Joseph Prince - God Is No Longer Angry With You Today (Live at Lakewood Church)
You ready for the Word? Isaiah 54. How many know that Isaiah 54 comes after Isaiah 53? I know that's kind of deep, but 53 is all about the work of the Messiah. For example, Isaiah 53, it says, "Surely, he has borne our diseases and carried our pains. Yet we esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities. The chastisement for our well-being," our peace, our shalom, "fell upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed". All that is from Isaiah 53, amen.
The next chapter talks about the victory, all the victory, the blessings, that ensued as a result of the finished work. It begins with, "Cry aloud, O barren, thou that didst not bear". Why? Because Jesus has died on our behalf. And now it's almost like a floodgate of grace has been released upon the people. In John chapter 1, we'll come back to Isaiah 54, but look at John chapter 1. Verse 17 says, "For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ". Don't forget, when Jesus spoke to the Jews of his day, he said, "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free". That's the premise of my book, "The Power of Right Believing", amen.
You got to believe right if you want to live right. There's a lot of right living, right living, right living, all right, right behavior, right behavior being preached from the pulpit, and yet we have little right living. Why? Because it is not preaching right living that produces right living. It is preaching right believing. When people believe right, they will live right. When they believe something wrong... one of the indicators that you know you are believing something wrong is your toxic emotions of fear, guilt, depression. You might even think that you are believing right. You know, you attend a church like my church, or even Joel's church, and I always tell my people, you know, you attend the church, you know things mentally, all right, you've heard the sermons, but if you are still battling with toxic emotions of fear, just like, you know, you can't put your finger on it but you feel fearful about something, somewhere along the way there's been wrong thinking that produced that wrong emotion.
And why is there wrong thinking? There's wrong believing. And why is there wrong believing? Many a times, people have heard the wrong thing. They have read books, they watched the media, for example, and they believe something about the future. You believe wrong, you experience wrong. And when people experience wrong, they live wrong. Psychiatrists and psychologists, they tell us that children, when they feel right, even when they feel wrong and you talk to them and you are able to empathize with their wrong emotions, they start to feel right. When they start to feel right, they behave right, amen, because they know they are being understood. So the thing is this, our emotions are like red flags telling us that there's wrong believing in some areas of our life, amen, and that's why the Bible... the new covenant is all about believing.
"The righteous shall live by faith". In other words, the righteous shall live by right believing. And don't worry about right doing, it will fall in place when you have right believing. But many a times, in many places, they don't have anything to believe because the pulpit has not unveiled anything good for people to believe. So when there's nothing being revealed, people believe in error. Hmm, are you with me? Now, what I'm going to share with you will blow your minds. God will never, ever again, ever, be angry with you. Never. And listen, for everything that I say, I'm going to give you scripture, all right? That's my style, my ministry, okay? So look up here. Isaiah 54 very clearly tells us, all right, God says, "'For this is like the waters of Noah to Me.'"
Don't forget, it's right after the redemptive work of our Lord Jesus Christ in Isaiah 53 that God says these words in Isaiah 54. As a result of what Christ has done, God says, "'This is like the waters of Noah to Me; For as I have sworn,'" so please see this passage as God with his hands uplifted in a sworn oath. Remember this, people. God does not have to swear. We have to swear in the courts of law, all right, because not everyone's integrity is there. God does not have to swear. Why? The Bible says God cannot lie. He just cannot. There are a few things God cannot do. God cannot hate you. God cannot cheat you. God cannot betray you, amen? God cannot make you pay your tithes.
Oh sorry, I mean that part just slipped out. There are a few things God cannot do, but he's almighty, but there are a few things, because of his awesome respect for you, he gives you the privilege of responding in love, amen? Anyway, you know what, people? When I look at your faces and all that, I know you are givers because givers have a radiance about them, amen? Always remember, when tithing was first introduced in the Bible, no one put a gun to Abraham's head. There was no threat of the curse, amen. No one says, "If you don't tithe, you'll be cursed," to Abraham. Abraham tithed because he had a revelation, and the revelation was that "I don't want you, king of Sodom, to say that you made me rich". But Melchizedek, the high priest after the order, he's, in fact, a Christophany, a Christophany.
