Joseph Prince - Busy Outside Restful Inside (01/21/2026)
The preacher teaches that God’s desire for the church today is health, prosperity, and blessing, just as in the early church everyone was healed under great grace. Drawing from Scripture in Ephesians about believers being raised and seated with Christ far above all powers, he concludes that the key to manifesting these blessings is resting in our heavenly position, consciousness of righteousness in Christ, and faith in complete forgiveness of sins under the new covenant.
The Lord Has Been Good to Us
The Lord has been good to us today. I see Him like He’s just being a shepherd over us, pouring the oil and the wine, and hopefully the day comes when those who get healed are people who are not saved yet, coming into the house. Alright, I want a church that is praying for the sick—they themselves are healthy and strong. «Pastor, it’s impossible. You are just dreaming, pastor.» Well, there was a time in the early church—the Bible says everyone was healed. Everyone was healed. And it was a time when great grace was upon them all. Upon them all. And in the same verse, it says great grace was upon them all. It says with great power the apostles gave witness of the Lord’s resurrection.
God’s Desire for Prosperity and Health
So if we come to a place—even in the Old Testament—God’s desire for us was that we come to a place where God says there’ll be none poor among you. This is in the Torah. God said the day will come—well, there’ll be no poor among you. Now that was God’s dream for them. But they rebelled against God and God’s plan for them. They fell into bondage, right into Babylonian captivity. You know that. But God’s word for them was that God wants to prosper them in a way that there’ll be none poor among you. So I believe that’s true for the church as well—that we have all our needs provided for, we have more than enough to be a blessing and to be a channel to bless others.
I believe—not only now, I know—that I’ll expose myself to people who are anyway going to criticize anyway, and they’ll say this is a health and wealth gospel and all that. Well, you know what? We got no time to address all that. We are busy blessing you. Amen. Then, to answer the critics, I know that these people, when they get sick or their children get sick, they bring them to the doctor. I don’t know who they pray to, because they should be praying to God to heal their son. So they want healing, right? And when their son grows up, they want a good career for their son. Yeah, fulfill God’s will, but probably not in ministry—maybe in a career somewhere. They want their son to prosper, right? It’s only when we come through this side of things.
The Gospel of Grace and Peace
So don’t worry about all this. I’m sure you hear all this. Don’t worry. Just prosper in every area of your life. And I’ve said it before that the gospel is not a health and wealth gospel. No, no, no. A thousand times no. It is the gospel of grace and peace. But I’ll be lying if I say it does not produce wellbeing for you—spirit, soul, and body. Peace for your mind, health for your body. Amen. That’s God’s dream. Just like God’s dream for Israel. But they never achieved it. They never achieved it, right? But through God’s grace in the new covenant, established upon better promises, we have that dream before us. Amen. Amen.
You want to look younger in your advanced years, not look old but be renewed in your youth. I have a friend who recently—he’s a well-known pastor in America, and I’ve preached in his church also, probably the most well-known. And he said recently he went for a checkup for his eyes, and the doctor says—he said that he’s having problems, his eyes getting blurred, all that—the doctor says, «Because you are wearing contacts, your eye is actually getting better.» And he’s the same age as me. «What’s your age, pastor?» «25.» Praise the Lord. Hallelujah. Amen. Yeah, I’m just five years younger than Pastor Lawrence.
Position Before Blessing
Okay, ready for the word. And let’s go right to the word. Praise God. We are living in the upper room, and everywhere I see in the word of God, position is always before blessing. And the Lord says—even in Deuteronomy 28, under the law—God says, «And this blessing shall come on you and overtake you.» Right? You all know that, right? But what are the verses before that? This is in Deuteronomy 28. God says—we’re not going to show it up here, okay? Just want to challenge you to see whether you know that portion. It says what? «And the Lord your God will set you on high above all the nations of the earth.» Position. The Lord your God will set you on high.
Now, has that happened to us? In the Old Testament, God told them, «If you keep all the commandments”—in fact, God commanded them, God says, „If you keep all the commandments, I’ll set you on high.“ So the position was contingent upon their obedience to the law. But now Christ has come, and all that we are enjoying today is a result of His work. God made Jesus, who knew no sin—He never sinned in thought, word, or deed—God made Jesus on the cross to be sin with your sin, with my sin, that we might be made—say „made”—the righteousness of God in Him. Okay? So there is a divine exchange. That’s the purpose for which God sent His Son.
Our Identity in Christ
Okay? Now, not just that—the Bible says our old man, as sons of Adam, we died with Christ at the cross. The old man, the old identity, is finished at the cross. Amen. Okay? Now what has happened is that when Christ died and He was buried, we were in Him. Our history in Christ began at the cross. It wasn’t just Jesus dying on the cross. God took that part of you that you don’t like—that part of you that you try your best not to think those evil imaginations, or not to be depressed, or not to be addicted, and all that. But you still find yourself helpless, because in the flesh dwells no good thing.
Well, that whole person is crucified at the cross. And now you’re born again, because your history happened with Christ at the cross, where at the cross your old man was done away with, and you are still in Christ, right? And when God raised Christ from the dead, you were raised with Him. Amen. And not only that—when God raised Jesus far above—say „far above”—far above all principality, you need to know this because those things that are attacking you and bullying you—those things are actually way, way, way, way below you. Hallelujah.
That’s why it’s so vital for us to always be reminded of this place in the upper room. So God raised you far above. Listen—He could have said „far“ is enough. It is „far above“ all principality and power and might and dominion and every name that is named. You can name any disease. Alright, Covid, whatever new disease will come in the future, right? God says He has raised Christ far above every name that is named, not only in this world but also in the world to come.
Seated Together with Christ
But then the very next chapter in Ephesians tells us that „God raised Christ together”—God raised you together with Christ. He quickened you in the grave. Amen. At the cross you died, right? The old you died, and the new you was born again when God raised you. When God raised Christ from the dead, God raised you with Christ. So the Bible says—and this is a key, by the way—you’re going to overcome sinful habits or addictions in your life.
