Joseph Prince - The Year of Living In The Upper Room
We got the theme of the year waiting for us, amen? God's Word is always important. It's important to always bring forth the Word of God. Do you know that as the Word of God goes forth people are healed, amen? There are signs and wonders. And sometimes, you know, you go back to your workplace and you find that the condition that was there, that difficult situation turned around, amen. Sometimes you're looking for solutions to difficult problems in your life. And the pastor is preaching from the Word of God, but that scripture passage has got nothing to do with your perplexing situation or a question that you are asking that you want light, you want illumination on it. You want the answer from God, but, you know, it's just illudes you. You can't, you try to think through the problem. You don't know what's the solution.
And then all of a sudden, the message is not related to you, but you know there's a verse in Psalms that says in God's light, we see light, amen? Like, you lose your car key in a dark room, right, you'll have to switch on the light, amen. When you switch on the light, you can see the car key that you lost, but not only the car key, you can see other things. You say, "Hey, I lost that also for some time and I didn't even know I lost it," right? In your light, we see light, even though the sermon might not be pertaining to that area. That's what happens under anointed preaching, amen? I want to go right into the Word, so don't stop me, okay? Praise God. We unleash it in Jesus's name. Okay, just that, at the right time we'll show you the unveil, but, meanwhile, let's go to the Word of God in Mark chapter 14.
Remember last week verse? We're going to show you Mark.. sorry, Acts 20, but Mark 14 will come first, okay? Now, Acts 20, last week we talk about Peter, excuse me, Paul in the upper room preaching, and a young man was there and he was sleeping. He fell asleep. In fact, fell off and died, okay? And the Bible says Paul went down, prayed for him and raised him from the dead, and then Paul went back up. And that's very interesting because I shared with my pastors that the theme of the year is found there actually, all right? So the boy's name is? Eutychus, all right? And Eutychus actually means prosperous or fortunate. It's made of the word which means to hit the mark, success, prosperous, good fortune because the word good is there in the Greek. Eu is good. Eutychus, amen? How to restore eutychus in your life if you have lost it. And we find that he fell asleep at Paul's preaching. We talk about the importance of Paul's preaching, right?
So it's all there. Are you ready? Okay, so Mark 14, "And He", Jesus, "sent out two of His disciples and said to them, 'Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him. Wherever he goes in, say to the master of the house, "The Teacher says, 'Where is the guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?'" Then he will show you a large upper room, furnished and prepared; there make ready for us.'" So Jesus is about to partake of the Lord's, excuse me, Passover, and later on he will institute the Lord's Supper, but he wanted it to be a place that is secretive, why? Because he wants to pour out his heart like never before.
Now, knowing Jesus, he would preach everywhere he goes. We all know the Sermon on the Mount where he preached to his disciples in the hearing of all the multitudes. We know, we think that he preached to the multitudes. Actually, he's preaching to the disciples, if you study the passage carefully, in the hearing of the multitudes. There are many times Jesus preached openly. Why would he want a special place to share his heart, unveil the secrets of his heart? So this year is going to be a year where we hear and look into the secrets of God's heart. He's going to reveal to us, okay? So why would he want to a secret place, why? Because at this time he knew that the Jewish people have rejected him as the Messiah. He came unto his own and his own received him not, but as many as receive him, to them he give power to become sons of God, and these are the ones who believe in him, amen? He wanted to share with them something that he doesn't want others to know. Now, Judas was there. Judas was the one who betrayed him, right?
Had he fixed a place where you know, they would resort to, usually a place where, for example, the Garden of Gethsemane or wherever it is that they often go to, Judas may sound off the soldiers to come to arrest him 'cause by now Judas has decided to sell Jesus off with 30 pieces of silver. So he didn't want anything to disrupt this time with his disciples. It's a very special night. We call it the Last Supper, but it's there the Lord instituted the Lord's Supper, okay? Last week we saw on the first day of the week they came together to break bread. I don't know how the church has forgotten the importance and significance of the Lord's Supper. As a result, we have been robbed. Because, you know, my book "Eating Your Way to Life and Health" is full of testimonies of people who, having the revelation about the Lord's Supper, they partake of it when they've been diagnosed with certain disease or whatever, and they partake of it regularly like medicine. And many of them, the testimonies are all there. And down in our church here we have been sharing these testimonies so often.
Now, you can pray and the Lord can heal you completely in one fell swoop or you can take the Lord's Supper and believe you're getting better and better. Many people, they find that they may not have the faith to believe they are healed all at once, but they can take the Lord's Supper and believe they're getting better, incrementally better as they partake as the days go on. And we have testimonies of people healed of Alzheimer, of conditions that medical science says is impossible. All kinds of conditions, okay? You read that book. But the Lord's Supper primarily was not given to the church just for them to receive healing or to stay healthy, amen?
Although I believe the more you take the Lord's Supper, the younger you become, amen? You'll be strong, you'll be healthy because the Bible says those who fail to discern the Lord's body, not knowing the benefits of it, like the Corinthian church, they were abusing the Lord's Supper, they are missing out on the benefit. They fall under the condemnation of the world. Which is what? Sickness, growing old, and dying, right? That's the thing that came in when Adam sinned, all right? God says he doesn't want his people to fall under that. Are you listening? Because he loves you, amen. So he gave you the Lord's Supper. He says that if you discern correctly, all right, if you discern correctly, guess what? The reverse will happen, amen. You will be strong, you will be healthy, and you will live long, right?
So if you fail to discern the Lord's Supper, it's not that the Lord's Supper brought a curse on people. No, it was given as a blessing. The word is eucharis in the Greek. And the word eu, like I told you, like I told you, pun not intended, all right, is the word good. Charis is grace. So it's good grace that he's giving us in the Lord's Supper, amen. You know, if the doctor tells you, "Okay, you got to go through chemotherapy for this amount of time and all that kind of thing, and it cost this amount. Just to let you know it costs this amount," and you will say, "Okay, go for it, you know. I have to pay. I'll do it," but then you come to this, it's free. Of course, it cost Jesus everything. He gave his life on that cross, but it's free and it's small. It's a piece of bread you partake every day. People despise it.
