Joseph Prince - The Voice You Need to Stop Agreeing With (01/20/2026)
Pastor Joseph Prince teaches that Jesus strongly rebuked hypocrisy because He loves people and wants them to experience true love by being real, not pretending. Drawing from the Sermon on the Mount, the healing of the leper, and the story of the Canaanite woman, he shows how God cannot bless pretense but responds with mercy when we drop facades and come honestly. The key takeaway is that as believers, we are already righteous in Christ, so we should live boldly in that truth without self-condemnation or hypocrisy.
Hypocrisy: Why Jesus Hated It So Much
The whole world is full of hypocrites, okay? And I want to touch on that as well today because I think that there’s something about this hypocrisy that evokes the greatest response from Jesus of all the sins that Jesus publicly rebukes and exposes in the Gospels. It is not, you know, you can never find, 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.
And we’re about to see why that that’s so in our Lord. And when you find it, you will see how lovely he is. It’s because he loved them. I had the privilege of showing for the very first time a video that I’ve been preparing for the longest time to show all of you because it’s based on the 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, his preaching of the Sermon on the Mount, he cleansed the leper. But before that, 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, amen.
So one of my favorite places, actually, is 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.
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… 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. And it’s acoustically almost perfect because there was a study done by a university in America. They studied this whole topography in this place, and they found that it’s acoustically almost perfect. So Jesus did not need to have a microphone. His Father has prepared the place for him. Isn’t that amazing, amen?
The Healing of the Leper: A Hidden Encounter
And it’s very interesting that when Jesus cleansed the leper, the Bible tells us that, we all know that leprosy is a type of sin, right? Leprosy is something that, when you contract it, you are supposed to be out of the camp. You are to live in a place far away.
So the Bible says that, after Jesus preached, he cleansed the leper. Obviously, the leper is not among the multitude, right? He cannot be among the multitude. He will be stoned to death. Because under the law, you touch a leper… the leper is considered unclean, a type of sin. And when you touch the leper, you become unclean.
Now the next miracle after he cleansed the leper, the Bible says Jesus entered Capernaum. So it’s exactly this way. Facing the people, he would have gone this way. He didn’t go down to the people. For the longest time, I thought he went down to the multitude. And yet, the chapter 8, after he finishes the Sermon on the Mount, chapter 8 opens by saying, «When Jesus finished the sermon, when Jesus came down the mountain, the multitudes followed him».
I always thought he came down this way, where the people were. But if he came down that way, then that phrase, «The multitudes followed him», doesn’t make sense. Because he’s going towards them, right? If I go towards you, you cannot follow me, right? But if I go another way, that’s when you follow me. So he must have gone on this way. So he went on this way, and I was walking this way, and all of a sudden, the Lord arrested me. I saw a huge rock on the side, or a pile of rocks on the side, and there were other slabs of stone all across the area, strewn across the area. And the Lord began to give me an inner vision and a beautiful story of the leper. And I began to see that the leper could have hidden under one of these rocks.
So I looked at the rock here, and I looked at where Jesus would have stood up here, and I began to realize that he would have seen Jesus without the multitudes seeing him. He could have heard Jesus without the multitudes, you know, detecting him. So I wondered, what did he hear during that time? Which part of the Sermon on the Mount do you reckon he heard? Maybe he heard Jesus say, «Look at the birds of the air. For they sow not, neither do they reap, yet your heavenly Father takes care of them. Are you not of more value than the birds»?
And I could see a bird come, right, to where his rock was, where he was hiding, and chirping. Almost like telling him, «Why are you so worried? You are of more value than I am, and yet God feeds me. He will take care of you, » right? So just imagine a leper not being touched for the longest time. We don’t know how long. He probably has loved ones, a baby that has grown a few years or whatever, but you know, he has never touched them. And he has never been touched.
I think I’ll leave the story to the video. And also, 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 it 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 servant being healed in Capernaum. So everything is in line. So sit back, dim the lights, enjoy.
You like the last part? The heart shape? I thought of putting that down because it’s like a heavenly wink, amen, from God. You know, the Bible says in Psalms 147: «He heals the brokenhearted And binds up their wounds. He counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by name».
Understanding Hypocrisy and God’s Love
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 looked 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 are pretending to be what you are not. Are you listening?
Do you remember the story of the woman at the well? Jesus gently exposed her in her sins. Why? Well, because he wanted her to feel loved. Every time you pretend to be something you are not, you cannot feel loved. Are you all 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.
The Canaanite Woman: Dropping the Pretense
Hypocrisy is pretending to be what you are not. There’s a woman of Canaan. Say «Canaan». Jesus went up to the north near the seacoast, near the Lebanon area where Tyre and Sidon was, all right?
