Joseph Prince - This Tiny Word Changes Everything About God's Love (01/27/2026)
We believe in the person of Jesus Christ, not a creed—God so loved the world He gave His Son to save us from perishing. Jesus came personally bringing grace and truth, finding lost sheep like us, restoring broken hearts, and offering new covenant mercy where sins are remembered no more, as shown in His compassion for the adulterous woman, proving He is our Savior who stoops to write grace on stone.
Believing in the Person of Jesus – Not a Creed
People, we are not fellowshipping and we are not believing in a dogma or a creed. We believe in a person. The person of our Lord Jesus Christ. Of whom we remember during this time. His birth. The Bible tells us, For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. That whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
I don't know what you are going through at this time. But as someone who knows, who knows even the numbers of hairs on your head. He says in the Bible, in the Word of God, He takes every tear and puts them in a bottle. In a heavenly place somewhere. Every sorrow is marked by Him. He who numbers the stars. And no scientist today can number the stars. He who created the stars and calls them by name. He heals the broken heart.
And this God is not a God who says, Okay, I gave you a set of rules. You just follow it. Alright? I love you. From a distance. That's my love for you. From a distance. No. He came down. And that's what the Bible says in John 1:17. For the law was given through Moses. The Torah was given through Moses, who was a servant of God. But grace and truth came. Came is personal. I can give you something from a distance. I can post it to you. I can FedEx to you. But if I come to you, it's personal. Grace and truth. In Hebrew, it is chesed ve'emet. Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. He came to where we were.
Jesus Finds the Lost – The Shepherd's Heart
You see, you know, sometimes we say things like, I found the Lord in 2001, January the 5th. But actually, the Lord is not lost. I understand the expression. Actually, the Lord found you. We are lost. We are lost pursuing things that we think can satisfy us, making idols of entertainment or sports or anything like that, which in the normal consumption is nothing wrong. But we are trying to find our satisfaction because deep down, we sense that emptiness. We know there is no fulfillment. And only God can fill that because you are made with a God-shaped vacuum on the inside of you.
All of us, all we like sheep, Isaiah says, all we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way. But Jesus shared this parable one time. He said that there was a man who was a Shepherd who lost one sheep. And you know what he did? He left the 99 to look for the one that's lost. Now first, friends, let me tell you this. No one does that. No Shepherd today does that. You cut your losses because you cannot leave the 99. Right? You are risking them. But he would rather find the one that's lost. because he's lost. So he sought the one that's lost. That's why the Shepherd found the sheep. Not the sheep found the Shepherd.
And when he found the sheep, Jesus said, he took the sheep, put it on his shoulders, walks back and tells all his friends, come, let's throw a party. Let's have a celebration for the sheep that was lost. I found him. Let's celebrate. Now, no Shepherd does that. In fact, I hear one so-called Shepherd, because there are all kinds of Shepherds in the world. And there's one Shepherd that said that when the sheep goes astray, you know what the Shepherd does? Which I found later on is not true for every Shepherd. In some parts of the world, it's true. But he makes it like it's a general rule. He says when a sheep goes astray, you know what he does? To teach the sheep a lesson, to say you'll never go astray again. He breaks his leg. He breaks his leg, and then he brings the sheep near him. So while the sheep's leg is recovering, the sheep is close to him. And he says that's what God does with us.
Let me tell you, my friend, the most famous psalm that David uttered that is recorded for us in Scripture is Psalms 23. And he says, The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the still waters. He breaks off my legs. No way. Not one single line says that, right? He restores my soul. You know what's restore? That means, see some of you, you are not an argumentative, angry person. You just need to be restored. You are stressed. You are worn out. You have anxieties that you don't even know that's filling your heart and controlling your actions. But the Lord will restore you. As a Shepherd, He restores the sheep. And the sheep that are the weakest are the ones that He carries them in His bosom. Again, Prophet Isaiah says, He shall feed His flock like a Shepherd. He shall gather the lambs with His arms, the young ones. He will gently lead those that are with young. That's the kind of Shepherd the God of Israel is. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
God So Loved – The New Covenant of Mercy
This God so loves the world. So loves you. You can put your name right there. So loves you. I love that little word. It's so intense. So little, yet so intense. So, for God so loved you, so loved you that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. And that's why we have a tree in Christmas. It's a custom. And we have gifts at the foot of the tree. Because the greatest gift that was given to us hung on a tree. Amen. You know why? Why He hung on a tree? Because for ages and ages, down to the corridors of time, God chose one nation to show the world. God loved the entire world. But God chose one nation to show the entire world who He's like.
So God says, if you obey Me, I'll bless you. If you disobey Me, the curse will come. I cannot say, you know, boys will be boys, sweep everything under the carpet. Because that will make me merciful, but not just, not righteous. I have to keep My Word. If you obey Me, I'll bless you. If you disobey, I'll curse you. Now, all the while, the Bible says, God never wanted that system. God wanted grace and truth, not the law given through Moses. In fact, the very day at Mount Sinai when God gave the Ten Commandments, you know, you all know the Ten Commandments, right? That God gave the Charlton Heston. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not... When God gave all the Ten Commandments, notice the emphasis is on you, on man. You shall not, you shall not, you shall not, but man is weak. Man is sinful. Ever since Adam sinned, sin is in our blood.