Remember what Jesus said about the woman who came to ask him for healing for her daughter? She said even the crumbs from the master's table is enough, right? She says even the dogs, the puppies eat the crumbs. She's asking for crumbs. Jesus says, "Woman, great is your faith". He did not despise that. He says that, "You got that revelation that even a crumb can drive that disease, that devil out of your daughter," amen. So when you partake of the Lord's Supper, the most frightening thing for diseases to look at, or the devil to look at, is someone holding the elements of the Lord's Supper. In the early church, they broke it from bread... sorry, from house to house. They broke bread from house to house and whenever they were gathered together.
That tells me it's not just practice in the church, it's practice from house to house, are you listening, because they had such a revelation. But primarily it's not given just for our healing. It was given to remember Jesus, amen. And it's like you have a photo you keep on looking at because you love the person. The Lord wants you to keep on remembering what he did for you, his love for you that sent him to that cross, amen, and he laid down his life, amen? So that is something that we must always remember, that the Lord wants us to emphasize this. So the place where he instituted the Lord's Supper is this one here in the large upper room. Okay, so in other words, it's a secret order he gave to his disciples. "Go into the city, and you will find a man with a pitcher of water, right? He has a pitcher of water. Follow him".
Now, usually in those days women are the one that draw water from the well, okay? The man is out there in the field. They do other jobs. They do carpentry and all that, but women are the ones that go out and take the water, okay? But here he says, "You will see a man, a man with a pitcher of water. Follow him. Follow him, and he'll bring you, wherever he goes in, say to the master of the house, 'The Teacher says, "Where is the guest room in which I may eat the Passover with my disciples"? Then he will show you a large upper room'". And how is it described? Furnished and prepared, all right? "There make ready", so the word "ready" here is from the word "prepared". In other words, you are entering a finished work. This year God will bring you into places where you will eat from vineyards you did not plant. You will... I love this one.
Let me show you Deuteronomy 6. You will live in houses full of all good things which you did not fill. Now, how do you explain that? And listen, God is a just God. He does things legally. He doesn't make you, you know, kick someone out and make you fill in their house. But how do you explain houses full of all good things which you did not fill? This year, get ready. You'll experience things that you didn't work for. Now, some of you are too proud to receive things like this. "I gotta earn it, earn it, sweat it, bleed it," amen? For us, we enjoy the journey because our focus is on the Lord. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you, amen. Our eye is on the Lord, amen, and our efforts are all in the area of serving him. Praise the Lord. So we receive these things. We enter into houses full of all good things.
Now, some of you, all right, you say that, "Wow, he's preaching on prosperity again". I'm preaching God's Word, lah. You can read or not, all right? At least God should say, all right, "I'll bring you to houses full of average staff, okay, so that I teach you to be humble". Time and time again God tells them, "Don't be proud when you have a lot. You shall remember the Lord your God who gives you power to get wealth". That's not the problem. The problem is that they forget the source. Are you listening? But I'll just say it as it is, lah, amen? Because God says he'll bring you to a land where, "into houses full of all good things which you did not fill, with one caveat," God says, "unless property market go up. So I can't do nothing about that". Is there a condition there? No, "I bring you".
If God brings you, you cannot be un-brung. Oi, that's bad English, okay? If God opens the door, no man can shut. If God brings you, you are brought, brother. You are brought! "Full of all good things, which you did not fill," it's not your effort, "hewn-out wells, which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees..." Singaporean, this means food. You can add to it, okay? Rice, pasta, noodles, chicken, rice, or whatever. "Full of vineyards and olive trees," they are in plural, okay, "which you did not plant". It's a finished work. So in Mark 14 it says, "Go to the man with a pitcher of water". If you want to enter into this land, follow the Holy Spirit. And you can say it like the man is not the main thing. He's a pointer.
Now, if you think that I'm talking about this church and all that, okay, listen carefully. I'm just telling you whichever place you find that you are drinking and your thirst, your spiritual thirst, is being quenched, follow that ministry. Follow the man who has a pitcher, the earthen vessel, full of refreshing waters. Don't just follow people with suppositions, theories in their pitcher. They themself have not lived off it, but they promise you follow them, you can be this, you can be that, and all that, but there's no blessing. There's nothing in their lives that's evident to see. Don't live on suppositions. Your life is too precious to live on theories. Maybe so, perhaps so, this person says so. No, God said it. We need to live on a certainty, and only God's Word can give us that. Amen, people?
So follow this man. And it's very intriguing. Follow the man that is following the Lord, is full of the Spirit, he has a pitcher full of water, revelatory Word of God, 'cause the water is a picture of God's Word. So this man, this unnamed man, he's not the important thing. That's why he's unnamed, amen. So whoever it is, just remember, amen, whichever ministry it is, amen, the man is not the important thing, but make sure that his pitcher has water, refreshing water, and make sure he's going in the right direction, amen. He's bringing you to the houses full of all good things which you did not fill, wells you did not dig, olive yards and vineyards you did not plant, the finished work, the blessing of God. So Jesus says, "Follow that man. He'll bring you to a place". Obviously, a secret place that Judas himself will not know, amen?
And there's not enough time for Judas to warrant the arrest. He wanted this night to be a special night where he uncover his heart. So more of this. So he says, "When you enter the house, when you enter the house, ask the master of the house, 'Where is the guest chamber?'" Now, the guest chamber is actually a small room. It's just a room. It's a guest room. Literally a guest room. The Lord actually asked for a guest room, but the man gave him a large upper room. The Lord prophesied, the Lord foresaw, that this man will be a generous man. He only asked for a guest chamber. He got the large upper room, okay? And this large upper room forevermore is marked with the favor and the blessing of God. It's marked with eternity 'cause every time we think about the upper room we think about all the things that happened down there, amen?
So he says, "He will show you a large upper room, furnished and prepared". Furnished means everything you need is there and is prepared. "There make ready", like I said, the word "ready" there is also the word "prepared". In other words, our Christian life is just prepare, we still prepare, but our preparation is preparing what is prepared. We are furnishing what has been furnished, amen. Are you with me so far? And this upper room became the place where he shared the secrets of his heart. And this is found in chapter 13, 14, 15, 16. It's called the last discourse of our Lord Jesus. Some call it the farewell address of our Lord Jesus, some call it the night in the upper room, but no one calls it the Sermon on the Mount. They call another sermon the Sermon on the Mount, which actually is a sermon on a mountain in Galilee. But do you know that this upper room is actually on Mount Zion?
