Joseph Prince - This Is How God Blesses the Work of Your Hands (01/27/2026)
Grace is God's unmerited favor freely given without works, while rewards motivate faithful response to that grace—Paul's abundant labor flowed from grace not in vain. No contradiction: grace empowers and initiates; rewards recognize diligence, fruit, and flowing with grace, as in Esther where faithfulness reversed plots leading to honor, with the ultimate reward being God Himself as our exceeding great reward.
Grace and Reward – Understanding the Distinction
Is there a difference between grace and reward? So people are saying, I should say like this, is there a contradiction between grace and reward? We know there is a difference, but is there a contradiction? Some people feel like if you are under grace, you know, we believe that it's not our works. Amen. It's not our merit. It's not our deserving. It is the unconditional, undeserved favour of God, which is grace. Grace is defined as unmerited favour. Can I have a good amen? Alright?
But on the other hand, what about rewards? What about rewards? Well, you know, I'm a strong believer in rewards. And I shared a few weeks ago, and I think I'll start off from that basis to the message that God has for us today. And you look up here in 1 Corinthians 15, it says, Paul is writing, and Paul says, by the unmerited favour of God, I am what I am. By the unmerited favour of God, I am what I am. And His unmerited favour, grace is defined as unmerited favour, towards me, was not in vain.
In other words, God may release favour in your life towards, for example, God release favour in your life towards working with children. In our case, our children's church is called Rock Kids. So God release, number one, if God releases a favour in that area, you will love children. You cannot say, I hate kids, but I think God is telling me to work among kids. Alright? Please, the kids don't want you and we don't want you working there. Amen? If God anoints you and creates a favour in your life, there will be favour with the kids as well. Amen? It doesn't mean that it's smooth sailing, you'll learn some things, you've got children and all that, but the favour is there, the grace is there. Can I have a good amen?
But it's possible to say, no, I don't think I have the time, I'm so busy as it is, you know? I'm on a career track and my boss expects the Lord from me. Then, that unmerited favour towards you was in vain. But Paul says, in my life, His grace towards me was not in vain. It's possible to let it be in vain. Now, but I laboured more abundantly than they all, and he's referring to the other apostles, I laboured more abundantly than they all, I laboured more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the unmerited favour of God which was with me.
So, in other words, Paul says, whatever favour God has released in my life towards any particular ministry, I flowed with God. I didn't let it be in vain. And you know what? I laboured more abundantly. In other words, that power inside me caused me to be like the burning bush. Burning up, but not burning out. Amen. Praise God. And how people come and watch Him burn. Praise the Lord.
Grace Initiates, Rewards Recognize Flowing with It
So, the thing is this, God gives you an anointing for something. I always say it like this, God gives you the favour to do something. It's still grace. God gives you the favour to do something when you do it and don't let it be in vain. You flow with that grace. God rewards you for accomplishing the grace, for doing the grace, for working out the grace that He first gave you. Isn't that cool? Amen.
When we stand before heaven, no wonder everyone who receive a crown, the Bible tells us in heaven, they cast the crown before the Lamb and said, you are worthy. Because without you, hey, we won't even have breath to breathe or to pray the sinner's prayer. Amen. We won't even have eyes to see. You know, who are we that we should see the things that we are seeing from God's scriptures? There are so many blinded, so many lost out there. Amen. And their age is catching up. You know, and man is not forever. Fallen man is not forever. So, the thing is that, blessed are your eyes for you see. Have you ever thanked God for that? Amen. You are numbered among the elect of God. Aren't you glad for that? Aren't you glad you are enjoying? You truly have true riches. It's not about having more houses, more cars. Hey, if you are defined by that, you are truly poor. You are a poor man having plenty of money, plenty of property. Amen. Your true wealth is your knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Now, having said that, rewards is something that God wants us motivated by. Are you listening, people? Don't forget, when you are rewarded, it's always because God first gave you the grace. Amen. And when you do the grace, and this is a good message and reminder for all pastors and Christian companies and organizations, sometimes they wonder, how do I reward my, you know, my staff? If I reward all of them based on grace, everybody gets the fullest month bonuses. Amen. The highest and all that. But of course, it's still grace. Grace is shown by how diligent the person is.
If you see a person accomplishing fruits, that means he is working out the grace that has been worked in him. He should be rewarded. If somebody who is a Christian working in a Christian organization, alright, is lazy, amen, guess what? Grace is flowing towards him for some area of his expertise, but he's not flowing with it. And it's showing in no fruit. So as a boss, just like Jesus in the book of Revelation among the seven churches, you don't look for grace within. You look for grace manifested without, in fruits, in works. That's how you reward people.
Let's say if I run a company, an organization, okay, and they come and say, you preach grace. How come this guy got, you know, more bonus than I did. Then we say, look, your works does not show, alright, the way that he does. He's diligent. His fruits are good. Amen. He's an achiever. But how? He carries out the grace. It's still grace, but there's grace that can be seen. Grace that has been flowed with. Amen. That you have used, utilized. Praise God. Are you, are you following me so far?
