Joseph Prince - God-Given Peace Is Yours to Claim
I’m going to show you something back to back, okay, and I’m a contextual preacher which means I preach things in context in the way it appears in the Bible. In John chapter 19, don’t have to turn to it. Listen, in John 19 is the story of the cross, right? What did Jesus cry at the cross towards the end? «It is finished,» all right? «It is finished». John 19, verse 30, he cried, «It is finished,» am I right? That’s where it all starts, where he cried, «Finished,» we start, we start our Christian life with the finished work.
When Jesus says, «It is finished,» what is finished? The cup that he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, full of our sin, full of our curse, full of our judgment, he drank, he drank it, he drank it dry, to the very last dregs. Finished, the judgment is gone, there’s no more judgment for you and me. What about God’s law? Satisfied. What about God’s holiness? Magnified, because God’s holiness says, if you sin, you die, somebody died. God did not say, «Okay, never mind, I’ll compromise my holiness». No, Jesus died in our place, God’s holiness is magnified, God’s love expressed for man, for sinful man. It’s finished, his first words recorded in the Bible when he was 12 years old was this, «Didn’t you know,» he told his father and mother, «Didn’t you know I must be about my Father’s business»? His first recorded words, his last word was, «Finished,» in the Gospel of John, his earthly life.
What was finished? The Father’s business, to have our sins forgiven righteously on a judicial foundation. This is John 19, right? Then he rose from the dead on the third day, the disciples were afraid, they were in the upper room, they were hiding behind closed doors, Jesus appeared. And by the way, he’s not a ghost, he told one of them to touch him, flesh and bones. That’s the kind of body you and I will have, and it’s flesh and bones, yet it can transcend time and matter. You can’t understand everything now because we are so confined in this world, but in the world to come, in the body you’re gonna have, it’s a body that’s physical. We, you and I can shake hands, yet we’ll transcend time and matter, and that’s why when the rapture happens, he transforms us first before he raptures us, because in our new body, two things, you can transcend matter, even though you’re in a cinema, even though you are The Star.
Many of us can’t take the height in our old body, we are afraid of heights, so he changes in new body where there is no fear, I think so on the last part, okay. So, when he rose from the dead after it is finished, he meets them, and he shows them his wounds, which is the righteous foundation for him to say this, «Peace be unto you». So, «Peace be with you,» comes next, John 20. That’s John 19, «It is finished,» John 20, in the next chapter, «Peace be with you,» huh? Peace is founded on the finished work, and then the next chapter, we are going to John 21 now, one week after he rose from the dead, he was walking by the Lake of Galilee, the fishermen, his disciples were fishing in the Lake of Galilee.
You all know the story, he made breakfast for them. After he finished breakfast with them, he asked this question, «Do you love Me»? «Do you love Me,» next chapter, John 21. Look at the sequence, «Do you love Me» comes after «It is finished,» peace comes based on the finished work, then he asked, «Do you love Me»? I’m going in order, people, the order of the Holy Spirit. And at the end of that chapter, 21, he looked at Peter and said, «You follow Me,» «You follow Me,» you got it? Now, the true Christian life starts with, is predicated on, «It is finished,» you are complete in Christ. It’s finished, your sins are forgiven, past, present, and future, you are the righteousness of God in Christ, amen?
Now you should possess the peace, he says, «Peace be with you,» receive it. «Therefore, being made righteous with God, we have peace». «Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God». Okay? Possess it. Then, after that, he asks you a next question, after you are resting in the finished work, after you are enjoying the peace with God, you know that there’s no more war between you, there’s nothing, you know, between you and God anymore, God is your Father, you are so close to him. He asks, «After all that I’ve done for you, is there anything in Me that you see that will cause you to love me»? It’s a question, we say yes, then he asks, «Do you love Me»? And then, when you say, «Yes, Lord, I love you,» then he says, «Follow me,» got it? I’ll tell you what traditional Christianity teaches, start from here, begin by following Christ, you people, you are too lazy to follow Christ, all right?
Lazy to wake up early in the morning, lazy to do this, lazy to that, you must begin to follow Christ. «Only those who follow Christ will be raptured,» depending on your doctrine, your background, «Only those who follow Christ will make it,» don’t think easy Christianity, sloppy agape, greasy grace, can get you into heaven, okay? It sounds so amazing, it sounds so, «Wow, man, this guy’s preaching with the fire». Yeah, what fire is it? It’s strange fire, it’s setting on the wrong foundation. «Begin,» they teach you, «Begin to follow Christ,» all right? «And do your best to love him, do your best to love him, and then you will have peace when the work is finished».
