Joseph Prince - God's Favor and Protection Over Your Family in Dark Times
Praise the Lord, hallelujah. See, it’s a privilege, a wonderful privilege to preach the gospel, amen. And you have colleagues, you have relatives, family members, friends who are not saved. Friends, take it seriously, amen. I mean, to buy a house or to save to buy a car, or, you know, that kind of thing, these are things that support your life, but what’s more important is that don’t let the people around you not know Jesus, amen. The best way to love them is to give them Jesus. When Jesus comes to their personal life, I’ll tell you this, the person will be so grateful to you. I remember my grandfather when he had a heart condition and it was really bad in the hospital.
My mother was there and he was like going up and down, up and down. Again, doctors do their very best. But there he was. He was like desperate for air. He had a heart condition and he went up and down, up and down. And he grabbed my mother and he was not very clear, lucid in what he was saying. And he says, finally, two words escaped his mouth. And because they are Pranakan, right? Baba people. My mother is Baba. Pranakan, straight Chinese. They speak a bit of Malay, amen. She says, forgive. That’s what you must call upon Jesus.
My mom said, say forgive. Forgive me. Call upon Jesus. And she knew that all his life, you know, he would persecute Christians. He would just make fun of them. He refused. Even in his dying moments, he went up and down, up and down. And finally, he looked up to heaven. That was the first time my mother said, you can see almost a change. He looked up. Like he saw something there. And then he says, «Jesus, forgive». And there’s a piece that came to him. My grandmother, right, my mom’s mom was there. Wasn’t a believer also. And from then on, he just fell back to his pillow, fell into a deep sleep. And that week, he went back to be with Jesus.
How many think the Lord is merciful, right? Even the last moment, like the thief at the cross, he will come and save you. But pray, don’t take their salvation for granted. The best thing you can give your children is Jesus. It wasn’t too long after that my grandmother got saved also because of what she saw or what she saw happen, she received Jesus. So they are both right now jumping up and down heaven, all right? Young couple. Forever young, forever strong, forever healthy, amen. Praise the Lord. Hallelujah! This year, we’re gonna see many salvations, amen. You see, the theme of the year has got to do with God’s plans and purposes in your life. So this year, as we look at the Word of God, we’ll see some insights into what God has for us this year. Praise the Lord. You sit back. Watch this.
The year, the «Kairos» year, a right time, right place, amen. Look at this. This is what’s gonna happen this year. The Lord is saying it’s a «Kairos» year. It’s a favorable year for all of us. All right, that doesn’t mean the whole year is favorable. It just means that we are entering, God’s people is entering. Not the year itself. We are entering. When I say this kind of thing, people of the world says, okay, it’s for all of us. It’s not for all of us. It’s for the people of God. Some people don’t even bother to hear the message, amen. It’s for God’s people, all right. It’s not for people who don’t believe that God speaks. That God even exists, amen.
Like the Bible says, «The fool has said in his heart, there is no God,» amen. So, it’s true for God’s people. Just like when God sent the plague to Egypt that represents the world, God’s people are in Egypt. So how? For example, the swarm of flies. Now the word flies is in italic. So the swarm there, some people say it’s mosquitoes. A swarm of mosquitoes. Some say it’s a fly that sucks blood, all right. Whatever it is, the word there is swarm. God sent a swarm across Egypt. But the Bible says, what happened, all right. «In that day I’ll set apart the land of Goshen, in which My people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there, in order that you may know that I am the LORD».
Another plague is the cattle disease. So flies are around you, amen. So God is saying this year… flies by the way are pictures of evil spirits. God is saying, I don’t care what evil spirit or powers of darkness is near you, amen, God will make a distinction. It will influence the people and usually when they are influenced, they are very depressed, amen. They are oppressed. But it will not happen to you. There’s God’s people. And then we come to cattle, cattle disease, all right, in Egypt. Their cattle came down with disease and the cattle died. And this is referring to food, our drink, milk, and our meat, right? So whatever you eat this year, whatever you… let me show you the verse first.