So what is the difference? It's a higher mountain than the mountain... many of you have been to Israel. You've been to the mountain where Jesus preached to the disciples in the hearing of the multitude and you actually know it's a hill. But Mount Zion is a mountain on the range of Mount Moriah. And when you go to the upper room, you're going even higher. And after he finished the discourse in John chapter 13s, 14, 15, 16, he went up even higher and prayed the high priestly prayer in John 17. And we get to eavesdrop in that prayer. It's where his secrets of his heart is revealed because in these four chapters (13, 14, 15, 16) we actually hear the Lord sharing things about the church, present-day truths where Paul would preach the fullness of it in all his letters.
Like I said last week, I am not saying that Paul's ministry is above Peter and John or Jude. No, Peter, John, and Jude, their ministry is indispensable, their episodes are also necessary, but God has put a special honor on the apostle Paul and his writings where he says that, "The word that you receive from me is not my word. I'm so glad that you see that. I thank God that you see that, that the word you receive from me is not my word, but as it is in truth the Word of God which effectively works in you that believed". And the word "effective" talks about power, divine energy, amen. This year we're going to be supernatural, okay? Now, he says a large upper room. And later on in that upper room is where he instituted the Lord's Supper. That's the first time the Lord instituted the Lord's Supper.
Now, some people say Judas was there. If you read carefully, there's a Passover supper because they were celebrating the Passover that week, but he was instituting the Lord's Supper. The Lord's Supper is nothing to do with the Passover supper. So Judas wasn't there. Before he instituted the Lord's Supper, Judas went out, okay? So there's something here you need to know. The Lord's Supper is something only for his family. The world cannot understand. Don't go and tell your friends, you know, "Do Lord's supper," if they're not believers. It's meant only for believers, amen, for us to observe, okay? So up there for the first time we learn about the Rapture. He tells us he's coming back for the church. Look up here. Your number one concern besides the fact that, you know, you need to be saved is actually your health. It's not money, you know?
"I want to buy the next car". All of a sudden, doctor tell you you got only 3 months to live. "No, I still want the car". I think your priorities will change, amen. You know, whatever it is, you are believing for a house, and doctor says you got 1 month to live, the house is forgotten, amen. Everything changes. What happens there? The priorities changes and your family becomes precious. Time with them become precious. Amen, I'm not telling you to think that you going to die and then appreciate your family, but it's good for you to think in the death and resurrection way. Imagine your child is now back to you, back from the dead. Let's say, you know, a child that has died, and the parents, you know, nothing is more heartbreaking than seeing parents go through the death of a child. But imagine your child has died, but now he is back with you, raised from the dead. How would you feel?
Treat your child like that now, your child as death and resurrected. I'm speaking about mysteries I know, but it's all from the upper room, the secrets of Jesus's heart being revealed, the last discourse of our Lord. You know the last words are always very important? Before someone pass on, right, they will share their last words, right, if they get a chance to. It's very important, uppermost in the heart. Yeah, people know the Sermon on the Mount, then the sermon on this Mount Zion. So they call it the last discourse or farewell address. It's a sermon on the highest mountain in Jerusalem, amen. On Mount Zion, what happened, people? Within these two is there a difference? There is a difference.
Now, I'm going to say this very fast and very quickly, and in the weeks to come I'll explain, okay? But a lot of people think that Sermon on the Mount is directly spoken to the Christian. Let me tell you this. The Sermon on the Mount is Jesus on earth preaching to his disciples who believe on him, but they are Jewish disciples, and it's also Jewish in nature, a lot of it, okay? It's the way the Jewish people think. He talks about the law. You can call the Sermon on the Mount a new edition of the law. "You have heard that thou shalt not commit adultery, but I say to you if you give a woman that eye, all right, you commit adultery in your heart. In other words, you commit adultery in your heart. You have sinned. If you hate someone, okay, you have murdered him".
So all of sudden he gave a new edition of the law. So we cannot even live under the law, okay? Now, a new edition has come, okay? So in other words, he is actually bringing people to the end of themself. He says your eye offend you, pluck it out, throw it away. People say, "No. Pastor Prince, I believe that you must keep every word in the Sermon on the Mount". Jesus said your eye offend you, pluck it out, or you need help, then throw it away. Your hand offend you, cut it off. Come on. He said all this just after he said don't commit adultery. He says your eye and your hand offend you, cut it off, it's better for you to enter heaven with one arm less. We all know that won't happen.
So what is he saying? He's saying either you obey completely or you need a Savior, because just saying, "I do my best," it's not enough. The Ten Commandment, God gave the Ten Commandments. God says, "You must keep all". Doesn't say, "If you break one, I understand. You do your best with the rest, okay"? No. The Bible says that if you break one you're guilty of all. It's like the link of a chain. You cannot just say one part of the chain is broken; it's okay. No. It's all come unglued. It's no more a proper working chain if one part is broken. So the Bible says if you don't keep the law, you come under the curse of the law. So guess what? All of us are under the curse of the law if we are under law. The Bible doesn't say you try your best to keep it, then if you break it you're under the curse. No. It says that the moment you take your stand on trying to keep the law, you're under the curse.
What is God doing? What is God saying? Cut off your hand, pluck out your eyes if they offend you. He's saying he's been drastic to prove a point. We need a Savior. And the church, those who say we must keep every word in the Sermon on the Mount, they themself don't do that. They don't pluck out their eyeball, they don't cut off their hand, or else the church will look like a huge amputation ward. They don't do it. Amen. So I'm not putting down the Sermon on the Mount. It's sublime. It is the laws of the King when he came and he... Where do you find it? For the most part in Matthew compared to Luke. And that's where you find the Lord's Prayer as well.
