Joseph Prince - Wisdom For Financial Success
Praise the Lord. You all ready for God's Word? Luke 19, verse 1: "Jesus entered Jericho and made his way through the town". Jericho is known as the city of the curse, ever since Joshua conquered the city, Joshua pronounced a curse upon the city, the entire city. "And there was a man there named Zacchaeus. He was the chief tax collector in the region," not just a tax collector. He was the chief tax collector, "and he had become very rich". Now, you must understand that people who were tax collectors in those days, they collect taxes from their own people for another government. The foreign government at this time was Rome, and Rome was conquering the whole known region in the Middle East at that time of which Israel was part of it.
So the people didn't like Zacchaeus too much because he would collect taxes for them. Not only that, he would bully them, all right, into giving taxes that is not even the proper amount. He would overcharge them, he would overtax them, of which we know later on he mentioned that if he has done that, he will repay the person fourfold. So we know that he has done it. So he was a sinner, a chief sinner, not just a chief tax collector, but he was probably at this time, the Lord has been working on his heart and he's feeling conviction over his sins and he heard that Jesus was coming to town. Now, how many know that our whole entire earth is like a city of the curse? This earth is fallen, people. No matter how we try to improve this earth, it is fallen. And here, Jesus was entering Jericho and he... this city of curse, it's like our world.
Our world is a world of curse. Men sin against God. And God cannot just say, "Well, you sin, you know what? Forget about justice, forget about righteousness. You know what, boys will be boys. Let's sweep everything under the carpet, it's okay, my boy". That is not just. The whole universe will collapse if God is like that. But God is love. But God cannot show love at the expense of justice. And if God just dispense justice, where is the love? But God is love, so God, in his wisdom, made a way when man think there's no way, God sent his Son, Jesus Christ. So Jesus coming to Jericho is like Jesus coming to this earth, amen? God sent his Son. His Son pre-existed with the Father, and he came and took on human flesh and blood. And where did he come to? To the city of the curse, to the world of the curse. And he came to be a blessing. He came loaded down with blessings, hallelujah.
And he came to the city of the curse and the Bible says "he made his way through the town. There was a man there named Zacchaeus. He was the chief tax collector". Look at verse 3: "He tried to get a look at Jesus, but he was too short to see over the crowd". Again, there's the crowd. Sometimes, we are so conscious of the crowd, we don't see Jesus. It is not important what the crowd thinks about you. It's not important how many likes you get on your social media. It's not very important what people say about you. The question is: Can you see Jesus? Because if you can see Jesus, you will see his eyes of love for you. You will see that he's longing for you. You think you are looking for him; he is looking for you, amen?
So here, Zacchaeus was trying to see Jesus. Can you imagine right now? Whenever there's a crowd, there's a lot of noise, a lot of din and bustle and the cacophony of noises in the midst of the crowd. And he's trying to jump over the shoulders of the people to take a look at Jesus, and he can't because, the Bible says, he was short. "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God," all right? So he was trying to... he can't find, so, a way to see Jesus. But he wanted to see Jesus. Whenever you wanna see Jesus, Jesus is looking out for you. The people that come to church, they're not here to see Pastor Mark or Paster Prince, or Pastor Gabriel. They are here to see Jesus. These are just servants that point you to Jesus, but they wanna see Jesus. I know you all, you all wanna see Jesus, and you wanna see Jesus more and more.
Let me tell you something else. The more you wanna see Jesus, the more Jesus wants to see you. There's something about the crowd, amen, in the midst of the cacophony of all the noise and all that, he will look up and he will pay attention to one person who's out to look at him. "But Pastor Prince, all the crowd is trying to see him, right"? No, that's the kind of look that looks to you like it's one thing to look at a person swimming in the sea, but if you are in the sea and you are drowning, and you look for the lifesaver, all right? You look at a lifeguard. The way you look is different. This is looking unto, amen? And Zacchaeus had a look unto, and that kind of look is what brings life. In the Old Testament, when the people were bitten by snakes, and God told Moses to put a bronze serpent on a cross and lift it up, "as many as looked were healed".
Those who looked at their pains, at their wounds, they died. But those who look away from their wounds to the cross to see that bronze serpent, the picture of Jesus becoming sin, will live. Only these people will live, amen? One look for the Savior and you will live. One look and you'll be transformed. One look and you will be healed. This is how the Lord is like. So all the while, Zacchaeus thought he was looking for Jesus. He didn't realize Jesus was looking for him. So he's trying, stand up, you know? And finally, he climb a sycamore tree which is a fig tree, "a sycamore-fig tree beside the road, for Jesus was going to pass that way. When Jesus came by..."
Isn't it interesting that after Adam's sin, the Bible says God said to him... God's first question is, "Where are you, Adam"? And God knew where he was, but God wanted Adam to know he's no more in the same place with God. He's lost, amen. And where was he hiding? Behind a fig tree. "How do you know, Pastor Prince it's a fig tree"? Well, he was wearing fig leaves. And if you look at a fig tree, fig leaves, they have a very huge trunk that slants and you can climb a sycamore or fig tree and their leaves are very huge. Many a times, it has these parts like three part. It's big enough to cover you, bro, not to worry. It's big, really big. And that's what he wore when he realized he was naked. Actually, he wasn't naked to begin with. He was covered with the glory of God, like a golden light radiant, amen. That was his clothing. But when he sinned, poof, the whole thing disappeared and he realized he was naked. He looked for the closest thing and the closest thing was a fig leaf. And he put on fig leaves. He hide.
