepping into a more dangerous time. And that doesn't surprise us because the Bible says in the book of Timothy that perilous times shall come in the last days. Jesus warned us there'll be famines, there'll be all kinds of pandemic, there'll be all kinds of plagues, amen, and already we just came out of one.

And you say that, "Pastor Prince, plagues have happened down through the years". Yeah, but in a global scale like this? Never like this, in a global scale, where new measures are introduced that were never introduced before, amen? New ways of doing things. So we are definitely stepping into a new world. Would you say, "Amen"? So Jesus says, "Plagues, wars". Literally, wars. We are the generation that saw, I mean, maybe we are born after that, but I'm just saying that we are post generation of World War I in the early 1900s, and then World War II in the 1940s. We are that generation who live outside the... so Jesus says: "Nation will rise against nation". These are the signs. Not that these things are caused by God. God does not do these things. God created a world that is perfect, but sin came in.

When man sinned against God, God says, "Okay, now your sin will bring forth these things". God wanted... see, like, people say, you know, a child says, "You burn my finger". Tell the parent, "You burn my finger". No, the child put his finger into the fire. Fire burns. So you cannot say the parent, the father, burned the child's finger. The father says, "Don't touch the fire. Fire burns". So you put your finger into the fire, it burns, right? So God says to man, "The day that you sin, you will surely die". Die inside first, spiritually, because you are a spirit being. All of us, we are spirit being, amen? If I die right now, which won't happen, don't worry, amen, I will be stepping out of my body but you can't see me anymore, amen? I will look at the body and I'll say, "Whoa, quite a good-looking guy, hallelujah". Yeah, okay, no "Amen," praise God. Don't blame you all, amen? But I cannot communicate with you anymore, why? My vocal cords, as part of my body, is all down there. But I'm alive. I'm alive, amen, because the real me is the soul, the spirit, amen? I just stepped out of my house.

So when God made man, God made man like him. The Bible says: "In the image of God created he him". God is a spirit, and God made man a spirit. A spirit brought forth everything that's material and physical in this universe, amen. Therefore, the things that are physical are temporal, right? This platform I stand on, the chair that you sit on, it's all temporal. You can see it, you can touch it, it's temporal. For the people of the world, "If I can see it, I can touch it, it's eternal, it's real, it's so real". No, nothing is more real than spirit. The spirit brought forth. God, who is a spirit, brought forth the material, amen? So everything starts with the spirit. You wanna change something in the physical, you gotta change it in the spirit. That's where prayer starts. And then we see the healing. That's where prayer starts, in the spirit. And then we see the physical manifestation of it, amen? Praise God.

We're getting things right today. So you're not here by chance. God brought you here. So, God is with us and God is for us. Never were there three little words that mean so much, amen, "God is for us". God for us. Say it. Now say, "God for us". Now say, "God for us," not against us. He is for us. He is for you. He's not against you. He's on your side. Now say, "God for us, for me". Say, "God for me". He's not against you; he's for you. Ooh, he is for you. So but you say, "But Pastor Prince..." let's read the verse, first, eh? Romans 8:31: "What then shall we say to these things"? Even all these things that's coming forth, right, the recession, like we have never seen it. Guess what? The experts are predicting it's gonna happen. We are stepping into that year. "What then shall we say to these things"?

My friend, if God be for us, who can be against us? And this word "Who" is from the Greek word "ti," which is used 200 times over in the New Testament as "What". Only 100-over times as "Who". It can be who or what, depending on the context. So we can say: "If God be for us, if God be for me, what can be against me? Recession? Disease? My guilt, my sins? Satan"? If God be for me, it covers everything, every exigencies of life, everything that we'll need for time and eternity. If God is for me and not against me, I can rest. I'm loved, I'm taken care of.

"But Pastor Prince, the question is that I can't say for sure God is for me. In the midst of all this celebration, I see you all celebrating and singing all these beautiful Christmas carols, and all that, but I know it's a season of joy and peace on earth, like your theme this year is 'Perfect Peace,' but I don't have that perfect peace. In the midst of all this, there's an emptiness inside me. I'm going through a depression, a lot of people may not even know where I'm at. My own family might not even know I'm going through. Even the recent thoughts I had".

But there is a God who knows all your thoughts. He knows your down-rising and uprising, he knows your thoughts, the Bible says, even the most intimate thoughts that you think of, that you don't even think of, that you're not even cognizant of, God knows it. God loves you more than you know. "Pastor Prince, you talk about God being for me, I cannot receive that. Why would God be for me? He is for Christians, he's for all of you, but he's not for me. Why would he be for me? I have rebelled against him, I have sinned against him. I don't even acknowledge him. I have blasphemed his name in times past. Why would God be for me"? You know why God is for you? Would you like me to give the proof?