I believe that Melchizedek is Jesus's pre-incarnate appearance, and Abraham is our father of faith. And the Bible says that his descendants are in his loins. I love the way Hebrews 7 talks about this encounter. When Abraham met Melchizedek, the first words of Melchizedek's mouth is, "Blessed be Abraham of the Most High God, and blessed be the Most High God". It's all blessing, blessing, blessing. So the order of the Melchizedek priesthood is all blessing and no curse. The Levitical priesthood, on the other hand, is blessings if you obey, cursings if you don't. Jesus's ministry is not after the Levitical ministry. It is after the ministry of Melchizedek, where it's all bless, bless, bless, bless.
We are not tithing to the Levitical ministry where we are so afraid the curse might come on us if we don't. We are Abraham's seed, tithing to our Melchizedek who brought, on the other hand, he brought bread and he brought wine. That is the covenant of divine health because when you partake, you know that his broken body was broken to put your body back together. His blood was shed for the forgiveness of your sins. Abraham came with a response. The response was the tithe, and the Hebrew word for tithe is 4 letters, maser, all right, with an "m" in front. If you take the "maser," the "m," the mem makes the whole thing a noun. If you remove the "m," the mem, the Hebrew letter, you have the word "aser". "Aser" is the Hebrew word for wealth, rich.
So the wealth is in the tithe. Abraham said to the king of Sodom, "I don't want it to be said that you made me rich. I will not even take your shoelace," he says. And then he respond to Melchizedek. How cool is that? So here you see the divine transaction. Melchizedek brought bread and wine, that's the covenant of divine health, Abraham respond with a tithe, that's the covenant of wealth. Is it kosher to say health and wealth here in America? I'm going to say it. Health, wealth. Wealth, health. No apologies. Okay, you got a problem with that? Grow up spiritually, amen? It's in the Bible. So, tithing is not for everybody because if you read Hebrews 7, the Bible says, "This is many things I want to say about Melchizedek but you are dull of hearing".
So the priesthood of Melchizedek is meaty stuff, amen. And then it says, the apostle Paul says in Hebrews 7 that when Abraham met Melchizedek, Levi was in his loins, all right. Now, who is Levi? Abraham brought forth Isaac, his son. Isaac brought forth Jacob. Jacob brought forth Levi. Four generations. And Paul had this revelation that when you tithe, you bless generations in you. All your children are blessed and your grandchildren and your grandchildren's children. I mean, what a deal. Another thing that proves is that the Levitical priesthood that came from Levi, his great-great-grandson, all right, cannot be greater than the priesthood of Melchizedek because Levi, the priesthood of Levi, also tied to Melchizedek.
In other words, what the father did is as good as what the seed in him has done. And that's the reason why there is this disproportionate influence on the Jewish people. They have an influence, a disproportionate influence, to make money, to create wealth. They don't understand why, but it is an anointing that came all the way from Abraham. Now, listen. If they have it and they are not aware of it, they came from Abraham, and what they have is a trickle, all right, because they are not saved yet, many of them, okay, imagine those who are saved and truly the seed of Abraham, how much more this anointing is upon our lives. Are you listening, people? Amen, so never, never, never look at the tithe as, you know, something you're afraid of, you know. You tithe, you're giving because you have to, you know, or else you're afraid you'll be cursed.
No, no, no, we don't tithe under that priesthood anymore. We are no more under the Levitical priesthood. We are under the Melchizedek priesthood, amen? King of Righteousness, That's what his name means. He ministers righteousness to us. He ministers his bread, his health, his wholeness, his forgiveness, amen. We respond with the tithe, amen. That was free, all right? Now, God has put up his hands, saying because of what Christ has done in Isaiah 53, "I swear," all right. "'This is like the waters of Noah to Me; as I have sworn That the waters of Noah would no longer cover the earth, So have I sworn That I will not be angry with you, nor rebuke you anymore.'"