Here you have Adam hiding behind a fig tree. Here you have Zacchaeus climbing a fig tree to see Jesus, amen. We see the parallel. "And Jesus looked up and Jesus said, 'Zacchaeus!'" I'm gonna use the Hebrew name of Zacchaeus. This is anglicized in the Greek. In the Greek it is Zakkay. "He called him by name. 'Zakkay,' he said. 'Quick, come down! I must be a guest in your home today.'" "Come down! I must be a guest in your home today". As I was studying this, the Lord said to me, "If you will study all my oughts, shoulds, musts, you will establish your heart greatly". So I intend to study on that. Every time Jesus says, for example, "Ought not this woman be loosed"? It means what? It's guaranteed she'll be loosed. But there's something that she did that bring her in that place where the Lord says, "Ought not this woman be loosed from Satan's bond"? And then he says, "I should heal them. If their eyes are open, their ears are open, I should heal them".
So, study the musts and the shoulds. Here, "I must stay at your house today". It seems like before time, God the Father planned that Jesus should stay at the house, because he has looked at Jesus in a way, longing for him. He felt his need for the Savior. He felt the burden of conscience on his sins. He looked to the Lord and he felt like he needed an answer, and the Lord says, "For such a one, I must stay at your house". Isn't it wonderful when you think that, you know, you're inviting him but, actually, he's inviting you. Here is a wonderful case where the guest becomes the host, and what a host he is, to have Jesus come to your house and live with you, amen. To stay with you. He said, "I must come to your house". You know why? Because you have looked to me. I cannot take one more step, Zacchaeus, because you have looked at me for the answer.
You have looked at me to be your Savior. You have looked at me. I cannot take one more step. Just as early on, he can't take one more step when a blind beggar called him, "Jesus, Son of David, Yeshua have mercy on me". He could not take one more step. What is this? What a King that he stands at the disposal of his people with needs. But they look to him. It's not just everyone that has needs, but someone who looks to him. I think today we are filled with people in this house that have a need. They have all kinds of needs, maybe more than one need, but they look to Jesus. There's something about that that makes the Lord, you know, look to you, amen? And here it says that "Jesus called him, 'Zakkay, come down.'" God says, "Adam, where are you"? Here, Jesus says, "Zakkay, come down". Why? Why Zakkay? Why did he call him by his name? Because for many years, all right, he has lived with this name and every time this name is used on him, he felt like he was a hypocrite, he felt that he was a phony. He felt like he's not real. He, you know, not living up to his name because the name "Zakkay" means righteous one, just one.
Do you know that in the courts, Israeli courts, today when someone is declared not guilty, the judge takes the gavel and this is what he does. He hits the gavel and this is what he says: "Zakkay". "Not guilty". Literally, that word "zakkay". Jesus look up and call him by name: "Zakkay, not guilty," in front of everybody. All those people that knew who he was, they knew he was the chief tax collector and Jesus looked at him and said, "Zakkay," not guilty. "Come down," amen? And he came down. Remember this: there was no laws given to him, no Ten Commandments given to him before he comes down, before he was pronounced "Zakkay". It was pure grace. The chapter before this, Luke 18, tells us of a rich young ruler, also a rich man, who came to Jesus and then he says, "Master". A young man, the Bible says. He was a yuppie, he was a young man. He came to Jesus, "What must I do to inherit eternal life"?
Now, notice, the focus. His focus was on himself. He had the selfie generation as well back then. "What must I do to inherit eternal life"? Since you say what must you do, here's the Ten Commandments. Jesus gave some of it: the relationship, you know, honor your father and mother, don't steal, don't kill. You know what he says? "All these I've kept from my youth up," and the Lord look at him. The Bible says: "The Lord loved him. He had compassion for him and he says, 'You know, one thing you lack. Sell all you have and give to the poor and come and follow me.'" By the way, Jesus never tell people, look in the Bible, He never tells anybody else, "Come, sell all you have, follow me". Only to this rich young ruler. Why? Because Jesus detected. Whenever you boast about keeping the Ten Commandments, he'll always say, "One thing you lack".
If your boast is in law-keeping, the law will always bring you to the end of yourself. And the Bible doesn't say if you fail in one, you fail in that one. No, you fail in one of the Ten Commandments, you fail in all. If you steal but you don't kill, you are still seen as a murderer. So, Jesus looked at him and says, "One thing you lack". It was a test. "Sell all you have and give to the poor and come, follow me". The Bible says he looked down and he turned around, he walked away. The first commandment, he boasted in the commandments, "All these I've kept". All these? All? The first commandment says, "Thou shall have no other gods before me," not even money, right? And he walked away. So that's Luke 18. Luke 18, Jesus gave the young man the law and he can hardly give up a dollar. Next chapter, we have Zacchaeus. Jesus gave no law. He looked up and said, "Zakkay," grace given, amen? Salvation in one look. He's now not guilty. "Come down. I must eat at your house". No laws given.
And the Bible says, "Zacchaeus quickly climbed down and took Jesus to his house". How many are glad for the tree? Jesus died on a tree, and it was a tree that Zacchaeus was justified. And he came down "in great excitement and joy. But the people were displeased. 'He has gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner,' they grumbled". People are the same in every generation. They become self-righteous, "Oh, wow, that guy is a greater sinner". How about you? "I'm a little sinner". Or they don't even think they're sinners. There's always somebody else. "Oh, yeah, yeah," and there's no doubt that Zacchaeus is a sinner. There's no doubt, but so are all of us. So are the rest of them who grumble. And they said, "Jesus has gone to eat with a notorious sinner". It's called the scandal of grace. They don't understand grace, amen?
And do you know something about grace? Grace is free. Grace is free. Have you noticed that the people that Jesus healed, he never claimed them for himself? He never claimed them. For example, the widow of Nain's son, after he raised her from the dead, he was probably in his early 20s or late teens, Jesus raised the boy from the dead, and he delivered him to his mother. Blind Bartimaeus, Jesus restored his eyes, and this is what Jesus said: "Go your way. Your faith has saved you," and Jesus walked away, and the Bible said he followed Jesus in the way as if to say, "Even though you told me to go my way", when Jesus heals he doesn't say, "Because I healed you, now you've gotta follow me". "Because I healed you, now you must do this," never. He will never lower grace like that. It's so beautiful.