God says just like Christ—when He died to sin, He died to sin. Not gradually—He died to sin once for all at the cross, right? In heaven now He’s not going to die to sin. This idea of dying to sin gradually is not Christianity. It’s not Bible. When Paul says, „I die daily, ” he’s using a Hebraism to talk about all the dangers that he faced—fighting with wild beasts, persecution, and being lied about, being stoned, and all that. He says, „I die daily“ in the expression of Hebraism—not saying that I die to sin daily.
He says that when Christ died, He died to sin once and for all. When He rose from the dead, He now lives unto God. He’s in His resurrected being. Amen. As a man—though He’s fully God—He came as a man, and He’s resurrected as a man, still God. But the part that God wants us to focus on is the fact that He came as a man and glorified as a man, so that you know that you are in Him. You are the new man in Him. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.
When God made Jesus to sit down, the Bible says God made us to sit together—say „together”—He made us sit together with Christ. Listen—in heavenly places. That’s the center of the universe. I don’t know where it is, but it’s the center of the center, like the Holy of Holies is the very core where all power emanates from, where all creation, all supply, all source, all life emanates from—where God Himself is. No one could enter there.
Resting in Victory
The Holy of Holies back in the Old Testament—it meant the Old Testament is just a picture. The Holy of Holies is just a replica of the heaven that God is talking about. Now you know where God put you today—right in the center, because God’s right hand is definitely the center of the universe, far above all the principalities and powers. All Satan and all his dominions are all way below you. You are far above them all.
So the only thing for you to do is sit down—rest—with every new challenge. The devil will say, „What are you going to do about it?“ You say, in your mind, sit down—a new resting. The more you rest, the more you’ll see it’s been accomplished. So Jesus at the Father’s right hand—one day He’ll stand up. He’ll come back for us. Amen. We know that it’s going to be soon. Praise the Lord.
I say, „Praise the Lord.“ Then all of us will look like Pastor Lawrence. Amen. Strong, healthy. Amen. We have smiles like Pastor Mark and a sense of humor like him—since none of you are laughing. Pastor, don’t you love Pastor Mark’s humor? All of us will look good because we’ll be healthy and strong, perpetually young forever. Forever is a long time, my friend, and you can never die.
How fast do you think you will travel in your chariot of fire when you know you cannot die? Amen. You can never die. Death is foreign. It was foreign from the very beginning when God told Adam not to sin. But now you cannot sin ever again in that new body—forever. Forever. Until the 12th of never. Let’s use Bible term—eternity, for all eternity. Amen.
God’s Original Plan
So all this that came because of man’s fall—growing old, becoming decrepit, full of sickness and disease, and finally you just wear out or just die off and all that—was never God’s plan. Never God’s plan. It’s true on this side of the earth, but it’s not the Father’s plan. The Father from the beginning wanted family—strong, healthy, prosperous, blessed.
By the way, talk about prosperity and all that—I think there’s no place for welfare in heaven. I think everybody will do fine. I don’t know. I don’t know. Alright, so I don’t know what we are saying when we are saying, „Thy will be done on earth, thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.“ So what do you think you’re asking for? What is in heaven? Poverty? If poverty is holy, then „thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.“ I understand then.
If not, don’t pray that, because you’re praying for your life on earth to be like heaven on earth. Amen. And that’s what Jesus came for—that the kingdom of heaven will rule on the earth. Of course, the Jewish people rejected it. We have it. Praise the Lord, we accepted Jesus. Amen.
The Fight of Faith
So now we are seated with Christ. Listen carefully. When you’re seated with Christ, you need to realize all your enemies are below. Now, in our experience on earth below, we still experience sometimes reports of bad news or prognosis from the doctor telling you these things in your body and all that. And you are wondering, „But I’m sitting with Christ. I’m far above all these things.“ Yes, that’s why the Bible calls it the fight of faith. The fight of faith.
The devil is trying to suggest to you that it’s not true, based on your senses. The devil cannot deal with you in the heavenly realm. He cannot deal with you in the realm of faith. He cannot stay in the realm of faith. In the realm of faith, he’s a total, totally defeated foe. He needs to bring you back to the realm of senses. Listen carefully. „Look at your bank account. Look at what the psychiatrist says about your condition. You’re getting worse in your depression. And look at what you just did. You watched something you shouldn’t have watched. Call yourself a believer, and Pastor Prince says you’re born again. Wow. Seated on high. Look at what you just did.“ It’s all senses.
You got to step out of it and say, „That’s not me.“ Are you listening? Get back in the realm of faith. Fight the good fight of faith. That means stay in faith, and it’s called a good fight because when you stay in faith—a good fight means it ends in victory for you. The manifestation will come. Are you listening? Whether it’s victory over a sinful habit, whether it’s things to do with the curse of the law that’s trying to manifest in your life, in your family—stay rested in the Father’s bosom, at His right hand.
The Throne Attitude
So the challenge will come. „What are you going to do about this?“ „I’m going to rest.“ It’s a new resting, if you would. Every challenge becomes a new resting. The more you rest, the more you see the victory. So what the Father said to the Son is this—and this must be our attitude. I call it the throne attitude. The Father said to the Son, „Sit on My right hand until I make—“ you don’t make for yourself the victory, God. It’s the Son. „Sit down on My right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.“
Okay, so what are the enemies for all of us? I mean, we all sin for sure, right? But all these powers of darkness that bring depression, bad thoughts, evil thoughts, evil imaginations, sinful habits, sinful addictions. Amen. All this kind of foolishness that’s going on in the world because of the darkness in their hearts and minds—calling white black, black white, good evil, evil good—and not knowing they’re confused, and they want you to be confused with them. Don’t be. You are out of the confusion realm. Amen.
There’s one time God’s people went to Babylon—it’s a picture. Babylon is confusion. The word „Babylon“ is the word „confusion.“ So it’s only in captivity you get into confusion, because they broke the law. We are not under the law. Listen—we are in Christ, under grace, and you’re listening.
