Joseph Prince - Speak Out and Find Strength
The greatest thing that Jesus left behind to the church is this justification by faith gospel, is the gospel of being righteous by faith, not righteous by your works which is the crux of the gospel. Okay, having said that let me just tell you this, Romans 10, verse 9 and 10 says, "If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you shall be saved".
That's how we all got saved. We believe in our hearts and we confess with our mouth, Jesus is our Lord. But there's more than just saying Jesus is Lord. There's an understanding, Jesus, Lord of what? Lord is a lord, shalom, my peace. Lord Tsidkenu, my righteousness. Right? Lord Nissi, my banner, my warrior. "For with the heart one believes unto what? Righteousness". You see back in those days they teach righteousness this way, the moment you believe on Jesus, the moment you confess him as Lord, you are righteous. Don't go into a process of righteousness, you are righteous.
Now, your actions are not perfect. Your actions, your thoughts, will still not be perfect. But in terms of standing in the courts of heaven before God, God the judge of heaven has pronounced you righteous. And, with your mouth, confession is made unto salvation. Now, the word salvation, many times the evangelical church as a whole, they teach salvation as salvation from hell to heaven. Am I right? Say amen, if that's the impression you all have. Now, that's not accurate, it's not fully accurate. It does involve that, of course. Thank God for that. That's the eternal security we have, it's the word salvation.
But do you know that both Thayer and Vine, W.E. Vine, both are Greek scholars of the New Testament and both of them said that messianic salvations, which is what we described just now as saved in heaven forever, is actually the third definition or the fourth definition. It's still a definition, but the first definition, according to Vine, is this, "Salvation is used", I'm quoting Vine's now, his dictionary, "Salvation is used in the New Testament". Number 1, (a), "Of material and temporal deliverance from danger and apprehensions". Why is that not preached?
And we just learned that if we believe that Jesus is our Lord of righteousness, he is our righteousness, amen. With the heart man believes, with the mouth confession is made unto your deliverance from temporal danger. So, this is the thing, when you believe that you are the righteousness of God in Christ, that you stand in Jesus as righteousness, not yours, you cannot be proud. When you do that and you confess, when you are sick, you confess, you are healed, because the word salvation is the word sozo. It's used by Jesus when he told the woman your faith has sozo you. Many times those who are healed by Jesus, he will use the word sozo. And, soteria comes from the word sozo. Soteria, sotar, from the word sozo. Soteria is a noun, sozo is a verb. You got it, alright?
Actually, it's Greek for Yeshua. In fact, when the Father named his son, as a man, Jesus was named Yeshua. In Greek it'll be soteria. It's an all-encompassing word that means deliverance from material or physical danger. Thayer says it like this, the first definition, (a), "Deliverance from the molestation of enemies". Look at (b), "Preservation of physical life". C, D, and all that, all you know, so I'm not going to put it up there because you all know this. All Christians know salvation as the number three, number four messianic salvation, eternal life being in heaven, so I'm not going to put it down. I'm going to show you for both these Greek scholars they put down as (a), priority one, definition, temporal deliverance, even preservation of physical life, even deliverance from the molestation of enemies.
Christians sometimes you see them like, "You know, sometimes I feel an evil spirit, and it'll tickle my toes when I'm sleeping. I feel an evil spirit strangling with me when I'm sleeping". Most likely you are listening to teachings about evil spirits. Even Christian teachings. I want to tell you something, do you know that your salvation includes deliverance from molestation of enemies? But are you saying Pastor Prince there are no evil spirits? I say they are there, but they are not right to molest you! You understand now? More or less? They have no right to molest you! Molest your mind, molest your emotions. They have no right. You have a God given right of salvation. So, how do you get it?
Go back to Romans 10. "With the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation". All right? Confession is made unto that deliverance from molestation of enemies. Confess it. Praise the Lord. Confess you are delivered from the power of darkness, okay? Romans 4. Let's go to Philippians 2 first. I'm going to answer the question. Where do you find in the Bible that we confess we are the righteousness of God? "Therefore, God also has highly exalted Jesus and given Him the name which is above every name". Isn't it wonderful? Jesus's name is the name above every name. "That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow". Every knee should bow. "Of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth".
You know what that tells me? That those who don't bow to the name of Jesus here will bow in hell. They will still bow. Everyone that blasphemes Jesus will one day in hell say, "Jesus is Lord", because the Bible says so. Every knee will bow, and "Every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father". Paul is quoting Isaiah. Let's go to Isaiah, "I have sworn", God is talking, "by Myself".
Now, this is the greatest oath in the entire universe. When God swears by himself, I want you to know something, it's the greatest oath ever! "I have sworn by Myself; the word has gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that to Me every knee shall bow". Every tongue shall take an oath or confess. What? Next verse. "He shall say", watch this, "'Surely in the Lord I have righteousness and strength. To Him men shall come, and all shall be ashamed who are incensed against him'".