Sometimes, we don't have to look at the Gospels and think, "Well, what's the example I must follow"? Sometimes, it's not an example for you. It's not about you. It's about looking at Jesus and just adoring. When you look at him, just adore. The adoration will transform you. The Scriptures are for you to see Jesus and adore him. So many times, Jesus, when he heals someone, he never lay claim on the person. He will say, "Go your way". Like the most demoniac, the most demonized man, who was possessed with legion, Jesus said to him, "Go home to your friends". He wanted to be with Jesus. Jesus says, "Go home to your friends". He will never put a price tag or a demand on you just because he has healed you.
"But Pastor Prince, he had followers, didn't he"? Yeah, but he didn't heal them and then use that as a leverage for them to follow him. For them, he didn't heal them. He come to them and say, "Follow me". Come to the fishermen, "Follow me," amen? Mary Magdalene had seven demons cast out of her, but she followed him gladly. And blind Bartimaeus, Jesus said to him, "Go your way. Your faith has made you well". His eyes was restored, and he was a beggar. Jesus walked away and he followed Jesus, love this. He followed Jesus in the way. Jesus said, "Go your way". He says, "My way is your way". That was on his part, because grace is free. Grace is free. You know, when you talk about the rich young ruler and you talk about Zacchaeus, notice both of them got to do with money. People think that, you know, and blind Bartimaeus was a beggar and his story's in between these two stories of rich young, so Jesus came to save those who are rich and to save those who are poor, because the poor needs Jesus and the rich need Jesus.
Many years ago when I was a younger pastor, many years ago, I must tell you, I must confess to you some of my infirmities. I must tell, I actually don't like to spend time with rich people. They will invite me to go out with them or whatever. I don't like to go out with them, I don't like to be in their house, I don't like to be with them. I want to be among the poor. I felt like God called me to be among the poor, and I will go for a mission trip. But when I became a pastor, I still had that little prejudice, I must say, and the Lord corrected me with this story. The Lord says, "Don't forget, they need me as well". And I invited myself to a rich man's home. Poor people, when they steal a watermelon, they steal one watermelon. Rich people, when they steal, they steal the whole truck of watermelons. You know what I'm saying? You get one... So it's not a question. And hey, listen, and there are people who are rich but they're lost. That is a poor man with plenty of money. Everyone needs Jesus. Everyone needs the Lord, amen?
So, I had to repent, I had to change my ways, but again, I still feel comfortable, most of the time I spend, I spend with my pastors. I love spending time with my pastors and my family. "I'll give half my wealth to the poor". Now, look at what happened to Zacchaeus. Look at this, look at this. The people grumble, amen, but Zacchaeus was not listening to their tweet or reading their Instagram, all right? In fact, he would have seen a lot of dislikes, right? But "Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood before the Lord and said, 'I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord.'" Notice he called him "Lord". "I'll give half..." There was no demand on Jesus's part. Just pure grace, and yet he changed his heart. "I'll give half my goods to the poor, and if I have cheated people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much"!
Did Jesus ask that? No, but it affected their finances. Let me tell you this, people. When we are saved, it's gonna affect even our finances. It's gonna affect every area of our lives. And then the Bible says: "Jesus responded, 'Salvation has come to this home today.'" Salvation has a name, people. If he's speaking Hebrew, which he did, he will say, "Yeshua came to this home today, and with him came salvation, healing," amen? "'For this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and save that which was lost.'"
Now, the crowd was listening, continue this. "The crowd was listening to everything Jesus said. And because he was nearing Jerusalem, he told them a story to correct the impression that the Kingdom of God would begin right away". Now, I want to tell you something. This is the last leg of Jesus in his life before he'll be crucified in Jerusalem. Jericho, the city of the curse, to Jerusalem, it's northeast of Jerusalem, is about 18 miles. And it is the lowest place on planet Earth, near the Dead Sea area. And by now, when you go up to Jerusalem, you'll be going up, 18 miles up, and that's why they have the 15 song of degrees of the Psalms, they call it songs of ascension. Fifteen songs of the Psalms as they go up. "Come let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob". Amen? They're going up, amen? When you go down to Jericho, know the parable of the good Samaritan? The men went down, all right?
So, this is Jesus's last leg, and the crowd was following him and they were going to Jerusalem. That'll be his last trip to Jerusalem. And many of them followed him because we know they thought when he reached Jerusalem he'd be riding on a donkey and they would celebrate and they would shout with palm branches and all that, "Hosanna to the Son of David". They fully expected Jesus to take the reins of the throne, amen, and to rule from Jerusalem, to put down the Roman Army and then to establish his kingdom straightaway. What they failed to realize is that his First Coming is to save. We are all waiting for Jesus to come back and this time when he comes back, he's coming back to rule. Many have tried to rule this earth, to rule nations, to rule empires.
You know, scepter after scepter has changed hands all the way. Nebuchadnezzar, all the way to Darius, Ahasuerus, all the way to Marco... not Marco Polo, 'scuse me. Alexander the Great. Marco Polo came out! Alexander the Great, amen. All the way down, but all of them failed until it is in the hands of the Righteous One. The Bible says he will rule with meekness and majesty. He's returning. The kingdom of this world is becoming the kingdom of our God and of his Christ, amen? But they thought it's like, you know, from afar you see two mountain peaks, right? And you think that the mountain peaks from a very far, like Denver, Colorado, where I was, I can see, like, two mountains but from afar, I think that they are just a range. There's just a valley down there. But when I draw nearer, they're actually very deep, deep ravine. They are two separate mountains.
So the Old Testament prophet, they will prophesy something as if it's only one and very nearby, the kingdom and all that. Actually, it's 2000 years apart. His First Coming will be to die for us. When he comes again, he comes again to rule, with all his people, amen? The Rapture will happen first. So, here we have, the people actually followed Jesus to Jerusalem because they thought, "Yeah, he's gonna take over the kingdom and we're gonna be near him". So Jesus shared a story. So, before I share the story with you, I just want you to know that he shared a story because the Bible says: "To correct the impression that the kingdom of God would begin right away".