Uh-oh, you say, "Pastor Prince, you are touching the Lord's Prayer". Listen. I pray the Lord's Prayer, I got no problem with that, but I know where I interpret it in the light of the new covenant, okay? For example, the Lord's Prayer says, "Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us". You know what you're saying, or not? "God, forgive me the way I forgive others". You are finished. I've seen the way you forgive others. Literally, forgive us as we forgive others, and then don't forgive us if we don't forgive others. It's there. It's implied, right? But then Paul wrote in Colossians and Paul wrote in Ephesians, he says, "Forgive, even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you".
Now, your motive has changed. You need to know how forgiven you are, and then you'll forgive others easily and freely because you know you have been forgiven. It's because this part is so sorely lacking in its preaching, the part where we're all forgiven of all our sins, that we don't see forgiving people in the body of Christ today. We are still preaching from the Sermon on the Mount, which is meant to bring you to the end of yourself, but a lot of things, listen, a lot of things in the Sermon on the Mount is still carried over into the church truths. For example, overcome evil with good, love your enemies. Amen? All that. Don't worry about tomorrow, amen, don't worry about your life. All that is brought over into the New Covenant, yes, but primarily the whole thing is the King has come, presented himself to Israel. He is the King of Israel, and he was rejected. You understand?
So that was the loss of his kingdom. Had they received Jesus, do you know the whole world would be like paradise on earth? But they rejected him. He had to come to them first because they are the covenant people. Okay, that's another teaching. And I wish that one time we'll do a proper teaching on that, then we can understand the end times. So he was rejected. Now, the church was not in the picture yet. It's a mystery. And what is the church? It is not star-performing arts center. The church is not concrete block. It's not a building. It's not a wooden hut even. It is a meeting of God's people together. Jew and Gentile, that's the church, okay? And if you talk about church truths or heavenly truths for today's living, for earthly living, then you look at what Jesus said in the upper room, that should be the Sermon on the Mount, amen, because every word he says there is spoken to the church, is spoken to you. It applies today. Are you with me so far? You understand?
For example, he said this: "I have many things to say to you, but you're not yet able, but when the Holy Spirit is come, He will guide you into... I still have many things to say". After 3 1/2 years, even after he preached the Sermon on the Mount, he's preaching things that are what? Simple to bring them to the end of themselves. In other words, Sermon on the Mount is not solid meat, is not the meat of the teaching of God's Word, is not the place where he revealed. Why? He's talking to natural people. Even though they are disciples, they are not yet born again because the Holy Spirit has not yet come. That's why Judas did not lose his salvation. Judas was a disciple, but not filled with the Holy Spirit. Neither the rest of the 11 were filled with the Holy Spirit. They were only filled when Jesus rose from the dead and he breathed on them and they were baptized on the day of Pentecost. Follow what I'm saying? Are you with me so far?
They were disciples following Jesus, but they were not born-again sons of God. So at the end in the upper room, Jesus says, "You know, I have many things to say to you, but you're not able to take them, you're not able to bear them now, but when the Holy Spirit is come, He will guide you into all truth". And I believe he is making an allusion also to Paul's ministry because Paul's words are not Paul's words. Paul's words are the words of the ascended, glorified Christ who is sitting at the Father's right hand. Are you listening? Amen? Even Jesus taught the disciples to pray like this. The Lord's Prayer, he says, "Our Father who art in heaven".
Notice there is a distance. In Paul's letters it's never our Father who art in heaven, it is Father. When Jesus addressed him, Jesus didn't say, "My Father in heaven". He says Father. Straight away is not a absent from his presence. Oh, you are on earth, and he is in heaven. Why? Because the secret of the upper room is this. It's a picture of the third heaven where God's throne is. And you know something? We are all there. I said we are all there. It's a family feeling. Let me show you this in Ephesians 2. Are y'all enjoying this? All right, if you're going to endure it, never mind. Jesus understand. He says you cannot bear them now. Just keep on coming. Keep on coming, okay? We'll help you as time goes on, and you will grow and grow. A lot of things I didn't understand also. Amen.
So he says in Ephesians 2, now, Paul is writing. And his words are from who? Christ. The ascended Christ. A lot of people argue, you know, Matthew, Mark, the Synoptic Gospels are the words of Jesus and all that and we must take them. And listen. Some things he says there are for the Jews, some is for disciples, and a lot of things, they're not able to endure yet like church truths, heavenly truths, truths of sonship, the mystery of the church. They were not able to handle it. You understand or not? It's not a competition between Jesus's words in red in the Synoptic Gospels and Paul's words in the letters. No. It's Jesus. It's the same Jesus, except this is the earthly Jesus when he was on earth and this is the ascended Christ, his words for us today. Today.
So I believe this year God wants you spending more time in the Pauline Epistles. Write that somewhere. That's what he specific told me to tell you. Because in the upper room, all that Jesus shared are actually what Paul would expound on. So what Jesus shared is what you call the truths in germ form. It's all there. For example, he says things like, "I have many things to say to you". Right? We covered that. He also said this: "Up till now you have asked nothing in my name". Drop down in chapter 16. We'll go back to Ephesians 2 in a while. He says, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give it to you. Until now", until now. Until now. "Even I taught you the Lord's Prayer in the Sermon on the Mount, even though I taught you the Lord's Prayer because you asked me, 'Teach us how to pray like John taught his disciples,' even though I taught you the Lord's Prayer which is perfect and beautiful for its time".
At that time the sonship the feeling of sonship haven't come yet. The spirit of sonship rather. Are you listening? All right? So he was introducing them the Father, yet there was a distance. So he says, "Our Father who art in heaven". But after that, there's no Father in heaven. We are seated... go back to that again, okay? Come on. Go back to that. "God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us..." Let me stop this right here and just tell you this. You might not even know, my friend, regardless of how much you have failed, how much you think you have sinned against God, how much your life has fallen into disuse, you feel like, "You know, it's all just a waste. God doesn't want anything to do with me," remember these words. His love for you is not just a love, it's a great love. And for all your failures, notice what God is wealthy in, rich in... mercy.