Now, we read in Philippians that our confession is Jesus Christ is Lord. Just like Romans 10, confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord, but with the heart, when you say Jesus is Lord, what are you saying? Jesus is my righteousness. The Lord my righteousness. Here he brings it out, "Surely shall one say". He's talking about people bowing before him, every knee bow, every tongue takes an oath. And what is the confession? Surely, he shall say, "Isaiah saw you and I". Isaiah saw the teachings that we have today. Isaiah saw. And, he's looking at you, man. He's looking at you, woman. He's looking at you, brother. And, he's saying, he shall say, referring to us. In the Lord, "Surely in the Lord", I have what? Or you can say I am the righteousness of God in the Lord in Christ Jesus.
"Surely in the Lord I have righteousness and strength. To Him men shall come, and all shall be ashamed who are incensed against Him". To confirm again, "In the Lord, in Christ, all the descendants of Israel, and we're all Abraham's seed, shall be justified". And, you know what follows justification? Once you know you are justified, you know what happens? Glory is waiting for you. "Shall be justified, and shall glory". So, here is your authority, you have that part where God saw that people will start confessing in the Lord I have righteousness. That takes revelation. Can I have a good amen, people?
That's why that explains the attack against the body of Christ. Well, what he's teaching you is that there's no such thing as sin. Why would I teach that and then teach you to step in the righteousness of another? If there is no sin, if I'm teaching, there is no sin, you don't need any righteousness. You also don't need anybody else's. Duh. Oh, he's teaching people that there's no sin. If I say there's no sin, then what do I mean when I say we have forgiveness of sins. Duh. The attack is not human, it is infernal. The devil knows that the moment, the day you realize that you are now functioning, operating, standing, in the righteousness of another, capital A, his days of molesting you, bullying you, are over. Are you listening, people?
I've got so much, but time is catching up. So, I'm just going to tell you something right now, let's go right to Romans chapter 4, verse 13. Let's go to verse 13. "For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law". So, you see, this promise of being the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed, which is Christ, primarily, then all of us are Abraham's seed, because we are in Christ. How does it come to us? It does not come through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. Hence, we understand why the devil is fighting tooth and nail against the righteousness of faith, and why he's promoting the law.
Now, is it possible that you are the righteousness of God, and still be defeated? Is it possible? Let's close with this story, shall we? Alright, we have looked at doctrine, now let's go to a story. Let's go to the story of Jacob. You know, Jacob... Before we look at Jacob's story, I just want to tell you this, Jacob is a very interesting fellow. How many will agree with me that Jacob being the grandson of Abraham, he has the blessing of Abraham. He's the heir of the world. He is righteous by faith. Right? Come on. In fact, the Ten Commandments wasn't given yet. It'll be 400 over years after Jacob's life. So, he walked with God.
The problem with Jacob is this, even though the mother was pregnant with him and his brother, twins, in her womb, Rebecca went to God, "What's going on? What's going on"? She sensed there's a turmoil going in her womb. And, the Lord says two nations are in your womb. But the elder will serve the younger. She heard God say the elder will serve the younger. We all know who is the elder, Esau. Esau is supposed to serve Jacob. Sorry, excuse me, yeah Esau is the older, serve Jacob. You all know the story, what happened. After they were born, the mother devised a plan, even though God spoke to her. It's always this problem. God speaks to us. It's not enough. We want to help God.
So, the time came. Isaac was in the mood, all right, to bless. The mother says he's going to get the blessing, and his eyes were dim. He cannot see properly. So, he's going by touch. Now, Esau, the older brother, has hairy, he's like Harrison Ford, I mean strong, and hairy, and handsome. The younger one, the Bible says, always stays at home. He's like one of the Korean stars, everything's smooth. Okay anyway, the mother says, "I'll tell you what, your father just asked for venison from your brother, because he loves to eat your brother's venison. But, I'll tell you what, I'll kill a venison and I'll take a goat. I'll kill a goat. And, I'll take the goat's skin and wrap your arms with the goat skin. So, your father is blind, he can't see. When he touches you, he will think its Esau".
Then, Jacob says, "But mother, he will curse me". Listen to what the mother said, "Upon me be your curse". Just remember this, even though they are under the blessing of Abraham, you've got to be careful what you say. Do you know that when Jacob left home the mother says, "Go away for a few days". Let me just tell you what happened. Then, the father ate the food. He says, "It feels like Esau's hands, but the voice is Jacob's voice", he said. Anyway, the father blessed him.
Now, God already said that Jacob will be the firstborn, or rather the one getting the firstborn blessing. And, the father gave the firstborn blessing, then, when he went out, Esau came in with his venison. And, the truth was known. And, the son Esau cried and cried. And, the father laid hands on him and gave him some leftover blessings. But not the firstborn blessing. And, he's saying on the side, "When my father dies in the pure of morning. When the pure of morning is over, I'm going to kill Jacob". The mother heard about it. The mother told him, "Son, go away to my brother's place". Laban is her brother, all right. "And, flee from this place, and come back only when your brother's anger has abated".