So the Father said to the Son—you can name any enemy right now. What the doctor said to you about your case—it’s an enemy, not the doctor—your condition. Amen. What your banker said to you, alright? Or whatever your so-called financial advisor that you’ve got that is now bleak—it looks very bleak for you. All that is your enemy. Are you listening?
What does the Father say to the Son? „Sit on My right hand. Keep on resting until I make your enemies your footstool.“ If you are in Christ, seated with Him—can I sit down? I’m going to, whether you tell me or not. I’m just being nice. So if I sit down—this is a good way to preach. In fact, Jesus sat on the mountain and preached the Sermon on the Mount. Read your Bible. He sat down. This is very good. We are being scriptural. Amen.
The Posture of Rest
Jesus sat down—sat down—and then He taught. Rabbis would sit down and teach. Amen. I think a lot more older pastors will live long if they do this. I’ll tell you something. The Bible says in the book of Acts—look up here, Acts 2, whatever—I’m preaching it, it’s often a Bible anyway, but just so that you feel like you’re in church, I just show you the verse. „When the day of Pentecost had fully come, ” right? „They were all with one accord in one place, and suddenly”—say „suddenly”—your blessing can come suddenly. Alright? It may happen this week.
Suddenly the manifestation happened—“there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind.“ God can’t wait to bless you. „And it filled the whole house where they were sitting.“ Recently I was reading this—and not recently, quite some time back, but it’s a more recent revelation compared to the rest—I noticed that it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Sounds very non-religious, not traditional. „They were sitting down waiting on God.“ No respect, right? We would say that. Or do they know something?
They were sitting because it’s a posture of rest. Now this is interesting because the same phrase—if you look at the same phrase—“it filled the whole house where they were sitting.» «It filled the whole house.» The Holy Spirit filled the whole house. If you look at a reference in the Old Testament, one time the whole temple of Solomon was filled—in fact, the phrase is «it filled the whole house.» The glory of the Lord filled the whole house. But the priests were standing, because you know why? It’s not finished yet. They’re standing because it’s not finished yet.
So we are seated. So our victory and every blessing—for your sake, I stand up, man, because you think that when you stand up, you respect. So here we go. But I respect you. You see, you sit down in front of me. See? So it’s a posture of rest when you sit down. So with every challenge, if you can, tell yourself, «No—sit down.» Amen.
Rest Brings Good
Now that’s an amazing thing, because doctors tell us naturally what they can find is that people who are very nervous type—those who are very anxious, those who are type A temperament—because they’re hurried, because they’re very anxious—“If we don’t hurry, we won’t get it. We don’t hurry. Rush, rush, rush.» The type A temperament—these are the ones that are prone to get strokes. They have hypertension, and they have heart attacks, and all that. That’s a fact. That’s medically right.
But what we are dealing with—symptoms here—anxiousness, busyness. There’s a verse in the Bible that says, «As your servant was busy here and there”—busy, busy here and there, literally in the king’s dream—“as your servant was busy here and there, the enemy escaped.» Alright? Now you’re wondering where the verse is from. Study your Bible. It’s there. Okay?
He was supposed to get the enemy, but he let the enemy escape. And you know what his answer was? «As your servant was busy here and there, the enemy escaped.» And that’s always true. When you’re busy, your enemy wins. Some are just busy. «Okay, Pastor Prince, we go to work. We have to go to work. We have to do—» Yes, you can do it.
Like the priests of old—they were busy working outside the temple, slaying the animals, arranging for the pieces to be in the right place—the peace offering, the burnt meat, and the right thigh, and all that as an offering to God. A picture of Jesus Christ. Amen. All that is true. But in the Holy of Holies, where God’s presence dwells, is perfect peace. No rushing. There’s no busyness.
So today—no, you’re not. You are the temple of God, and the Holy Spirit dwells in you. So we can be busy like the priests outside, but inside we have to be at peace. Good things happen to people. In fact, there’s a verse that comes to my mind right now that says this—from the book of Job. It says, «Acquaint now thyself with Him”—we have all done that through Christ—“acquaint now thyself with Him and be at peace.»
God says, «Be at peace now that you are justified by faith. We have peace with God.» And this peace translates as well into a peace of mind. The peace of God garrisons our hearts and minds from fears, worries, and cares. Am I right? So it says, «Acquaint now thyself with Him and be at peace.» What follows? «Thereby good shall come unto thee.» When you are at peace, good will come to you. It’s coming this week when you are at peace. Amen.
Righteousness Consciousness
Be at peace. You know, God already—praise God. Be at peace. Let there be peace with God. There’s no more warfare. There’s no more conflict with God. Amen. God is now your Father. Amen. So once you know that, be at peace. Thereby good shall come to thee. You listening?
So the posture of sitting down is a posture of rest. So the thing is that our minds are filled with all kinds of things. Well, back to Deuteronomy 28—we are thinking, «What has that got to do with all these things?» I’ll tell you this: worry, busyness, rush, tension, fierce anxieties, depression—they’re all but symptoms we are trying to battle. We are cutting off the leaves. After a few days it comes back again, and you say, «Pastor Prince, you say be at peace. The Bible says be at peace. It’s not Pastor—it’s the Bible. Be at peace. Thereby good shall come to me.»
But how do I be at peace? I’ll try my best to be at peace. That’s not the way. God’s way is always this: know that right now what God has made you—He made Jesus to be sin with your sin, that you might be made the righteousness of God in Him. You got to focus on whether your righteousness consciousness is strong.
If you face a challenge—doctor’s report or some bad news—your wife tells you something about your children and all that, or there’s not good news, and you hear that—your first response is not like, «My son, am I sick because I broke the law? I wonder where he got it from.» Right? And this happened a few weeks ago. «I wonder where it happened.» I mean, «How did it happen?» Wendy and I teach him just like what we teach you. Amen.
But with every challenge, there comes this instinctive—from your flesh or from the enemy, who is the accuser of the brethren—because of what you did last time. «You see, the rooster has come home to roost. Be sure your sin will find you out.» Or what you have heard last time in a sin-centered message instead of Christ-centered message comes back to haunt you. It’s very hard to get rid of. You have noticed that.