Mercy is not for perfect people. No room in church for perfect people. Sorry. Says another imperfect person, "I knew it. I knew it". So you are perfect, don't join us, okay? There's no mercy for you. Mercy is for those who fail. And all the people said? "Amen". "God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses..." You see, my friend, it's not like, "Oh, we sin against God," you know, we sin here, we sin there. "That guy sin more than me, or his sin is terrible, or oh, that lady down there, she became a prostitute. Now, mine is, you know, I got small, small sins here and there". God doesn't measure sins. You know what's wrong with both of you? Dead. Spiritually, you are cut off from God. Talking about the real you, not your body. You are dead. You are a spirit. You live in a body. You better realize that. The real you, dead.
You know, in a mortuary, imagine you pass by, you see a guy who is lying down there dead and another guy lying down there dead. That person is a tramp, what you call a person who has no house. You know, some people call them just a person live off the street, right? He's topless, okay, down there, and down here he has the latest... okay, whatever it is, the most expensive, and he's down there, all right? Both of them are there. One looks really nice, dignified. The guy looks topless down there, okay? This guy looks healthy, you know, slim. The guy, wow, there's a mountain there, you know. He's laying down there. I got good news for you, okay? Both are dead. Why is it good news? Because both can do with a resurrection. But when you think you're not dead, you cannot use the resurrection. Amen? Actually the truth is that everyone is dead. You see?
So Jesus didn't come to make bad people good. He came to make dead people come alive, resurrect the dead. We're going to see a lot this year. There's going to be a lot of salvation this year. This year. I can't wait, but I feel like sharing with you as much as I can. Okay, let's go on. So when we were dead in trespasses, His love for us, it made us alive together with Christ, by grace you have been saved, and he raised us up together, up, up, up from the grave, up, up far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named not only in this world but also in that which is to come.
In other place in the Bible it tells us that. And he made us to sit together where? In the third heaven where God is. We have the atmospheric heaven. That's the first heaven, all right, the atmosphere we see. We can see the clouds, all that. That's the first heaven. Then beyond that is the galaxies and the universe, all right? That's the second heaven. Beyond that is a heaven that's dazzling beautifully, beautifully constructed, and God is the Creator, and God lives there. His throne is there. That Paul himself says, "I was caught up to the third heaven". That's where he gets his revelation for the church. Now, that third heaven is a picture of the upper room.
.See, the Upper Room is upper because it doesn't touch earth. All that is natural, you see. You're trying to get your counsel from the ungodly, you cannot be blessed. You know, the ungodly will tell you this. They'll tell you that. They'll tell you this. They'll tell you that. For example, all right, Jesus says if a child asks a father for an egg, will he give him a stone? If you know how to give good things, stop. Jesus says egg is a good thing. Today, you go on YouTube... I'm just giving an example here of worldly wisdom. Some say, "It's good". Some say, "Too high cholesterol". Some say, "This cholesterol is good, lah".
Some say... okay. He didn't say eat 20 eggs a day. He said if your child asks you for an egg, one egg, as a father, will you give him a stone? No, if you know how to give good things... so if Jesus says it's a good thing, it's a good thing, all right? Then later on they dispute, dispute, dispute. Some say, "Meat! You must eat meat, nothing but meat". Some say, "No, you must eat veggie". All right? Lots of veggie. Do you know the world is confused, very confused? And I know of Christians who follow them and they end up confused. I look at them and I feel confused. There's so much so-called wisdom and counsel out there. You know that? "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly".
Look at what the Bible says about it. The Bible says olive oil, good, right? So I'm showing you the simple, natural, practical things that's also in the Bible. The Bible say it's good, it's good. The Bible say it's bad, it's bad, amen. So God has raised us up, up, up, up and made us sit together with him in the heavenly places in Christ. So actually can I say this? You are royalty. You are royalty. You know, there's a verse in the Bible, I wish I put it up there, from the New English Bible, which brings out the accurate Greek part here. In your King James it says, "I appointed you a kingdom". But in the New English Bible, it cannot be Jesus appoint us a kingdom because we are brought into his kingdom. We don't have a kingdom of our own, amen? But you know what it says actually?
The first translation in the Greek of the word kingdom there, it should not be kingdom, it should be kingship. So what Jesus says to his disciples is this. In Luke 22 he says, "I vest in you kingship as my Father vested in me". All sons and daughters of God are vested with kingship. Are you listening? That's why when you say something, "Disease, come out in the name of Jesus," you got to use the name of Jesus because you are operating under the authority of Christ, right? But notice your words. God does what you say and not until you say it. Have you noticed that? That is kingship. Where the word of a king is, there is power. But this original plan of God, God made man not just to stay in the garden. God made man in... what did God say, God's first words to man? Let them have dominion over the earth, not just the garden, over the earth. Subdue, control.
And God has not forgotten his original plan, and that's why we receive the gift of righteousness and the abundance of grace. We reign! The Greek word there is basilio, to reign like a king. Amplified says to reign as a king. Amplified Bible. Reign as kings in life, amen. We'll learn more this year, amen, about our kingship. But do you realize you're seated with Christ on the throne? And for those who can receive this, this is actually the fulfillment of the mystery of verse 1 of Psalms 91, the psalm of protection, where it says no evil will befall you, no plague will come near your dwelling, because why? You are seated with Christ. You are seated.
Do you know the first verse, "He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty," you know what it says? Number one, he who dwells in the secret place. What secret place? Back then it was a secret place 'cause no one can be there. Today it's no secret place for us. And the word "he who dwells," yashav in Hebrew, is literally the word "sit". Literally, he who sits in the secret place, all the protection of God is on him even though he's living on earth. We need his protection. There'll be wars and more wars. I shared that. In our last summary of the year video, we showed you wars and more wars, which I said early in the year. Remember that? There are some things God shows you and you don't want to tell the entire church because it causes problems. If God tells you, for example, all right, that place is about to be robbed, some things, that's why he told me.
"God, why didn't you tell me, Lord, about some things"? He tell me this: "I'm protecting you". If I tell you that there's going to be a work of terror in this place and you tell the authorities and really after one week later it happen down there you'll be summoned. "How did you know"? Some things I don't tell you to protect you. I say, for example, "Why, Lord", you know, there's going to be a theft in this place. And I want to tell you things about yourself. "When you seek my face as my son, as my child, I'll tell you". Some things are not meant, what I'm sharing with you about the theme of the year is not meant for the world. You understand?