Proof number one, Christmas story. Proof number one is the gift of his Son. God is for you. God didn't wait for man to behave and then he gave his Son. God gave you his Son in spite of the fact that you were rebelling, you were going your merry way, amen, breaking all his commandments, amen, not even cognizant of him, not acknowledging him, didn't even pray to him. In fact, blaspheming his name. "I don't care, amen, about God or things of God". God loved you. In all those moments, God loved you, amen. God's love is not turned off by your sin. In fact, because of your sin, God sent his Son. The gift of his Son is the Gift of unconditional love and grace.

So this, the gospel of grace, this good news of grace. "What is grace, Pastor Prince"? The Bible says the law was given by Moses. The Ten Commandments was given by Moses. An example, the Ten Commandments says: "Thou shall not have any other gods before me, thou shall not commit adultery, thou shall not murder, thou shall honor your father and mother," you shall not even desire to possess what other people have. Don't desire their wife, don't desire their house, don't desire their riches. But we do that every time now with TikTok, in our social media. I mean, they bring the world into your room, right? Into your privacy and you're always admiring and coveting what other people have, amen. The life that I want. See, all of us have broken the Ten Commandments. If not in deeds, in our thoughts. Jesus says if you hate someone, you have committed murder, so how many of you have lied?

The Bible says: "Don't lie. Thou shall not bear false witness". Don't lie. Put up your hands, you have never lied. You just did, amen? So all of us have broken the Ten Commandments. So the Bible says the law was given by Moses, but watch this. Moses lived before Jesus and he is not the Son of God, he's the servant of God, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Son that he loved, amen. And Christmas is about the gift of his Son, amen? He gave us his Son. So what came with Jesus? Grace and truth. True grace. "What is grace, Pastor Prince"? Grace is unearned, undeserved favor from God. I have a friend who is now one of the leaders, key leaders, in my church. At one time, he didn't come to church regularly. He was out there with his friends, out there in the world, and he had a bondage to alcohol, okay? He was drinking, drinking, almost every night. He told me that sometimes he can't even make his way home. He doesn't even know how he got home.

So one day, as... he likes to play squash. He said that, just like that, he sat down, resting after he'd played squash, and just like the presence of God, the sweet presence of the Lord, came over him and all of a sudden the desire to drink alcohol was taken from him. And he came to church, amen. And he started attending regularly, praise the Lord. Now, attending church don't make you a Christian any more than going into McDonald's (free promo) make you a Big Mac, going into a garage don't make you a car. But if you are a believer, amen, you believe on Christ, you will go to church, amen. And not just on Christmas, hallelujah, amen? But every Sunday, praise God. So, the law was given by a servant, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. And grace is unearned, undeserved favor from God. So my friend just experienced, you know, just the favor of God come on him. He didn't have to do anything. He didn't have to follow a course of discipline. He didn't have to strive to obey God in this area. It's the grace of God. And the Christian life is a life of grace, amen.

"Well, God helps those who help themselves". Bah, wrong. You will never find that in the Bible. That is not quoted at all from the Bible, amen. The truth is... if the truth is known, God help those who are helpless. The problem is that we don't think we are helpless enough, so we go through, you know, the mountain, making the same mistakes, bumping into the same wall and bruising ourselves and still not learning and going around again, amen, doing the things that doesn't satisfy and we know it doesn't satisfy, but keep on going back to it again. And our soul is hungry. The more we do it, the hungrier we become because only Jesus can satisfy, amen? So if God is for us, what can we say about all the problems that's gonna happen this coming year, not to worry, God is for you. If God is for us, it says what? "If God is for us, who or what can be against us"? The idea is that no sin, no guilt, Satan himself, amen, or whatever vicissitudes or challenges, it cannot be successfully against us.

"Pastor Prince, like I say, I'm not part of the 'us.' I cannot say 'God is for me.'" My friend, you are part of us because God gave you his Son. And this verse here, John 3:16 says: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son". I love that little Word, "so". It speaks of intensity of love. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son". A bell is not a bell 'til you ring it. A song is not a song until you sing it. Love is not love until you give it, amen. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son.

