Joseph Prince - God Can Only Fix What You Don't Hide
Of all the sins that Jesus publicly rebukes and exposes in the Gospels, it is not, you know, he never, you can never read anywhere, he rebuked the tax collectors, the social outcasts, the prostitutes of his day. You cannot find anywhere in the Gospels that he rebuked them. But he rebuked the Pharisees, the self-righteous ones, because hypocrisy, all right, brings out that anger in him and we’re about to see why that does so in our Lord. And when you find it, you will see how lovely he is. It’s because he loved them, okay?
And before that, I just want to share a video that I’ve been preparing for the longest time to show all of you because it’s based on a revelation that God gave me many years ago in Israel. And it’s about Jesus at the Mount of Beatitudes and right after the Mount of Beatitudes, he’s preaching at the Sermon on the Mount, he cleansed the leper. I just want to share the background of this video. I feel like this video portrays to a certain extent the loveliness of our Lord Jesus Christ.
You know, everywhere we go in Israel, I always encourage people: look for Jesus. The guides can tell you the facts and the details of that place and give you the historical background. He can even be very knowledgeable about the historical Jesus, right? But many of them are not saved. But it’s your part to look at all those places and see Jesus, amen. See his beauty, his glories, his excellencies, amen.
So one of my favorite places is actually the Mount of Beatitudes. You can see a picture of the Mount of Beatitudes here. And this is the place where (this is confirmed) the exact location, okay? And there are studies along these lines and all that. And not only that, it is almost acoustically perfect. In other words, we have done it before. Our pastors, when we are there and all that, you see where the banana plantation is? That banana plantation down there? That is where the people would have been, the multitudes. And you see where these rocks are? That’s where Jesus would have seated.
Now, he might have sat on one of these rocks. There are not too many rocks there in this location but he might have sat on one of them. The Bible says he went up a mountain and he sat down and then he preached to the people: «Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are the peacemakers, » right? Up there on that mount, this is the place. When we did this video, I was wanting to really present the beauty of my Lord, the way I saw him, the way he revealed it to me.
The Holy Spirit showed me about Jesus in that story, and he confirmed everything. Topography must be accurate. In other words, Jesus facing the people and going this way, the multitudes will follow him. He healed the leper before the multitudes came. In other words, the multitudes did not see a leper. They saw a cleansed man. There’s no need to stone him, right? And not only that, this location goes straight to Capernaum and the next miracle was the centurion’s servant being healed in Capernaum. So everything is in line. So sit back, dim the lights, enjoy.
Oh, you like the last part? The heart shape? I thought of putting that down because it’s like a heavenly wink, amen, from God. I just want to tell you that when Jesus cleansed the leper, there is something that happened here we need to understand. And that’s my message here today. That the church is in a divine enigma, a divine paradox. I want to talk about this paradox today. And I think this is what is causing some confusion in the body of Christ. When Jesus touched the leper, under the Old Testament, a person touching a leper would contract defilement. But Jesus did not contract defilement. He banished it. Under the law, the unclean touching the clean will make the clean unclean. But under grace, Jesus the clean touched the unclean and the unclean became clean.
So that’s grace. Law is completely different from grace. Law demands, grace supplies. The law says: «Take off your shoes. The place you’re standing is holy ground, lest you die». Under grace, the prodigal’s father says, «Put shoes on my son’s feet. He has a right to stand in my presence, » amen. Under law, God gave the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai on the first feast of Pentecost Israel ever celebrated. Three thousand people died. Under grace, God gave the Spirit and 3000 people were saved at Mount Zion. They that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion.
The challenge we have today, like what I said earlier, is that we don’t understand why hypocrisy is such a sin that Jesus is angry with. I asked the Lord one time, I said, «Lord, why do you hate hypocrisy so much»? Of all the sins, like I said just now, he didn’t even rebuke or condemn the prostitutes, the tax collectors, the social outcasts. But he was very strong against hypocrisy. The religious leaders of his day, the Pharisees, had this self-righteous attitude and Jesus was angry with that. So he is the same yesterday, today, and forever, right?
So I asked the Lord one time, I said, «Why are you so strong against hypocrisy, » a number of years ago. And you know what he said to me? «Because I love them. I love the people». Because he loved the Pharisees. And yet, I couldn’t fully understand. He says that you will never know that you are loved until you know that I know all about you and I still love you. Because when you are playing the part of a hypocrite, all right, now I look up the dictionary definition of hypocrisy. I know what it means but just to see what the dictionary says. It says: «Play acting. Pretending to be what you are not, » okay? Play acting. You are not that character but you are play acting that character.