So what is the story? Let's follow the story right now. "He said, 'A nobleman was called away to a distant empire to be crowned king and then return.'" Now, who is this nobleman who went to a faraway country? Jesus, all right? He'll go, be crowned King, and then return. "Before he left, he called together ten of his servants and divided among them ten pounds of silver". Say, "10 pounds". Now, 1 pound of silver is 3 months' wage. How many months' wage? One pound? Three months' wage. Three months' salary, okay? So he divided 10 pounds among 10 servants, each one has 3 months' salary, 1 pound. And what did he say? "Invest this for me while I'm gone". Straightaway, that tells you he's not gonna become king in Jerusalem just yet. He wants us to invest while he's gone. The Old King James says: "Occupy till I come". He says, "Invest". Invest. Say "Invest". "Till I come".
Now, before we go on, let me just read a story first, okay? Because it's a story that Jesus himself shared. A person who actually has the sorrow and the burden of the cross as a man weighing heavy on him and the father gave him a feast by saving Zacchaeus. There was a feast for him. And then, of all the things he can talk about, he can talk about big, big stuff like resurrection and all that, he talk about how to handle money, whoa. On his last trip. He says, "Each one of the 10 had 1 pound each," okay, 3 months' wage, to invest with, right? Invest. Drop down. "But his people hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, 'We do not want him to be our king.' After he was crowned king, he returned and called in the servants to whom he had given the money. He wanted to find out what their profits were".
I want you to know that every word you are reading is from Jesus. He just opened the eyes of the blind, he just saved Zacchaeus, and in the same breath, the next breath, he starts sharing about this story. So the king came back. The king asked all of them how they invested and what their profits were. And the Bible says: "The first servant reported, 'Master, I invested your money and made ten times the original amount!'" So that 1 pound became 10 pounds, right? "'Well done!' the king exclaimed. 'You are a good servant. You have been faithful with the little I entrusted to you, so you will be governor of ten cities as your reward.'"
Let me tell you this, okay, church? We're all saved, we're all saved by grace. Thank God for that. But our positions in heaven will be different. When Jesus comes and rule on the earth, not just in heaven, sorry. The whole... not just heaven, but the whole earth will be a new heaven, new earth. We'll be ruling on earth. And there'll be those who are ruling over five cities, there'll be those with ten cities. It all depends on their stewardship and based on their faithfulness. Let me explain. Like, let's say a huge conglomerate, all right, the father is very old now and he has five sons. And all are his sons. They're all his sons, compared to the employees. Now, which son would he give the CEO position to, amen? The public of finance, the financial side to? Who will...the ones who are gifted, the ones who have proven faithful in those areas. But they're all his sons, so we're all God's sons. But our faithfulness will determine, amen, when we are good stewards over what he has given us, it will determine our position forever, okay?
"So you'll be governor of ten cities as your reward". So there's the ten. "And the next servant reported, 'Master, I invested your money and I made five times the original amount.' 'Well done!' the king said. 'You will be governor over five cities.'" The next servant came. "But the third servant brought back only the original amount of money and said, 'Master, I hid your money and I kept it safe.'" It is still 1 pound. It is still 1 pound. Kept it safe. "'I was afraid because you are a hard man to deal with.'" Now, is that true? Is the Lord a hard man? Always remember how you see the Lord is how you will steward your money. Whether you be generous or not. How you see the Lord is how you will steward your money, okay?
"'I was afraid because you are a hard man to deal with, taking what isn't yours and harvesting crops you didn't plant,'" the Lord said. "'You wicked servant!' the king roared. 'Your own words condemn you. If you knew that I'm a hard man,'" he didn't say, "I'm a hard man". He's not a hard man. We know that. But, "If you knew that I was a hard man who takes what isn't mine and harvests crops I didn't plant, why didn't you deposit my money in the bank," right? "At least I could have," what? "At least I could have gotten some interest on it". Now, I just wanna show you something. Look up here. In the Lord's mind, putting money in the bank is the least, not the highest. Is the worst. I'm gonna share some wisdom here with all of you. Wisdom shared, while on his way to Jerusalem, he shared this with them.
Now, "Oh, Pastor Prince, it's not about money, Pastor Prince. It's all about faithfulness and..." I know. I know. That is the other, you know, let me show you wisdom. Show them wisdom. Wisdom is this: "Disclose to you the secrets of wisdom". What are the secrets of wisdom? "For true wisdom has two sides": the literal and the spiritual. Yes, for a long time the church talked about spiritual, spiritual, spiritual. But the Lord will not use an immoral illustration to illustrate true riches. He can't use, "A man had ten bunnies and he gave one bunny to one servant". No, the Lord used money, not bunny. So, that is the purpose for this. The Lord wants his people to know how to handle your money. Do you know putting money in the bank for us is our first option. In the Lord's mind, at least, at least, it's the least thing you can do. God wants his people wise. You know, that money you have, God wants you to invest it. "Preach it, Pastor Prince". This is wisdom from the Lord. It's not from me. It's from the Lord.
Now, listen, you say, "Pastor Prince, why do you talk about money"? I didn't; the Lord did. I'm just continuing the story. It's one seamless story, people, all the way from Bartimaeus, the previous chapter, the rich young ruler, Bartimaeus, Zacchaeus, and then straight to this story on the way to Jerusalem. It's something we need to know in these days. Do you know that in your Bible there are five... you can write this down, if you want. In your Bible, there are 500 verses on prayer, 500. But more than 2000 verses on money. Do you know that Jesus, in everything he taught, 15% of all that Jesus taught has got to do with money? How many parables did Jesus teach? Thirty-seven parables. Out of 37 parables, 16 of the 37 parables that he preached has to do with how to deal with money and possessions. Friend, if you think that God is not interested in money, you got another think coming. There's more verses on money than prayer. God wants his people wise.