A boy attended Sunday School one time and he memorized this verse. It's the most memorized verse of all, most famous verse of all, amen. If ever you wonder why it's John 3:16, here you have it, amen? "For God so loved the world". And I believe the Lord has made it such that the world is familiar at least, they are cognizant of, John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son". So this small boy says, he memorized wrongly. He came home. Said, "Where's your memory verse"? the mother asked. "For God so loved the world that He gave us his forgotten Son". But in a way, old English, "Only begotten, one and only," but in a way at the cross he was forgotten. And we'll see why he was forgotten, right? The gift, that proof that God is for you, not against you, is the gift of his Son, Jesus Christ, amen? "For God so loved the world that He gave us His only begotten Son, that whosoever..." Are you in the "whosoever"? "Believes in Him should not perish," in hell, "but have everlasting life". And your life begins now, right into eternity in heaven with God, amen. And all is required is I believed.

Now, if you say you're not part of the "us," God is for us, "Pastor Prince, I don't think I'm part of the 'us.' I'm not part of you all," then think of this. You're not part of the world. Are you part of the world? Because God so loved the world. Unless you are from a different sphere of being, you are from another planet, you can qualify or tell me, prove to me that you're not part of the world, then you can say that this love of God doesn't apply to me. God loves you. You are in that world. "For God so loved the world". You can put your name there. God loves you. You are there, you are part of the world, unless you can prove to me. You say that "the love of God does not apply to me, Pastor Prince, because I'm not part of the world". No, "For God so loved the world". That's proof number one that God is for you. And why did he send his Son?

This is proof number two. The death of his Son, and his Son died under his hand. Let me explain. The bible says: "Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins". The Bible says that in Hebrews: "Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness". You see, from the beginning when Adam and Eve sinned against God, right, God was the first one to offer a sin sacrifice, involving a lamb, all right? The Bible says: "God clothed Adam and Eve with skins". That means God was the first one to kill the lambs. And God provided coats of skin because when they sinned against God, the first thing is that they reacted against God, they say, "Wow, I have sinned," and they realized they were naked. But actually, when God made man, man is not naked in the way you think. Man was covered with the glory of God, amen? But when men sinned, poof, the glory of God disappeared.

And that's the glory of God that radiates out of man and that causes all the animal kingdom to obey God, even the dinosaurs at that time and all the mammoths, all the large animals would obey Adam and Eve, just by the spoken word, because they had the glory of God. And the Bible says: "When man sinned, man forfeited the glory of God". It disappeared, poom. Then they realized they were naked, vulnerable. And sometimes, some of us feel that way. Even today, you know, we feel naked, we feel vulnerable. We feel unprotected, unsure. We feel insecure. But then God did something for man. Man covered himself, you know what? Man covered himself with salad dressing. The Bible says they covered themselves with the leaves of the fig, the fig tree at the time. And they covered them and, by the way, if you've been to Israel, you'll know the fig leaves are really big, so it can cover. So they made dressing out of fig leaves and they covered themself. So it's a bloodless sacrifice. There's no shedding of blood with leaves.

And that's not enough to cover your sin. God wanna show them how drastic sin is. With sin there comes death. So God killed, God was the first one to kill animals, amen, as a substitute for man's sin. The innocent die for the guilty, the just for the unjust. The one that didn't sin carries the sin of the one who is guilty. So, God was the first one to demonstrate that, amen, and God killed the animal and there's blood, isn't it? When God covered Adam and Eve, it's like covering them with blood. Because without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness, amen? And now, the provision, the clothing is secure, sure, and eternal. Why? Because it is from God's own hands. If God provides, it is sure. If God provides your covering, it is eternal because God is eternal. If God provides you a covering, it's complete. It cannot be more complete than what God provides. If man provides, it's never complete. If God provides, it's perfect.

So they have a perfect standing before God and it's all grace. Man didn't have to earn it. God gave it to man. But all this is a picture of his Son that he will send to die on the cross. He is the true Lamb of God, and that's why when he made his public appearance, John the Baptist, the last prophet of the Old Testament, pointed to Jesus and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world," amen. So, Jesus came down, this Christmas story. First of all, we know God is for us because of the gift of his Son and then we know God is for us because his Son came for the sole purpose to die on that cross for our sins. Remember, we are the guilty ones. And we try to cover our sins with our good works, amen.

So we do as many good works as we can, but the Bible says: "By grace, by God's grace, are you saved through faith and that not of yourself. It is the gift of God, lest anyone should boast". If it's by your own morality, it's by your works, by your own performance, you have something to boast, right? But none of our performance, none of our morality, none of our good works, can ever reach God's standard. So, if we can't reach God, God can come down. That's why the law was given by Moses. You can give from a distance. You can send money from a distance. You can give from a distance. But when you come down, it's personal. Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ, amen? Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

So, by the law none of us can be justified by doing good. None of us can be well. None of us can be at peace. None of us can become whole. None of us can have, you know, this freedom from depression with a peace that passes all human understanding, and the joy unspeakable that God gives us. None of us can have all that by our own efforts, by our own morality. So we get as many toys as possible, right? He who dies with the most toys wins. And then we find that having all those toys... I'm talking about adults, huh? Doesn't really satisfy. And a lot of rich people in the world, all right, who spend all their health in the early years of their life to get all the wealth, all right? Midlife, somewhere later on when they have all the wealth, they use all their wealth to get back the health that they have lost. I don't wanna live that kind of lifestyle.