Esther's Reversal – Faithfulness Leading to Honor
You want to hear another story? Want to hear another story? Stories in the Bible are the best. And the reason I read them is so that you get excited about reading your own Bible. It's more exciting than Korean dramas. You must. Spend time in the Word. It will refresh you. God's words are health to all your flesh. Amen.
Let me share you another story. And this is the story of Esther. The people of God, I told you a few weeks ago that the Babylonians came because of their idolatry. The people of God have committed idolatry. They exchanged gods, literally. They all that they have done wrong, all their sins of adulteries and lying and killing or whatever. They still offered burnt offerings before that. But the moment they exchanged gods, they stopped the sacrifices that would have, the blood, blood atonement that could have covered them from this, from wrath and from punishment. God is a holy God. And they keep on worshipping other idols. And the Bible says God sent prophet after prophet Isaiah. And God sent Jeremiah. They refuse. Some of them they even kill. And they worship gods that they sacrifice their children to. Like Moloch. They throw the... Moloch is an idol with hands that are burning, bronze hands, and they put their children on the bronze hand when it's really, really hot. And then I roll them into the fire of the statue. And God says, stop doing that. Return to me. Return to me, they didn't.
And God finally sent Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and brought the people of Judah captive for 70 years. This story happened during those years when they were in captivity. And that's the reason why the book of Esther don't have God's name. You don't find G-O-D. You don't find L-O-R-D. You don't find the name of God anywhere in the book of Esther. Because in this time, they were supposed to be Lo-A-Mi, not my people. Yet, God was still behind the scene. God was orchestrating things behind the scene for them. In fact, you find God's name in the Hebrew in equidistant lettering, which means in quote form. Amen. And every time God's name appears, like for example, you will say J. Then you find a few other letters. Then four letters after that, E. Then four letters later, S. Four letters later, U. Four letters later, what's that? S. Jesus. That's how it's hidden. His name is hidden. All right? Elohim. Yahweh is hidden in the book of Esther.
So let's follow the story. There was a king, Ahasuerus, which all of you know in history. He was sitting on the throne. Your Bible calls him Ahasuerus. But in history, he calls him Xerxes. Yet, there are many titles, like Pharaoh, King, and all that kind of thing. So they have titles. These are titles, not their names. So King Xerxes was sitting on the throne, the king of Persia. And what happened was that he had a right-hand man. His name was Haman. And Haman is an Agagite, which is actually from the Amalekite. The Amalekite, when Moses brought the people of God out of Egypt, that was the first battle they had, where Moses' hands were raised by Aaron and Hur. And the battle took place at the valley below, between the people of God and the Amalekites. The Amalekites were so, so terrible, all right, so, so evil that they only fought against the, those who were lagging behind, the old people and young children who were lagging behind. They killed them. They came to attack them.
So there were about two million plus, so, you know, logistic-wise, you got to move slow in the last one. But that's where they attacked. And God says, that's when they call God's name Jehovah Nissi, the Lord is my Banner. God gave them victory over the Amalekites. Well, Haman, the right-hand man of Xerxes, is a descendant of Amalekite. And God says he will always have war with Amalek. So this Haman, he has all these trappings of royalty and have access to the king and all that, but he wasn't happy for one thing. There was a man called Mordecai. Mordecai was a Jew. Jew in captivity. And Mordecai is much older than Esther. When Esther's father died, all right, Mordecai, who is actually a cousin of Esther, adopted her and raised her as his own daughter. Are you with me so far?
Haman, every time he passes by, Mordecai at the palace gate, he will see Mordecai. And Mordecai refused to bow like other people bow to him because he's an Amalekite. And he just cannot stand Mordecai not bowing to him, especially knowing that Mordecai is a Jew. And Haman said this, you know, there's a bunch of people that really are trying to destroy you and your kingdom. They have different sets of laws from our laws. They teach their people to disobey your law. So my suggestion, king, for your own, to protect your own interests, you have to destroy, exterminate these people. So give me the assignment, all right? He says, and the king says, okay. Give him the ring on the clay tablet. It's a go. And the word of a king of Persia at that time cannot be reversed. Okay? So the date is set. On the 13th of the 12th month, Adar, it will happen. 13th is the number of evil in the Bible. It will happen. The extermination of the Jewish people.
Then, let's follow the story. The Bible says his hatred for Mordecai, all right, the foster father of Esther, grew and grew. With all that he has, you only can think of the bitterness. Some people are so funny, you know. They got so much blessings around them. They got their wonderful children. They got a nice house, everything. But every day they're thinking about one person did something bad to them. And they are rehearsing, rehearsing, nursing, nursing, rehearsing, rehearsing the bitterness until they end up in a hearse. And there's no more rehearse after that. So don't. Bitterness will eat you up. Amen? Trust God for the 120th restoration. Okay?
So this guy got so bitter and he said, what should I do? And he says this in Esther. Then he added, but this is all worth nothing as long as I see Mordecai, the Jew, just sitting there at the palace gate. All that I have, he says to his wife, his friends. All this is nothing as long as I see Mordecai not bowing to me. Then the wife, Zeresh, his wife, and all his friends suggested, set up a sharpened pole that stands 75 feet tall, and in the morning asked the king to impale Mordecai on it. When this is done, you can go on your merry way to the banquet with the king. This pleased Haman. And he ordered the pole set up.