When you put yourself under law, nothing wrong with the law, but the sinful passions are stirred. The more you try not to, and God knew that that system would not work. So you know what God did? God sent His Son. And God made a new covenant with man through His blood. And the new covenant is this, I will put My laws in your heart. I will put My laws in your mind. You will know what to do. No one need to teach his neighbour. Know the Lord, know the Lord. For all shall know Me from the least to the greatest. I'll be your God. You will be My people. I will be... Notice the new covenant is not you shall, you shall not, you shall not. The emphasis is not on you, it is on God. I will put My laws in your heart. I will be your God. If you are sick, I'll be your healer. Amen. If you are in trouble, I'll be your rock, your refuge, your place of protection. Amen. If you are lost, I'll be your Shepherd. I'll find you. I'll find you! And I'll celebrate after I've found you. Amen.
Whatever you need, I am that I am. When Jesus says to the Pharisees of his day, before Abraham was, I am, they understood that he was claiming deity, which he is. Amen. I am is like a blank check. You can fill whatever you need. If you lack strength today, he says, I am your strength. So, the new covenant is all God. I will, I will, I will. And the best part though, everything about the new covenant works with the last clause. It says, I'll be merciful to your unrighteousness and your sins I will remember no more.
So, there's been a change because in the covenant, the first covenant when God made with Moses for Israel, it was this, I will not forget your sins. I will remember your sins to the third and fourth generation. That means the curse will come. But under the new covenant, and the Bible says clearly God did not, did not delight in this covenant. Then why did God give it? Because God knows the pride of men. They need to understand their need before they can see the need for Jesus. Or else when Jesus comes, they will say, I have no need for Him.
The Woman Caught in Adultery – Grace Over Law
And that's the reason why Jesus, on the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus preached it like this. Guys, if your eye offends you, cut it off, pluck it out. Your hand offends you, cut it off, throw it from you. You heard them say, you shall not commit adultery. But I say unto you, Jesus said, I say unto you, if you look on a woman to lust after her, if you mentally undressed her, you have already committed adultery in your heart. Now, that put all of us on the same place. The same playing field. Right? All of us have sinned. We say we don't, we didn't commit the physical act. I don't murder. Pastor Prince, I don't murder. Have you hated anyone on the road? On the road. In Singapore, especially. Have you ever wished that person gets into an accident? Huh? Have you ever wished someone dead? Have you ever hated anyone in your heart? Have you ever had bitterness in your heart? Jesus says, if you hate someone, it's murder in God's eyes.
So God doesn't define sin the way we do. You see, we judge each other, we judge other people by their actions. We judge ourselves by our intentions. Even though our actions are wrong, we say that, no, I didn't mean that, you see. We always justify ourselves, but we judge other people by their actions. You see, God judges sin at the heart. And God knew all of us are lost. So why did Jesus say things like, if your eye offends you, pluck it out, throw it away from you, your hand offends you, cut it off? Does He mean it literally? No, of course not, or else the church would look like a huge amputation ward. Pastor Prince, you should have come early and preached this sermon. Of course not.
What He means is this. This is how God treats sin. Guys, don't choose the laws that you want. You cannot choose, let me see, I keep 7 out of 10. Not so bad. God doesn't grade on the curve. God is perfect. Amen. It is either all, James says this like this, if you offend in one point, you are guilty of all. So God knew all of us can't make it. And in grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Amen.
So in ancient Israel, this is what they did when someone sins, so they can't keep the law, right? Invariably, they sin. Even David, the best of them, committed murder and adultery. He committed adultery for another man's wife and then he had the husband killed. so that he can have his wife. two death sentences according to the law. But David knew how to throw himself upon the mercy of God. I always say that David, King David, is a old covenant man with a new covenant mentality. Amen. So David threw himself upon the chesed, the grace, the mercy of God. And his prayer is written for us in Psalms 51. Have mercy upon me, O God. Have mercy upon me. And God showed mercy to him. He wasn't killed. Even though the law demanded he be stoned.
And then when Jesus was ministering on earth, you all know this from John chapter 8 of the Bible. The Bible says Jesus went to teach in the temple. And what Jesus did was this, as he was teaching in the precincts of the temple, they brought to Jesus the Pharisees. Now the Pharisees are people who boast of the law. They are people who say that, you know, we keep the law better than you. You are all sinners. We are people that are higher than you because, you know, you know of people like that? That's why my friend, Christianity is not a religion. It's not about what you do. It's about what Christ has done. What the Messiah has done. Amen.
So they brought this woman and they threw her right in front of Jesus as he was teaching in the precincts of the temple. The precincts of the temple is not the temple itself. No one teaches in the temple itself during the time of Herod, King Herod, alright, the temple of Herod. Okay, we call it. But back then, no one taught in the temple. The priests would minister in the temple, but the priests, the rabbis, would teach in the precincts of the temple. And they brought to Jesus a woman caught in adultery. Think of how outrageous, how scandalous it is to bring someone caught in the act of adultery. For what purpose? And then, when you bring someone caught in adultery, from what I know about adultery, it takes two, right? Two persons, right? And they only brought the woman. Religion can be very cruel on women. because the devil hates the idea that the Messiah came through a woman. a virgin. Amen.
So, they threw her right in front of Jesus and they said this, Master, this woman was caught in the very act of adultery. Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say? This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear. So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first. And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.
When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you? She said, No one, Lord. And Jesus said to her, Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.