Does that mean that God doesn't care about our provisions? No, my friend, listen. "The Lord is my shepherd," the most famous Psalm is "The Lord is my shepherd; I will not lack". When God leads you, he will not lack. One of the beautiful things about Jesus is that you never see Jesus making people poor. He's always enriching people. You know, a boy gave him five loaf and two fish at one time. There was a need, there was a physical need. The people were, 5,000 people, 5,000 men, counting women and children: probably 10-, 15,000. But the Bible says there's only five loaves and two fish, and he took it and he thanked God and he multiplied to feed all of them until they were full, amen. They stopped the supply. When they said they were full, the supply stopped. Even when the supply stopped, there were 12 basketful left over. Your God, the God who is for you, the God who gave his Son, the God who slew his Son and sent on that cross, it was our sins but God, he died under the hand of God because he became our substitute. This same God provided for all our needs.

And that's how Jesus demonstrated God. Jesus says, "If you have seen me, you have seen the Father". And so what is Jesus like? Is he going around making people poor? No, he's enriching them, amen? He goes around opening the eyes of the blind, unstopping deaf ears. Never one time did Jesus look at a leper and say, "It's God's will for you to be sick. Remain sick". Never one time did he look at a guy who was healthy and say, "Come over here, you're too healthy. You need to learn some lesson. Now, receive leprosy". Never one time. You know, these are teachings that religious Christianity has gone into a little bit of religiosity in this, and down through the years which are man's teaching, not the Bible. Read the Bible for yourself. Jesus said, "He who has seen me has seen the Father". And he's always healing. He always goes about doing good, healing all that were oppressed of the devil.

Now, he didn't heal everyone in Israel, but he healed everyone that came to him. Difference. God is for you? Yes, he is for you. Because on that cross, the Bible says, the one who did no sin, the only perfect man that ever lived, went to that cross. And on that cross, the Bible says, it was while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. There on that cross, he became chargeable with all our sins, with all our rebellion, and all our guilt. It's as if he took your place. Remember, the lamb that was killed? Back in those days, after God were the first one to sacrifice a lamb, then God institutes something for Israel, his nation, to come to him every time they sin, they'll bring an innocent lamb, a picture of Jesus Christ, his Son, who is to come. And then the guilty one, watch this, will lay hands on the lamb, the innocent lamb. So I'm the guilty one, right? So I lay my hands on the lamb. That is a picture of transfer of my sins. I transfer my sins into the innocent lamb. The innocent lamb did nothing wrong, right? But received. Received my guilt, received my sins, with all its judgment.

Now, the priests will kill the lamb and put him on the altar, amen? And because the just died for the unjust, the innocent dies for the guilty, amen, because he took my place. When I laid hands on the lamb, in a way, something called an identification takes place. In other words, the lamb is identified with my sins. The lamb becomes liable, becomes chargeable with all my guilt. Are you with me so far? Amen, and all the... by the way, there's another way also, in reverse, all the lamb's innocence and the lamb's justification, righteousness, is now transferred to the sinner, to the guilty sinner. So the sinner's sins goes into the lamb, the lamb's righteousness goes into the sinner. The lamb don't deserve the judgment, the sinner don't deserve the righteousness. The lamb doesn't deserve to be killed, the sinner doesn't deserve to go free. But when the lamb is placed on the altar, and the judgment falls on the lamb, the fire goes up, the Bible says: "God accepts the sinner".

Because he's accepted... you know the word "instead" in our English word, "instead"? It is the word "In the stead of, in the place of," amen? In the place of the lamb. So all that the lamb deserve... watch this. All that I deserve because of my sins, I deserve what? Wrath, righteous wrath and punishment from God. I deserve it, amen? It falls, it should fall on me, right? But because I lay my hands on the lamb, it falls on the lamb. And all that the lamb deserves, all the favor, the blessings, the goodness, amen, the good life, because Jesus says, "I come that you might have life and have it more abundantly," all the good life comes on me, because I receive the lamb's righteousness.