Now, today, there is a new intimidation. There's a new intimidation, all right? It's almost like, "Don't talk about money in the church. Don't talk about prosperity, don't talk about..." Now, number one, listen carefully. It's because there's also, I confess and I mean there are a lot of con artists, people who manipulate God's people for their own self-aggrandizement, all right? For their own purpose but, listen, doesn't negate the fact the Bible talks a lot about money and how to handle it. We just read one parable, Jesus telling us money in the bank is the least. It's not the first. You've gotta invest that. Husbands and wives, listen. One of the major reason people quarrel is because, when couples quarrel it's because of money. When you think about it, God actually, in my teaching on the Lord's Supper, there's one thing that you notice that I overlook because I want the emphasis to go across because the church has not taught a lot on healing for a long time.
So I emphasize that part. But remember, when God brought the children of Israel out of the Promised Land, sorry, Promised Land. Out of Egypt into the Promised Land, the night he brought them out with the Passover, remember that? Psalms 105, it tells you this: "He brought them out," how? "With silver and gold". There's no way you can change that. Now, my emphasis, everywhere I go I use this verse, I jump straight, "There was none feeble among their tribes". Not one was sick among the 2 to 3 million people. Not one was sick. And that's my emphasis in this trip, wherever I go when I teach on it, amen? But we cannot negate the first part. They came out with silver and gold.
Now, there are teachings whereby people teach prosperity in this way. Listen, these are the ones that you need to watch out for. If they tell you to give $1000 and you will get $100,000 in return, or whatever it is, all right, that is not Bible. That is manipulative. Or to tell you they are selling holy water, okay? You buy this holy water and it must be from them, the holy water. You cannot just take your water anywhere and just pray over it. It must be their water. It's holy water from them, you are listening to a con artist. Unfortunately, these people are around. And because of that, people throw away the baby in the dirty bathwater. Don't do that. God wants you wise. God wants you to leave an inheritance for your children's children. God wants you to be good stewards over your money. God doesn't want the rich people to, sort of like, pull your wool over your eyes and then every time you prosper, "Oh, you're prosperity people," while they themself live in two or three houses and four or five cars and all that. It's hypocrisy.
Church, I'm not asking anything from you. What gives me a moral authority to share this is I don't take a salary from this church, for many years now, by choice, amen. When I first decided not to take a salary, it's because I foresaw the people that would try to, you know, say things and all that, whatever it is, but God told me, "Son, I'll take care of you". But my church was quite sizable then. It was only right that, you know, every pastor gets a salary from their church, amen, plus year-end there's a bonus. Everyone looks forward to that, right? And now I must take zero. I told the Lord, "Lord, is this you"? I told my wife. Now, ladies are more concerned about... right, your, ladies, help me here. Ladies are more concerned about your life, right, you know? Your security and all that. My wife said something very powerful that gave me an extra-heavy burden. She said, "I am with you, darling, provided you hear God". Whoa, I need to hear God.
So I went back to the Lord and I said, "Lord, is this you"? The Lord says, "Yes, don't take a salary. Just go with your IP, your intellectual property, your books and your CDs". But those things, you know, people are not forced to buy it. They wanna buy it, they buy it. And by the way, for those of you who are thinking, "All right, if I really want to sell a lot of my intellectual property, I'll be traveling all the time. Why keep on selling to the same people"? Do you know why? Most of the time in the year you see me here, you know why? Because I love you, amen. I'm trusting God to bless my intellectual property, my books, my CDs, you know. I'm trusting God for that. So when I first started, it was really terrible. The first year was really terrible. Facing seeing my pastors getting their bonuses and I got zero, amen? So today, I am no longer the chairman, I'm no longer on the board, I'm no longer drawing a salary. I'm here as a volunteer, leh, amen?
Now, years ago, when I was a chairman, when I was involved in the church and all that, many years ago, there was an opportunity for us to invest our whatever surplus we had in our church, we were quite small at that time. Whatever surplus we had, we had an opportunity open up to us in Marine Cove. By the way, the name "Marine Cove" was named by Wendy, Marine Cove. So back then, there was no name and all that. We had this plot of land open up and we felt like there's an opportunity and I was having a vacation with my family in Australia and they called me up and said, "Pastor, shall we... what was your... did you pray and ask God, you know," they'd been discussing about this for some time. "Did you pray and ask God, you know"? And I say, "Okay, give me some time and I'll call back again". I prayed and asked God, "God, it gotta be you, Lord. We don't wanna take, you know, the Lord's money and invest in something that's not you," amen. But I asked the Lord, "You've got to speak to me".
That is when the Lord brought, I never heard anyone preach on this, God is my witness. I never heard any teaching, even not just in the church but also outside the church, that says, all right, putting money in, putting your surplus or putting whatever it is, your reserve, in the bank is not the best thing to do. I learn it from Jesus, from this story. So I read that. "At least," is the least thing. It's not the first thing. And yet, we make it the first thing. So I called back and said, "You know what, let's go for it". Then we invested in Marine Cove. Marine Cove brought in the surplus for us to move to The Rock. The Rock gave us the surplus for us to move to The Starpack, amen.
Now, that's how it all started. We were the first in Singapore to have a business arm, as far as I know. And now there are churches following us, all that. It's only for because of the space, our size, the size of our church, we gotta do this because land allotted for churches are very small, for a very small congregation. So we had to do this. But it was the Lord that gave the wisdom from this parable. And people, listen. The Bible says: "Beloved," this is a New Testament verse, "I wish above all things". Think of God talking to you. Some people say, "Oh, this is John talking". Can John say something that is not the will of God and call it scripture? He can say the Holy Spirit through John says, "Beloved," addressing God's child, "I wish above all things that you prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers". "Oh, Pastor Prince, that prosperity there is talking about our spiritual prosperity". No, no, that's covered in the last part: "Even as your soul prospers".