Next verse, "'For the mountains shall depart And the hills be removed, But My kindness,'" "My chesed," in Hebrew, "'shall not depart from you, Nor shall My covenant of,'" shalom, "'peace be removed,' Says the Lord, who has mercy on you". Amen. Now, go back to verse 9. All right, God, like I said, does not have to swear. So when God swears, there is a double ironclad guarantee that he will never do this. What? Get angry with us or condemn us ever again. It cannot get any clearer than that. Folks, this is not some obscure passage. It's a very clear passage with a sworn oath. What more do you want? God has sworn he will never be mad at you ever again, for the believer. It's almost as if God put up his hand and God doesn't have to swear. You and I will say, "I swear by the moon and the stars in the sky", you know.
We swear because there are things above our heads. You swear by the moon, you swear by the stars, you swear on your mother's grave, you know, things like that. People think that these are all authorities, but let me tell you this. When God swears, how does he swear? God swore by himself. I love it. When God cannot swear by any greater, God swore by himself, that "in blessing I will bless you, in multiplying I will multiply you". He swore by himself. And this is a sworn oath. This is like the waters of Noah. So from now on, when you see a rainbow in the sky, don't think of the Noah story no more. When God put the rainbow in the sky after the Flood, God says, "This is a token, all right, my bow in the sky".
God is hanging his bow, so to speak. He's no more shooting arrows of judgment, amen. He's hanging, he's saying, "I found peace," amen. And from now on, whenever you see a rainbow, God says, "That means I will never flood the earth again". Do you think for one moment God has gone soft on sin? That God raises his hand and says, "I swear I will never ever be angry with you again. I will never rebuke". By the way, "rebuke" there is not correct. God still corrects us. Rebuke there is the same Hebrew word used for rebuking the Red Sea in Zechariah. It is used for, "The Lord rebuke you, O Satan". It is a word for condemn. There is therefore now no condemnation for us in Christ Jesus, amen. Now, if someone says, "Well, this promise is only for people who don't sin," then pray tell me, why would God be angry with them if they don't sin? Tilt, tilt.
You know, when you come to church, please bring your sanctified common sense. Don't leave it in the drawer at home, okay? If you are obedient and you don't sin, why would God be mad at you? This verse only means something for people who don't have it all together, people who are still struggling. Come on, God is giving them the assurance, "I have raised my hands, I have sworn. This is like the waters of Noah. From now on, when you see the rainbow, remember it's a reminder of what Christ has done. And because of what Christ has done in bearing your sins at the cross, I have exhausted all my holy anger and my righteous indignation against all lawlessness and sins in the body of my Son. My Son absorbed every last drop of it, every vestige of it and cried, 'Finished!' And today, I have no more anger for the one who believes on my Son. I have sworn I will never, ever be angry with you, nor condemn you. Ever! I have sworn"!
It can't get any clearer than that. And that's the reason why in Revelation chapter 4, verse 3 when you pray you come to God's throne. You look here, "God who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow, there was a rainbow around the throne". The Greek word for "around" here is actually like a bubble. It's not just around, all right, it was encompassing the throne. Everywhere you see is the rainbow. That's why it's no longer the throne of judgment, it's the throne of grace. What does it mean? No more anger. No more condemning. "Come to my presence. Let us therefore come boldly". "Oh, Pastor Prince, that's only for people who know they are walking right with God". Keep on reading. "Let us come boldly, that we may obtain mercy," Um-hmm. Mercy is for people who fail. And not only obtain mercy, but, "Find grace to help in time of need". You got it covered both ways.
You know, when it comes to God's throne, if you have done something wrong there is mercy. You don't deserve something good, there is grace. So mercy, all right, is you not getting the bad things you do deserve. Grace is you getting all the good things you don't deserve. You got it covered. So come to the throne of grace. Every time you come, you receive this double whammy, hallelujah. So, we are not far from wrong. In fact, the apostle Paul calls this gospel the gospel of the blessed God. Unfortunately, a lot of people in the new translate put blessed God, but you look at the word "makarios," it's not just blessed. It can be blessed, but "makarios" is also happy. Happy. In other words, it's the gospel of the happy God. Literally, the gospel of the happy God.