You say, "But Pastor Prince, you don't deserve it". You're right. The lamb doesn't deserve to die, I don't deserve to have this good life. It's called grace. Unearned, undeserved favor. Say "grace". Whose name is Grace here? Right in front of me, amen? You're amazing. Amen, this is what's so amazing about Grace. Are you with me so far? So, on that cross, Jesus, the true lamb of God, became liable, became chargeable with all our sins. You know, God is like on that cross, you believe on Christ, it's like you're putting your hands on the true Lamb of God and all your sins are transferred to the Lamb of God, all your guilt is transferred to the Lamb of God. He became as if he's you on that cross. Literally, that's how God sees him. He becomes, the innocent becomes the guilty, and the Bible says: "God made him who knew no sin to be sin for us on that cross that we, who know no righteousness," right standing with God, "might be made the righteousness of God in him," hallelujah! Hallelujah means praise the Lord. Say, "Hallelujah," amen. Praise the Lord.

God is for you. God is for you. God is the one that initiated the solution, not man. And what a solution that came on Christmas, amen? So, first of all, God is for you because why? You're part of the world that God loved, amen? "God so loved you that he gave his only begotten Son". The first proof: the gift of his Son, which is why we celebrate Christmas. He's the only perfect life that ever lived. I cannot die for your sins, you cannot die for my sins, because we both have sin in our blood. But he did, amen?

Number two proof. Second proof that we adduce is the death of his Son. His Son died for us, amen? And he died under the hand of God. The whole thing is not like he was, you know, some people got him and then arrested him and then put him on the cross, all right? They murdered him. No such thing. In fact, when they came to arrest him in the Garden, the Bible says he stepped forward, he didn't hide in the Garden of Gethsemane. When they came forward to arrest him, he stepped forward to meet them. I love it, amen. And you know what he says? "Whom seek ye"? And they said, "We seek Jesus of Nazareth". He says, "I am". When he said, "I am," they all fell backwards. The captors became his captivity, all right? Became his captives. All of them on the ground, pinned on the ground by the power of God. And he waited for them to get up to arrest him. And he says, "You have found me; let my disciples go". See, none can take his life. One time, Jesus says, "No man take my life from me. I lay down my life and I pick it up again," which he did at the Resurrection, which we shall presently come to, amen.

So, friend, we have the gift of his Son, we have the death of his Son, and now we come to the third proof: the raising of his Son, hallelujah. What a wonderful, wonderful thing. And never before in history, Jesus... God did raise people from the dead, only for them to die again in the Old Testament, amen? There are a few instances of that. But he is the one who rose from the dead in a new body, never to die again, amen. In Israel today, all right, if you go for... we have trips to Israel, you can go to the empty tomb. It is still empty. I met a boy recently who just left Israel. He was there, part of the group that was there, and I ask him, "Do you go to the tomb"? He looked at me with big eyes. "It is still empty," amen.

So proof number three that God is for you is that he raised his Son from the dead. "But what does that mean to me, Pastor Prince? He is God's Son. Of course, he will raise him from the dead". The Bible says God did not raise him from the dead because he is God's Son. That he always is. He's always God's Son, amen. "Well, God raised him because his life is a perfect life". No, without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins. Listen, my friend. If Jesus lived on earth in Israel, if he grew up, right, came Christmas Day, Christmas celebration, he was a baby, he grew up, we know he lived a perfect life, all his prayers, all his tears, all his good deeds, all his miracles, and his perfect life, if he live all that life and then he says, "I'm going home," he'll just go up without going to the cross. But will we be saved? No. Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins.

You see, that tells us if you can be saved by morality, if you can be saved by good works, then Jesus's death is the most foolish thing that can ever happen. No, my friend, there's no other way. That's why Jesus said... in English, you all know what "the" is, definite article. He says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but by me". And he had to go by the way of the cross because he loved us, and God loved us. He came to die. You see, the reason why he was wrapped in swaddling cloths and put in a manger, a stone manger, by the way, not a wooden manger. A stone manger. If you go to Israel, the empty tomb that we talked about just now, all right. The empty tomb is made like a stone. It's a stone tomb, and it's exactly the way the baby would look when Mary placed him. He was born to die. He's the only baby born to die. The gift of God's love for sinning mankind, for a rebellious people, amen? For people who have no heart for him, is to send his Son to die for their sins.

So we have proof number one, the gift of his Son. Then proof number two, amen, the death of his Son. Now we come to the third one, "The Raising of his Son". Like I said, God did not raise him because, you know like, most people think, "Well, he's God's Son". Some Christians even think that because, you know, he live a perfect life, God is obligated to raise him. No, my friend. That he always is, he live a perfect life, yes, amen. No other lived like he lived. Amen, and he is God's Son. "Blessed be that truth forevermore, amen". But that's not the reason God raised him. The Bible says this is the reason. In Romans 4: "Now it was written for Abraham's sake that righteousness was imputed to him". Say, "righteousness". Righteousness means right standing with God, amen? With all the blessings of the righteous falling on you. Chock full of his favor, amen? Praise the Lord.