In other words, you’re pretending to be what you are not. Are you listening? The reason why Jesus was strong against hypocrisy is that the Pharisees, as long as they put up that facade, that veneer, they cannot feel love. They cannot feel the love of God. It’s like, you know, you’re hiding away from the… you want to get a sun tan, but you are hiding away from the sun. No, you got to remove every veil, every hindrance, every blockage to the sun.
So Jesus in his rebuke will remove all that so that they will know that he knows them as they are and still loves them. Nicodemus, a Pharisee, found that out. That Jesus knows all about him and loved him. And he allowed the love of God to penetrate his heart while the others didn’t. Are you with me so far? As long as you pretend to be what you are not, you cannot feel the love of God. And the love of God is the only thing that will cast out your fear and transform you, amen.
Now I want to show you something that is causing confusion in the church. And because of that, people start writing against extreme grace, you know, «Pastor Prince is preaching extreme grace» and things like, because they don’t understand this divine paradox. Let me explain. In Proverbs 17, verse 15, it says this: «He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the just, Both of them alike are an abomination to the Lord». You know what’s an abomination? There is sin. We are all born in sin. Even before we do anything, we are born in sin because of Adam’s sin. It’s in the blood, okay? Then there’s also transgression.
When you break a known law, that’s transgression or trespass. Then there’s iniquity that’s passed down from father to child. Iniquity, a perversion in the nature. There’s abomination. Abomination is the worst kind. Abomination is like, it’s abominable. It’s not snowman, okay? It’s abomination! It’s terrible, the worst kind, okay?
Now according to this verse, what’s the worst kind that’s an abomination to the Lord? Both, this. If you «justify the wicked, » let’s say a person is a wicked person, a sinner, but you justify him. You talk about him as if he’s a justified man, a righteous man, that’s an abomination. On the other hand, «he who condemns the just, » let’s say a just person, a righteous person, you condemn him, that’s «an abomination to the Lord». Are you listening, people?
Now, we always think in terms of other people, right? But what about yourself? If you are a sinner and you justify yourself like the Pharisees, all right, «I don’t need any saving, you know? I’m pretty okay, I’m moral. I keep the law. I don’t do bad things and all that, » you are justifying the wicked. You are justifying the sinner. God says you’re a sinner. And no problem, if you’re a sinner, guess what? Jesus says, «I’m a Savior». «But, Lord, you don’t understand. I’m a bad sinner». He says, «I’m a great Savior». «But my sin goes deep, » and he says, «My love goes deeper still». «You don’t understand, my sin is great»! He says, «My grace is greater».
So only when you acknowledge you’re a sinner, Jesus says, «I’m a friend of sinners. I’m the Savior of sinners». But you say, «I’m okay, I’m okay». «I didn’t come for the okay people. I came for those who say they are sinners». I think he said, «Those who are well don’t need a doctor». He said, «Those who are sick, » Jesus said. So when you take this position, you are justifying the sinner, even it’s yourself, that’s an abomination when you’re not yet saved. On the other hand, now that you are saved, the blood of Jesus has cleansed you, amen.
And the Bible says, what are you now? 2 Corinthians 5:21 real quick. You all know this verse by now: «God made Jesus at the cross who knew no sin to become our sin, » right? «That we might be made, that we might become…» That we might become what? «The righteousness of God in Him». So what are we now? The righteousness of God in him. But if you condemn the righteous, even the self-condemnation, you condemn yourself. When God has made you righteous, you condemn yourself.
You say, «I’m a lousy sinner. I’m this, I’m that, » you condemn yourself, it’s also an abomination to the Lord. Have you ever considered that? What God has cleansed, don’t you dare call unclean. Including yourself. The problem is that this is hypocrisy, pretending to be what you are not. He’s a sinner but he refused to admit he’s a sinner. So he puts layers of morality and good works and good standing, family standing, try to be somewhat in society or whatever just to cover up the fact he’s a sinner. But God says, «You’re a sinner but no problem. I sent Jesus to be your Savior».
Jesus is the Savior of sinners. If you’re not a sinner, you don’t qualify, amen. You don’t qualify for his saving power. The leper has all title to him, to his grace because the leper is a leper! Huh? In fact, he knew the Lord was able. He just wasn’t sure the Lord is willing to use his power on his behalf. That’s why he says, «Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean». He didn’t doubt his ability. He doubted his willingness. And the Lord confirmed that once and for all. «I am willing».