Blessings Overtake You
So the Bible says, «And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you”—but only after it says, „The Lord your God will set you on high above all the nations of the earth.“ And then all these blessings will come on you and overtake you. Amen. Which means „overtake you“ means what? It comes on you. You don’t have to run after the blessings. It overtakes you. You are seated with Christ. Actually, you are blessed with every blessing in heaven.
The Bible says spiritual blessings—which means the source is spiritual—blessings in heavenly places in Christ. How? Amen. You understand what I’m saying so far? Okay. Because this is vital. Because in the upper room, Jesus taught them this about the Holy Spirit. I’m still on the Holy Spirit, and I’ve not gotten the release just yet. And this is the part I want you to look at.
Upper Room Teaching
Jesus says, „I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.“ Which means whatever He has taught them in the Gospels before the upper room—whatever He has taught them, plus the Sermon on the Mount—you can call that meat? Sorry—milk. It’s still godly teaching. It is still by His milk, especially for the Jewish people. Now some parts He talked about the church.
In fact, He only mentioned the church one time in Matthew, where He says the gates of hell will not prevail against the church, as well as „where two or three are gathered together”—the church—“tell it to the church.“ So the church was a mystery that God revealed to the Apostle Paul in its fullness. And anyway, Paul’s words are not Paul’s words. Paul’s words are the words of the ascended Christ—the glorified, ascended Christ.
So some people just say, „Well, I only read the Gospels because Jesus' words in red are there.“ Number one, the Bible is not written in red. The only red thing you need to know is the blood of Jesus that Jesus shed on the cross. Amen. So actually, this stage here before the upper room—we preach more on the Sermon on the Mount than the sermon on the other mount in the upper room, because the upper room is on Mount Zion.
So actually, the Sermon on the Mount—the great part of it is a new edition of the law. He’s bringing the law back to the original pristine standard that God ordained it to be. And if you look at it that way, it’s not given to justify you. It is given to show your sins, so no one can be justified by the law. But in the upper room, for the first time, Jesus shared truths that are new covenant realities. Amen.
And that’s why He started by—in the upper room—washing their feet, to show them what He’s doing in heaven today. He’s washing us—not, listen, not with the blood there, but with the water of the word. Because the blood has washed our sins. Amen. Now we need the water of the word. „He that is washed all over”—which is born again—and only needs to wash his feet with the water of the word. He starts off by that in the upper room. Am I right? Am I right?
The Rapture and New Commandment
Then He goes on to talk about the rapture as well. He says, „In My Father’s house are many mansions.“ First time the rapture is mentioned, because only in the upper room—the Jews cannot understand that. Even the disciples were still having the old Jewish mentality, old covenant mentality. They cannot understand that.
Jesus says, „In My Father’s house are many mansions. I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.“ Notice there’s no in-between. You will see first the antichrist appear. You will see Israel under great persecution, and you will see all these things—and all that Israel is always under persecution. You understand that.
But the appearance of antichrist, for example, or the book of Revelation will appear first, and then all those signs and plagues will happen. No—no such thing. He says that „I go, and I’ll come again.“ No collect $200, no go to jail. Nothing. Just come straight. „I receive you unto Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.“ Whoa. That’s what we are waiting for.
So when you—with all the masses of teaching, I mean the abundance of end-time teachings in these days—I’m just concerned for you that all of a sudden your mentality becomes Old Testament mentality—that those things that God is dealing with Israel, you’re putting on yourself—that you say, „Wow, we are in the book of Revelation. All the saints down there.“ Jesus, you’re not the only saint. God also has Israel on earth. When the book of Revelation happens, who are the saints on earth?
God wanted all of them to be safe before the seven years of tribulation. Amen. We are not appointed to wrath. It’s the day of God’s wrath. We are not appointed to wrath. Jesus saved us from God’s wrath. Amen. So He’s going to come for us first. The rapture is a mystery.
So He talks about the rapture. He talks about loving—a new commandment. Why is it a new commandment? I mean, it sounds like they’re all right. „Love one another as yourself“ in the Old Testament, right? Why is there a new covenant? Because now you love one another „as I have loved you.“ So the little word down there—that little phrase „as I have loved you”—you need to focus on that, because once you know how much He loves you—do you know how much He loves you? —you never know how to love your wife in the right way, because „husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church”—like that on the cross. Amen.
Loving as Christ Loved
Laying down His life, giving her the better piece of chicken when there’s only two left. Amen. Knowing when she’s tired and she’s not in the right mood. Amen. Knowing—it’s not hard. It is not hard when you know that Jesus loves you in that way, and your focus is on Jesus, not on your wife.
That’s why don’t make your wife or your husband your happiness. I know your wife sometimes—give your husband—treat them like God. You give them burnt offering sometimes. It’s really burnt. „Hey, woman, what is—BBQ?“ „Dear, BBQ.“ „No, it’s a lot.“ „Hey.“
So don’t treat anyone—even your child—don’t treat them as an idol. They will disappoint you. You know why you’re so angry with your spouse? Because you look too much to your spouse for your assurance, for your peace, for your fulfillment, for your happiness. Don’t. Look to the Lord. As good things are happening, sometimes it wakes you up. Amen.
A woman likes a man to be strong in the Lord, and then out of that strength can minister to her. Amen. A man is saying amen. Women, where are you? Oh, you want a soft man—a man who just gives in, don’t care about—you’re just angry. Just shout. So new command—“as I have loved you.» Are you with me so far?
The Holy Spirit in the New Covenant
And He talks about the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a central part of the upper room teaching. So these are all teachings that were not taught before. Now you say that the Jewish people knew about the Holy Spirit. They knew when the Holy Spirit came on Samson, even in the book of Judges—upon Othniel, upon David, upon the prophets, and all that—upon King Saul even, right? Yeah. The Holy Spirit came on them, but they didn’t know the Holy Spirit in His office.