You know, and I think that sometimes people still think that God is mad at them, God is angry at them, because of angry preachers. So many people are confused when they switch on the TV and they see a smiling preacher. It confuses people. But this is what people need to see. One time I remember, my little Jessica, when she was young, I was reading the newspaper and I was just, probably not newspaper but some documents, the church documents and things, and my brow was, you know, I had a frown on my face, thinking about the problems of the church and all that. And she was there, she looked at me, "Daddy". I said, "Yes"? "Are you angry at me? Are you mad at me"? I said, "Why, sweetheart? Why do you say that"? You know, she said, "You look like you're angry at me".
Then I began to catch myself in the mirror and I was like that all the while, right? You know, once in a while you gotta learn to smile at your child. They can't tell why you're face... and they always, you know, children are like this. When there's a divorce, they blame themselves. When something breaks, you know, down, they blame themselves. They are very quick to blame themselves. Once in a while, just smile at them. Smile at your child. Learn to smile. And you know what? Learn to smile at each other, all right. In a marriage, it's time to just smile, amen? So here you have a ministry from this pulpit smiling constantly. It's the great present continuous tense, and it's beautiful because that's what the world needs to see because they cannot see God but they see his representatives.
You know, some years ago, just to let you know, all right, I know there are preachers watching this on television and pastors and leaders. You know, sometimes we think that that man up in the pulpit is not a man of God until he whacks me. And if he whacks me really good, he beats me up really good in the sermon, that's a man of God. It's almost like, come on, you know, they expect to be whacked. They got to feel something. "Come on, Joe, come on. Hit me again. Come on, baby, hit me one more time. Come on, hit me again. Then I believe you're a man of God". And there are some preachers that will accommodate people like that. They just come and beat you and beat you. No, God did not call us to beat the sheep, but to feed the sheep.
And pastors and leaders, remember this. There were two smiting of the rock, when Israel came out into the wilderness and they were thirsty. The first time around was the beginning of the wandering in the wilderness at Rephidim, all right. They were thirsty and God told Moses, "Take the rod, the same rod where you smite the river and the water became blood". Isn't it amazing that the law was given by Moses and grace and truth came by Jesus Christ, and the first miracle of Moses was the judgment, turning water to blood, resulting in death? The first miracle of grace, our Lord Jesus, was to turn water into wine, resulting in celebration and life, huh? Don't forget, the law was given by a servant. Grace and truth came by the Son. You cannot rob the Son by enriching the servant. You cannot raise the law above grace. Grace is higher than the law, amen.
The Bible says the servant does not abide in the house forever. Remember the story of how he took the rod, he hit the rock and waters came out, and rightly so. That's what he did, he obeyed God. God says, "Hit the rock," and Jesus was hit. Jesus was beaten on our behalf. Stop beating yourself. He was beaten for all your wrongdoings. You feel like punishing yourself? Look to the cross. That was your beating. That was your scourging. That was your smiting. Stop smiting yourself. Stop hitting your children. Stop beating your wife. Stop hurting yourself. Stop beating up yourself, amen. It is pride when you start beating yourself, amen, but if you'll just relax and say, "Lord, I deserve to be beaten but I see Jesus being beaten on my behalf, and that is your love and I receive your love, Lord," it will transform your life.
So Christ was smitten and waters flow out. So much so, 3 million people, I mean it's not just a trickle or stream, it was a torrential waterfall that went into the wilderness. Now, we fast forward nearly 40 years towards the end of the journey, the last year, it was the last year, of their wandering. They were thirsty again, and this time another location, and the Bible says... by the way, that was a rock in the Hebrew, and we have another Hebrew word here which means a cliff, a high rock, because that rock is a picture of Christ. Once he's smitten, he need not be smitten again. His work avails for all time. You don't crucify him again.
So, therefore, this time around it was a cliff. Why a high cliff? Because today Jesus is at the Father's right hand. He's at the Father's right hand. So if you have a need, does Jesus have to come down and die for you again? No. His work is efficacious forever. So when you come to the cliff, when you look at Jesus at the Father's right hand, what do you do? God said to Moses, "Moses, this is how you bring water out. Speak, speak, speak to the rock". Literally, in Hebrew, "Speak to the cliff". Two different words for stone. Boulder here, and here, high cliff. "Speak to the rock".