Don’t laugh, how many of us still believe this? And I’ve showed you the sequence of the appearance of these words, it is not natural. Now, there was a man who was caught in a breach of the law of his land, it was obviously a breach of the new-found law, okay, new-founded law. And he himself did not deny he broke the law, his enemies admit he broke the law, his friends would say, «It is the law». But one thing about this guy, the culprit, he’s not too particular about the fact he broke the law, he is almost at peace, the only one who is concerned is the king who loved him, the king of the land who loved him. I’m talking about the story of Daniel, Daniel has King Darius, the Medo-Persian Emperor, King Darius. In fact, you can even see his face in history, they have notched his face into clay tablets, you can see in the museum, that’s the King Darius, of Daniel.
King Darius loved Daniel, but his satraps, his governors around him, his leaders around him, they were jealous of Daniel because the king kept on promoting him, and Daniel was not even a Medo-Persian, Daniel is a Jew, he was a captive from Jerusalem. When Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem, all right, he took Daniel and all his people with him. But of course, now Darius has conquered Babylon, and the Medo-Persian took over, and King Darius loved Daniel because Daniel was able to interpret dreams, give him counsel, sweet spirit. And the Bible says that in Daniel was found an excellent spirit, and the king thought to put him above all the satraps and all the governors of the kingdom. So they were jealous of him. So, one day, they came and they realized they have nothing against Daniel, Daniel was faithful, the Bible says.
The only thing, the only fault they can find with Daniel was his God, so they came to the king and they told the king, «King, why don’t we do this,» all right? «For a certain length of time, let’s have a law in honor of you, that no man in your kingdom, in your realm, should make a request or pray to any man or any god except to you? How about that»? And King Darius, being a busy man as he is, you know, with other things on his mind, he just agreed, all right? And put a signet on the law, the clay tablet. One thing about the law of the Medo-Persians, it cannot be altered, once it is made law, it cannot be changed. And true enough, they waited for Daniel to pray. And the Bible says Daniel, knowing that the law was enacted, he went up to his upper room chamber. Before all of them, he knelt down and prayed towards Jerusalem, he prayed, the Bible tells us, openly.
And straight away they went to the king and said, «King, you have this law, don’t you»? And the king says, «Yes,» «That anyone should not make requests of any man or deity except to you»? And the king says, «Yes». And well, Daniel, the moment the king heard, «Daniel,» the Bible says the king, read carefully, it says the king was displeased with himself, not with Daniel. The king loved Daniel, the king realized that he was set in a trap, and they told the king, «And remember this, King, O Majesty, O most noble one,» whose flatulence is as a perfume of the night, «O most noble one, the law of the Mede-Persians cannot be altered». The king has put his authority on it, and the king understood that. And the Bible says the king labored all day until sundown, that’s in the Bible, it says he labored all day to try to find a way to deliver Daniel out of the lion’s den. Oh, by the way, the consequence is that whoever does that will be thrown into the lion’s den.
So, the Bible says he labored all day until night, until the going down of the sun, and towards the evening, other governors came to him and says, «Remember this, O Majesty, we are concerned for your kingdom, the law of the Mede-Persian cannot be altered». So we have a king here whose law and his heart does not match. His heart was all for Daniel, one direction, his law was going in another direction, to throw Daniel into the lion’s den. To keep both, he cannot, he must either do violence to his heart, his love for Daniel, or satisfy the claims of justice, his justice, but to do both, he cannot. At the end of the day, justice won, the king reluctantly says, «Go ahead, take him».
So they took Daniel and they threw him into the den full of lions. By the way, these are ferocious lions, these are not pussycats, they’re not meow, okay? These are ferocious lions, how do I know that? Because later on, when the enemies were thrown in, even before their bodies hit bottom, their bones were crushed by the lions. And the Bible says that night, after Daniel was in the lion’s den, the king could not sleep. They didn’t bring dancing women before him, one translation says that, they didn’t bring music before him, his sleep departed, he could not sleep. By the way, when he took Daniel into the lion’s den, last words Daniel heard was this, the king says, «Your God, whom you serve continually, he will deliver you».