And I’m here to tell you that the Holy Spirit now is free to express His true nature, because in the Old Testament they were under law. He can only show His hand, not His heart. But in the new covenant—it got made with Israel. Say «new.» It’s not based on the covenant that I made when I brought them out of Egypt and led them by the hand. See—all covenant got led by the hand. New covenant got led by the heart. There’s a difference. Okay?
You can lead by the hand, but it’s better to lead by the heart—when they are young. When Israel—in fact, God looks at Israel in the Old Testament as «nepioi» in the Greek in the book of Galatians. That means what? They are babies. Amen. It should not be covering for baby food. The little cream that you’re sitting there every day—something’s wrong. You want beef, man—like Lawrence beef. Hallelujah. Sirloin steak, filet mignon. Amen.
Praise—octopus, all that—not kosher talk. Not kosher. No, no, no. All things you can eat. Okay? You thank the Lord for it—go for it. Amen. I just don’t eat those things. It is my own personal preference. But beef, man. Amen. If you don’t eat beef, you are saying that the fall never happened.
People will say that. «Go back to Eden diet.» Have you heard of that? «Go back to Eden diet.» They’re dishonoring God’s word in the sense like they’re saying you go back to Eden diet—the original God made this originally. What? Yeah, God made all bad for men to eat in the beginning—no meat, nothing—because the earth wasn’t fallen. Man had not fallen.
But after the earth was tilted and the floods and all that—were conducive to North Pole, South Pole become ice—God saw that the conditions of the world were no more protected from all the UV rays, light, and all that. Man was dying. Look at the life of man—was halved from before the flood and after the flood. It’s a different condition now. Man’s body needs protein.
It was after the flood God says, «Now I give you meat to eat. You shall eat it.» Which means you’re talking about going back to Eden diet—your body is a fallen body, and I think God knows you need protein. That one. Now if the Lord leads you just to eat vegetables and all that or fruits and all that—help yourself. Again, this is not a law, but I think it’s an attack on eating beef and meat in these last days. I really think it’s an attack. I really think so.
And it’s saying like the fall—“Oh, I can eat my protein from vegetables.» Hey, meat protein from meat, right? And vegetables are different. No. Anyway, this is not a talk about food. Okay? Right. So anyway—would you feel released, brother? Amen. Praise the Lord.
The Spirit of Truth
So in the upper room, Jesus says, «I have many things to say unto you, but you’re not able to bear them now. Howbeit when the Spirit of truth is come, He will guide you into all truth.» He will guide you into all truth. So notice He calls the Holy Spirit «the Spirit of”—and He’ll guide you into all. So right now on social media and all over the world—lies, half-truths—they are prolific in all the social media. You can’t even tell what’s truth. Even experts can be saying half-truths. They don’t tell you the other side.
So the only way you get truth now—listen—is from the word of God. Jesus says, „Thy word is truth“ in His high priestly prayer. So notice—Jesus knew about this, and He says it’s all about right believing. The new covenant reality is all about right believing. Now we are all concerned about right behaving, right living. But God is more concerned about right believing, because truth has got to do with believing.
I said truth has got to do with believing—believing. That’s what the Bible—obedience to the truth in the new covenant, obedience of faith—it’s got to do with truth. The Holy Spirit here is presented as the Spirit of truth. He will guide you into all truth, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. Amen. It’s all about right believing.
And see the context—He says that „He will glorify Me.“ We just go to verse 14—“He’ll glorify Me.» So remember—the Holy Spirit will always glorify one person: Jesus. You want to know a teaching is from God or not? See where the teaching points. Does it point to the person’s ministry or to someone else? Or it must always point to Jesus—Jesus and His finished work. Then you know the person is anointed of the Holy Spirit, speaking by the Holy Spirit.
«He shall glorify Me. He will take what is Mine and show it to you.» So there are teachings about health and diet and all that—no Christ. It’s not the Holy Spirit’s teaching. There are teachings about how to prosper in the world and all that in your career and all that—no Christ. I don’t think you’ll get complete truth there. Something will be inserted.
So only now—we don’t go for these things like I said—but in this life, these two things are very important, and God has made provision for them. They are not the gospel—the gospel of grace and peace. But these things will overtake you. Health and provision is there in the Bible. And I’ll be lying if I say it’s not. Okay? Are you with me so far?
Advantage of the Holy Spirit
So okay, now let me show the context. This is verse 12, right? Look at the context, especially what it’s referring to. Let’s go back to the context. «Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away.» When I first read this, I was thinking to myself years ago—I said, «No, Jesus, stay.» I know what it means. You’re giving us the Holy Spirit in place of You, right? But why do You say it’s to your advantage I go away?
You think about it. Jesus in Israel could only be in one place at one time. Whoever’s there—some people will follow Him by boats and all that. Some will climb mountains to be where He is and all that. But now He is everywhere in His Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a real being, a real person—the third. He’s a divine person, and He’s in us all.
And the same Jesus that walked on earth with all the powers, with all His love, is in us. And that’s why the Bible says if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His. In fact, Jesus started doing miracles after He was anointed, because He came as a man. Don’t forget—He had to function and live as a man. Although He’s God, He came and took on human flesh.
Only after He was anointed of the Holy Spirit He started doing miracles—the first miracle of turning the water into wine. Remember that? Or after He was baptized in the Holy Spirit. So you and I need to be baptized in the Holy Spirit—hence the teaching in the upper room. Okay, let’s go on.
Conviction of the Holy Spirit
He says—drop down to verse 8—“And when He has come”—the Holy Spirit come—“He’ll convict the world of sin”—say «sin.» Sin. Now here—don’t do the error of Pastor Mark. Okay? This is singular sin. Alright? Don’t say sins. Yeah, I told him before—yeah, you get your plural and your singular all mixed up sometimes. Alright? Don’t you just love him? Amen.
Every time you laugh, you’re getting healthier. A merry heart does good like medicine. That’s why I release him on you all once in a while. I see you all get a bit morose and sad—I let him go. Amen. I’ll sacrifice—it’s not sacrifice. I’ll give the pulpit to him so that y’all can laugh. You just look at him, you laugh.