But by this time, Moses was fed up with the people's complaining. The people are saying, "You know, Moses, until the end, do you bring us out here to die"? Let's follow the story and see what he says. Moses lifted his hand? No, you see what he says? "Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly and said, 'Hear now, you rebels!'" He was mad, amen. In Psalms it says Moses spoke unadvisedly. Notice how he calls the people now, "rebels". God saw them thirsty. He saw them as rebels. Preachers, teachers, leaders, pastors, remember this. God does not see the way we see.
The other day I was in my hotel room and I came across a passage in the Gospels where Jesus saw a great multitude. And the Bible says he had compassion on them because they were scattered. He had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. Wow, what a perspective. We see them as rebellious. "Oh, these people, you know, they are just here just for themselves. They're selfish, they are this, they are that". God saw them scattering not because they are bad. They lacked a shepherd and he had compassion on them, and he proceeded to teach them and feed them. Now, some people, when they look at multitudes, they think of profit. Some of them think, "Wow, look at all the fur I can get off their backs".
Some think of, "Look at all the lamb chops available". But the perspective God wants you to have, and he reminded me in the hotel room, he said, "Son, always see the people as sheep needing feeding. And that will give you a perspective of compassion," amen? So anyway, Moses said, "Hear now, you rebels! Must we", well, since "we" came into the picture. Hey, Mo, since when you brought water out of the rock? It was God. I mean, if today, even the holiest among us, if I give you a rock right now, you squeeze and squeeze and squeeze with all your might and your self-effort, nothing will come out but your blood, if God doesn't speak. Can I have a good amen, all right? So now, "'Hear now, you rebels! Must we fetch you water out of this rock?' Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice".
Now what did God say? "Speak". Today you have a need, you say, "Lord". If there's pain in your body, say, "Lord, by your stripes I'm healed," amen? If you are battling sin, sinful habits, you see, we are taught, if there is lack, don't confess the lack, confess the supply. If there is sickness in your body, don't confess the sickness, confess the healing. When you sin, we confess the sin. It's all based on only one scripture in 1 John 1:9. Paul never taught on that in the New Testament. One more time. If there is lack, what do you confess? "My God supplies". If there is pain in your body, what do you confess? "By his stripes I am healed". You're battling with sin? "I am the righteousness of God in Christ".
And I can't begin to tell you how many testimonies I've received, many of them from America, of people who are addicted to pornography, drugs, smoking, and you know, if you have followed me some, you know that I taught this, that even while you're smoking, say, "I am the righteousness of God in Christ," amen? It's not by willpower. It is by the divine power that any habit can fall off. So keep on confessing. Even you're watching pornography, the last thing you want to do is to confess, "I am the righteousness of God in Christ," watching pornography. But you know, folks, we don't talk about this, people will still do it without confessing. And they feel guilty. But know this, this is not who you are. And you're smoking one day, I've had so many testimony of people saying, "One day I was smoking and I was confessing 'I am the righteousness of God in Christ,' something came up from within me and I felt like, 'What am I doing with this piece?'"
That's when the power to reign comes and it comes by confessing. I have a young man from New York who wrote to me and he is highly trained in martial arts so he knows about discipline and willpower. He says that "I'm now," I forgot, "20-over years old," and he says that "ever since I was 13 years old, I was hooked to pornography. And I did my best because I'm highly skilled and disciplined in the martial arts, but with all my discipline, I tried my best to break this habit as a Christian but I could not. And Pastor Prince, one day I heard you preach that in the midst of your sin, confess, 'I am the righteousness of God in Christ.' I kept on confessing. At first, it seems my indulgences got worse, but I kept on confessing. And now, Pastor Prince, more than a year has passed and I've not watched pornography once. I believe that the deliverance is permanent".
I'm telling you, church, if you overcome it with your willpower, then you have to maintain that deliverance with your willpower. But if God does it, God keeps it. Amen, church? We cannot play around with this kind of thing. So, isn't this holiness? This right believing, believe you are righteous. Confess you are righteous. Right believing leads to right living. Are you with me? So, Moses said, "Must we fetch you water out of this rock"? He smote the rock, then water came out abundantly. You see the mercy of God? God still loved the people. Even though he disobeyed God, water came out abundantly. But look at what God said to him: "The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, 'Because you did not believe Me, to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into your land.'"