By the way, don't think that this sermon covers everything. How to? I got to send you off early so you won't get angry when there's a car in front of you and a car behind you like what happened last week. Never mind. There's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, amen? Your sins are forgiven. May you forgive the one who cut in front of you as well, amen, as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you, amen? So what does it mean? What does it mean, amen, to be in secret place of the Most High? That means you are there seated with Christ. It's a posture of rest. It's all finished. You are now in the place. It's prepared, furnished for you. You sit down, but sitting down means what? Authority. And how does a king exercise authority? Does he take the stick and chase...? No. He speaks. Watch what you speak because the devil has programmed into the language of humanity death. Every language, every race has their, things go bad, die lah. No one says live lah.
And the Bible says the power of life and death is in the tongue. Amen, you don't say, "Wow, that cake, mm. I'm dying for the piece of cake". If you are dying for the piece of cake, you cannot eat it. Actually, you think about it. You should be living for the piece of cake, right? But it's programmed. "You understand my expression lah. It's just saying lah. Come on lah. For goodness' sake lah". Like that lah, very difficult to die ah, you know. It's very easily, until it becomes so programmed in us we don't realize the devil... I love it. "Took me a hard, long, long time to kill Adam after his sin. You know, 900 over years. But this generation, very easy". And it's in the Bible. The Bible says the power of life and death is in your tongue. It's in your tongue.
"You mean this thing here, no bone"? Yeah, it's in your tongue. Not in the devil's power, in your tongue, so when I'm overseas especially, I make sure that I pray Psalms 91 over myself and my family. And now we see that the position is actually seated with Christ. Last year was the year of right time, right place. It ended for me nearly wrong time, wrong place, why? I was driving with my family right after we shopped somewhere, and we were actually in the village area, okay? Just love to go to those places. And Justin was with me. Jessica has not come in yet. And I was with my wife. So we finished, you know, shopping and all that. We got into the car. It's an area where they don't have those kind of street lamps, okay? You got to see by the breakers on the road, those lights, reflectors, okay? So I drove, and it says this way, so I just drove.
Now, I'm a very careful driver by the grace of God. I would say that, okay? Even if I feel tired, I'll shake myself and say, "No, your family is here". You know, you wake up, you stop, you go somewhere, you take a break, whatever. So I always make a point that I don't get too tired. It was nighttime, and it was cold. Winter was coming in. So I drove down this road and I see the lights and all of a sudden, all right, the light went on this way and I followed the road. I really literally followed the road. And there was no one in front, no one behind, no street lamp and all of a sudden a car appeared on my right, opposite direction. And the car, how did it appear? I don't know, and all I heard was this...right? To warn me because I was not in his way. He wasn't protecting himself. It was just appearing all of a sudden, horn to wake me up to where I was.
And then I looked behind, he disappeared. And I stopped and I stopped for a while and I said, "Why did that happen"? I asked Wendy. And Justin was behind. Could I be on the wrong lane? And there's no car in front, no car behind, you know. It's off the beaten track. And I stopped and I realized far, far away I saw a car coming, that that person was warning me. And I looked behind, there was no cars. It's all provision of God. I reversed and I found actually that this lane although it looks straight into this lane it's actually going to the opposite lane. There was another lane here and there was no light on it, and to reverse you must make sure there's no car behind you. I went back. I could have easily ended up in a disastrous situation. We all need God.
Now, the question is this: Where did the guy appear from? I asked Wendy. She don't know. If you see from far, I would have known he was coming, right? He appeared all of a sudden and disappeared. The Bible says be not forgetful to entertain strangers, for some have entertained angels unaware. In Psalms 91 it says, "No evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling for he shall give his angels charge over you". So praise God, amen. It could have been a situation of disaster, of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. What a way to end the year. "He ended up at the wrong place at the wrong time in the year of the right place at the right time". But he ended up right place, right time so that I can be here today right place, right time. Quite a good place.
So I say again, give you another chance, right place...right place... God made us alive together with Christ. "By grace you have been saved and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus". We are now seated with Christ. Same throne. Hey, listen. The word in heavenly places is actually made of two Greek words. Epiouranios. Ouranios is the word used for heavens, the atmospheric heaven, God's heaven, but epi added to it, actually, heavenly places doesn't really ring it. It's the word upper heavenlies. We are in the upper heavenlies. It's a picture of the Upper Room. So what happened in the Upper Room? Mount Sinai... now we go back to Mount Sinai.
What happened at Mount Sinai? God gave the law. And what happened at the foot of Mount Sinai? Three thousand people died, which goes to show the latter kills, but...by the way, the Jewish people will tell you that the first Pentecost they celebrated was God giving them the law. In fact, they say God married them under the chuppah. You know, the Jewish people call it chuppah. Like, you have a temporary shelter that the bride and groom, even today they step under the chuppah, the Jewish wedding. It's patterned after Sinai where God married Israel, amen? Jesus married the church. We are the bride of Christ, okay? So God gave them the law.
This is the ketubah, the requirements. This is the law, and the law is this: Thou shalt not, thou shalt not, thou shalt not. But in this Pentecost, the new Pentecost, praise God. "When the Day of Pentecost had fully come", God waited until the Day of Pentecost had fully come. Just as the first Pentecost, he gave the law, 3,000 people died, and here when the Day of Pentecost had fully come, God gave what? The Holy Spirit. And 3,000 people were saved before the day was over, which goes to show the Spirit gives life! The latter kills, but the Spirit gives life. And a lot of Christians are shifting here and then going back here they still say we are under the law and they will tell you things like what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount.
"Think not I'm come to destroy the law. I am not come to destroy the law but to fulfill". Exactly, that's exactly what he did. He fulfilled it. We are not under the law because we want to break the law. No, we are not under the law, because Christ fulfilled it. We are now under grace, amen. The law says you shall not kill. Grace says you shall love as Christ loved you, amen. The law says you shall not commit adultery. Grace gives you the love for your wife that you don't want to commit adultery, amen. It's not just doing the thing outwardly as we have learned from Jesus's Sermon on the Mount, amen.
