Joseph Prince - What to Do When Your Emotions Rise and Fall
Your real identity is that you’re created in righteousness and true holiness. You’re a new creation in Christ. You are in Christ. Can I have a good amen, all right? «What does it mean to be in Christ, Pastor Prince»? That means there was a man who gave everything up because of his sin. God gave him everything, and he gave everything up, amen. There was a man that was surrounded with paradise. Everything that he needed was there. There was no lack, there was no sickness, there was no poverty. There was nothing that lacked, okay? And God gave him everything.
In this kind of environment where he had everything, he committed high treason and obeyed Satan instead of obeying God, obeyed the one who is an epitome of hate instead of the one who… the Bible says God is love. And as a result, the consequence fell. The sin fell, amen? Man starts to decay, starts to grow old, have sickness and disease. And these are not the Father’s plan for his family. I said this is not the Father’s plan for his family. Church, we are in a fallen world. But soon Jesus is coming back and setting it right.
God cannot see sin on you, because he sees the blood of Jesus in his holy of holies. Jesus went back to the Father after he bore your sins in his body, amen. He did it perfectly. He shouted, «Finish»! Amen? He went back to the Father. On the third day, he was raised from the dead. Now, you must understand one thing: He died, even though he’s God, 100% God, he died as man. He came as man and died as man. He is 100% God, 100% man. Are you listening? It was a man that gave up the world, gave up everything for an apple, or whatever fruit you choose to believe it was, okay? Gave everything up.
Jesus was in an environment of wilderness, being tempted by Satan, and he won over Satan, amen. Adam was surrounded with everything beautiful and gave it up for an apple. Jesus, surrounded with everything that’s deserted, no supply, amen, no food, and obeyed God, amen. What a man. So when Jesus hung on that cross and cried, «It is finished»! What is finished? Yeah, the Old Covenant, where it’s based on your obedience, and no one can live under the Old Covenant of law. No one can keep the law. The one who say they cannot keep the law truly understands the law. The law is perfect. It is not just outward, but it’s also inward in your thoughts.
You might keep it outwardly or when people are looking, but you are different in your thoughts and your behavior when no one is looking. That is not keeping the law. So no one can keep the law. Let’s admit it. For by the law, no flesh shall be justified, the Bible says. So God knew that man cannot live under the law. God sent his Son to establish grace! So when Christ died on the cross and cried, «Finished,» one of the things is that the law is fulfilled. Jesus didn’t finish the law by breaking the law for us or destroying the law. He says, «Think not I am come to destroy the law. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill».
Has it been fulfilled? Yes. Where? At the cross. All your lawlessness and your law breaking and all that was borne by Jesus at the cross. He paid the price, and the law is satisfied. For the law to demand justice and payment from you today or else it will curse you, it will punish you, will be unjust. And the law is magnified. That’s why the phrase «The law is magnified» has got to do with the cross. The law is magnified. Jesus said, «Thy law is within my heart,» amen.
That’s why the ark of the covenant has the Ten Commandments inside. Only he can keep it. And he fulfilled it at the cross for all of us. We are no more under the law; we are under grace. What’s grace? Grace…if you are under the covenant, there is an if. «If you obey, I will bless you. If you disobey, I will curse you,» all right? But under the New Covenant, there are no ifs. God says, «I will be this to you, and you will. I’ll be your God, and you will be my people,» amen.
There was a time God hides his face from Israel, the period of Lo-Ammi, «No more my people»; Lo-Ruhamah, «No more mercy». But God says, «Through Christ, now you are now my people. You have now obtained mercy». Can I have a good amen? All right, so we have a very beautiful picture of the second man, amen, and this second man, when he arose from the dead, please understand: He died on the cross as man, all right, and he rose from the dead as man. By the way, when he died on the cross, not only he bore our sins, he also bore us. We were crucified with him. That part of you, the old man that loves to sin, that has been crucified at the cross. It is finished. «Knowing this,» Romans 6:6, «our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be nullified,» done away, ineffective.