«And the LORD will make a difference between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt. So nothing shall die of all that belongs to the children of Israel». All that belongs to the people of God, right, nothing will die. So there is a separation. So there are bad things happening to the world. Darkness is coming upon this earth, but let’s believe God. Make sure number one, you are a child of God. Notice, it happens to all of them, you know. Many of them are backslidden. Many of them are not flowing with Moses. Not all of them are perfect. I’m telling you, of course, none of them is perfect. None of them, what I’m saying is that it’s like holy or whatever, amen, none of them could keep the Ten Commandments because it was not yet given. They just have to belong to God. And they are all God’s people, amen. For us, by spiritual birth, new birth. For them, physical birth. They’re the people of God because they are children of Israel.
Okay, so nothing you eat or drink is gonna affect you. Now, the third one is the hail. «Only in the land of Goshen where the children of Israel were, there was no hail». So hailstones will come down from the heavens, from the sky, upon Egypt. Hailstone destroys all their crops, destroys their houses, they’ll be destroyed if they are outside, right? But there’s no hailstones in Goshen where the people of God lived. And Goshen in Hebrew means near. Then we have, so that’s from the sky. So nothing surrounding you, nothing you eat and drink, nothing from up there coming down, amen, heaven, whatever, will hurt you, will touch you this year. So drop down to the last one. Last one of course is the plague on the firstborn, but second last one is darkness. Thick darkness.
«Moses stretched out his hand towards heaven, and there was thick darkness». Thick darkness that you cannot see in front. You cannot see your hand in front of you, all right, but the Bible says, «They did not see one another; nor did anyone rise from his place for three days. All the children of Israel had light in their dwellings». So think about it. It was such a darkness that the Egyptians who knew how to, you know, strike a flint together. In those days, they don’t have matches. They strike flames together, amen, and get light. Of course, they know how to burn it. Of course, but no flame could give them light. So this light in the Israeli houses is supernatural. Because if it’s not supernatural, the Egyptians would find recourse to it as well. It was supernatural.
Listen, child of God, this year when darkness comes upon families and values are all upside down and people don’t care anymore, movies don’t care about restrictions anymore, they don’t care about, you know, whether your child is too young. I was watching an innocent YouTube program about a singer that my son likes, right, and his life story and all that. And he’s famous among the younger ones and all that. And just an old song that was revived back. And all of a sudden, this guy used profanity. And I had to stop it because I looked at my son and I said, «I feel so sad because I thought it was an innocent kind of thing». And the guy used profanity. I lost all my respect for him. And I told Justin, «That’s a bad word. Don’t use that word. It’s a bad word».
And people who lose control use that word, amen. It’s not people who are in control. It’s not strong people that use that word. Weak people use that word. And so, the world is like that, but we’ll have light in our dwellings, amen. We have light in our dwellings. I thank God that Justin didn’t watch it by himself. Right time, right place, father and son was there. So I was there to instruct. I was there to help, amen. Praise the Lord. You will have light in your dwellings. Light means always, you know, you don’t have to talk so much, amen. You can just say a word and there will be light in the heart of your teenager. There will be light in the heart of your boy. There will be light in the heart of your daughter, amen. Light means revelation. Light, the supernatural light. This is not natural light or else Egyptians will make that light as well happen in their dwelling place. This is gonna happen, amen.
So you see, the church is the bride. Do you know why God calls you the bride? The bride? Hello, look at me. Because you are loved. In fact, one verse in Song of Songs, the bridegroom, the Lord Jesus looks at the church. And the church can be corporate and the church can be individual. He looks at the church and says. Your eye, just one eye, one look from you, my heart is taken. He says, one look from you, I love that one. One look from you, you ravish my heart. One translation says, you ravish my heart. You see, do we really believe it that when we Look to the Lord, his heart is ravished? «Don’t ask me why, but pastor, I’m sure in his eyes, I’m ugly». Don’t you ever say that to him. He keeps on calling you, «Oh my beloved. There is no spot in you» in the Song of Songs. It’s so good. It’s so good. It starts off with saying, chapter 1 verse 1 says, «Let him kiss me the kisses of his mouth». Or verse 2, it says, «Let him kiss me».
What is that? I want a personal experience of his love. I don’t want to hear Pastor Prince’s experience. I wanna have my own. Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth. Kiss me with close proximity experience. Have you noticed that many of the right time, right place illustrations with Ruth meeting Boaz at the right time, at the right place, it’s all got to do with relationships? Finding your life partner as well as Abraham’s servant at the well to find a bride for Isaac. So the Lord puts it at the bride. And it’s beautiful. There’s a verse that says in Isaiah, «As the bridegroom rejoices over the bride». It’s not like the husband rejoices over the wife. No, we should maintain that bridal love all the way, right? But you see, why God didn’t say, as a husband rejoices over the wife because God knows mankind. That illustration doesn’t say, oh my wife.