So no one can live under law, under grace. And it happened where? Where did the Holy Spirit come in this Pentecost? In the Upper Room, the same Upper Room that the man gave Jesus and his disciples the first time. Do you know later on, I didn't realize this until I kept on studying, that this was where the disciples stayed after Jesus rose from the dead. After the Passover, they all stayed there. Let me show you Acts 1. "Then they returned to Jerusalem", now this returning is just after they saw Jesus ascend up to heaven bodily, right? They returned. "And when they had entered, they went up into the upper room," went up into the upper room, "where they were staying: Peter, James, John, Andrew, Philip, Thomas; Bartholomew," and all the rest, they were staying there. It became their house. And you keep on reading, the number of them were 120.
Do you see that? One hundred and twenty down there. When God instituted the temple of Solomon, there were 120 priests blowing the trumpet and they said "Ki Tov, Ki LeOlam Chasdo", which means "God is good and his grace, his mercy endures forever". So now we are seeing the fulfillment of it. Are you with me so far? And this is where God poured out his Spirit. Come on. This is the birthday of the church. So the Upper Room is the place of the institution of the Lord's Supper. We learned that also.
And by the way, this one is literally the Upper Room where Jesus instituted the Lord's Supper and where the Holy Spirit came, where the disciples were staying, where the Holy Spirit came, and the inauguration of the New Covenant was established. It was the birthday of the church. And when he said this to me, he's telling me, "Everything to do with the Upper Room is what I'm going to do this year for my people," okay? Listen, because of time, I'm going to give you a very short preview, coming, what's going to happen in the future. I'm going to tell you right now. We learned last week Acts 20. What did we learn? We learned that upon the first day of the week they came together to break bread, and there were many lights and lamps in the Upper Room. I feel it's time for me just to ask you to sit back and watch.
The year of living in the upper room. And now we know what the upper room means. Amen? In its literal form, it is the third heaven where we are seated with Christ in heavenly places. In its expression, it is the local body of Christ, the church, and then the truths that God reveal. And there are many things, I know the stories of the Old Testament, all right, many of them by heart, but I never saw some things until he began to show me this. So as I bring this to a close, let me just tell you something else. That in the upper room is the place of light and illumination, just like Jesus revealed church truths, right, in the upper room to his disciples, truths that were never revealed before. "I have many things to say until now". And even the prayer, a new prayer he has brought. "Up till now you have asked nothing in my name".
So that includes what, until now? That includes the Lord's Prayer, right? The Lord's Prayer is not in Jesus's name. Praying in Jesus's name is a family prayer. And I tell you this, church. If we do not learn how to be, taking our place as sons in the place of family, do you know, for example, do you know when you start your prayer and you say Father, heavenly Father, and you feel like he's so far away, I'm telling you this, your prayer is negated because you are not operating in the truth? The Holy Spirit is called the spirit of truth.
Again, in the upper room, Jesus said time and time again, "The spirit of truth, he will guide you into all truth". He's the spirit of truth. He only confirm with truth. When you believe correct, he confirm the truth. When I tell you God wants you well, he confirms the truth, all right? If I tell you God may want you to be sick, there's no confirmation. Amen. You don't find healings like these in places where they believe that God wants you sick. Amen.
Holy Spirit is the spirit of? Truth. So when you come to God you must have spirit of sonship. But a lot of people, they study so much in the Old Testament. And I'm a preacher. I preach a lot from the Old Testament. I'm not against the Old Testament. I preach a lot from the Old Testament. Can the people say amen? A lot of my preaching is from the Old Testament, but I bring Christ out. But this year specifically we got to master, at least spend most of our time reading the Pauline revelation. Amen. Romans, episodes of Colossians, Ephesians, Galatians, master them, and then we are able to interpret all the rest of the Scriptures, even the Old Testament. You shall bring forth treasures from the old because of the new. There's a verse that says that. Amen. It's a place of wisdom and illumination.
And Acts 20 says what? In Acts 20, as we close, "There were many lamps in the upper room", and we told you in the last days, just like in Egypt at midnight, thick darkness, but there was light in the dwellings of the children of Israel. It cannot be natural light or else Egypt can also have access to the lamps, the fuel, the oil, but they cannot light anything that night. And the Bible says the thick darkness was, they can't even see each other, but in the house of the people of God, there was light in all their dwellings. And where was this light? In the upper room.
Now, this upper room is not in Jerusalem, but it's the principle that I want to bring you to, all right? This was in one of Paul's travels. It's in Troy, but, again, is the upper room. So we're not referring to just the upper room of all the major events that happened, the birthday of the church in the upper room where they dwelt and where Jesus met the disciples and instituted Lord's Supper and spoke out of his heart, where even his bosom was unveiled, the same bosom that John leaned on to hear the secrets of God. May God reveal more and more for us this year. You say, "Pastor Prince, I want wisdom for my work". In his light we see light.
Let me tell you something. There were a few young boys brought as captives to Israel by King Nebuchadnezzar, and then he chose among the best Daniel and his friends, and he wanted them to learn the science. And the word science is used. The science of the world, okay? And many of them involve the occult as well as new age. It's not just science, all right, of nature and all that. Now, what happened? Daniel and his friends says, "We don't want to eat the food that's offered to their idols and we just want simple food. Our trust is in God". At the end of the test, 10 days, okay, their faces look fairer and fatter in flesh. They look better than all the sons of Babylon.
Not only that, in study wise, you say that if Christians don't study the things of the world they'll miss out. They will be held back. No, my friend. The wisdom that comes from God made Daniel and his friends ten times better than those who studied directly from the sciences and the dark sciences even, as well as the natural sciences of Babylon. They were ten times better. And this is natural, you know, because the king summoned these boys, these Jewish boys in front of him with all his experts, and every question he asked them, they were ten times better. That tells you we never lose out just by focusing on God's wisdom even in the natural sciences. Science can tell you the what. They can't tell you the who and the why behind the what. That's wisdom. It's a place of wisdom, this upper room. Then you can study in the Old Testament.