Imagine I go with him—I live with him a lot, and I even travel with my family with him. Imagine all the laughs we have. I won’t tell you the other side—love—but just the laughs. He tells me, «We got tempered and all that.» I say, «Oh, all my pasta got tempered.» And I was telling someone just now, «Oh, my pasta got tempered on the road. I cannot eat it.» Really. Amen.
So okay—you got enough of that, really. But these pastors that go up here and bare out their soul at you, right? Don’t make fun of them. Don’t criticize them. They’re some of the best believers I’ve ever seen, and I’m privileged to live with it. It takes a secure person to unveil their weakness. Amen. Amen.
Pastor Prince—praise the Lord. Of sin—singular. The Holy Spirit will come and convict the world of sin, because they believe not on Me. He will convict of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more. He will convict of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
Okay, let’s go real slow, because here is where there’s a lot of teachings that are not the upper room teachings. Let’s go back to the original. What did He say? «The Holy Spirit will come to do”—Pastor—“to convict us of sin.» No—“us» is not there. Read carefully. «You’ll convict the world of sin”—talking about the world, right? —“because they do not believe in Me.»
What’s «they»? This pronoun. When is it the first person or second person? If I am talking to you, it’s the second person. «They» is third party—third person. So He’s talking to His disciples in the upper room, right? Am I right? And He says the Holy Spirit will convict the world of sin. The Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin because they do not believe in Me.
He’s not saying, «Because you don’t believe in Me—He’ll convict you of sin.» Pastor Prince, can the Holy Spirit convict you of sin? Of course He can, but that’s not the context here in the upper room teaching. He’s saying the Holy Spirit will convict the world of their unbelief in Me—because they do not believe in Me.
One Sin: Unbelief
In other words—honestly, church—Jesus did everything on the cross for all our sins. He bore all our sins and the world’s sins in His own body on the cross. Are you listening? Now listen—everything, every sin—some people say it’s a big sin, small sin—every sin was borne by Jesus.
So the world will end up—if anyone ends up in hell, like they always say—if you end up in heaven, you have Jesus to thank. If you end up in hell, you got yourself to thank, because Jesus did everything. It is rejection—it’s like the gift of forgiveness of sins, eternal life, right? God gives to you—slap His hand away. That’s unbelief, right? Are you listening?
And hell is not prepared for you. It was prepared for the devil and his angels. But Jesus did say if you follow and believe the devil, you have to follow him. That’s in the Bible. So the world is under condemnation because of only one sin. What is it? Unbelief in Christ.
So stop looking at the internet and on YouTube and your TikTok and whatever it is and seeing, «Oh, the world is getting very messed up.» As a Christian, when you see, «Oh, the world is there.» You know what? The world is the world. The world is—I think—like the world. The world is the world.
But what God has said to us is that we have a ministry of the word of reconciliation—to give the world that God is not counting their sins against them. Second Corinthians 5—God has given us the ministry of reconciliation, telling them that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them—as long as they accept it.
If they don’t accept it, this is the sin of unbelief—just one sin. The party there is «you» is not speaking to the believer. Second one—of righteousness. The Holy Spirit convicts who? You now—of righteousness, not sin. Righteousness—because I go to My Father and you see Me no more.
So He’s saying the Holy Spirit will be there to convict you of righteousness. Now when do you think we need to be convicted of righteousness? When we blow it, when we have made a mistake—we feel like we’re no more in the same place with God. We feel like God is giving us a cold shoulder. We pray—we don’t see immediate answers. We feel like—we feel, we feel, we feel. That’s the problem, in a sense.
Convicted of Righteousness
And here’s the time the Holy Spirit rises up and says, «You are still the righteousness of God in Christ. You are still the righteousness of God in Christ.» And this is for us. This is the conviction of the Holy Spirit for us. How often do you hear this?
When I grew up in churches, right—it’s always, «Listen to the Holy Spirit. He’ll tell you when it’s wrong. He’ll tell you when you have sinned. He’ll tell you.» I say, «He’s in me, is it? And He’ll never leave me, is it? So wherever I go, I bring Him, is it?»
So as a young man, you start thinking some things that you do—you don’t want the Holy Spirit to participate. You’re with your friends, and you watch a movie you’re not too sure that—what He—so we are presenting the Holy Spirit: He’s out to find your fault.
And parents—be quick to find good things about your children once in a while—in a while—to improve, just to have a special dose of closeness with your children. Just like sometimes you want to fast certain things and all that—or even food—to draw closer to God, not for righteousness but to draw closer to God in terms of your relationship. Amen.
You’re always in right standing with God because of the gift, but you’re going to draw closer to God. Amen. You can fast certain things. So I tell you what—parents, you want to draw closer to your children. You find that that season they’re drawing away from you—just for that week, fast fault-finding. Just fast for a while.
See if I don’t—then he will. If I don’t—maybe if you don’t, God works. Amen. If you surprise—first of all, your child will be like, «Huh, is this my mama? Is this my Abba?» «Let me test you—test.» All you do is then you see every little improvement, every little good point that you see—you praise them, you love them. Amen.
Just fast—I think for a season. I didn’t say all the time, right? See what it does to your relationship. Then perhaps you can even correct in a loving way. You start learning from that period.
Before this service is over—the more you inform them or you enfetch them—already starts. «Really? How come I’m so dirty? How come? How come I’m properly—» Try fast—fast—fast. I don’t mean you do it fast—just fast from that. Amen. Amen. Are you with me so far?
Then «you» is the person, right? He’s talking to His disciples. This is a conviction for all believers. We welcome that conviction. The Holy Spirit is a warm, friendly voice that witnesses in your heart.
The Spirit Bears Witness
There are two witnesses—only two witnesses. Of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament—only two we talk about the Holy Spirit witnessing on this, on this, on that. But in the Bible New Testament, there are only two witnesses. Number one—the Spirit Himself bears witness—Romans 8:16—the Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. Not about sin, not about how bad we are—that we are children of God.