So, righteousness was not imputed for Abraham's sake but it was imputed to him, but also for us, "It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who," what? "Gave his Son"? Not here. Doesn't say that. Believe on him who bruised his Son? No, "who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead". What is it about believing that God raised his Son from the dead that would have righteousness imputed to us? Do you see that? Righteousness would be "imputed to us also who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead. Jesus was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification". He was delivered to the cross because of our offenses. And he was raised because of our justification. Let me say... now, I like the Young's translation of this. He brings out the great, the last part. "Jesus was raised up because of our being declared righteous," by God. God declared us righteous.

When God declared you righteous, God raised his Son from the dead, as a testimony. God didn't raise his Son because he is his Son. God didn't raise his Son because he lived the perfect life. God raised his Son because you have been declared righteous. Now, think for a while. Just a few days ago on that cross, he became chargeable. The self-same one became chargeable with all our sins and all our guilt, right? Now, he's raised from the dead by God because we are declared righteous. But whose sins did he carry at the cross? Ours. So if he became liable, he became our substitute, amen, and God treated him like he was us, sinning, right? Then how come on the third day, God can raise him from the dead? It must be, now listen carefully. This is so precious. This is a soul-tranquilizing truth. Listen carefully. This will bring peace to your heart. That means all your sins, he has so completely, so perfectly removed all your sins and your guilt and your judgment that God can raise him from the dead because God declares you righteous.

Don't forget, he went to the cross because of our sins, and now he is raised because of our being declared righteous. So, where is he now? Bodily, where is he now? There at the Father's right hand. The Bible says he rose from the dead, and he's now back with the Father, at the Father's right hand, in the center of the universe. Amen? Praise the Lord. And one day he will come for us, physically. We do not know when. The Bible calls that event the harpazo, the snatching away, amen. He's going to bring us up, and the last part of the promise will be fulfilled. The last part of the promise, the last enemy to be put under his feet is death, physical death. Then there'll be no more growing old, no more having disease, no more having old people, sickness, and pains, and all that, none of that. You'll have a brand-new body like Jesus' body, a body that will never, ever grow old, never decay, never die. Whew. Amen. You're not going to float in heaven.

It's not like you come to my mansion, you float in, say, "Hey, Pastor Prince, hark all the herald angels sing, wow". You know? Then another one start floating in, into my room, you know? And like a ghost floating in the air. "Last Christmas you gave me". The very next day, don't know what happened. You gave it away. You know, it's not like that. We'll have a body in heaven. You and I can shake hands. The only thing is that our body will never feel bored again. Our body cannot experience depression, nor can it grow old, nor can it die. And that's why the Bible says the last enemy to be put under his feet is death, and that's why also God raised him from the dead, because that death, to God, is an enemy. And why did death come in? Why did pain from the fire come in for the child? Because of sin. Sin, the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen? Are you with me so far?

So, think about it. Why is he there? Why did God raise him from the dead? That means all my sins that just a few days ago, at the cross he was guilty for, he was in my place, now I see him in my place being raised. It's as if God raised me. And if the truth is known, spiritually, God has raised us from the dead. That's being born again. Are you with me so far? Okay, one more truth, and then we'll close. Amen? Turn to your neighbor and say, "Praise God, he's closing". And for those who are in our church, they know this is a miracle. But there are those who say, "It might be his first close". No, I'll try my best to make this the final close. Hey, very bad are you, huh?

Okay, the final proof. So, we have proof number one, the gift of his Son; proof number two, the death of his Son; proof number three, the raising of his Son; proof number four, the descent of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. The Bible says, "When the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place". This is right after Jesus rose from the dead, and he went back to be with the Father physically. And where is the one who bore our sins at the cross, who was cursed at the cross, who was condemned at the cross? There he is at the Father's right hand, crowned with glory and honor upon his sacred brow. Hallelujah! Amen. Never again to suffer, never again to face judgment. And as he is, so are you, the Bible says. He is there as you. Ooh, you can understand that, it gonna blow your mind. He is not there as Jesus the Son of God. He is there as you. Just as he was at the cross as you, paying for your sins. He is now representing you in the Father's right hand.