Okay, now normally, I love her. Like she knows I love her. She knows I love him. You know, yeah. When was the last time you said? Ten years ago, lah. But she know I know, lah, you know. It is valid until it is revoked, lah. But it’s valid until now, lah. You don’t have to say it every day one. Or I might say it every day. But brighter love is like you look at her, you can’t wait to be alone. Let all this crowd go home like y’all. You all hang around for what? Amen. Give your feet, y’all. Give you all a lot of food and all that. You all still hanging around inside the bridal chamber. Hey, go home, amen. Amen, it’s the kind of love. It’s like passion. The heart is beating. The heart is ravished. And it says like this, «As the bridegroom rejoice over the bride, so the Lord your God rejoices over you». Amen.
I pray that this year, you will experience the love of Christ like you have never experienced before. Because when you experience the love of Christ, you will be at the right place at the right time, okay? You’re with me so far? Okay, so Song of Songs, the beloved, the bride is talking about her beloved Jesus, all right. You are talking about Jesus. It can be applied individually as well as corporately as the church. We are all the bride of Christ, amen. And you are beautiful in his eyes. He puts his comeliness on you and says, «You are beautiful». And so the Lord spoke to me and said, «Rise up, my love, my fair one, And come away». Could this be a reference to rapture this year? We don’t know. But for sure, throughout this year, he’s telling you, «Come up to a higher place. The air is better, fresher. Come up to where I am. Rise up, my love. Rise up from your depression. Rise up from your doldrums and your discouragement. Rise up to where I am».
Okay, I’m gonna show you how to rise up in a while, okay? «Rise up my love». He calls you, «My love,» amen. «My fair one,» that’s my beautiful one, «And come away, For lo, the winter is past,» I love this poetry. «Lo, the winter is past, The rain is over and gone». So whatever it is, I believe he’s talking, I’m gonna show you. You say, «Pastor Prince, why are you saying that this refers to this year»? I’ll come to it. Be patient, amen. I’m gonna show you he’s talking to you about coming to a higher place and he’s telling you whatever winter you had, whatever seasons or bad days, dark days, he’s telling you, «Lo, the winter is past». And not only that, «The rain is over and gone».
And he goes on to say, «The flowers appear on the earth; The time of singing has come». Hey, time, «Eth» and «Kairos» here. «The time of singing has come. The voice of the dove,» who is the dove a symbol of? What is the dove a symbol of? The Holy Spirit. The voice. You are starting to hear his voice. «The voice of the dove is heard in our land. The fig tree puts forth her green figs». In the Hebrew, this is the only place it appears, «Pag». There’s a clue that this year is called «Pag». And the only verse that has the word «Pag» in the entire Old Testament in Hebrew is this one, this portion. It’s telling you that Jesus cursed the fig tree because it wasn’t the season for figs. But he is saying the fig tree is putting forth, «Pag,» amen. Which means what? The tree will be completely fruitful.
What about my winter? What about my darkness? Those bad days? Lo, the winter is past. The rain is over and gone. The flowers are blooming. It’s a time of singing, okay. «The fig tree puts forth her green figs, And the vines with the tender grapes Give a good smell. Rise up, my love, my beautiful one, And come away». Come away. Could it be also besides telling us to come to a higher place, to forget the past and be with him, could there be an allusion to the rapture? No one knows the day, nor the time, nor the hour. No one knows when the rapture will happen. But could it be an illusion there? I leave that with you. But for sure it’s telling us to go to a higher place. Can I have a good amen?
«Now, how do I go to a higher place, pastor». Well, let’s go to Genesis 24. I’ll close with this. Genesis 24 is about Jesus and the church. The Holy Spirit goes out to find a bride for Jesus, for the son, Abraham’s son. And the first mention of «Chara» is here. Genesis 24. Okay, «The servant took ten of his master’s camels and departed, for all his master’s goods were in his hands». I feel like telling you real fast, okay, I see a lot of nuggets, I must tell you one. Okay or not? Then I look at the time for a while, you know, then I’m a bit concerned for you all. But I’ll tell you real fast, okay? Even like this, I get this revelation. «The servant took ten of his master’s camels,» Ten camels. But the next line says, «All his master’s goods,» Abraham’s prosperity and goods, «Were in his hand». But he only took ten camels. «But all his master’s goods were in his hands».