By the way, Jesus touched him, right? Jesus didn’t have to touch him. He didn’t ask the Lord, «If you are willing, touch me». But Jesus always exceeds our expectations. He always over-answers our requests, amen. So hypocrisy is pretending to be what you are not. There’s a woman of Canaan. Say «Canaan». And she came to Jesus and the Bible says this, that she said, «Lord, son of David, have mercy on me, for my daughter is severely demonized». The word «severely» is there. She used greatly in the King James. Your New King James is «severely tormented by a demon». So she has a daughter that’s demon possessed. And she came to Jesus, says, «Son of David, Lord, Son of David».
Now she’s coming on pretense that she’s a Jew. She’s not a Jew. She’s a Canaanite. But she knew that the phrase, «Son of David, » can only be used by the Jews. So the Bible says, the Lord answered her not a word. Not a word. And she came after the Lord and the disciples said, «Lord, please send her away. She’s troubling us». And she kept on telling the Lord, «Son of David, Son of David». And then the Lord said this: «I’m not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel».
Now she’s changed. She dropped the «Son of David». She’s desperate. She dropped the Son of David. She stopped pretending and says, «Lord»! Now, everyone can claim him as Lord. She dropped the Son of David. «Lord, please help me». Then Jesus turned around to her. «Woman, great is your faith. For this saying, go your way. The devil has gone out of your daughter, » amen. She went back, found her daughter lying completely well, peaceful. The demon is out. So what happened here? Jesus gave her a loophole, all right? But she says, «Yes, I’m willing to take my place. I’m willing to be real. I’m willing to take my place». And the Lord says, «That’s it. You got it».
You see, in essence, he’s telling his disciples, «Look, I cannot bless her» when he didn’t say a word and they said, «Send her away, send her away». The Lord is saying, this is what the Lord showed me. He’s in essence telling her, telling them, the disciples, «I cannot bless her on a pretense, but neither can I send her away without a blessing». So he gave her a loophole. What I’m saying, Church, is this. We cannot pretend to be what we are not. That’s hypocrisy. Can you understand that? So now you are saved by the blood of Jesus. Are you saved? Everyone who is saved shout «Hallelujah»! Say «Glory to God»!
Now that you are saved, what are you? You are now the righteousness of God in Christ, right? Now, what’s an abomination now? For you to condemn the righteous. Even it’s self-condemnation. Are you listening? To come to God and say, «God, I don’t ask much, but I have this pain, Lord. It’s been bothering me, Lord. But Lord, if it would just please you, Lord, to let a little crumb fall from your table, I’ll take the place of a puppy. No, worse than that, Lord. I’ll take the place of a centipede». And you think you’re being humble. That’s an abomination to the Lord. Are you listening?
You see, today the way we pray is different from the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, they prayed to God like the guy who came to God and said, «God, be merciful to me the sinner». Jesus talked about two persons. One was a Pharisee and one was a tax collector. They both came to God, all right? And they came to the temple and the tax collector even refused to look up. He says, «Oh God, » notice: God. He called God, God. «God, be merciful to me the sinner».
And then this guy, the Bible says, I like it, «He prayed within himself, » like praying to himself. «God, I thank you I’m not like this sinner. I fast twice a week. You know, I do this, I do that». And the Bible says that this man, the first man, went down to his house justified. But yet, it’s an Old Testament prayer. Today, we don’t say, «Oh God». Today, we say, «Father». Today, we have a spirit of sonship. Under the Old Testament, they have a spirit of bondage. We have a different spirit, amen. We say, «Father».
You know what it means to pray in Jesus’s name? Jesus says, «Up till now, you have asked nothing in my name». Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait a minute. Wait a minute, wait a minute. What does Jesus mean in the Upper Room when Jesus says, «Up till now, you have asked nothing in my name»? Maybe the disciples were praying the Lord’s Prayer every day since then. But yet, the Lord’s Prayer, wonderful as it is in its setting, in its time, Jesus himself said at the Upper Room, «Up till now you have asked nothing in my name».
So, obviously, the Lord’s Prayer is not asking in his name. «Up till now you have asked nothing in my name». So all the prayers of the Old Testament is not praying in Jesus’s name. There’s a new kind of prayer that’s coming. And he says, «Up till now, you have asked nothing in my name».
What is asking in someone’s name? What is doing business in someone’s name? That means you are his representative, right? In other words, when you pray, you must know that you have the same standing as Jesus before the Father. Not only that, you are loved the same as Jesus is loved. The Bible doesn’t say any lesser. You are loved the same way Jesus is loved. John 17, that «thou hast loved them even as thou hast loved me, » Jesus said. Not only that, you must know you are accepted before the Father with the same acceptance Jesus is accepted. Now you are in his name. That’s how you pray.