When he left his father's house, he slept at a place later on called Bethel. He put a number of rocks under his hood, and he fell asleep. And, he had a dream. He dreamt a ladder and angels ascending and descending. And, the Lord said this to him, what did the Lord say? The Lord said to him, "Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go". Now, God never rebuked him in this. He just deceived his father, yet, because of the righteousness of faith. God would deal with him, yes. God would deal with him in love. Transform him? Yes.
But notice, this happened immediately after he deceived his father, yet there was no rebuke from God. In fact, God says I will keep you, protect you... say protect. The word keep there in Hebrew is shamar. Shamar is hatch around, "Protect you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you. Jacob woke up from his sleep and said, 'Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it". He called the place Bethel. He anointed the pillar, that he slept on, the rocks. He made a pillar he anointed with oil, all right. He calls it Bethel. And, then, as he took his stuff, said, "God, I only have my clothes on my back and a staff, but Lord whatever you give me from now on I'll give a tenth to you". That's the last part of Genesis 28.
So, he went to his uncle's place. You'll know the story, he fell in love with Rachel, but instead of Rachel, he got Leah. Deception breeds deception. He deceived his father, and now he's deceived by his uncle. 20 years he spent there instead of a few days. 20 years. Then, finally God appeared to him. God said, "I'm the God of Bethel. Where you anointed the pillar. I'm the God of Bethel. Go back to Bethel. Go back to your father's land". So, he started to gather all his family, all right. One night, he didn't tell the father-in-law. He was afraid to tell the father-in-law. He took all his children, young children, his wife, the servants, and donkeys, and flock, and he fled.
When Laban was some ways shearing sheep. And, Laban heard about it three days later. Laban and his men, they are warriors, desert warriors, like those Arab warriors you see. They rode on a horse, and they chased him for seven days. And, because he's moving slow with the family and all the flock, they caught up with him. And, then, he said, "Look, I could've killed you. What is this? There's no celebration. You didn't give me chance to kiss my daughters that you married. My grandchildren and all that. It's in my heart to kill you. But last night, God appeared to me in a dream, and God said to me not to do anything to you, good or bad. I don't say anything to you. Had God not said that", he says, and was very angry, "I just want to ask you, if you want to go, why take my gods"?
Jacob said, "Take your gods"? "Why do you take my gods? My idols"? In Hebrew, teraphim. He says, "I didn't take your idols". "My household idols are missing". You know who took it? Rachel. And, Rachel put it under the camel saddle that she sat on. Then Jacob said this, "Whoever you find the idol with, let him die". Let him not live. It was a curse from a righteous-by-faith man. He didn't know it was Rachel. Rachel died before he arrived back to his father's house in Hebron. She died near Bethlehem. And, the baby she gave birth to, she called him Benoni, son of my sorrow. But the father says, "No, he will be Benjamin, son of my right hand".
You see, the thing is this, people, we are righteous by faith, amen. Watch our words. "Pastor Prince, my husband", their marriage is not altogether there, "My husband curses me all the time". Don't worry, every time he curses you, Jesus cancels it. In this case, she had an idol and he didn't know he was pronouncing a foundation of righteous, there was a foundation, the curse cost shall not come. There was a cost here, okay. Praise God, I'm going to end there and tell you this looking back years, 20 years earlier when he was lying down there. He dreamed a dream. This promise is also for you. At Bethel, before he knew it was Bethel, Jacob dreamt. He just deceived his father, "He dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it".
Now, we fast forward to the New Testament, and we'll close with this verse. Jesus, in John 1, said to Nathaniel, "Amen, amen, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man". The place of Bethel, the house of God, is where angels come with treasures from heaven, amen. I have seen like treasures being poured, golden oil touches someone, and someone had just healed, amen. All the dietary things, and all the exercise cannot remove the condition. In one smack moment an angel pouring out, the person is healed of a chronic condition. All the testimonies you hear me share, deliverance from chronic condition, deliverance from porn addiction, the angels may be involved. Jesus is the healer. He is the deliverer. He allows angels, amen.
So, where is the place where angels are coming down, angels are going up? There's the place that God promised Jacob, "I'll bless you, I'll bless your children. They'll multiply. East, west, south. And, I'll protect you everywhere you go". If only Jacob had meditated on that, and believed God. But he's a righteous man who is always afraid something bad will happen, amen. But this same promise is for you. Why? We have Jesus. That ladder, that ladder that Jacob saw is actually Jesus. He's the one the angels come down and angels go up, because with Jesus, heaven and earth are met, amen. It's very easy for anything in heaven to come down on earth. Any need, heaven has a supply, amen. And, you have Jesus, so you have the same promise. He's telling you, "I'll protect you wherever you go".
And, remember this, God wants you to confess, "In the Lord Jesus I have righteousness and strength". That doesn't do away with the need of asking God for wisdom, living depending on him, so that we guide our families, amen, in the right pastures, in green pastures, doesn't exempt us from having responsibility to live our life for the glory of God. And, all the people said. Have you been blessed? Give him praise, church. Come on, hallelujah.