Second witness—this one you must see. This is a Hebraism. The Holy Spirit also bears witness to us, for after saying the new covenant—after He says the first part—“this is the covenant that I’ll make with them after those days, ” declares the Lord—“put My laws on their hearts and write them on their minds.» Then He adds—which means this is the focus—“I’ll remember”—because He said after saying this first part of the clause, then He adds—“I’ll remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.»
Verse 18 says, «Where there’s forgiveness of these, there’s no longer any offering for sin.» Why are you trying to offer for sin still? Some people say, «God, I know I’ve done so many wrong things. I give You my life. I will go full-time.» God doesn’t want people to go full-time because they’re giving God an offering for sin.
The offering has been accomplished, and you don’t make a good offering. Yours is blemished. There’s spots, there’s blemishes in yours. Only one perfect offering has been offered. Where there’s forgiveness, there’s no longer any offering for sin.
Now some people—they do confession of sin like an offering for sin. Alright, I have a whole other teaching for that. But let me just tell you this—that can become a form of offering for sin. Okay? We have to confess—which means «homologeo”—here we’ve got to say with God that all our sins are forgiven.
What happens when you sin, Pastor? If I sin, I just thank God that I’m forgiven, and I declare I’m the righteousness of God in Christ. That’s the time the Holy Spirit convicts me—against all my senses, against all that I feel—I must declare I’m the righteousness of God in Christ.
Overcoming by Righteousness
I have so many testimonies of people—especially men who are bound in pornography—especially this area—while they are watching, they even confess, „I’m the righteousness of God in Christ.“ While they are addicted to smoking—while they’re smoking—they say, „I’m the righteousness of God in Christ.“
Now for the traditional church, they’ll say this is heresy. This is license for sin. Amen. But let me tell you this—they will still do it, Pastor—behind your back. It’s better to declare the truth. And all of them say the same thing—whether it’s smoking or any other addiction to drugs or whether it’s pornography—they’ll say that the more I confess I’m the righteousness of God in Christ, one day the desire for it just fell away.
That’s the work of the Holy Spirit. What do you want? You want them to put it away in front of you, but the desire is still there? They still crave for that cannabis, they still crave for the drugs, they still crave for pornography—but there’s no transformation inside? Oh, you want them to be transformed inside out.
Boy, this is good. I love it. I love the way God does things. Amen. In other words—if I have even a sinful challenge, I’m going to try to struggle—the more I struggle against that temptation, the more strong it becomes—full life and in color. So I sit down. I have a new rest. I say, „Lord, I’m the righteousness of God in Christ.“
Or you feel angry down the road—you feel like jumping out of your car. You’re about to smash the guy—and you say in the midst of it, you say, „I’m the righteousness of God in Christ.“ Amen. Amen. „I’m the righteousness of God in Christ.“
You hear bad reports from the doctor—or I show you—your first response: „I’m the righteousness of God in Christ”—or else all these thoughts will come. „What did I do? How come this happened to me?“ But by the way, the question „Why did it happen to me?“ is an indicator that in some form you’re still under law.
No—you have to straightly declare. Let the Holy Spirit convict you: „I’m the righteousness of God in Christ, and by His stripes I am healed.“ God will get a great testimony out of this. Amen. My days here are great. God got a great testimony out of this. Amen. Amen. A new sitting, if you would. Are you with me so far?
The New Covenant
The cloth of the new covenant is this—if you look at the new covenant God made. You see, I put it like a new covenant. Back then, covenant is done like this, right? They have a ritual where the blood is exchanged between the one you’re doing the covenant with, and then they write it on a scroll back then. And this is God’s new covenant.
So the Bible says that when God says „new covenant, ” that means what? There’s an old, and the old is decaying. If you follow and you’re still under the old, you are decaying, right? So we are under the new covenant. What’s the new covenant? Okay—“Behold, days are coming, ” says the Lord, „when I’ll make a new covenant.“
You can’t see, by the way—your eyes need to be renewed. Okay. Can see now? Can see? See again—those who can see are blessed of the pure in heart, for they shall see—they shall see God. Okay. „I’ll make a new covenant with the house of Israel, the house of Judah—not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers.“
This is referring to the Ten Commandments, Mount Sinai. God—it’s not according—it’s not—all covenant is added. No, no, no, no—not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand—not the heart—as in the new covenant I put them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord.
„For this is the covenant that I’ll make with the house of Israel after those days, ” says the Lord. „I’ll put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts.“ That’s what we refer to. We just know things in our hearts. Amen. We pray, and God gives us guidance. We’re here usually—and this is referring to the laws and what God writes on our hearts and minds. Amen.
Alright—but how do you get that? How come people don’t pass principle? It doesn’t seem to be strong in my heart. Well, I’m coming to the reason. The next thing is this—“I’ll put My laws in their hearts and minds, ” and then it says „I’ll be their God, and they shall be My people.“
Remember this—when God says in the Old Testament, whenever He used this phrase „I’ll be their God, and they shall be My people”—let me what? Something spectacular, something miraculous, something showing God’s power and majesty is about to happen. If there are sick people—“I’ll be their God.“ That means what? They’ll be healed.
There are healthy people—“I’ll be their God.» Amen. If they are poor people—“I’ll be their God”—means what? They’re fully provided for. Amen. «I’ll be their God, and they shall be My people.» People look at them and say—and they shall see that you’re called by My name—Christ—and they’ll fear you.
Today the world has lost respect for Christians. It’s about time to get it back. And the only way it can happen is let the blessings manifest in such a way they say that there’s no way this person—I know him—there’s no way he can be—so things happen around him. Good things happen. So that’s what we want the testimony to be.
Knowing the Lord Intuitively
Let’s go on. Let’s finish because of time. Then He says—and He says—“none shall teach his neighbor, none his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord. Know the Lord. Know the Lord.’ For all shall know Me.» And yet we have teachings on knowing the Lord—knowing the Lord.
The Bible says in new covenant—if you live in the new covenant—all will know Me. All will know Me. I say all will know Me. Now what’s the difference? «Know the Lord.» What’s wrong with teaching «Know the Lord»?