The first part is definitely referring to prosperity. But God doesn't want prosperity to be something for me, myself, "Oh, Jimmy, gimme, gimme, gimme". He doesn't want this me-centeredness, this selfishness, this avarice, which is love of money, greediness. He wants you to be a good steward. God says: "You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth," amen, "that He may establish His covenant". Why does God want to give his people wealth, power to get wealth? "To establish His covenant". So every attack the enemy comes against you, "You cannot prosper, oh, that... you are a... oh, you're a prosperity gospel person, you're a..." It's just to intimidate you. They can prosper, but not you. Unfortunately, sometimes, even the Christian voices, leadership, that comes against prosperity.
Now, understand, if the prosperity that come against is the type that I mentioned just now, all right, the greediness, avarice, money for themselves, then I agree. But the Bible has prosperity with a purpose teaching. You know why God gave Israel, when they left Egypt, they're all healthy and not only that, they're loaded down with gold and silver. You know why? It's not for their own self. It's to build God his tabernacle. And a tabernacle is filled with gold and silver, amen. So today, when your own families, your children, there's no way the poor cannot help the poor. It's your duty to prosper.
"Pastor Prince, I don't believe in prosperity". Now, if you don't believe in the prosperity I talk about where people try to manipulate other people to give to them, to buy their only, their special holy water, like, in my teachings, even in my book, and in all my teachings, I tell people you can take a piece of bread at home, you can take Ribena or some grape juice or some wine and you can have it at home. I never say, "You must buy JP Communion," never. Now, if ever I do that, that's that's what cults do. That's what cults do, people. We don't do that. We don't do that. That is evil, that is wrong. And if, you know, every child of God, listen to me. If you are working in a company, an organization, wherever you are, you're working under a boss, it is your spiritual responsibility even, before God, with the grace and the favor he has given you, to prosper your business, to prosper your boss.
Like Joseph, he prospered Potiphar who was a heathen. He prospered Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who was a heathen. You take time to read your Bible during your working hours, that's not wisdom. That's not a good testimony. But if you shine and you prosper your company and when they ask you, "How do you do it"? Then you mention the Lord, hey, that's glory. And the same wisdom God gave Joseph, God can give it to you. Are you with me, people, amen. "Ah, well, Pastor Prince, I don't believe in prosperity". Then you don't believe in the Singapore's national pledge: "To achieve happiness, prosperity, and progress for our nation". Ah, don't be a hypocrite. Do you mean it or not? Do you want your nation to prosper? Do you want to achieve happiness, prosperity, and progress for your nation? It starts with your family. It starts with your company. It starts with your organization. It starts everywhere, wherever you are, it starts there. Or do you think the national pledge referred to prosperity in a very, very hopeful, kind of emotional, mystical way? No, I think the founding fathers that wrote that, they wrote it to mean prosperity.
Now, God didn't promise to make every believer multi-millionaires, but God promised he'll be your shepherd. You will not lack. He promised he will supply all your needs according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. And to supply your needs means not only your needs, but you must have enough to be a blessing to others. If it's just enough for yourself, like someone, you know, says things like, "Well, I'm just happy with $5000 a month or $7000 a month," whatever amount that makes you happy or whatever. "I'm just satisfied with that". Then you are selfish. Why don't you ask God for double that? Instead of $6000, $7000 a month, why not ask God for $14,000, double that. And then you believe you're happy with $7000, give the other $7000 away. Or else you are just selfish. No, let me tell you this, church. It is our bounden duty to make sure that we leave an inheritance to our children's children.
You know, in heaven, there's no poverty. In all the examples of Jesus in the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, never one time did he make anyone poor. Make people with supply all the time, all the time, amen. He gave 5000 people, through 5 loaves and 2 fish, he multiplied it. Little become much. Much never become little. He never look at someone and say, "Gimme your five loaves". "Okay". "Okay, now you got nothing, right? You don't understand what I'm doing, but I'm teaching you patience, humility". Never one time. At least, give me one example. At least, it should be in the Gospels one place somewhere, right? Or, in the area of healing. The Bible says Jesus went about healing all that were oppressed of the devil, for God was with him. At least give me one place in the Gospels where Jesus looked at someone and said, "Come here. Receive some leprosy. Ah, what I do right now, you don't understand, but one day you will understand". At least, give me one. You can't find it.
Yes, I know there are people still sick. I know there are people who are still sick in the body of Christ, but thank God for everyone who's promoting the truth. Thank God for everyone telling people, "Reach out for your inheritance". Thank God for people reminding the children of God that God wants them to be healthy. Thank God for them. Let's celebrate that and not be angry at people preaching that you can be well, you can be healed. Just like you say, "Pastor Prince, how about those people who are still sick"? I can tell you, "How about those people who are still not saved"? Is it God's will for them not to be saved? Likewise, God's will is not always carried out, is it? We are still learning. In the area of healing, we are still learning. But thank God, you should be praying for your pastor that God gives him more revelation; not criticize, but pray, amen? It's to help your children. If one of your child next time develops an incurable disease, you better thank God that there's a revelation in the house for that child to receive provision.
It's amazing how these people who don't believe in healing, how fast they change their opinion when their child is sick. They will bring, before they even ask God, "Is this your will for my child to be sick"? Never. They bring the child straight away into the hospital. What is God's will, all that, put one side. Maybe God wants your child to suffer this, according to your theory, but no, straightaway they want a Father's heart. Jesus says, "If you fathers, being natural," you know, being evil, "know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more your Father in heaven". It's not complicated. Yes, we are not for the extreme prosperity, you know, the me-centeredness, the greediness, the avarice, the love of money. We are not for that. I hate that. But I feel I got a moral authority because I've given up all these years of salary to speak to you, for your benefit, to learn that putting money in the bank is your last resort, amen? Are you all learning? Is this helping you?