Think about it. Moses was so close. I used to read this and say, "God, why that stern verdict? It's almost like", but God wants us to learn, all right, preachers, this is what God thinks of angry preachers. "You did not hallow Me in the eyes of the people". That means, what? What is "hallow Me"? "Set me apart. Represent me well. Hallow me in the eyes". It's not hallow Moses himself, but hallow God. God says, "You did not represent me well. You made me appear angry when I heard their cry for water, and I was more than willing to quench their thirst. You did not allow me to appear gracious".
Think about it. It cost him the Promised Land. Plus, the truth that Moses represents the law, Joshua, the name Joshua is actually Hebrew, Greek for Hebrew, Yeshua, which is the name of Jesus. Moses can only bring... the law can only bring you to the brink. It cannot bring you in. It takes Yeshua to bring you in, amen? But I tell you something, how gracious God is. God says, "Moses". Moses tried a few times: "God, can I go in"? God says no. Finally he said, "God, can I go in"? God says, "Don't talk to me anymore about this".
Can I tell you something? God was so gracious that, finally, we don't know what happened to Moses's body. Apparently, there was a fight going on between Satan and the angel and all that. But I believe Moses was resurrected bodily the way Lazarus was, not the way Jesus was, the way Lazarus was, all right? And next time, you'll see in the book of Revelation, all right, a man who performed miracles, a prophet, in the book of Revelation, like Moses's miracles. The two prophets, the two witnesses. And the other one is like Elijah, calling fire from heaven, right? So I believe Moses was raised the way Lazarus was raised, not the way Jesus was raised, in the future to die again. Are you listening?
Well, anyway, both of them, Moses and Elijah, Elijah never died, he went up in the whirlwind, right? So you saw both of them meeting Jesus at the Mount of Transfiguration. Jesus wasn't talking to the dead. It's forbidden, isn't it? Jesus was talking to both of them who were raised from the dead. One represents the law, one represents the prophets: Moses, Elijah. But of course, the mistake of Peter, no one asked him anything, you know? Jesus was talking to Moses and Elijah, they were talking with Jesus, amen? And then Peter spoke: "Lord, it's good for us to be here. Let us build three tabernacles". Sukkot in Hebrew, which is the feast of tabernacles.
This story happened during the feast of tabernacles. "Let's build three booths for all three of you, for you Jesus, for Moses and for Elijah". In other words, he was putting Jesus on the same ground as the law and the prophets. The Father spoke. The Father says, "This is my beloved Son. Hear him, not them". Not the law, not the prophets, but Jesus, grace. The Father said, "Hear him". And they were afraid because a cloud came and they were trembling. In the Old Testament when a cloud came to Miriam and the cloud left, she became a leper. So they knew. They were afraid, all right? But this cloud is not a cloud of judgment, it's a bright cloud. In the Old Testament, it's a dark cloud.
Here's a bright cloud. The new has come, hallelujah. And Jesus is there and Jesus touched them on the... they were probably trembling, all right? Peter, James, and John, by the way, their names means Peter means stone, James means supplant or replace, John means grace. The stone has been replaced by grace. Isn't that cool? And then God just said, "This is my Son. Listen to him". So even though they're trembling, their ears are strained to listen to the Son. What will the Son say? Will it be a word of censure and rebuke? Will it be a word of judgment? The Son said, "Don't be afraid, Arise". Don't you just love Jesus? Don't be afraid. Arise. Not a word of judgment, it's a word of grace. And this pulpit has been preaching words of grace. We see a smiling prophet, amen? A smiling preacher, and God is saying... if God can reverse what he said to Moses, it will be, "You hallowed me in the eyes of the people. Therefore you shall enter the Promised Land," amen.
"And your wife will continue to be beautiful. Not for your own sake, but for my sake, saith the Lord," hallelujah, whoo, amen? "Well, well, well, well, Pastor Prince, God is judging America. God is judging America". Friend, do you know how terrible that sounds? There is a day of judgment coming, but it's not here yet. Jesus knew how to stop when Jesus quoted Isaiah, he quoted, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor, healing of the broken heart, opening of the eyes of the blind". But then Jesus came to the acceptable year of the Lord, of the year of God's free favors. When he came there, there was a comma in Isaiah. It goes on to say, "The day of vengeance of our God".