Now in the Greek in Hebrews 8, it declares this new covenant which is taken from Jeremiah 31. But in the book—in the Greek—“know the Lord» is «ginosko, ” which means to know the Lord by effort, by experience. God says none will teach his neighbor, „Hey, you got to know the Lord by your experience. You got to know the Lord by your effort. You got to know the Lord by doing.“
„For all shall know Me”—this „know”—all shall know Me. It’s not „ginosko”—it’s „oida.“ All will know Me from the inside. I just know God is not like that. I just know my God. I know God was behind that. I know God did that for me. I’m learning about God—I feel like God is teaching me. The Holy Spirit is teaching me about God. So all that is inside.
You know what the Bible says? All—not just Pastor Lawrence. I’m sorry, Pastor Lawrence—today you get a lot because his name starts with the first three letters. So if your name is Grace in the house—welcome. No, I’m just kidding. Very bad. He had his own—after he got a chance to preach next time. Alright—so none will teach.
In other words—all will know Me intuitively from the least—from—it says from the least. Aren’t you glad that God always starts from the least, not from the greatest? Men start from the greatest to the lowest. God starts from the least to the greatest. All will know Me.
How can that be? How can people know the Lord? And why is it that we don’t see a manifestation of that more than we should in the general Christian world today? Why? Because of the last clause. Because the last clause starts with this word—God in Greek, in Hebrew in Jeremiah—this covenant was given is the word „ki, ” which means „because.“
Because I’m able to lead them from inside—they all know Me from the inside—because I’ll be merciful—or „propitious”—to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.
Forgiveness is the Key
You know why we don’t have people stronger in the guidance? Oh my goodness—my time is up. Okay. Anyway, we’ll end here. Let me finish. Okay. Yes—only finish—not yes—last part. Okay.
So it says—you know why it’s not strong enough? You know why? Because you don’t believe the last clause. You are still thinking God is holding your sins against you. You are acting like it. Maybe you say, „I know this teaching, Pastor Prince. I heard you for years.“ No, no, no—do you believe it? Are you experiencing and believing a wrong thing?
If you don’t believe that all your sins are forgiven—you had a bad thought just now. Just now you had a bad thought about me when I came up here, right? Hey, listen—it’s forgiven. So once you realize it’s forgiven—now you love me. Love me more. Amen.
Just now you had a bad thought, or you had a quarrel on your way here with your spouse—Mother’s Day. Let’s see what happened today, right? Now only to know—you feel tension, and then you project back to God. And God is not too pleased with us because we come to God and we feel like He forgives and all that.
Hey—listen—know this: you are forgiven. It’s forgiven. Now does that make you want to sin more? No—whoever’s forgiven much loves Him much. It just makes you realize—in fact, you can reconcile with your spouse really, because God is not holding against you. It’s forgiven, and you can forgive the person.
It is because we are not strong on this—and this has not been preached—we don’t even know our covenant. They should be put on every poster in every church—instead of behind the church the Ten Commandments. People are fighting to put Ten Commandments in schools, public schools—they should be fighting to put this.
So I purposely put the last one big, because all this will happen—actually all the preceding clauses happen because of this. This is the cause, and the rest—the clauses—are all the effects. Because I know I’m forgiven, I know Him. And because I know I’m forgiven, He can do great things in my life. He’ll be my God.
Because I know I’m forgiven—when He speaks and all that—I’m confident, because it is not my sinful conscience speaking to me. I’m done. Praise the Lord.
Give Jesus the praise, the glory, and the honor. Amen.
Listen—actually, I want to share something that I didn’t get to share, alright? Because this will lead to something else that probably you are still doing in your life, but for now—okay. Probably we’ll cover next week, but we’ll see how—if I preach next week. Alright.
So I just want you to ask yourself—are you conscious of this? Because the only way to live in the new covenant—there’s nothing for us to do. God says, „I will put My laws… I will be their God… They all will know Me… I will be merciful to their sins… I will remember”—it’s all „I will, I will.“
For us—what is our part? Belief. Amen. Amen. But do you really believe that, or lately has it been coming more and more weak? Someone has said something to you or brought some pseudo-teachings that make you feel like maybe we are not so completely forgiven after all—maybe we are forgiven as we go.
And every time something happens, you get angry. You forget to refer to the fact that your sins are forgiven, and you are still the righteousness of God in Christ. That’s how you overcome, my friend. Amen.
Prayer and Benediction
Every head bowed, every eye closed all across this place. If you have never put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ—listen, my friend—you just heard the gospel in essence. This is the gospel: Christ died for our sins and was raised from the dead when God declared all of us righteous. It’s all because of what Christ has done.
The Bible says if you receive this abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness through Jesus Christ, you will reign in life. If that’s you—wherever you are right now—pray this prayer with me, and the moment you pray this prayer from your heart, that very instant you are now a child of God, seated with Christ in heavenly places. Your new life begins and will never end.
So say this after me: Heavenly Father, I thank You for the gift of Your Son. Christ died on the cross for all my sins, and I thank You that You raised Him from the dead—and the reason for His resurrection is that You declared me righteous. Thank You, Father, for this wonderful sacrifice. Thank You, Father, for this love. Jesus Christ is my Lord and my Savior now and forever. Thank You that right now I’m born again. I’m a new creation in Christ, and I’m the righteousness of God in Christ. In Jesus' name.
And all the people said amen.
Stand to your feet. Lift your hands all across this place. This coming week, the Lord bless you with the blessings of Father Abraham—the blessings of Deuteronomy 28. For all the promises of God are yes and amen in Christ—so be it in your life this coming week.
May there be great manifestations of your healing and wholeness. Testify for all to see to the glory of God. May this coming week cause you to see the favor of God everywhere you go—the beautiful, wonderful favor of God that is undeserved by us.
May you enjoy His goodness and His love for you. May you always be reminded and be convicted by the Holy Spirit throughout this week: you are the righteousness of God in Christ. In Jesus' name—and all the people said amen.
God bless you.