So today the Christian still has this, right? Your biggest problem… say «Amen» if you agree. Your biggest problem is not so much the sins that you have committed. It is more this uprising of lust, this outbreak of temper. Sometimes you think that, «Wow, I’ve just come out from church, and I feel so good, and I cannot sin anymore». Then the next thing you know, you… say something that you shouldn’t have said. You lost your temper. It is this uprising that you feel inside, right? Is that your problem? If that’s not your problem, I suspect you are born again, amen? Because only Christians don’t like this kind of thing, amen.
The world will say, «I feel nothing. It’s all the same. In fact, I don’t know what I am». Only you will know this is not you. This is not you. You don’t like it. And worse, it intrudes into your most private, holy moments when you’re praying, even. You’re thinking, «How can I think those thoughts»? Child of God, is this true? Let’s encourage each other. Are you all having the same experience? Amen, then it intrudes even in your sleep.
The worst is your sleep, all right? You feel like getting up. «I rebuke those thoughts. How can I think those thoughts»? It could be blasphemous thoughts. It could be bad thoughts. And you’re shocked. It could be an evil spirit attacking and putting those thoughts. It’s still from outside. But if it feels from inside, it’s your flesh, that part of you that is not you. God never sees you in your flesh. Write that down somewhere. God never sees you in your flesh. God sees you in your spirit.
Romans 8 tells us if Christ be in you, all right, the body is dead because of sin but the Spirit is alive because of righteousness and the Bible says, «You are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit,» Romans 8. You are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit. What does that mean? All that is true of the second Adam is now true of you. As he is, so am I in this world. Not as he was. As he was is good enough, when Jesus walked by the Sea of Galilee, you know? «Oh, if I’m as he was, it’s good enough». But, no, God is referring to the Christ that has been enthroned and glorified at his right hand. As he is, so are we in this world. Are you listening?
Now, you are being elevated in your thinking. This is the kind of thinking that is holy thinking. It is thinking in line with the New Testament. It’s thinking in line with the way God wants you to think because God thinks that way. God thinks of you not as down there. God thinks of you in his right hand, in Christ. When God’s eyes see blood, God’s eyes cannot see sin. If ever, if ever today in heaven… by the way, you know that the blood of Jesus has been sprinkled in heaven? In the book of Hebrews, it says Jesus went in with his own blood.
Now, listen, he rose from the dead. He conquered death as man because the work is finished. So death has no more claim. So he rose from the dead on the third day as what? Man. Listen, listen, and then God raised him all the way up bodily, you know, in that new body that can never grow old, never decay, never die, amen? He went up to heaven, and he was glorified. The Father welcomed him, and he sat down. And the Bible says, in Hebrews, the reason he sat down is not because he is God. That, he always is.
The Bible says, «Having purged our sins, he sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high». And that’s why, in Hebrews 10, it says that once he has purged our sins by his body, we are all sanctified once and for all, amen? And he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever. «Having offered one sacrifice», say «one sacrifice for sins forever», sat down, sat down on the right hand, same as Chapter 1 of Hebrews, amen. «Having purged our sins, sat down».
Now, listen, the same person that bore the most sins in the entire history of man, there never was a person that bore more sins. There never was a person who can bear sins, lah, by the way, but if you talk about every filth, every uncleanness, the person that bore all these sins in his own body on the cross is Jesus Christ. The fact that he can, right now, in his resurrection, walk into heaven by his blood, and the Father glorifies him. The Father says, «Sit on my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool».
That means what? Where are all the sins? Where are all the sins that he bore a few days ago? Where are all the sins? Whose sins are those sins? Whose sins are those? Whose sins are those sins? Come on. Hey, talk to me, people! Come on. Talk to me. Come on. Whose sins are those that he bore? But where is it now? When he stepped into the Father’s right hand and the Father says, «You are my Son. This day have I begotten thee. Sit on my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek», having purged our sins, he sat down. «Purge» means cleanse. Our sins cleansed.