In the weeks to come I'll be sharing with you how... what happened at the Acts 20? The boy fell off. He fell asleep and fell off. During a time of midnight there was light in God's house, but it was midnight all around, okay? And the boy died from the third floor the upper room. And Paul came down. Paul embraced him. Number one, he fell asleep at Paul's preaching. The church has fallen asleep at Paul's teachings. There's a problem. That death has come in in any area of your life. And what does it take to raise the church again or yourself individually out of the stupor, out of this sleep of death? Paul's teachings. Not only that, Paul's embrace. Ah, embrace. Real quick I'm going to tell you another thing that happened in the upper room. Not the same upper room as Jerusalem. The same principle, all right? It seems that it's a place of resurrection. It's a place of resurrection. That means your sons and daughters.
And a lot of this involve young people, you know. Your sons and daughters are coming back. The one that is so rebellious, you find out, "Oh, I don't know what happened to him and all that. All of a sudden came to an age he left church," he's coming back. She's coming back. There'll be a resurrection. If they are dead, they're never saved, God will raise them. Now, salvation is what? Raising people out of the dead because dead in trespasses, right? There'll be a lot of salvations especially of young people this year. And God wants us to focus on the young people in the next generation and your children. Not just the young generation, the truth there is your children, your sons and daughters. If they are not saved, they'll be saved this year, and if they are spiritually lethargic now, they have left church, they are no longer... but you believe that they were saved at one time, they'll come back as well. They are sleeping, but they will come back. It's a place of resurrection. The year of living in the upper room is a place of resurrection.
Now, I'll close with this real quick. Old Testament we have the upper room and the story of raising from the dead. Can you think of any, a child raised from the dead? Come on. Elijah, right? Elijah. The woman with the bread gave it to him and her bread never went out. The oil never ran out as well. Praise God. And then her son died, and she says, "Man of God, have you brought tragedy to my family to bring my sins to remembrance? Is that why you came"? And Elijah took the boy. Watch this. Elijah took the boy. "He said to me, 'Give me your son.'" Elijah took him where? Out of her arms. And where? Carried him to the upper room. And I never saw that until God spoke to me about the theme of the year. I just know Elijah raised him. Never bothered me about the upper room.
Does it matter? The boy never died in his upper room. He probably died, you know, in his own room or his mother's room or outside in the field. Why would Elijah want to carry him to the upper room? Not only that, later on the process by which he raised him, he embraced him, prayed to God, and God raised the boy, okay? You know what's the secret there? God showed it to me. The secret, the embrace, there's a meaning there. I'll be sharing in the weeks to come, okay? This will resurrect our children, amen. It's important for us to understand this. Praise God. It's a place of resurrection. 2 Kings 4. Now it's no more Elijah, it's Elisha. And Elisha, he was passing by that area, and a wealthy woman, she saw Elisha. Not Elijah now. The successor of Elijah, Elisha. And she says to her husband, "Look now, this is a holy man of God who passes by".
Okay, church, be cool, huh. You still have a few minutes. Don't worry. I'm aware of the time. I'm aware of the time. I won't let you go late. This is the last part here. Last two parts. "Please," she said to her husband, "let us make a small upper room", upper room. The boy died. Later on, the boy died. Okay, long story short, she has no kid, and Elisha says, "This time next year you will have a child". She had a child. She loved that child so much together with her husband. One day the child was out in the field. Probably it's a heatstroke or whatever, the child died on the mother's lap. Out in the field, he collapsed. The father brought him to the mother's lap, he died.
Look at what the mother did. The mother brought the child, brought him, and the child died. The mother went up. Went up where? To the upper room where the man of God laid or where he was, but he wasn't there at that time. So she laid him where? On the bed. Elijah brought the boy in the upper room on the bed. The mother did the same years after in the story of Elisha. What does all this mean? We'll share in the weeks to come. Eutychus was also embraced. Also a story of the upper room. Dorcas. A lady called Dorcas in the Book of Acts. Real quick. I told you two, right? This is the last one.
"It happened in those days that she became sick and died. When they had washed her, they laid her in an upper room". And what happened? Peter came; drop down. Peter spoke, put them all out. Verse 40, "Turning to the body, he says, 'Tabitha, arise.' And she opened up her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up". The place became a place of resurrection. The upper room, the place of resurrection, salvation, amen? Either raised from the dead spiritually, raised from the spiritual stupor, but I will not discount even raising the dead physically. I won't discount it because I won't put a limit to God. Amen? This is what God's going to do this year, amen, for you and your families. Amen. The year of? Say it. "Living in the upper room".
Every head bowed, every eye closed all across this place. If you have never put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Bible says believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved and your household, your entire family, amen? Pray this prayer with me right now from your heart. Say:
Heavenly Father, thank you for the gift of your son my Lord Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for all my sins and you raised him from the dead. I thank you that because he's alive, raised from the dead, I am quickened, made alive, and raised from the dead, and when you made him to sit down at your right hand, I sat down with him. I'm now your son, you are my Father because Jesus Christ is my Lord. In Jesus's name, amen, amen.
Praise the Lord. Stand to your feet. Praise the Lord. God is going to outpour his spirit where? In the upper room. It's going to happen again throughout this year. The disciples experienced many infillings of the Holy Spirit. It's going to happen this year, many infillings, amen. Many infillings. Many infillings. Many infillings throughout this year, amen. It will empower you, amen. The gifts will flow to you. The fruit of the spirit will manifest in you. Praise the Lord. But then when you are pouring, there'll be fresh outpourings. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord.
All across this place in the name of Jesus, Father, bring every one of us, Lord, to live perpetually, Lord, where you have placed us. We don't pray as if from earth upwards to heaven. We pray from heaven to heaven. We pray in the consciousness that we are in the family. We are a son, not a servant. We thank you, Father God, that as we serve others we are servants but we are primarily your son. Thank you, Father God. And, Father, we ask in Jesus's name that all the truths, Lord, that you want to flood our hearts with, Lord, will happen this year, even the truths that Jesus said will set us free. Set us free in all the individual areas that we are in bondage. There'll be a truth that will set us free. Bring us that truth, Father, throughout this year, we pray in the name of Jesus, and cause us to live always in the upper room in the name of the Lord Jesus. And all the people said? "Amen".