So here we have a situation. The woman came pretending that she’s a Jew, calling him by the Jewish title, «Son of David, have mercy on me». God cannot bless you on a pretense. The Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of Truth. He bears witness with the truth. So the Bible says the Lord answered her not a word. Not a word! And she came after the Lord, and the disciple says, «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». You heard that? «I am not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel».
Because at that point in time, in his earthly walk, he came for Israel. So the woman is pretending and she came after, and, you know, kept on pursuing Jesus, and disciples, «Send her away, » and the Lord says, «I’m not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel». The Lord showed me this. If he answered a word to her, you know what it will be? A rebuke. Because a Canaanite, based on her own title, she has no title to the Lord. So the only thing the Lord can say to her is what? Condemnation and rebuke. It was the mercy of the Lord he didn’t say a word. Love the Lord. Then he says, «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. And the Lord turned to her. It wasn’t time to help the Gentiles. It wasn’t the Gentiles' time. But the Lord gave her a loophole. The Lord says, «It’s not right to take the children’s bread».
Now I’m going to tell you something, okay? If you lived during the time of Jesus and in the Old Testament, you know what the Jews call us? Dogs. What a compliment. Jews call us dogs, okay? Gentiles were known as dogs. But this is what Jesus said to her. Now, Jesus turned to her and said, «It’s not right to take the children’s bread, Israel’s bread, and to give it to the puppies». Literally, it’s not «dogs» in your Bible. King James says «dogs». New King James says «little dogs». It’s the diminutive term of the word «dog, » which is a puppy. «It’s not right», Jesus gave a picture, a domestic picture, to help her. «It’s not right to take Israel’s bread, the children’s bread, and to give it to puppies».
You see how humble does she want to get? Because right now, she has no title to him. So she dropped her position, her pretend position as a Jew. And then she went low and says, «Lord, help me». Then she went low and says, «Yes, I agree. I’ll take my place as a puppy. But even the puppies eat the crumbs that fall from the master’s table». 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 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?
Living Boldly in Our Righteousness
Look up here. When you’re a sinner, don’t pretend to be righteous. 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? So the devil will come to you and say, «How can you act like God hears your prayer? How can you… look at what you just did yesterday. Look at what you thought about just now. How can you act like a righteous man? You’re a hypocrite»!
When, actually, hypocrisy is what? Pretending to be what you are not. You are righteous, right? And when you act righteous and act bold, the Bible says the righteous are bold as a lion. When you act righteous and you are bold, the devil calls you a hypocrite. It’s the opposite. God hates self-righteousness. This is walking uprightly, believing that you are loved; believing that all your sins are forgiven; believing that, when you pray, you are so near to God; and that when you pray, it’s as if Jesus is praying. That’s praying in Jesus’s name. And the reason you pray is not to get close. You pray because you are close. You are taking advantage of your position of influence even with God, your Father, amen?
You’re taking your place as sons and daughters when you pray. When you worship, you are declaring your love and your worth of the one you’re worshiping because you are close to him. You’re closer than Daniel. You’re closer than Elijah. You’re closer than David. You’re closer than Elisha. You’re closer than Moses. You’re closer than Jonah. You’re closer than anyone in the Old Testament. And that’s why Jesus says that the least in the kingdom of God is greater than John the Baptist, who is the greatest of all the prophets. Your position is greater than any prophet in the Old Testament. You’re a son; they are servants. You’re sons of God. Use your position right now, amen?
Thank you, Lord Jesus. Lift your hands all across this place and everywhere that’s watching this right now. Sons and daughters of the Most High God, we are developing, we are growing, yes. We are learning to be practically holy, victorious. But while we are doing that, don’t forget, you already are righteous in God’s eyes. We’re the righteousness of God himself in Christ. So when you pray, don’t feel that distance. That’s hypocritical. That’s an abomination. When you pray, you say, «Father, » know that you are so close. Feel his embrace. When you pray, «Father, » know that it’s a child requesting, not a servant asking God. Not even a prophet in the Old Testament asking God. You don’t have the same relationship. And know that you are loved with the same love that the Father loves Jesus with, amen.
From this day forth, will you do that? The Lord bless you this coming week and your children. The Lord bless you and your loved ones. The Lord make his face shine on you, and the Lord himself keep you, preserve you and your families throughout this week from every danger, harm, and from all evil. The Lord lifts up his countenance, his beautiful, radiant countenance, upon you, smile on you throughout this week and grant to you and your loved ones his shalom, peace, wellness, and health in every area of your life, in Jesus’s name. And all the people said amen.