The secrets of wisdom is always double. There's a truth behind the truth. Another thing we did many years ago was when Joseph was a slave in Egypt, Pharaoh had a dream, a double dream, and I'll close with this. He had a dream where he dreamt about 14 cows: 7 fat, 7 very scrawny ones, amen? And then he had another dream where there were seven scrawny grains of head and seven full grains of head and he didn't understand the dream. And then one of his cupbearers remembered that when he was in prison, there was a young man by the name of Joseph. Nice name, I like that name. And he interpreted dreams. So he summoned him and Pharaoh said to him, "I understand you can interpret dreams". He says, "Dreams belong to God". You see the humility? He knows where it comes from: God. And he said, "Tell me your dream".
So the Pharaoh told him the dream, and he told Pharaoh there'd be 7 years. Both dreams are one. They're the same. There'll be 7 years of plenty. The ground will bring forth plentifully. There'll be a rich abundant harvest for 7 years and then there'll come 7 years of famine. By the way, it's documented in Egyptian history: the 7 years of famine. And then he says this... now, this part is not in the dream, but you look at the wisdom of Joseph. He told Pharaoh, "Pharaoh, find an intelligent and wise man to tell your officers to collect one-fifth of the produce during the 7 years of plenty". One-fifth is how many? Twenty percent, right? And he says that "And store it during the good years".
And you know the story. True enough, 7 years of plenty came. They stored the 20% and then 7 years of famine came. They opened up the storehouse and Pharaoh and Egypt became very wealthy because of Joseph's wisdom. Many years ago, when our church was very small, we met at Hotel Grand Central, next door to the massage parlor so all the ushers will be shaking hands with people, smile at them, "Welcome to our church," then they go to the massage parlor. We don't know who is coming to our church. It's a very small place. Back then, finances were also small and I remember reading the story of Joseph and how he set aside one-fifth, 20%. So we decided, and you can ask Sister Jeannie who has been there from that time until now. She's still with the finance company. Finance company! Finance Department in our church. That's Pastor Henry's wife, by the way, and she's brilliant when it come to accounting, amen? She's the one, you know, when she find a missing dollar, glory fills the room, you know what I'm saying? It's like, her delight is to find a missing dollar.
And what little we had, the parable, "Don't put your money in the bank, if you can invest it". And not only that, whatever came in during that time, we had to pay for the rent and all that, but we decided to follow the Joseph principle: 20%, one-fifth, 20%. What little we have, 20%. We know that the first 10% goes to the Lord, the tithe, amen. You can never, never outgive the Lord. And remember, the tithe is not... don't let the people of the world tell you what is a tithe and what's not a tithe. They know nothing. They know it's only 10%. They think it's manipulative and all that. In this church there's no manipulation. It is revelation, amen? Don't know, don't talk, all right? Doesn't belong. Doesn't belong to them. It belongs to the house. We don't ask sinners to tithe. We ask only God's people to tithe, amen?
And all the giving in our church, it's not for sinners. It's not for people outside. It's not a donation. It is worship, for God's people, those who take this, anyway, so we decided to use the principle. Ten percent of our income, general income of our church, we give to the Lord. That means we must give to other churches, other works that's going on. It must go out. That's our practice. Even as a church, we tithe. Back then, don't forget, I was the chairman and I was on the board, and I could make this decision. Nowadays, I don't even come to the office. I don't know what they're doing. I know generally, lah, you know? But I know via Pastor Mark, Pastor Gideon, Pastor Gabriel. I'm not involved. But back then, I was involved and we decided to implement the Joseph principle: 20% set aside, 10% to the Lord, 20%, right? Ten percent to the Lord, ten percent set aside. Set aside, amen.
Yourself, you need to follow this principle. Ten percent to the Lord, ten percent set aside if you can. Listen. Before the years of famine come, before the seasons of famine come, learn to give to the Lord and to pay yourself. Set aside, and you'll be surprised how, you know the verse that says: "The Lord will command his blessing upon your storehouses"? No storehouse, even the blessing come, bless nothing, lah? Nothing is multiplied. Now, people, don't go and work, sit down there. "Whatever I do prosper". Yeah, nothing also prospers. Now, you got more nothing. Go and find a job, do something. The Bible says only when you do something, whatever you do prospers. Can't sit on there, "Whatever I do prosper". Yeah, yeah, nothing also prosper in your life. Wanna find a life partner? Park yourself at the well, and the Bible is always the well, amen? This is a great well.
Okay, I don't wanna get distracted now, c'mon. I don't wanna get distracted. I'll preach another sermon, okay, about finding your life partner. In those days, I preached a sermon called, "How to Find Your Life Partner". Wow, brilliant. You will want to find that message. It's still available. "How to Find Your Life Partner," all right? If you have found your life partner, okay, stay! It's not a time of trying to find the right one. Concentrate on being the right one by his grace, amen? Because whoever you think is out there, that peacock strutting around in your workplace, if you let go of your wife for that person, give you 1, 2 years, you still must put in the same work that you're putting in here. Then what? Don't wanna put in the work. Then look for another peahen.
Now I'll talk about your personal life before I close. What are you doing with that in your bank? Ask God now. Be very careful. I need to give you a caveat: Don't rush for the "Get Rich Quick" scheme, okay? Don't rush for the... ask God for wisdom, ask God where to invest your money for your children and all that. But I'm just saying, the Lord says that putting your money in the bank is the least. At least, at least, okay? But don't get into... and also you wanna do business in church, remember this: do everything in black and white. "Oh, well, he's a brother in Christ". Black and white. I have seen close relationships and friendships break because of money. So just tell them, "Because I love you and we are friends, let's do it properly". Or else, don't lend. "Preach it, Pastor Prince, hallelujah," amen?
And remember, you're gonna rent your house to your friend, "My best friend," and all that kind of thing. I know, I've seen it before, same story. You wanna do it, it's okay, but remember this. One of the best ways to break a friendship and all that is to not have any agreement and then come in together and stay together. Even traveling together, let me just tell you this for holidays. Just remember, before you go, talk to your wife, say that, "We are going for holiday with them, okay? You've got to bite your tongue, I've got to bite my tongue. Remind me, I'll remind you, okay"? I'm telling you, you've got to do this, "Preach it, Pastor Prince, hallelujah, amen," amen.