And the Bible says he did not sleep that night. The next morning, he got up, he went quickly, the Bible says, to the Daniel’s lion’s den, and he says, «O Daniel, has your God delivered you»? Let’s follow the story here. «Then the king arose very early in the morning and went in haste to the den of lions. When he came to the den, he cried out a lamenting voice to Daniel. The king spoke, saying to Daniel, 'Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions? '»
Next. «Then Daniel said to the king, 'O king, live forever! My God sent His angel and shut the lions' mouths, so that they have not heard me, because I was found innocent before Him; and also, O king, I have done no wrong before you.'» «Now the king was exceedingly glad for him,» not just glad, you know, he loved Daniel, «And commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken out of the den, and no injury whatever was found on him, because he believed in his God». But watch this, next. «And the king gave the command, and they brought those men who had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions: them, their children, their wives; and the lions overpowered them, broke all their bones in pieces before they ever came to the bottom of the den».
So, I told you, these are real ferocious lions, had not eaten for days. Now, the Bible records twice the accusers came to the king and reminded him the law cannot be changed. Now, supposing for the sake of illustration, look up here, just for the sake of illustration, okay… I’m closing with this. Just suppose that between the first coming, reminding the king, and the second coming, in between, the king actually threw Daniel already in the lion’s den, okay? But this accusers do not know. So, the second time they come to the king and they say, «King, we just want to remind you that the law cannot be altered,» the king says, «Yes, definitely not». They look at the king, «And the law says that you are to judge Daniel, and throw him into the lion’s den». He says, «I certainly will not».
Remember, we’re talking about after he has thrown, nothing has happened to Daniel, and he brought Daniel out and they did not know. So the accusers come, okay? And he says, «Of course not, but you just said that the law must be kept». «Certainly, Daniel broke the law». «Yes, he did, you have to throw him». «I most certainly will not». «King, O thou whose toe jam is the delicacy of the poor,» you know how they flatter the king. «O king, we are concerned and jealous for your honor, this will put a blot to your name, to your dynasty, and leave a lasting disgrace upon the honor of your excellent name if you don’t throw him». Say, «No, I’m as righteous yesterday when I threw him as today, I’m as righteous in not throwing him in, you know why? Because he has served his sentence».
Now, stop here, and let’s bring this to a close. What happened to Daniel has happened to all of us by substitute, Jesus is our Daniel, he went to the lion’s den for you and I, because the law cannot be broken, but all of us have broken the law, the law of the King. All of us, okay? And but instead of us going, Jesus went, that’s what I mean, Christ died for us. What is «For us»? As us, instead, instead. In English, «instead» means in the place of, us. So, like Daniel, Jesus went into the lion’s den, the cross, took all the judgment that was meant for you and I because of the broken laws in our lives, we have violated God’s commandments, amen?
He took our place, he was punished to the fullest extent for all our sins, and then he cried, «Finished,» and the King, God the Father, raised him from the dead out of the place of judgment, the lion’s den, amen? And he did it all not for himself, he did it for you and I. So, now, the accuser, usually through the mouths of people, but the person behind the accusation is actually the devil, who is called the accuser, use the mouth of people. They’ll come and say, «But So-and-so broke the law,» even today, come to you, «But So-and-so has, God, he has done this, he has done that, he must go». And God says, «No, he will not, and when I say, 'He will not, ' I’m as righteous as when I send my Son to the tree to die for their sins. Today, I’m righteous in not condemning My people. If I condemn My people when their substitute was condemned for their sins, it’s a miscarriage of justice, I will be unrighteous, I will be unrighteous.
So, I cannot be unrighteous, it will be a blot on the name and the throne of the Holy God who created the heavens and the earth. I cannot judge them, I cannot condemn them when they have belief on my gift, on my Son, their substitute. And because of that, I’m as righteous in clearing them from guilt as I am in sending their substitute on their behalf». Can you understand that? And we know who the lion is today, «Who goes about as a roaring lion»? But the only ones that he can devour based on this verse are the ones who accuse others. In other words, they are like him. Another thing, you should not accuse yourself either, and all the people said? Amen.
Now, in closing, you know, I’ve been wanting to do this as much as I can, but time is really of the essence here. I want you to sit back, once again I’m gonna show you that video that we did for more than a year of Jesus on the cross, and I want you to sit back and watch this, and remember that what he did was for you and I. Amen.