But when Jesus quoted that, he closed the book, right after "the year of grace". He closed the book. Where he closed, preachers, we have to close. The day of vengeance is not yet. God is judging America. Even when the Lord came to visit Abraham, he was on his way to Sodom and Gomorrah. This is Sodom and Gomorrah. And God was on his way there. And Abraham came close to God and said, "Lord, if you find 50 righteous, will you destroy the entire city"? God says, "For 50, I will not destroy. I will not destroy the two cities". "Lord, what if you find 45"? "For 45, I will not destroy". "Forty"? "For 40, I will not destroy". "Thirty"? "For 30, I will not destroy". All the way to, "What about if you find ten"? God says, "For ten, I will not destroy".
Do you hear God? You mean to tell me in America, there is not even ten? "Well, well, well, well, Pastor Prince, obviously you have not read the judgment that came on Israel. You know, because they rebelled against God, God brought the Babylonians and the Babylonians brought them to the..." my friend, rightly divide the Word. We are where Abraham was. Abraham lived before the law. Come on? Abraham lived before the law and he still walked with God. God called him a friend. Don't tell me you need the law to walk with God. Abraham walked with God before the law was given. The law was given 450 years after Abraham. Now, we are where Abraham was today. Are you listening? But some people bring us to where Israel was under law for 1500 years, all right? When they were under law, it was a different dispensation. If they obeyed, God bless them. If they disobeyed, God curses them. We are not in that covenant. You cannot compare us with Israel.
"Well, Pastor Prince, what about David? I mean, God killed his children and God punished him severely and God did this". Friend, listen carefully. David was a man under law. Now, one thing about David, he understood grace. I mean, what can I describe? He's a New Covenant-minded man in an Old Covenant body. He was ahead of his time. And that's why he always appealed to God, "Your chassid," which is grace, "your loving kindness is better than life. Your loving kindness, your grace, endures forever". He knew how to appeal to grace, all right? So you cannot compare David. David's sin was imputed to him. Our sins are not. Are you listening, people? David lived under law. You cannot compare. Compare with Abraham. Abraham wasn't perfect. He did lie. And God made him rich, not because he lied. Think about it: He lied. Okay, you get that message. I preached the entire message on Abraham and all that the last time I was in Lakewood, all right? We have that message available. But let me close with this, all right? Look up here, people.
In closing, Luke 9, Jesus was set to go to Jerusalem to die on that cross, and in Luke 9, the Samaritans, he was in the city of Samaria, they did not receive Jesus because his face was set for the journey to Jerusalem. "When His disciples James and John," the apostle of love, "when they saw this, they said, 'Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?'" They thought they were being spiritual. They were defending the Lord's honor, because these Samaritans were rejecting him. So, "Lord, shall we call fire down from heaven"? I mean, there was a Old Testament precedent. I mean, Elijah did call fire down in the same location, Samaria. "So shall we call fire down, Lord, and destroy them, as Elijah did"?
They even quote scripture to Jesus. "Jesus turned", watch this. I'll close with this. "He turned and rebuked them, and said, 'You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. The Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them.' And he went to another village". Just went to another village. How cool is that? No holding grudges, nothing. Just, no fanfare, no frills, just went to another village, amen. I wish every preacher in America can hear this. This is how Jesus responds. I mean, we are using Old Testament precedent to try to enforce something today, all right, and Jesus rebuked them. He says, "You don't know what kind of spirit you are of".
When you say God is judging America, there are consequences to sin. Let me tell you this, and what you are seeing is the earth is groaning and they are groaning for the manifestation of the sons of God. But it's not God judging. God is not judging, amen. Will God judge one day? Yes, when Jesus returns. But until then, we are in the age of grace. Are you listening, people? God is not counting the world's sins against them. He's saying to them, "Come home, come home. I'm not counting your sins against you. Come on". And people get angry when you say God is not judging America. "Then why are all these things happening"? Consequences of bad decisions, because of bad believing. It all goes back to the gospel, and my time is up. Praise the Lord. Give Jesus a praise, hallelujah. Amen, amen!