God takes ten as a whole. For God, ten is a whole. That’s why with tithe, the world doesn’t understand this, all right? They will make fun of churches that do that kind of thing, whatever it is. Even some Christians don’t understand this. The ten, when you give the ten, you say, «We give God everything». No, no. God says, «The ten is everything». So ten represents all. Can you see that? «And he made his camels kneel down outside the city by a well of water at evening time, the time when women go out to draw water». Notice the word women, plural? So women are supposed to be there. But you know the story? God stopped all the women for some reason. Only one woman came out. God’s choice.
So even before he prayed the prayer, you must understand one thing. Even before you prayed for the «Chara,» right time, right place, even before you prayed for success and favor, God already arranged it. Because the Bible says, «Before he finished talking, she appeared». That means she must have made a journey already before he was praying. This year, the Lord told me, many of you have experienced this. He told me many of you have experienced this. So when I say this, you all will understand what I’m saying. Many of you, before you call, he answers. Sometimes you say, «I’m gonna pray about this. Okay, I’m busy now. I’m gonna pray about that». Then before you know it, answer came already. You think you’re going to have to pray. God says, «You’ll see more and more of this this year». All right, Isaiah, the promise in Isaiah. «It shall come to pass,» yes, «Before they call, I will answer; And while they are still speaking, I will hear».
So, he prayed a prayer. This prayer. He said, «O LORD God of my master Abraham, please give me,» what? «Success this day». And the word success here is the word, «Chara,» which is the same word as time and chance happen to them all. It’s a successful happening. It is a favorable happening, amen. Do you get it? It is orchestrated happening and a divinely orchestrated happening. He prayed for success. He didn’t even know he was being led to pray for the right time, right place, all right? Because God is rearranging the right time, right place. «And show, ('hesed') show kindness, ('hesed') to my master Abraham». That’s the word grace in the Hebrew, «Hesed». So the first time the word «Chara» appears, it is here.
The first time «Hesed» appears, all right. The first time «Hesed» appears is not here, but I’m getting ahead of myself. The first time «Hesed» and «Chara» appears together is here. Which tells us that to be at the right place at the right time, you need God’s grace. God’s earned undeserved favor. Are you with me so far? Another thing, «Chara,» right time, right place. I mean logically, right time, right place gives you what? Success, right? Right? But then, later on, when he asked, see what happened after this?
Now, real quick. Go back to the part, verse 21. «And the man, wandering at her, remained silent so as to know whether the LORD had made his journey prosperous or not». The first mention of prosperity, prosper, prosperous is found here, «Tsalach». You know, Joshua 1:8, you make your way «Tsalach,» prosperous, amen. Psalms 1, the meditator on God’s Word, «Whatever he doeth shall prosper,» «Tsalach». But the first mention of «Tsalach» is here about Jesus and his church. And notice that «Tsalach» is a journey. Success is a journey. By the way, in the Greek version of this verse, «Septuagint,» it says, instead of «Tsalach,» the Hebrew, it says, «Euodoó». «Euodoó» is using 3 John 2. «Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper,» «Euodoó,» «And be in health even as your soul prospereth,» «Euodoó». And «Euodoó» is used… go back to that verse again.
«Euodoó» is used in this verse in Genesis 24 in the Greek. First mentioned. So the first mention is what? What’s the meaning of «Euodoó»? In the Greek, it says to grant a prosperous and expeditious journey. To prosper, be successful. Notice the very first mention is a prosperous journey. And go back to the first mention. The word journey is there, all right? He was wondering whether the Lord has made his journey prosperous or not. Friend, look up here. Look up here. Don’t wait for an event to happen then you say, «I’m prosperous. Yes, I made it. I achieved my goal. I’m a success». Goals and prosperity is not the destination. It is the journey. To God, if you learn to enjoy where you are, even times are tough, learn to enjoy where you are while you are going towards your destination, your goal, and all that, that to God is success.