In a very low way, in a very small way, not a good illustration, but it helps people understand, your representative for your constituency, right, in the parliament represents you. He is not there for himself. He is there for you. If he fails, you fail. If he succeeds, you succeed. You follow what I'm saying so far? So, Jesus is there at the Father's right hand for you. And you know what? He's for you. God is for you. Amen. Why didn't he just let us perish in our guilt? Why didn't God just let us perish in our guilt? Why send his Son? Why not let us all descend into everlasting hell, which we all richly deserve because of our sins? Why send his Son? Why bruise his Son at the cross for our sins? Why raise his Son? Because God loves you. God loves you, my friend. Don't you ever forget that. Don't you ever say, "No one loves me". God loves you. Amen?

So, on the day of Pentecost... the last close, right, I told you. Proof number 4, the descent of the Holy Spirit. So, "When the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting". The Holy Spirit is filling them. Amen? "Then there appeared to them divided tongues, like fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit, the Holy Spirit gave them the utterance. And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language". And this word "language" is very precious in the Greek. It is dialektos, which is where we get our English word dialect, dialect, in our own dialect. "We heard them speak..."

People from all the nations were in Jerusalem at that time, from all nations. They were there, amen, and each one heard them speak, when the Holy Spirit filled the apostles, filled the disciples of Jesus, they heard them, they heard Jesus... sorry. They heard the disciples speak in their own dialect. You know what's dialect, their own dialect? You know what's their own dialect? It is the first language you hear in your infant ears when your mother whispers sweet love. You see, the Holy Spirit don't come to confine himself to one language. When he came, he came speaking in different language, each one in their own dialect. You see, the law, when the law was given, the Ten Commandments, it was given on Mount Sinai, only God confined himself to one language, Hebrew. All the Ten Commandments was uttered in Hebrew to the nation of Israel. Amen. And the words were, "You shall not, you shall not, or you will die. You shall not, or you'll be punished. You shall not, you shall not, you shall not". And sinful man says, "I can't help but... I cannot not but not, even in my thoughts".

And God knew that. God knew no one can come to that standard, amen? So, God gave his Son. Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Are you listening? But when grace and truth came, amen, it came not confined to one language. It was in different language, very personal, in their own dialect, so that each one can hear the glad tidings of peace and accomplish redemption in their own mother tongue. They were in different nations. "Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, 'Look, are not all these who speak, the disciples, Galileans? How is it that we hear each in our own language in which we were born?'" You see, not just in our own language, in which we were born, it's a very intimate language. So, when God wants to bring the message of the gift of his Son, the death of his Son, and what he has accomplished, and the raising of his Son, the Holy Spirit chose language that is most intimate with men. Do you know why? Why? Why, why all this? So that you will not missed out on his love, so that you will understand.

So, the devil's thing is this: the Bible is very complicated. It's for smart people up there and all that. It's for all those pastors. And no, no, no, no, no, no. If the truth is known, most pastors (at least me) is not very smart. But one thing I'm smart is that I know who to follow, who is perfect wisdom. So, I just follow him. Amen? And whenever I follow him, he always brings me into green pastures, beside the still waters. He prospers my way. The only time I don't prosper is when I don't listen to him and I don't follow him. That's why I told you I'm not very smart. Never do that. I'm only as smart as I follow him. So, the great things in life doesn't happen to people because they are smart, but because they are at the right time and the right place. No one can put themself at the right, at the right place. To avoid tragedy, I don't care how smart you are. You need God to be at the right time at the right place. Amen?

So, the Holy Spirit's coming is a sign that God wants to proclaim, by the power of the Holy Spirit, the good news that Christ died for our sins and was raised from the dead for our justification. Good news? Very good news, amen. So, the Bible says people in different languages. Look at all the nations represented here. Parthians, Medes, Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, all the way down. Look at this in verse 11. "Cretans and Arabs, we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God". The wonderful works of God. When God gave the law, "Thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not lie, thou shalt not commit adultery, honor your father and mother," and when God said all that, listen, it was the works of men, puny works of men, which men cannot accomplish. When God came proclaiming grace, it was all about his wonderful works, that we are just to believe on. Amen.

See, God, the Holy Spirit did not speak to the Jews in Greek. He did not speak to the Greeks in Latin. He did not speak to the Arabs in Cantonese. They heard the good news in their own tongue. Why all this? Why didn't God just let us perish in our sins? "I don't care about God. I'm having my own merry way". Boom. No one likes to attend a funeral, but even the reality is true. A hundred years from now, not a single one of us will be alive, and yet we boast. We are proud. Friend, let this be the year, amen, that we start it right by being right with God. Why did God give us his Son? Why not just let us perish in our guilt? Because he loves you. I cannot understand that love. I only have to experience it. All right? And one of those will say, "I need to understand everything before I enjoy it". That's not so true. You know it's not true. You enjoy air conditioning in your house without even knowing fully how it works. All right? Maybe you understand how it works, all right? But not fully. Amen.