Is this helping you, amen. I know you get... I'm not saying you cannot go as friends and all that. But just remember, just remember, you see the good, the bad, and the ugly. You wanna eat this and these people wanna go down here. My wife wanna eat down there, but you wanna go down here. You know what? You know, if that's you all, go your own way. One of the best ways to break a friendship. There's a word of wisdom in the book of Proverbs. It says: "Let your foot be seldom in your neighbor's house, lest he grow wary of you and he hate you". You know, it's in the book of Proverbs, the book of wisdom, amen. Don't outwear your welcome, amen. Don't always go to your neighbor's house lest he get wary of you, he get familiar with you, amen? "Why are you saying all this, Pastor Prince"? Because Jesus, on his way to Jerusalem, all right, talked about this parable. Isn't it amazing that the Lord has the presence of mind to even talk about practical things to help his people? And have you been blessed? Give him praise, hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus, amen?
Every head bowed, every eye closed, all across this place right now. Thank you, Father in heaven. We give you praise, glory, and honor. Think about it. Five hundred verses on prayer in the Bible, but over 2000 verses on money. God wants his people to steward the finances he gives them. He doesn't want them greedy, he doesn't want them covetous, he doesn't want them with a love of money, but he wants them filled with the love of God, but use money for his glory. Bless humanity, finance the gospel of Jesus Christ, amen. Invest in materials that give you revelation about Jesus. Use that money and bless your family. Go for a good vacation, amen. Don't always keep it for a sunny day, or a rainy day. The rainy day will come, amen. Use money, love people. Never use people and love money. Every head bowed all across this place.
Father, I thank you for everyone under the sound of my voice and I thank you, Father God, that, oh, how you love them, Father. You know where they're at financially. You know those with financial debt, a huge financial debt. You know those who have made mistakes in the past and that they have over-extended themselves in debt. Father, I'm asking you in Jesus's name, supernaturally cancel the debt. Cancel the debt, Father, in Jesus's name. You are a debt-canceling God. You cancel our debt of sin and you can cancel the debt, Lord, even of your servants in the Old Testament, even Elijah, Lord, and Elisha who had that stick, Lord, that ax, Lord, that was borrowed by one of his men that was lost, but you canceled the debt. You canceled the debt of all your people, Lord. Every time it said, "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want". And I pray in Jesus's name, "Have mercy, Lord, upon the people that are greatly in debt". And I pray in Jesus's name.
Say, "Amen," if you agree. Cancel the debt, Lord, supernaturally in Jesus's name. Mark down this date in Jesus's name. Say, "Lord, I receive it," and mark down this date, okay? Something's gonna happen. It'll be legal, it'll be supernatural, yet legal and yet, out of ordinary. You will see God move in that area. I feel impressed to pray this for you, amen, amen. Amen, amen. If you are here today, my friend, and you're not sure that this God will do things for you, will be for you and not against you, then, friend, you've come to the right place. Christ died for your sins. Christ was raised from the dead when God justified you in him. You see, when Christ hung on the cross, God's justice was met. All the payment for our sin was finished at the cross. Jesus became our substitute. He who knew no sin bore your sins and my sins and he suffered and died under the weight of the condemnation. He cried, "Finished".
And today, there's a finished work, a perfect work, an eternal work, and you cannot add with your temporal and imperfect work, you cannot add to the finished work. It can only be received. The moment you add your effort to it, it's no longer perfect. Friend, Christ died for your sins. It's up to you now to receive what has been given. Jesus says, "Zacchaeus, salvation has come to this house". Salvation has come so near you, even in your mouth and your breath. If you'll confess with your mouth, call Jesus your Savior, your Lord, believe in your heart God raised him from the dead, you shall be saved. If that is you, wherever you are right now, pray this prayer with me. Say:
Father in heaven, I confess with my mouth Christ died for my sins and was raised from the dead for my justification. Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior and I thank you, Father, all my sins have been remitted, sent away. Thank you, Father, I am saved. Salvation has come to my house. Jesus Christ is my Lord. I'm greatly blessed, highly favored, and deeply loved, in Jesus's name, amen.
Stand to your feet, church, amen. If you prayed that prayer, I'm telling you, you are saved. You are gloriously saved. You know what that means? That means whenever your heart stops beating, bang, you're in heaven, and you will realize, "Man, I feel more alive than when I was confined by my mortal flesh". Your sins will never come into the picture again. Forever young, forever healthy, you will live forever with the Lord, amen? There is life after this, and friend, you wanna make sure that salvation is your portion. Lift up your hands all across this place, wherever you're watching this right now.
Friend, this coming week, the Lord himself bless you and your loved ones with the blessings of Deuteronomy 28, with the blessings of Father Abraham. Blessed going in, blessed going out, blessed in all that you touch. Blessed in your workplace, blessed in your storehouses. And I pray in Jesus's name the Lord grant you wisdom to know where and how to invest, that you will not hear the voices of people that are out to get your money in a quick way but, Father, in Jesus's name, grant them the discernment and the wisdom to be at the right place at the right time, hearing the right opportunity with the right investment. And I pray, Father, you will prosper them even with a prosperity with a purpose. And Father, we're not ashamed, Lord, to hear the word "prosperity". We know it is a Bible word. But not prosperity for our own greediness, Lord, and covetousness, Lord, but prosperity to serve you, even as the gold and the silver, the children of Israel was to serve and build the tabernacle, it is to serve you, Lord. To bring glory to your name. Father, protect everyone under the sound of my voice throughout this coming week. Grant your angels to keep charge over them. Keep sickness and disease far from them and prosper their way, Father. Make the crooked places straight. If the enemy has set up something, Lord, against any one of them, I pray to you, foul up, Lord, the plans of the enemy and make the crooked places straight and protect them and their children, their entire family, from every harm, danger, and from the power of the evil one. In Jesus's name, and all the people said, "Amen".