That night, wow, talk about timing. I mean, no God may seem late, but he's always on time. So, the pole, 75 feet pole, was already in place. He was about to impale. The next day, Mordecai, at the command of the king, of course, is going to the king's presence to tell the king to impale. Your King James says, hang. But the Hebrew actually would crucify. Impale. That night, the king had trouble sleeping. I'm telling you, how events turned around over one sleepless night. Can you imagine how an entire empire was shaken because a baby cried in an ark. By the river Nile. A baby cry is a small, weak thing. No one take any thought of it. God can move with the smallest things to change great events. God can cause your boss to have a sleepless night and thinking about you. God can cause your wife that is going astray in her emotions, all right? To have one sleepless night and dreaming about you. God can cause you to have one sleepless... Don't always think insomnia as of the devil.
Reversal Through God's Timing – Honor for Mordecai
That night. It says that night. Say that night. The night after the pole has been set up. That night, the king had trouble sleeping. So, he ordered an attendant to bring the book of the history of his reign so it could be read to him. That's quite boring, isn't it? Bring the history of my reign. I mean, you want some music or whatever, can you read to me the history? Maybe it will bore him to sleep. All right? In those records, he discovered an account of how Mordecai, the Jew, had exposed the plot of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the eunuchs who guarded the door to the king's private quarters. They had plotted to assassinate king Xerxes. What reward or recognition did we ever give Mordecai for this? The king asked. His attendants replied, nothing has been done for him, sir.
So, one night of sleeplessness, the records were read. And he heard that Mordecai, the Jew, saved him actually, when he overheard that two of the eunuchs tried to assassinate him. So, what has been done for him? Nothing. Next. Who is this? Who is that in the outer court? At the same time, who was coming? Haman was coming. Haman. Coming. The king inquired. As it happened, Haman had just arrived in the outer court of the palace to ask the king to impale Mordecai on the pole he had prepared. So, the attendants replied to the king, Haman is out in the court. Bring him in. The king ordered. Talk about timing, okay?
So, Haman came in, and the king said, what should I do to honour a man who truly pleases me? Haman talked to himself, hmm. Whom would the king wish to honour more than me? You know, when you are proud, okay? You think everything is about you. You really think everything is about you. It's not about you, people. That's a relief, actually. When you hear people whispering to one another, alright? It's not about you. It's beyond you, looking at the handsome guy at the back over there. Let's be the leader of self, okay? See, when the king says, what shall I do for the man I want to honour? He says, must be me. Alright? He replied, if the king wishes to honour someone, he should bring out one of the king's own royal robes. What do you say, man? This guy is really pushing it. As for the king's own royal robes, king's own royal robes as well as a horse that the king himself has ridden, your own sports car. One with a royal emblem on its head.
Next verse. Let the robes and the horse be handed over to one of the king's most noble officials, and let him see that the man whom the king wishes to honour is dressed in the king's robes, led through the city square on the king's horse, and have the official shout, this is what the king does for someone he wishes to honour. Excellent, the king said to Haman. Quick, take the robes, my horse. Do just as you have said for Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the gate of the palace. Leave out nothing you have suggested. It's God a rewarder. I said it's God a rewarder.
The Ultimate Reward – God as Exceeding Great Reward
Let me close with this. So does God reward? Even though sometimes it seems like you have forgotten. It's all in the record books, people. I said it's all in the record books. Don't throw away your confidence. Amen. Praise God. Even if it takes the last night, God will come true. Amen.
Now I'll tell you something. Whenever good things happen to you, your position must never be, it must be some reward I received. It must be, you know, there's a song that goes, it must have been, you must have, I must have done something good. Yeah? Sound of music. Sound of music. Somewhere in my past, I must have done something good. Don't subscribe to that. When good things happen to you, say it's by grace. Amen. It's all God's favour. It's not your place to say this is a reward. It's not your place to say, all right, I'm rewarded. I'm rewarded. No, it's not your place. Chances are you might go into pride. It goes back into looking at your works.
No, friend. We do not know what God will reward. But is there reward in the Kingdom of God? Yes, there is. And I'll close with this. The greatest reward is found in the first mention of the Hebrew word reward. And every time a subject is mentioned for the first time, there is something significant, something important. Do you know when the word reward was mentioned the first time? Right after Abraham met Melchizedek, who brought bread and wine, communion, and Abraham tithed to Melchizedek. And then Abraham went back. And the Bible says, for some reason, maybe because of the war he had not, the reality set in, okay, and, and he was afraid. And the Lord appeared to him, next chapter, after these things, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision saying, do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield and your exceeding great reward.
When all is said and done, people, God, our Lord Jesus, is truly our reward. No, exceeding reward. No, exceeding great reward. He truly is our reward. And what did we do? Nothing. We ran for refuge to him. And he says, thanks, thanks for trusting me.