So, we don't have to understand everything to enjoy it. We only have to have faith. And that's what the Bible says to us. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. By grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourself. You cannot even save yourself by the law. The law is now antiquated, because grace has come. Amen. It's not about the works of men, the puny works of men. It's about the wonderful works of God, what he did for us at the cross. Amen. And that's the beginning. Once you are right with God, all the blessings of the righteous will come on you. Amen. Are you ready to receive him, to believe on him?

Every head bowed, every eye closed all across this place, and everywhere that's watching this right now. Just give me, just a few moments, just a few moments, amen, to speak to your heart. Friend, first of all, welcome to our Christmas service. But you must know that you are not here by chance. Whether you are watching online or you're here physically present, you must know that God ordained this. Already, he's loving you. He knows what you are going through, and he loves you so. And, friend, this wonderful God gave us his Son, gave us his Son. Even though we have sinned against him, in spite of our sins, he gave us his Son, and his Son died for us on that cross by choice, because there was no other way to save us, and to save us eternally.

So, Jesus died on that cross, bore your sins and my sins and became liable, became chargeable with all our guilt, and God unleashed his judgment and righteous wrath upon his Son. So, all of God's judgment has been exhausted in the body of Jesus Christ, and Jesus' work is so full, so complete, so perfect that God raised his Son from the dead, to declare that that work is finished, truly and completely finished. We cannot add to it with our works, with our morality, with our good intention. We can only accept the free gift, and it's all accomplished. If you would like to receive this gift of God's Son, Jesus Christ, and all that he's done for you, pray this prayer with me, amen, right now. The Holy Spirit is speaking to your heart, and say this out loud from your heart. All of us will pray together. Say:

Heavenly Father, thank you for loving me, and thank you for speaking to me today. Thank you for the gift of your Son, my Lord Jesus Christ. He died on that cross for all my sins. He became liable for all my judgment, and he bore it all, and he bore it so completely that, today, there's no more judgment for me, no more condemnation for me, because Jesus Christ was raised from the dead, because I was declared righteous, declared righteous apart from my works, declared righteous by grace, through faith. Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior, now and forever, in Jesus' name, (and all the people said) amen.

Congratulations, my friend, if you prayed. Praise the Lord. We rejoice with you. If you have prayed that prayer from your heart, Jesus Christ is now your Lord, your Savior. Do you know you're saved? If your heart were to stop beating... don't worry. It won't stop. All right? At least not today. But any time your heart stops beating, you know, you step out of your body. You don't even feel death, because Jesus conquered death. Amen? You will feel so alive, and straight away you are with the Lord. Amen. And one day, when Jesus comes again, you have a brand-new body, and all of us will, also. So, welcome to the abundant life in Christ, amen? Praise the Lord. Know this: all your sins are forgiven, perfectly, for time and eternity. Amen, amen, praise the Lord, hallelujah. This is truly the best Christmas for you, amen.

If you prayed that prayer for the first time, this is truly your first and most blessed Christmas. Amen. Praise the Lord! Stand to your feet. I'm going to dismiss you right now. The miracle really happened, right? Praise the Lord. I believe in blessing the people. You see, the blessing comes because of accomplished redemption. We are not, we are not against God's will in any way. We are in God's will. Amen? And the fact that we are now God's people.

So you know what? All the blessings flow through God's people. All the prosperity and the favor of God, and I'm talking about prosperity of the soul, that can manifest, as well, materially. But when I talk about prosper, it's prosper in all the realms that really matter: yourself and then with your family. I'm believing God that your family will turn around. If there are conflicts there, if there are, you know, the divorce spirit has come in, whatever, hold on, hold on, hold on. Give the Lord a chance. Amen? Praise the Lord. He can turn the whole thing around and turn your mess into a message of grace. Praise the Lord. I just felt like saying that just now. Praise the Lord. Thank you, Lord Jesus, whoever it is for, okay? Lift your hands all across this place.

Throughout this week, the Lord bless you and your families with the blessings of his favor everywhere you go, with the blessings of making all the crooked places in front of you straight, with the blessings of his protection from harm and danger, and from all the power of the evil one, with the blessings of Father Abraham. May you live a long, good, healthy life in Christ. The Lord preserve and protect your loved ones and all that you have from being robbed, from being destroyed. The Lord keep you in all his promises of favor and protection. The Lord lift up his countenance, smile on you throughout this week, grant you his most wonderful peace that passes understanding, and grant you an abundance of grace, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And all the people said...

Don't make this the last time you come to church. Keep on coming, amen? And we have a word from the Lord. God bless you, Merry Christmas!