You know how we know? Jesus seated at the Father’s right hand. Just before he sat down at the Father’s right hand, just a few days ago, just a few days ago, he was carrying our sins on that cross. Today where are the sins? Gone! And that’s why he can go in. Listen, you must have the same mentality. Where there’s remission or forgiveness of sins, where sins are put aside by his blood, we must have boldness to enter the holiest. Actually, listen carefully: It is not so much, it’s writing to the Hebrews, telling them, «Come near». For us, we are already near.
That’s why we are called the body of Christ. You know where is the body of Christ today? At the Father’s right hand, the right center of the universe. We are the body of Christ. We are the many-membered body of Christ. To you, it’s like, this sounds so metaphorical and so out-there and all that. With God, it is the reality. Your experiences every day is more, like, metaphorical and all that. This is the reality. You see, if God ever… the blood of Jesus has been sprinkled at the Father’s right hand just now. I said that, right?
The Bible says Jesus went in with his own blood, not with the blood of bulls and goats like they did in the Old Testament. That’s why they got to reapply the blood, reapply the blood, reapply the blood, because their work is never finished. It’s not sufficient. The blood of bulls and goats cannot wash away sins. But he went in once with his own blood, having obtained ETERNAL redemption (do you see the word «eternal»?) redemption for us, okay? Is the blood still there? Then you have been perfected, and perfected without ceasing. Is the blood there? Then you are made righteous, and you are righteous in God’s eyes without ceasing. If ever you can remove the blood… and God’s eye is on the blood. It’s not on man.
Listen carefully: God’s eye is not on man’s sin. I’m talking about believers, okay? Not on your sin. God’s eye is on the blood. If ever, if ever (which is not possible, okay?) if ever God takes his eyes off the blood to look at your sin, God has just negate, slighted the blood of Jesus. God cannot do that. That’s why the Bible says, «Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin,» why? Because it has been imputed at the cross.
That’s why the Bible says the New Covenant is all based on this clause: «And the Holy Spirit has been sent», in Hebrews 10 it tells us to be a witness to us, and we hardly hear this witness. And the witness is your sins and your lawless deeds are remembered no more. For us, physical is real; spirit world is not real, but God, it’s the spirit world that brought, it was the Spirit, God’s the Spirit, that brought forth the material. And if you can see something, the Bible says it’s temporal. It’s true. This chair you sit on? Come back 50 years. It’s not the same shape anymore. One day it shall be no more, amen. You can see it, it’s temporal. The things which cannot be seen are eternal. Who you are in Christ.
Now, this body, right, this flesh, thank God: It is temporal. When Jesus comes again, immediately you won’t see it happen. Neither can I see it happen. Poof, we have a brand-new body. And all trace of sickness, deformity, or whatever, all gone. Listen, today is a new and living way. Remember Hebrews 10? I can show you all this, but I’m just sharing from the Spirit here, all right? You can study your Bible later, and «Huh, I don’t want to study…want to study». Who said that? The Bible says, «Having therefore boldness». The verse before that, «Where there’s remission of sin, where there’s forgiveness of sins, there’s no more offering for sin».
And the Holy Spirit witness to us our sins are no more. God remembers them no more. «Having therefore», therefore is based on all these truths. «Therefore, we have boldness to enter the holiest,» all right? Listen, «By the blood of Jesus, never by our works, in a new and living way». So now the holy of holies is a new and living way. In the past it was an old and dying way, okay? Number one is that if you go inside there without proper preparation and all that, you die because you have sinned. But today when you enter in… listen carefully; listen to what I’m saying here, the light, God is light.
If we walk in the light as he is in the light… and, by the way, the walk down there in the light is telling us if we have our place in the light as he is in the light, Chapter 1 because he’s talking to people who are also not saved. So he says if we walk in the light we are people in the light. It’s not the same as saying that we walk completely in the light in terms of our behavior. He’s talking about our position. If we are truly in the light, listen, church, the light will only show how there’s no more spot on you.
How bright is that light? The holy of holies. I’m telling you: The holy of holies, the light, the Shekinah glory, only shines on you to show the perfection of Jesus’s work. To him be all the glory and the praise, amen. It is like, you know, ladies' gems, special precious stones, right, rubies or sapphire? What do they do? They put it under the… this kind of light, right? What do you call it? Downlight. They put it under this light, why, why? Because it brings out its beauty.
So, in other words, the more you come to God, the light of God shines on you. It brings out all the beauties and the perfections of what Jesus has accomplished for you. Who are you identified with: the first Adam or the second Adam? But everything in the world, that’s why it’s the worldly system. Everything in the world is «Touch not, taste not, your five senses. Unless I see it, I will not believe it. Unless I feel it», you know? And it’s all based on Adam, the old Adam, whereas the way of God is the way of faith. Now, faith doesn’t mean it’s not there. Like, «It’s not there». «But if I FAITH it, I faith it, I faith it, okay? If I faith it long enough, my faithing will produce the existence».
This is not faith. This is stupid, amen? Only God can produce something out of nothing, ex nihilo. Out of nothing, God can produce something. Only God can do that. Your faithing cannot produce something. No, faith is substantiating what is already there in the spirit world. I act as if what I see in the spirit world, I’m now in accordance with. I act as if. Write that down: «Act as if». Act as if God is near. And to walk in all these truths I’m sharing with you, act as if God is hearing every prayer. Act as if all your sins are forgiven, because they are.
Now, I say, «Act as if», you might think, «Oh, it’s not real again,» all right? «You just act as if…» no, no, no, you act as if to walk in line with what is already established, what is really reality. Act as if you’re righteous, not self-righteous. You cannot be self-righteous. If you’re self-righteous, you’ll be proud, all right? You’re righteous because it’s a gift of righteousness you receive. Jesus is your righteousness. But act as if it’s so.
Act like your prayers matter. «For this kind of situation, can you go to Pastor Henry to pray for you? He’s got the gift of healing». No, you never pray that way. You won’t even say, someone come to you, «I’m not prepared yet, not today. Maybe, you know what? Come back another day». The mental health issue person, right? Now I’ve got more mental health condition. Trying to find you at the right day to get you to pray. «But, Pastor, there are times I don’t feel like praying». Feelings! «But there are times I feel like praying». Feelings! «There are times I feel like, you know, just doing nothing». Feelings! «There are times I feel like faith is flowing». Feelings! «There are times I feel like faith is not flowing». Feelings!
That’s why many a times when you pray for people, there are times you don’t feel like your prayer is reaching God or you don’t feel like faith is flowing in your heart, you get answers. On other times you pray, the feelings are there. «I feel good». All these… God healed and all that. The person come back and say, «Hey, I got more problems now». You found it so? You cannot depend on feelings. I say you cannot depend on feelings. They fluctuate, but your state is a constant. And what’s your state? Righteous, accepted. And you are in the presence of God, in the holy of holies, perpetually. Something they never had in the Old Testament is a purged conscience.
The Bible says that once your conscience is purged, you have… okay, having purged, once-purged, right, worshipers once-purged should have had, this is what «purged conscience» means, should have no more consciousness of sins. And that’s what God wants you to have in his presence, no more consciousness of sins.
So, child of God, realize from this week onwards, bring back to this, your mind, the consciousness, because everything in you will tell you, «You are just the same old person. You are confined. Your feet is on this earth. Can you see that? All right. You are just a natural person with natural problems, you know. You have natural forces working against your body. And you have… everything is natural, okay»? You remind yourself, «No. Truly, who matters? Whose eyesight it really matters is God. And God has put me in Christ, at his right hand».